Personal Development as a Manager Journal Essay

Personal Development as a Manager Journal - Essay Example It will take into account the significance of my own beliefs, attitudes and values which are implied by me into the task that I am assigned to perform. Reflective Manager The application of reflective practices is an essential fundamental for those individual who are heading an education or specially a healthcare institution. Similarly, I, the manager of a nursing home, think that reflective ability plays a vital role in my management processes. The reflective practices are defined as a set of basic skills and abilities which require the undertaking of a critical step an orientation to the state of mid or solving problems (Weick, 2001, p. 91). In the real instance, all the managers and leaders are busy reflecting upon their own work and create it an intentional event requiring both the commitment and time. I, as a reflective leader, think that this type of management is one of the basic keys towards creating and organization which is relationship-based. According to the basis of refl ective leadership, I have characterized myself by three major skills: careful observation, self-awareness, and flexible response.   Through these abilities, I am able to study my own decision-making processes and am critical regarding the relationships with workers and colleagues in a constructive manner. I am successfully able to analyze the gaps between knowledge and skills. Besides this, a reflective manager faces the painful and problematic episodes through the identification of learning needs. The process of reflective leader pertains to the assistance of leader teams, communities and committees in leading and managing them with an open heart. The process of this type of leadership tends to assume the leading abilities with joy, fulfilment, peace and creativity disregarding of the various consequences and hassles that might come up during the day. According to my experiences and opinions, such individual or leader, who is able to understand him/herself and is capable of shari ng the joy, fear, weaknesses, strengths and achievements with the followers, is on the way to becoming a reflective leader and manager. Similarly, my nursing home exists with a mission towards improving the lives of all those people who are living in the nursing home (Limerick, Cunninton & Crowther, 1998, p. 280). As the manager, fulfilling my purposes and goals require me to understand and value the human dimension of leadership. I think, translating the relations into actions is an inner journey, and is the practical concept of the struggle for living. Though, it is next to impossible to attain this need fully, however, we constantly strive towards the achievement of a personal vision of enhanced service and self-awareness to others. Thus, theoretically and practically, the practices of reflective leadership, concentrate the attention on such a level where the leaders are most leveraged and the stage impacts and influences their actions the most. It refers to giving the managers t he space of feeling and thinking the stories that exist about the unwritten rules of culture and how the world operates. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory Amongst all other management theories, in my perspective, the theory which concerns most with the management aspect is the Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory. The following pyramid reflects the elements that the managerial theory given by

The rise of the modern Civil Rights movement Essay

The rise of the modern Civil Rights movement - Essay Example Rise of the modern civil rights movements Major players in the modern civil rights movements Faced with racial discrimination, social prejudice and poor service provisions, the minority groups realized that they had to fight for their legitimate rights. Studies by McWhorter2 showed that religious leaders, influential businesspersons, and early African American scholars pioneered the modern civil rights movements. Some of the most notable individuals who spearheaded the movements included the following, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and James Meredith. Thurgood Marshall was the first black Supreme Court justice, who prior to his appointment was the attorney of the civil rights groups NAACP. Martin Luther Jr. being the most influential figure in the civil rights movement was among the founders of summer Christian leadership conference, which organized civil disobedience movements across the nation. Along with Luther in the struggle for civil rights was a lso Malcolm X popularly known as the Black Nationalist and the founder of organization of the Afro American Unity. The main events that shape the modern civil rights movement The efforts of the modern civil rights movements culminated to the legislature of new laws and amendment of racial discriminating laws that had been passed by the past administrations. In 1948, President Truman signed the executive order 9981, which provided for equality of treatment and opportunity for all in the armed forces. Six years later, the ruling by supreme in 1954 abolished segregation in public schools and termed it unconstitutional. Because of the 1954 ruling, James Meredith became the first black person to enrol at the University of Mississippi. In 1963 Martin Luther lead the famous march on Washington which congregated at the Lincoln memorial, where Martin delivered the â€Å"I have a Dream â€Å"speech. In his book, Dierenfiled3, wrote that in keeping his promise of the great society, President Johnson signed the civil Rights Act of 1964, which led to prohibition of any form of discrimination, based on race, color, or religion. According to Pitney,4 the President also signed the most documented act of 1965, the Voting Rights Act, which had been passed by the congress. The act abolished the requirements for literacy test and poll taxes making the voting much easier for the African Americans. In addition, Immigration and National Services Act was also passed in the same year, allowing for citizens from other nations apart from the European nation into the U.S. With the recognition of universal equality for all persons without regards to race or gender, the Supreme Court in 1967 passed a ruling that declared the prohibition of interracial marriage unconstitutional. Another notable event in the timeline of civil rights movement was the Los Angeles riots of 1992, which occurred after a court jury, acquitted four white police officers who were videotaped beating Rodney King. Ot her groups that fought for equality in the 1950s Apart from the civil rights movements that championed for the rights of the African Americans, there were also other civil groups fighting for people with disabilities and workers welfare. In his book Caro5, observed that those living with disabilities also faced the similar challenges to some extent that the African Ameri

Assessing The Impact Of Over Fishing Environmental Sciences Essay

Assessing The Impact Of Over Fishing Environmental Sciences Essay Nowadays the demand of marine resources constantly grows. The growing demand stimulates the development of fishery and other marine resources exploitation. However, the unreasonable use of marine resources can cause the fatal damage to some ecosystems and to the global ecosystem of the world ocean. The over fishing is a main concern. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, provides the statistics about the global production from capture fisheries in the world. Within the recent two decades (starting from 1985) the reported landings of marine capture fisheries have fluctuated between 80 and 86 million tones per year (DKNVS report, 2006) However, the constantly increasing contribution of developing countries and China leads to the progressive growth of captive fisheries volume. At the same time, the overfishing in some regions has already led to ecosystem degradation and some species extinction. Analytics think that at the nearest future the fish will stay the inc reasingly high-value commodity, and the global demand to the fish and marine products will continue to grow. The usage of other marine resources, like energy resources, minerals, and gene pool, also grows and can lead to overuse and ecosystem degradation, too. In the aggregate the human exploitation of the marine resources and other factors of human influence, like the water pollutions and coastal agriculture, can lead to the irreversible changes in the ecosystem of the ocean up to the total degradation. Nowadays the technological potential of humankind doesnt have the technologies of marine ecosystem resurrection. The thesis of this paper the following: the human exploitation of the marine sources has to be controlled to prevent overfishing and other kinds of overuse, or the ecosystem of the global ocean can be irreparably damaged. Human exploitations: earth vs sea Humans are the link in the food chain so the human activity has an impact on ecosystems. Even early human societies changed the surrounding ecosystems. Nowadays the growth of human population and its impact on the environment escalated the problem on the global scale. Sure, the exploitation of the land resources is more active than the exploitation of the marine sources. There are many terrestrial ecosystems damaged and ruined with human factors. However, the lower speed of marine life cycle causes harder resurrection of the pelagic sources. The principal difference in the human exploitation on the land and on the sea is the following: on the land the humankind rebuilt the structure of terrestrial ecosystems and replaced the wild species with the domestic species. In the sea the important species werent replaced. They became extinct and the extinction of some marine species led to the degradation of marine ecosystems. Despite the existing fisheries regulations, the last majority of t he fish stocks throughout the ocean are overfished. Not only fishes but marine animals like turtles and whales and some species suffer from population reduction up to 40% comparatively to the population volume a century ago. Some popular species are almost approaching extinction, for example, blue-fin tuna. There are three types of overfishing, or three kinds of direct effects of captive overfishing. To make the maximal gain per recruit the fish should grow to the proper average size. The fishery of the smaller fish is a growth overfishing. To replenish the population it is needed the proper percent of mature adults. The shortage of mature adults in the population to the lower the level of reproductive capacity is a recruitment overfishing. The change in the balance of ecosystem caused by fishery and preventing the population growth is an ecosystem overfishing. All three types of overfishing have the negative impact on the ecosystem. Thus, the exploitation of marine resources should be more careful and reasonable because of lower temp of resurrection. Ecosystem effects of overfishing Overfishing as a treat to biodiversity There are also some indirect effects of overfishing, and the decrease in biodiversity is one of them. The loss in biodiversity is a serious treat to the ecosystem in a whole. The cumulative loss of species-from inconspicuous worms to large fish-sharply reduces the ability of sea life to resist diseases, filter pollutants and rebound from stresses such as overfishing and climate change (Blankenship, 2006) The numerous studies show that higher rate of biodiversity is the base of health and stability of ecosystem, as well as its ability to recover. However, the overfishing and the collapse of some the most popular species create the trend, which can lead to the total collapse of ocean ecosystem in 2048 (Blankenship, 2006). The careful fishery management can prevent the total collapse but the strict limits and bans should be implemented without delay. The alternations in the food chains Italian scientist Lorenzo Camerano outlined the dilemma of double-sided regulation in 1880 year. The dilemma is following: the high amount of birds can decrease the population of the insets in ecosystem, however, the number of birds can be high only on those regions were the large amount of food (mainly insects) is available. (Sheffer et al, 2005)This particular example illustrates the top-down and bottom-up mechanism of regulation in the ecosystem. The bottom-up regulation is the main mechanism of natural regulation and the marine ecosystems are no exception. However, the human interference is an important factor of top-down regulation, which changes the natural regulation in ecosystems including marine ones. The nature of food chain is similar in every ecosystem: solar energy and inorganic compounds are transformed by autotrophs, chemotrophs and litotrophs through photosynthesis and chemosynthesis to organic compounds. Then the organic compounds are transformed by heterotrophs into the more complex organic compounds. The predators are the highest link in the pyramid. Usually the number of predators is regulated by the number of low-level organisms. The disappearance of predators from the food chain can lead to the unrestrained growth of low-level organisms population. The marine ecosystems have their specific features. The role of photosynthesis isnt as significant as in terrestrial ecosystems. On the other hand, the majority of chemotrophic organisms inhabit the ocean. The primary producer in the marine ecosystem is phytoplankton and the fish is a main natural predator. Nowadays the top positions in the food web of all ecosystems are occupied with people. The overfishing, or the extinction the main natural fishing, can lead to trophic cascading effects changes in the ecosystems. The recent example of trophic cascading effects caused by overfishing The ecosystem of Canadian East Coast, hardly damaged with cod overfishing, suffers from the particular changes in the ecosystem. The east coast of Newfoundland was historically known as the region of fishery. The article in the Greenpeace archive tells that in 1497 year the explorer John Cabot wrote the huge cod school virtually blocked his ship. Five centuries after the Canadian government totally banned the fishery in this region because of the collapse of ecosystem. After the decrease of large fish population following level of the food web small fishes and large invertebrates, such as northern shrimp and northern snow crab significantly increased the population volume. The growth on this food-web level caused the shortage on its nutritive base, large plant-eating zooplankton (> 2 mm). The decrease of zooplankton, in its turn, became the reason for phytoplankton population volume increase. The unexpected (but natural) consequence was the exponential increase in seal populations. The large fishes like cod compete with seals in the food web for the nutrition base. The extinction of main competitor allowed growing the seal population. The economic consequences of cod overfishing were also significant. Thus, the cod stocks have started to recover in areas south of 44 degrees north. The strict bans can help to recover the cod population and to return the ecosystem to its initial state. However, other areas north of 44 degrees North the cod stock failed to recover despite a nearly complete shutdown of cod fishing. The coastal communities of Newfoundland still suffer from the job loss and struggle to recover. The changes in marine ecosystem lead to the shift in commercial fishery to the low-level of food-web, smaller fishes and crabs. Nowadays the economic value of the shrimp and crab fisheries is more than the earlier value of the cod fishery. Other indirect effects There are also some other indirect effects of oversifishing that are not so visible, but they also contribute to the general problem. The loss of macrofauna leads to the loss of ecosystem structure and the rise of pests. Generally pests are the species detrimental to humans. In the case of degraded marine ecosystems pests are the invasive species. With the lack of restrictive factors such species are able to congest the ecosystem and force out almost all native species declining the biodiversity. For example, European green crab, the native inhabitant of Baltic sea and the northern part of the Atlantic ocean, became the invasive specie in the seas of Australia, South Africa and South America. The ghost fishing is effect from fishing nets lost of left in the ocean by fishermen. The nets are almost invisible in the dim underwater light. They can drift for a long distance. Fishes, marine animals, sea birds and even human divers can be caught and entangled with the net. The net restrict movement and can cause the disease, starvation and suffocation. The volume of ghost fishing can hardly be evaluated because the most victims go down the ocean bottom. Methods of overfishing prevention The importance of fishery management increases simultaneously with the fishery development. The most popular methods of over fishing prevention are the implementation of fishing quotas, limits and bans, the development of fishing farms instead of captive fishery, the coastal zone management and some other measures. Fishing quotas, limits and bans Studies and analyses show that in the nearest future the sustainability concerns will increase due to environmental controversy. The growing demand will require the increase of fishery but the protection of marine ecosystems will require the strict bans, limits and control. The developed countries should implement the environmental regulations and institutions first and provide the same norms to the developing countries. The use of fishoil and feashmeal should become the important issue of the national policy. For example, China bans the fishery in the South China Sea for the certain period every year. However, all the quotas and limits cause the protests and resistance from fishermen. Fishing farms The fishing farms are rather new but successful kind of fish production. According to FAO statistics, the contribution of aquaculture to global supplies of fish, crustaceans and molluscs continues to grow, increasing from 3.9 percent of total production by weight in 1970 to 29.9 percent in 2002. Worldwide, the sector has grown at an average rate of 8.9 percent per year since 1970, compared with only 1.2 percent for capture fisheries and 2.8 percent for terrestrial farmed meat-production systems over the same period. (DKNVS report, 2006) the shift to the fish farming from the captive fishing is rather slow. However, the fish farming can help to protect and even prevent the extinction of marine species. Thus, last year in Australia the first land farm of southern blue-fin tuna was established. The blue-fin tuna is very popular fish because of its buttery meat, for this reason this species is almost collapsed. The land farm fishing is a real fishing alternative and should be developed. Coastal Zone Management The Norwegian experience shows that coastal zone plans for every municipality can be very useful. These plans should designate the zones for tourism and recreation, for agriculture; for certain fishery related activities and protected zones. These plans should be revised within a certain number of years according the results of activities. Other methods of fishing control The pelagic stocks should be protected not only from overfishing but form the pollutions and the issue of global ocean environmental protection will receive more attention worldwide. The use of fish products in the terrestrial agriculture (like the use of fishoil as the nutritional supplement) should be reconsidered and reduced. Among the other measures of pelagic stocks protection should be the reduction and mitigation of the environmental impacts of intensive aquaculture. At last, the global institutions worldwide should develop the programs of poverty reduction on the seaside zones. It is necessary to reduce the volume of the captive fishery, both legal and illegal, and shift the fishery to fish farming. Exploitation of other marine living resources The overfishing is in the focus of this research; however, it is necessary to mention other kinds of marine resources exploitation. Besides the biomass resources like fish, plant and marine invertebrates, the marine resources include the raw resources (underwater deposits of oil, gas and minerals and the minerals dissolved in the sea water), the energy resources (thermal energy, wave energy, etc), and the gene pool. The development of underwater oil deposits (offshore drilling) started in the 19s century. For more than a century it became clear that offshore drilling changes the marine ecosystems in the region. The recent accident on the BP oil platform in the Caribbean Sea attracted the attention of global publicity to the problem of offshore drilling environmental impact and renewed the hot debates regarding the issue. The oil price growth stimulates the offshore drilling development, but the environmental damage of it overweighs the profits from oil trade in the long-term perspect ive. The genetic potential of marine sources also attracts the attention to the marine sources. The biological and chemical diversity of the pelagic sources are well-known. Unique chemical compounds have a great potential for the cosmetic, pharmaceutics, and agrochemical industries. The global ocean also hosts more than 300,000 species of plants and animals, and the scientists claim the majority of deep-water species is still undiscovered. Thus, the gene pool of marine biomass is a field of active research. The observations in Norwegian marine industries provide the information that a relatively small number of marine plants, animals, and microbes have already yielded more than 12,000 novel chemicals. Some of the marine bioactive substances (with industrial applications as technological compounds, laboratory tools or ingredients in cosmetics) are already marketed and generate high benefits to mankind (and investors) (DKNVS report, 2006). Thus, the chemical compounds arabinosides extracted from the sponge, Tethya crypta, can be used in antiviral pharmacology and as the medicine in the acute myeloid leukemia treatment. It has a market potential up to $50 million annual sales. The further research of the marine species and their potential will lead to the additional attention to the marine resources. However, the exploitation of any marine resource can be carefully managed and controlled to prevent the collapse of ocean ecosystem. Summary and conclusion The researches of marine resources discover new and new potential of its commercial use. The gene pool and the variety of chemical compounds in the ocean open new possibilities in pharmacology, industrial chemistry, cosmetics, etc. Modern technologies allow the development of offshore drilling and the underwater mining. However, the overuse of these possibilities can lead to the collapse of marine ecosystem. The example of overfishing shows the possible consequences of marine sources overuse. The fishery exists as long and humankind, thus its consequences are the most obvious and significant. The overshishing causes the decrease of diversity in ecosystems, the tropic cascading effects, and even the collapse of some species. It is the treatment to overall ecological unity of the ocean. The fishery management can slowdown the ecosystem degradation and prevent the irreparable damage. The modern techniques of fishery management include fish quotas and bans, fish farming, coastal zone management and some other global management like the struggle with poverty in the coastal zones. The human factor already created the trend to the collapse of ocean ecosystem, and the immediate measurer are necessary to prevent it.

E.E CUMMINGS :: essays research papers

EDWARD ESTLIN CUMMINGS ("Estlin") is born October 14 in family residence 104 Irving Street, Cambridge, Mass., the son of EDWARD and REBECCA CLARKE CUMMINGS. His energetic, versatile, and highly articulate father teaches sociology and political science at Harvard in the 1890's and in 1900 is ordained minister of the South Congregational Church, Unitarian, in Boston. The Irving Street household will include at various times Grandmother Cummings, MISS JANE CUMMINGS ("Aunt Jane"), EEC's maternal uncle, GEORGE CLARKE, and younger sister ELIZABETH ("Elos"), who eventually marries Carlton Qualey. EEC attends Cambridge public schools, vacations in Maine and at the family summer home, Joy Farm, in Silver Lake, N.H. "Ever since I can remember I've written; & painted or made drawings." 1911 Enters Harvard College, specializing in Greek and other languages He contributes poems to Harvard periodicals, is exposed to the work of EZRA POUND and other modernist writers and painters, and forms lasting friendships with JOHN DOS PASSOS ("Dos"), R. STEWART MITCHELL ("The Great Awk"), EDWARD NAGLE (stepson of the sculptor Gaston Lachaise), SCOFIELD THAYER ("Sco"), JAMES SIBLEY WATSON ("Sib"), S. FOSTER DAMON, GILBERT SELDES, M. R. WERNER ("Morrie"), JOSEPH FERDINAND GOULD ("Joe"), ROBERT HILLYER. 1915 Graduates magna cum laude; delivers commencement address on "The New Art." 1916 Receives MA from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 1917 In New York. Lives at 21 East 15th Street with the painter ARTHUR WILSON ("Tex"). Works for P. F. Collier & Son. In April joins Norton-Haries Ambulance Corps. Sails for France on La Touraine, meeting on board another Harjes-Norton recruit, WILLIAM SLATER BROWN, who will remain his lifelong friend. After several weeks in Paris EEC and Brown are assigned to ambulance duty on Noyon sector. Brown's letters home arouse suspicions of French army censor. On September 21, he is arrested together with Cummings, who refuses to dissociate himself from his friend. Both are sent to [the] concentration camp at La Ferte Mace, where they submit to further interrogation. Following strenuous efforts on his father's part, EEC is released December 19. Eight Harvard Poets published, with EEC among contributors. 1918 Arrives in New York from France January 1. Moves with W. Slater Brown to 11 Christopher Street. Drafted during summer; stationed at Camp Devens until his discharge following Armistice. Moves with Brown to 9 West 14th Street, New York. Meets Elaine Orr, whom he will later marry and who is the mother of his only child, Nancy ("Mopsy"), now Mrs. E.E CUMMINGS :: essays research papers EDWARD ESTLIN CUMMINGS ("Estlin") is born October 14 in family residence 104 Irving Street, Cambridge, Mass., the son of EDWARD and REBECCA CLARKE CUMMINGS. His energetic, versatile, and highly articulate father teaches sociology and political science at Harvard in the 1890's and in 1900 is ordained minister of the South Congregational Church, Unitarian, in Boston. The Irving Street household will include at various times Grandmother Cummings, MISS JANE CUMMINGS ("Aunt Jane"), EEC's maternal uncle, GEORGE CLARKE, and younger sister ELIZABETH ("Elos"), who eventually marries Carlton Qualey. EEC attends Cambridge public schools, vacations in Maine and at the family summer home, Joy Farm, in Silver Lake, N.H. "Ever since I can remember I've written; & painted or made drawings." 1911 Enters Harvard College, specializing in Greek and other languages He contributes poems to Harvard periodicals, is exposed to the work of EZRA POUND and other modernist writers and painters, and forms lasting friendships with JOHN DOS PASSOS ("Dos"), R. STEWART MITCHELL ("The Great Awk"), EDWARD NAGLE (stepson of the sculptor Gaston Lachaise), SCOFIELD THAYER ("Sco"), JAMES SIBLEY WATSON ("Sib"), S. FOSTER DAMON, GILBERT SELDES, M. R. WERNER ("Morrie"), JOSEPH FERDINAND GOULD ("Joe"), ROBERT HILLYER. 1915 Graduates magna cum laude; delivers commencement address on "The New Art." 1916 Receives MA from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 1917 In New York. Lives at 21 East 15th Street with the painter ARTHUR WILSON ("Tex"). Works for P. F. Collier & Son. In April joins Norton-Haries Ambulance Corps. Sails for France on La Touraine, meeting on board another Harjes-Norton recruit, WILLIAM SLATER BROWN, who will remain his lifelong friend. After several weeks in Paris EEC and Brown are assigned to ambulance duty on Noyon sector. Brown's letters home arouse suspicions of French army censor. On September 21, he is arrested together with Cummings, who refuses to dissociate himself from his friend. Both are sent to [the] concentration camp at La Ferte Mace, where they submit to further interrogation. Following strenuous efforts on his father's part, EEC is released December 19. Eight Harvard Poets published, with EEC among contributors. 1918 Arrives in New York from France January 1. Moves with W. Slater Brown to 11 Christopher Street. Drafted during summer; stationed at Camp Devens until his discharge following Armistice. Moves with Brown to 9 West 14th Street, New York. Meets Elaine Orr, whom he will later marry and who is the mother of his only child, Nancy ("Mopsy"), now Mrs.

Monsters Lesson 02 Literary Background for Beowulf

Monsters Lesson 02 Literary Background for Beowulf The Dark ages was an era that consisted of change and warfare in England. The Celts were the first culture to inhabit England. Celts filled the land with the language of Ceitic and the religion of Paganism. In 55 B. C the Romans decide to invaded the land under Julius Caesar lead and succeed. With the Romans in charge the change began by bring Latin to the region and introducing Christianity.Romans also brought civilization and new law by building new structures which were similar to theres in Rome. These Structures consisted of water which they learned how to drain, use for public sanitation, and clean drinking water. Barbarians (foreigners) were jealous of the Roman’s system and try to take over, so the Emperor decide to build a great wall around the land and the wall worked for around 200 years. The Roman Empire was divided into two half's, western and eastern with two different Emperor’s.With the fall of Rome in 410 A. D Britannia was easy to take over without British soldiers to fight. Four Germanic tribes took over Britannia, with Anglo in the Northeast, Saxon in the South, Jutes in the South but separate from Saxons, and Frisians just South of Saxons. These four tribes are known as Anglo-Saxons who occupied England from 410 A. D. to 797 A. D. Durning that time seven Sovereign Kingdoms were formed.Vikings later called Normans were Scandinavian explorers, traders, and warriors. The Scandinavian’s spoke dilates of German. Vikings invaded large parts of England in 797 A. D. and ruled until 1066 A. D. The literature durning the dark ages main themes were about heroism and chivalry. Kings were also highly looked upon and they took care of their warriors. Also highly written about durning this time was the bond between the king’s men which was the center of their political society.

Cultural Boundaries Essay

Youth culture has been studied from several ideological perspectives on assumptions that they are ‘not isolated and untouched by the surrounding culture’ (Keyes, 2000). This notion has lead researchers to assume that youth culture is not part of ‘growing up’, but a phenomenon that occurs as a precipitation of the social, political, cultural and ideological factors. There is not one monolithic youth culture that defines all young people. Popular youth culture embraces a diversity of sub-cultures or â€Å"tribes† such as skaters, druggies, snobs, band geeks, Satanists, Jesus freaks, techno-goths, computer dweebs, blacks, Latinos and white trash. Groups distinguish themselves by dress, style, music, body modification practices, race, ethnicity, and language. (Hines, 1999) Thus a researcher, who intends to study the ethnic, racial, political, cultural, sociological or linguistic aspect of a subculture, often ends up in analysing one of the factors and tend to romanticise or over-politicise these aspects. Thornton’s study on club cultures and Nava’s treatise on youth and consumerism are good examples in this genre. The debates on how best to conceptualise both the structural and cultural transitions of young people remains a central issue in the sociology of youth. In these debates cultural approaches have been criticised for neglecting the role of social divisions and status inequalities in lifestyle ‘choices’ (Bennett 2002). The cultural night lives of young people have provided fertile ground for social researchers. There have been explorations of the character and division of dance scenes (Thornton 1995), the relationship between femininities, women’s clubbing experiences and feminism (Pini 1997a, 1997b), clubbing experiences (Malbon 1999) and the relationship between drug use and clubbing (Henderson 1993; Merchant & Macdonald 1994; Forsyth 1997). What has not been studied so well is how people become clubbers, what practices this entails, what kind of young people invest in this lifestyle, what resources are required to do so, whether this process is gendered as well as if and how this experience has impacted on their sense of identity. Earlier studies portrayed Rave culture as being a social arena where social divisions were put aside and anyone and everyone mixed together (Henderson 1993; Merchant & Macdonald 1994). Yet, more recent studies suggest that distinctions do operate between ‘mainstream’ and ‘hip’ club scenes (Thornton 1995), that ‘nightlife provision exploits existing cleavages in the youth population, and segregates young adults into particular spaces and places’ (Hollands 2002, p. 153). Given this it seems important to unpack further the nature of boundaries: the divisions between ‘us and them’: the boundary work that we do and how boundaries are constituted in social interaction. Thornton asserts ‘club cultures are taste cultures’, but as she also points out, practices of distinction do not just involve taste and cultural hierarchies are numerous (1995, p. 3). What other practices of distinction are involved in identification and differentiation processes, both within and between club scenes? It seems unlikely that these processes and practices are wholly elective. Young people’s experiences of clubbing, their lifestyle ‘choices’, need to be contextualised and conceptualised in such a way that recognise that some young people are more able than others to engage in particular styles of life, and consumer and cultural activities, such as clubbing. Boundaries are about both the individual and the collective, notions not new to youth research. Willis (1978) suggested that ‘becoming’ a hippie or a bike boy involved not only cultural knowledge, but also a process of developing group sensibilities, and these sensibilities could be used to identify and differientiate one group from another. The notion of ‘becoming’ is a way of exploring both individual and group processes (Becker 1991): how young people learn to use ‘recreational’ drugs, learn particular practices, affiliate with a culture, lifestyle or social group and invest in additional forms of identification, as well as encounter cultural barriers that constrain participation and processes of ‘becoming’. Symbolic interactionist theories would suggest that notions of what and who you are, as well as what and who you are not, only become meaningful and significant through interaction with others. When social anthropological and symbolic interactionist conceptualisations of boundaries are brought together they can help us understand how people come to form into collective groups, groups that construct shared meanings through interaction. Symbolic boundaries, group life or how ‘people do things together’ (Becker 1986), are interactional resources that groups draw upon to create their own boundaries. These notions offer a fruitful way to explore the relationship between the individual and the group, and the divisions between ‘us and them’ found in the empirical studies exploring the cultural night-lives of young people. Moreover, it may be that identifying as and ‘becoming a clubber’ may only acquire meaning in relation to and in contrast to those who do not identify as or become ‘clubbers’.