Wednesday, January 29, 2020

The Mayor of Casterbridge Essay Example for Free

The Mayor of Casterbridge Essay This essay will demonstrate and analyse how Thomas Hardy uses the first two chapters of this book as a prologue to the rest of the novel. To establish this, this essay will include Hardys style and use of language. This sort of style is quite unique, which is probably why he used it. Other important elements are the setting and how they are linked to Hardy himself, the themes and the way he exemplifies characters. The main character, Michael Henchard, is said to be of fine figure and swarthy. He wore a short, brown corduroy jacket, a fustian waistcoat, tanned leggings, white horn buttons and white breeches. Also, he wore a straw hat. At the beginning of the narrative, Michael is holding a tool-bag. This shows that Michael is a man of the trade. This flows with what Hardy says about Henchard being a skilled countryman. Michaels entrance to the story is palpable, but until later on in the novel, we dont actually know his name. Until the 6th page, 3rd paragraph, Michael is referred to as, amongst other things, the man. This gives a bit of suspense as the reader wishes to read further to find out who this person is and what his name. The reader discovers that he is indeed the husband of Susan; the woman he is accompanying. He doesnt play the role of a husband or a father at all (we also find out that he and Susan have a baby called Elizabeth-Jane. He remains using similar behaviour until chapter two. The first time he actually opened his mouth to talk, was, when addressing a worker around Weydon-Priors. The second time, one page later, was when he briefly replied to Susan in pg 4/5, when Susan is telling him to go to the Good Furmity Sold Here tent at the fair, instead of the Good Home-brewed Beer, Ale and Cyder tent. His disinclination to go to the furmity tent is shown when he says, Ive never tasted it. At this point, he finally shows some responsibility as he gave way to he representations ; the her being Susan. His carelessness is again shown on page six, where he gets drunk from the excessive rum in his furmity. He then goes on further, when he states how he got married too young. Michael puts himself and Susan in great shame when he auctions her. At this point, we dont know whether its the drink talking, or if he really feels this way. We are persuaded that Michael really wants to rid of his wife, when, on pages 8/9/10, he pursues his selling, until finally a bidder puts the money on the table and the exchange is made. Hardy shows that Henchard really is a malicious man, without any thought to his responsibility. We know this by the language used; he talks badly of Susan; I married at 18, like the fool that I was; and this is the consequence ot. We finally see the back of Susan, telling us that the exchange was true and complete. Overall, we see that Michael is a man who doesnt see his responsibilities and likes to live a single persons life. He is careless in most of actions and is easily taken under the influence of drink; the reason why he auctioned his wife. In Chapter Two, however, we discover, that Michael didnt have the slightest clue of what he did the previous night. This is shown as he thinks back of what he had done, and showed great regret. We know this as he travels around the fair in search of his wife and later takes a serious oath, for such an alcoholic as Henchard especially. Michael then travels around the Fair in search of Susan. Later, around page 17, we discover Henchard to be making a vow as to not drink spirits for 21 years, as spirit was the reason why he lost his ex-wife; I, Michael Henchard, on this morning of the 16th of September, do take an oath before God here in this solemn place that I will avoid all strong liquors for the space of 21 years. His pledge is significant to the play because it changes his outlook; he becomes a less rowdy person; a Mayor. This also allows him to find Susan, as his perspective is broadened; he can sort out his priorities. Susan is first introduced at the same time as Michael. Shes described as being pretty and having a half-apathetic expression. Michael and Susan have a declining relationship. Susan doesnt converse with Michael and just saunters along with him silently. As with Michael, we dont discover Susans name at first. This is probably because Thomas wants to set the scene first, then the characters, etc. Although we dont know that Susan and Michael are in wedlock, we o know that Susan is the mother of young Elizabeth-Jane. She and Michael dont converse until the dialogue where Susan encourages Michael to go the furmity rent, instead of the alcoholic tent; page 4. This proves that Susan is the most sensible out of the two. Although Susan may have made the most sensible choice, she still didnt escape shame and pain. She discovers Michaels bad side, as he has too much rum in his furmity. We know that this isnt the first time, Henchard has behaved this way previously, as Hardy writes, The young woman his wife, who seemed accustomed to such remarks She isnt mentioned much, until the auction scene, when she tells Michael how his behaviours is inappropriate and irresponsible and is just making a fool of himself. Later on in page eight, Susan gets more serious, realising the great significance of Michaels actions; Come, come, it is getting dark, and this nonsense wont do. If you dont come along, I shall go without you. Come! The repetition shows her concern and desperation to avoid the situation. Susan tries to maintain her dignity and pride by agreeing to all of the selling, probably to rid herself of such humiliation and torture. We know instantly that Susan regrets the whole ordeal as she went out of the tent sobbing bitterly. Although the furmity lady, only has a brief part to play in the story, she is still quite important. She is first mentioned in page five. She is described as haggish and is said to be of fifty years of age. She was wearing a white apron, reaching almost all the way around her waist. Her only actions were to stir the large pot of furmity, which consists of grain, flour, milk, raisins, currants, etc. She seems to be just a furmity lady, but Hardys crone-like description of her fits nicely with her slyness as she laces the furmity with quite a lot of rum. She appears again at the bottom of the page when she served Michael and Susan a bowl of furmity. She has a quite a persuasive character as she convinces Michael to have some rum. This meant more profit for her. Apart from the above, her last appearance was when the auction was maturing; she told Susan that it was the drink talking and that Michael didnt mean what he was saying. The furmity lady represents the working-class of Weydon-Priors. Especially as she is part of the fair, she seems to have a nomadic life; always moving around to different locations. As she is reacquainted with Susan later on, Hardy skilfully relates the furmity lady to the downfall of rural life, The turnip-hoer first had an appearance on page 3. He told Michael about the type of work available in Weydon-Priors. The turnip-hoer had a very brief appearance in the novel indeed. He did have quite a significant part, as the reader discovers that there was a lack of work for the working-class and that Weydon-Priors was a changing area, good for some, bad for most. He represents the economic state of the village and is a typical countryman. The mention of the Fair almost automatically implies that it has some connotation in the anecdote. He had a hoe on one shoulder and a dinner-bag suspended from it as well. Hardy describes the turnip-hoer as being a pessimist. This shows that he just saw things from the bad side and didnt really look for any good in anything. He probably used that word as he replied negatively to anything Henchard asked. Then, he mentions the Fair Day; the only way of getting any money in most cases. We learn quite a lot about Wessex and the way of life there in the first few pages of Chapter One. This is due mainly to the turnip-hoer. From him, we learn that there is a shortage of jobs. Due to the time setting, it is quite obvious to those with knowledge of history, that it is the time of the Industrial Revolution. The chronicle fits in efficiently with the time setting, before the nineteenth century had reached one-third of its span ; this was during the pinnacle of the Industrial Revolution 1709 to 1853. We then discover that homes are being knocked down to make way for the industrial buildings. Therefore, life must be quite hard for the working-class. This is shown by the turnip-hoer saying how there is a lack of employment; lack of money. We know this because, Weydon-Priors is at the threshold of being an industrial city. The only way of making money outside the industrial side, it seems, is to work in the Fair or sell horses. The Fair is packed with people and full of life. Different activities and different fairs to visit, for example, toy-stands, waxworks, medicine men, and so forth. Hardy uses a varied form of vocabulary in this text, but most of the book uses a sophisticated range of vocabulary. Examples of sophisticated choices include: Hardy uses this wide range of lexis effectively to make an effective description of an object or person. By using efficient language, Hardy creates a good picture in the mind of the reader. He does this by describing something with great detail. For example, when he first introduced Michael, he used great detail in order to produce sufficient imagery. The man was of fine figure, swarthy, and stern in aspect; and he showed in profile a facial angle so slightly inclined as to be almost perpendicular. He goes on to use analogous detail in describing his attire. It is quite obvious that Hardy likes to use detail in his descriptions. This is required to produce a vivid image for the reader. The result of this is a strong and almost exact picture of the object or person in question created in the mind. This can help the reader understand further things mentioned in the story and the relevance and significance of things mentioned. The structure of Hardy sentences varies occasionally, but the overall lengths of the sentences are long. This is typical of the time period; early 1900s This provides a neutral atmosphere, as shorter sentences or pauses give a tenser ambience. A good example of the use of shorter sentences, is during the auctioning of Susan, The sailor hesitated a moment, looked anew at the woman, came in, unfolded five crisp pieces of paper The lengths of the paragraphs also vary, but most of them are long, which is typical of the time period. When a more important scene is written in The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Hardy uses very long paragraphs to create a significant flow in the action. Apart from the narrators language, there is the language used by the characters. The characters language varies from their class, but is quite similar. They use northern dialect and they dont pronounce all of the letters; this emphasises the setting of the novel. This presents the way northerners speak. An example of this vernacular is, and this is the consequence ot. There isnt much dialogue until the auction scene. This creates quite a tense atmosphere with some suspense. A very significant factor of language, is the relationship between Michael and Susan. They dont speak habitually at all. They converse a small amount at the Fair, only to talk about things like lodging. This is imperative as it clearly depicts the relationship between the two Henchards; they dont have a close affiliation and only communicate when necessary. Most of the early chapters are based on the theme of marriage. This is because, Michael and Susan were married and Michael sold Susan because he was saying how fed up he was with marriage. The further actions made by Henchard were reflections to what he had done; he swore to give up spirits for twenty-one years, he went in search for Susan due to marriage and possibly love. At the scene of the auction, the only people who seem to have some reverence for the sacred bond of matrimony, are Susan and the furmity lady. Susan is the only person who tries to put the whole state of affairs to a halt, Mike, Mike, this is getting serious. O! too serious! The repetition shows her concern. The furmity tries to reassure Susan that Michael is just under the influence of drink, Others just encourage Michael, Theres them that would do that, this shows that they find such an offer common. For the rest of the customers in the tent, it appeared to be a sort of entertainment. The economy plays quite an important part in the tale as well. This is because Michael and Susan first went towards Weydon-Priors, because Henchard was in search of employment. Change is evident in the area of Weydon-Priors as the turnip-hoer told Michael of the knocking down of the houses, lack of vocation. The quality and style of life will obviously be changed by this new revolution. By mentioning or hinting the industrial revolution, Hardy sets the time and setting of the anecdote well, making it more realistic. Hardy uses the theme of nature in The Mayor Of Casterbridge, but only occasionally in the first two chapters. An example of Hardy doing this, is on page two, half-apathetic expression of on who deems anything possible at the hands of Time and Chance except, perhaps, fair play. The first phase was that work of Nature As you may notice, Hardy used capital letters for the beginning of the three words Time, Chance and Nature. He might have done this to make the three words stand out and allow the reader to see their significance. Time and Chance seem to control occurrences. Time; things are going to happen, its just a matter of time when. Chance; sometimes. People can be lucky and have chance on their side. Nature; the contrasts between man and nature. Fate seems to play a small, but quite important role in the anecdote. Hardy uses this element skilfully. It assists the auction scene with the entrance of the sailor. It would have been quite hard for the sailor to hear the auctioneers voice from outside; he was destined to meet and purchase Susan and Elizabeth-Jane. Hardy shows how Henchard develops quite quickly in the prologue. He begins as a man who seems to be oblivious of his duties to his wife and infant. The main event which convinces Michael he has to revolutionize his conduct. After getting under the influence of spirits, he humiliates his wife and then puts her on the market. When he becomes abstemious, he realises his faux pas and falls in to a state of remorse. The next day, he starts to search for his spouse. After failing to locate Susan in the Fair, he makes an oath to avoid all strong liquors for the space of twenty-one years This shows that he has realised that the main cause of the whole dilemma was the alcohol. Another example of him following a new route, is the narrators text, seemed relieved at having made a start in a new direction. This is a sort of quest for Michael; to give up alcohol and to find his lost partner. The type of narration used is third person narrative. The reader is only given limited information as to whats happening. The conscious narrator decides what and how information is revealed. An example of this is the concealing of Henchards name. We dont have full knowledge that Susan and Henchard are married; their relationship together. This makes the reader want to continue reading to discover the role and significance of the character. Hardy uses language effectively to get the appropriate mood and atmosphere. He uses sufficient imagery when he wants to give the reader a detailed description of the scene. He uses symbolism to assist this, e. g. at the Fair, Hardy refers to the horses to represent Susan, as the horses are also being sold. He uses varied sentence structure to achieve tension. Although most other writers would use shorter sentences to create anxiety, Thomas uses commas as well. An example of this, is at the end of CH 1. Hardy uses prolonged sentences, but with commas to create a depressing atmosphere. The whole of the story after the auctioning of Susan, is founded on that very act. The main outline of the first two chapters is quite simple. Firstly, the couple enter Weydon-Priors. Then, they visit the Fair and go to a furmity tent. Michael gets drunk and offers to sell his wife, Susan. After much pondering, a sailor approaches Henchard and purchases Susan, who is accompanied by Elizabeth-Jane. Michael, the next morning, realises what he did in his drunken rage. He makes a vow to never touch any spirits for 21 years. Michael finds that he has lost Susan forever, or so he thinks After the selling of Susan, all of Michaels actions were based on that event. Before CH. 3 continues, a lot time passes; Hardy likes to use time in his writing. As you can see in the brief plot of the story above, all of the actions made reverberated the auction. Michael made a vow due to the auction, he went in search of Susan because of the sale, etc. Hardy cleverly makes an impression in the readers mind at the beginning of the story. This makes the reader want to read further to discover the following events. From this essay, I have learnt about Hardys style, his use of things like Nature, Time and so on. I have learnt of Thomas lexis and structure. The overall language he uses is different to other authors in the sense that he uses very sophisticated expression and refers to seemingly irrelevant things to achieve sufficient effects; symbolising. Also, we learn how Hardy develops characters and their identity, e. g. Michael. His description also fluctuates to other publishments, as he refers to things like nature, chance and time; he uses elements that might be relevant to him. Hes a unique author.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Acid Rain :: Environmental Fossil Fuels Essays

Acid Rain Fossil fuels are a major part of our society today. With the start of the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuels became a very vital source in our day to day lives. Without fossil fuels our lives would be difficult-we would not be able to have cars, electricity, heat, and many other objects we use on a daily basis. Although fossil fuels are beneficial to us, fossil fuels possess a negative side effect. Fossil fuels have contributed to many environmental concerns. One of the most hazardous concerns caused by fossil fuels is acid rain. Until taking EGEE 101, I was unaware of this concern and did not know the harmful damages that acid rain causes. Therefore, I wanted to understand more about acid rain and know exactly what it is and where it comes from. Acid rain is considered precipitation in the form of rain, snow, or fog. It is not regular precipitation though; it is precipitation that is polluted by acid. Emissions of sulfur dioxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) into the atmosphere cause this precipitation to become acidic. These emissions are released into the atmosphere by human activity, such as automobiles, industries, and electrical power plants that burn fossil fuels like coal and oil. When these gases are released, they mix with water vapor in the clouds and form sulfuric and nitric acids (Acid Rain Encyclopedia Britannica 2005). When sulfuric and nitric acids are released into the atmosphere, they travel long distances by winds before falling back to earth as acid precipitation. This causes a problem when the environment cannot neutralize the acid in such large amounts (Acid Rain and The Facts 2005). An acid is a substance distinguished by its ability to react with a base (Acid Rain and The Facts 2005). Therefore this form of precipitation is named acid rain is because it has a high acidity according to the pH scale. The pH scale is a system of measurement to measure â€Å"the amount of acid in a liquid-like water.† Acids release hydrogen ions, and the acid content of a solution is based on the concentration of hydrogen ions and therefore shown as pH (Acid Rain Encyclopedia Britannica 2005).

Monday, January 13, 2020

What’s Gone Wrong with the Third Italy

Msc BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CONTENT Introduction p. 3 Early glitches of the SMEs within the industrial districts p. 5 Analysis of two of the regional clusters at stake p. 6 What went wrong? p. 7 Concluding remarks p. 9 References p. 10 Introduction The purpose of this paper is to determine to which extent the economic areas known as ’Third Italy’ have not managed to achieve the well-desired status. The local development model has been presented as the perfect small-scale flexible capitalist type that has adopted a post-Fordist mode of production (Grancelli, 2007).The economic cluster referred to as Third Italy, was founded in the post-war period (1950s and 1960s) when the global economy was going through hard times of recovery. In the north-east part of Italy a new type of firms was developed. The question may be put why didn’t the other two important industrialized districts known as First Italy (the industrial heartland of the North) and the Second Italy (the backward South) have become the regions of wealth and economic growth.The answer lies primarily in the cultural values: the local culture of entrepreneurship and cooperation (Boschma, 1998) that to some extent doesn’t apply for other Italian regions. The following figure displays accurately the industrial zone of Italy: According to Bagnasco (1977) from a economic point of view Italy was divided into the ’Three Italies’: the North-west, the big companies, was tagged as ’central economy’, the shallow regions of the South seen as ’marginal economy’ and the central-North-eastern regions- known as Third Italy- haracterized by the presence of small firms that are defined as ’peripheral economy’. Nonetheless, the way in which the Third Italy region was defined didn’t hide the real facts; when compared to the North-west typology, productivity per worker and work unit-costs were sensibly lower. But t his didn’t disable the central-north-east cluster to have a significant development process that is confirmed by: a reduction of agricultural employees, an increase in manufacturing workers, growth in resident population, and an upward trend in Italy’s industrial national product (Bianchi, 1998).The â€Å"Third Italy† region, also referred to as Emilia-Romagna, forms a north-eastern group of counties that propelled themselves to a position of prosperity between the relatively wealthy north-western triangle of Italy and the relatively impoverished Mezzagiorno region south of Rome (Walcott, 2007). Localized production centres utilize export-oriented niche specializations to create place-based economies supporting local firms. Related residents supply both low labour costs and endogenously accumulated capital.Light industrial products include foods, clothing, shoes, furniture, and metal work for a craft-based market. Building on a textiles and leather goods special ization, that demands rapid responses to a notoriously fickle fashion market, familial and other locally forged trust-based ties enabled local star â€Å"Benetton† to become an international fashion retail chain. Knowledge of the local market was so finely tuned that offerings were famously differentiated even within the same city (Walcott, 2007).External economies of place propelled tightly organized local regions to maximize returns based on clearly defined sectoral specialization. In one example clearly defying physical topography, Silicon Valley imitators sprang up around the globe as hopeful high technology havens. A real estate set-aside does not an industrial district make, however (Walcott, 2007). Early glitches of the SMEs within the industrial districts In the early 1990s the one of the menacing forces against the Italian industrial clusters was the post-industrial transition.The internationalization of the economy endangers the developing process of small-scale fir ms. One good argument is the external market that provides expanded multinational, multi-product, multi-market companies (Holland, 1987). Even if the European Union is trying to help out these businesses by adopting policies and programmes the structural problems are not accurately aimed (Dastoli and Vilella, 1992: 179). Firms part of the Italian industrial district were running short of breath confirming that the market by its self regulation has launched an attack to the ’small is beautiful’ saying.Innovation plays a key part in the life of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the industrial clusters. It is noticed a decline in the importance of factors sources of external economies) that empowered the initial outset of the firms. The long used external sources were starting to lose grip in the face of the needed environmental efficiency (Bianchi, 1998). The changes that had to be performed weren’t a walk in the park. According to Bianchi (1990): the local entrepreneurs’ social culture and the past history successes disable the belief of urgent innovation investment.Also, economic barriers have prohibited small firms to access the large scale research and development, marketing and etc. (Regini and Sabel, 1989). Furthermore, two additional problems sprung up from the innovation process that need to be taken into consideration: ’product innovation’ in those zone of production with a highly design content that subtracts the formal innovation side rather than the technological innovation, because the first one includes creativity, imagination and taste, factors that are not easily obtained in business-set like this.The other difficulty is process innovation meaning that adopting a higher technological labour focused system would both increase productivity and decrease costs (Bianchi, 1998). Hadjimicalis (Hadjimicalis, 2006) introduces a set of arguments that could nevertheless be the real ones behind Third Italyâ₠¬â„¢s downturn. ’The lack of attention to the role of state’ implies the obsolete focus on different direct and indirect protectionist measures and regulations as in the work of radicals Stoper (1997) and Scott (1988).The most important protectionist measures as the Multi-Fibre Agreement that went in favour for Italy’s blooming manufacturing industries. The regulatory decisions have protected Italy along with other countries from ’unlimited competition’ in garments and textiles from the menacing low waged countries in the Eastern part of the world. Another governmental intervention was the fiscal regulation which consisted the hedging the exchange rates for the lira due to the devaluations throughout the 20th century and one of them when Euro currency was adopted in 2001.An interesting fact is that all those authors that supported the theories behind Third Italy industrial clusters as (Asheim 1999, Becattini 1990, Cooke 1988) haven’t seen th e harsh reality of such a business type: poor working conditions and safety conditions, longer work hours and low paid working hours. All the other specific characteristics of the small-scale enterprises from the region as: flexibility, innovation and embbededness of small firms (Hadjimichalis, 2006). Another term that was used to explain the success of Italian IDs is ’social capital’.It is the theoretical concept that has been used by various authors. A good perspective is seen through the lenses of Hadjimichalis: ’From individuals to communities, from firms to families, from cooperation to competition, from working conditions to unions, from trust and reciprocity to corruption and from the success to the failure of a place, all are called social capital’, this explaining clearly the real trend of firms within the Italian industrial clusters. Analysis of two of the regional clusters at stakeThe most remarkable evolution oscillations can be outlined in Em ilia-Romagna and Veneto provinces, where ’industrialisation without breaks’ (Fua,1983) was followed by a third party strategy ’without breaks’ which means that the regions have gained the prestige of stability organisms within the frontier of national development. The Piedmont and Lombardy are also good examples for the comparative advantage of their early launch and the lasting predominance of their industries provided the solid foundations for a strong post-industrial transition (Bianchi, 1998).Tuscany, on the other hand, has badly faced up to the need to restructure during the 1980s. Its historical memory describes best the anti-industrial attitude of its ruling class. Differences between the two provinces within the Third Italy are clear. The Emilia-Romagna’s type of industrial development is seen as unique and deeply rooted in the region’s culture and entrepreneurial activity (Heidenreich, 1996) and when compared to Tuscany’s ina bility to cope with a model of development that seems inapplicable to the case.Table 1 underlines the two differences in between the two regions described above. What went wrong? The industrial district of Third Italy (IDs) have suffered severe changes during the early 1990s because of the demand fall for Made in Italy products along with the emergence of new lower waged Eastern Europe companies and developing countries (Grancelli,2006). The active devaluation of the lira due to the euro introduction had a significant impact on the upward trend of Italian exports.The small-scale enterprises that have set a foothold into the creation of the so-called Third Italy region, were basically family businesses which put all into a network bowl had formed the leading industrial area of Italy and a model to follow on by the emerging countries. Following the same idea it could be said that the demographic decline has started a process of ’social construction of the market’ (Bagnas co ;amp; Triglia 1984; Dei Ottati 1995; Provasi 2002).The financial global crisis has put its fingerprint on the actual Italian industrial districts, but those enterprises that could jump incremental innovation and ensure a competitive position globally had somewhat survived the impact (Whitford, 2001). The latter example of firms shows that they have created vertically integrated organizational blueprints, and made foreign direct investments in contrast to the swept out firms that have just relocated part of their production (Grancelli, 2006) to low pay working force or to attract foreign workers in the home production facilities.According to Hadjimichailis (2006) : The erosion of the Italian industrial clusters was made through: ’ Relocation of production in Eastern Europe in search of low labour costs’ and this gave birth to: a severe increase in unemployment percentages and adding the hiring of immigrant workers within the Italian borders. Hadjimichailis (2006) als o introduces the ’bloody Taylorism’ term which is used in relation to the destination markets of the Italian entrepeneurs, Eastern Europe countries.This is used in connection to the SMEs of Veneto which were thought to re-establish Fordist factories due to delocalization processes. One example is the relocated production quotas abroad which ranged from 23% to 45% that resulted in a decrease of 28% of employment, 38% of production units in the region. This being said, the following concluding remarks could be made: ’Fordism is not only alive and well at the global scale, but it also returns as a solution to Italian firms’ from the industrial clusters, which were the models of flexibility and industrial district mythology (Hadjimichailis, 2006 : 95).The eastern slide of some of the sub-contractors from the Third Italy confirms the ideology that coordination between subsidiaries abroad and the parent company could not be only made through tacit knowledge of skilled workers and technicians remains an important factor even in a globally set value chain (Biggero, 2006). Those actors that have relocated their business into the Eastern part of Europe, Romania or other Balkan countries are seen as ’extroverted actors’ that also maintained relations within the home country district (Tappy, 2005).An important technological disequilibrium was introduced in the late 1960s – plastic materials for ski boots – by the lively research of external knowledge through some of leading firms. Another challenge of the north-eastern industrial clusters is the superior technological level of the products and putting a foot in the door of appealing mergers and acquisitions. Old, traditional and family driven businesses that are identified within the Third Italy areas need to see the ever changing strategy patterns as to going from a production to design phase which could attract cost diminishing (Cooke, 1998).It must not be neglecte d the power created by the tight bonded social network that has nurtured its roots for more than 50 years and before de ’90s has raised economic analysts’ eye browses throughout the world. Concluding remarks In order to survive, Italian industrial districts need to be fulfilling the following two conditions: their social and geographical division of labour remains globally competitive as compared to similar areas, sectors and other forms of industrial production, and their internal system of social reproduction remains unchallenged. Hadjimichalis, 2006) Mergers and acquisitions with famous brand names could be live threats for the small business embedded firms from the industrial zones of Italy. The power of Fordism has not dawned; in fact there is an increase of business deployment using this theory mainly in the Eastern countries. De-localization breaks the mesmerizing effect of small-scale flexible companies and builds up the multinational company picture having ver tical integrated characteristics.The presence of a huge wave of non-EU immigrants also changes the parameters of the Third Italy’s rather stable local social structure, with a cap on immigrations that could preserve craft traditions and the reproduction of skills. Even though ’Third Italy’ concept is turning ethereal, the back stage offers the resources, specific capabilities and core competencies developed throughout the years by the district firms to achieve competitive advantage in their markets but also to allow their sub-parts within the industrial system (Schiavone, 2004).As theories claim Third Italy revolves around the social capital theories that also could be a driver for economic performance (Granato et al. , 1996). In addition to too little social capital, too much social capital could have a negative impact on economic performance (Boschma and Lambooy, 2002). Finally, it could be assumed that the process of rethinking and reorienting of Third Italyà ¢â‚¬â„¢s entrepreneurial and family based firms has done a significant change to whole industrial aggregate. References Asheim B. (1999), â€Å" Interactive learning and localized knowledge in globalising learning economies†.Geojournal 49(4):345–352 Bagnasco, A. ,Trigilia, C. 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Challenge and response in the Italian industrial districts†, Economy and Society, 30/1: 38-65. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Theory that appeared after the ‘Fordism’ period in which a mass consumer was targeted, products standardized and costs lowered. Post-Fordism’ is characterized by ‘flexible specialization’ based on dense networks of flexible, strongly related, mostly small and medium-sized firms in mainly craft-based industries that are concentrated in specialis ed industrial districts(Boschma,1998). [ 2 ]. Copyright 2010 privileges set. [ 3 ]. SME-small and medium enterprises [ 4 ]. Putnam’s work on Italy (1993), Porter’s on clusters (1998) [ 5 ]. (Casarino, 1996) – After the Industrial Revolution, a mechanical engineer called Frederick W. Taylor proposed a new way to organize factories and shop floors with what he called the â€Å"Scientific Management†.