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So, "The new regulations say that working in the sex industry is not immoral any more, and so jobs cannot be turned down without a risk to benefits." Nevertheless, feminism has come a long way for women right and now it just simply seems to vanish (and even legally) or go back for 50 years, which leads to a logical question: Why so much woman struggle and effort. Still, is it is global and missing?
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REFERENCES
1. Alexander, Sally, Becoming a Woman, Boston, South England Press, 1956 2. Bauer, Nancy, Simone de Beauvoir (Philosophy and Feminism), Columbia University Press, New York, 2001 3. Bertens, Hans, Literary Theory: The Basics, Rutledge, London, 2001 4. Butler, Judith, Gender Trouble, Routledge, New York, 1900 5. Childs, Peter, Modernism, Taylor and Francis Group, London, 2000 6. Culler, Jonathan, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, New York, 1997 7. Dobrinescu, Anca Mihaela, Modernist Narrative Discourse- Virginia Woolf, Meridiane, 1997
8. Felman, Shosana, Women and Madness: The Critical Phallacy, New York, Columbia University Press, 1995 9. Gilbert, Sandra si Susan Gubar, The Madwoman in the Attic, Ithaca, New York, 1992 10. Kolodny, Annette, Dancing Through the Minefield: Some Observations on the Theory, Practice and Politics of a Feminist Literary Criticism, 1980 in Feminisms, an anthology of literary theory and criticism, edited by Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Price Herndl, Rutgers, New Jersey, 1997 11. Lodge, David, Twentieth Century Literary Criticism-A Reader, Longman, London, 1972 12. Rosalind Rosenberg, Beyond Separate Spheres, Intellectual Roots of Modern Feminism, Yale College, 1982 13. Sayers, Janet, Sexual Contradictions- Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Feminism, Tavistock Publications Ltd. In association with Methen Inc., New York, 1990 14. Showalter, Elaine, A Literatu7re of Their Own, British Women Novelists from Bronte to Lessing, Vintage Books, New York, 1986 On the web http://fathersforlife.org/feminism/utopia.html http://orient.bowdoin.edu/orient/article.php http://www.cafra.org/article356.html
THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF AURIFEROUS MINING EXCAVATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
Florina BRAN1, Raluca Florentina CREU1, R. C. CREU2
Bucharest University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 1Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies ===================================================================================
Key words: cost-benefit analysis, environment impact, auriferous ore, environment, industrial activities, ecologic risk, pollution
Abstract: This study wishes to underline the impact of auriferous mining excavation on the environment from the perspective of the cost-benefit analysis. Due to the aggravation of the international crisis, big companies tend to exploit as many fields as possible without taking into account the catastrophic effects of pollution. Often, these activities take place with the local and central public authorities complicity, the final aim being that of maximizing the companies profit without considering the social and environmental costs. This study presents the impact of economic activity on the environment, underlines the main agents of the environment degradation and develops a trust instrument of the environment externalities, that is the cost-benefit analysis. The theoretical conception has been passed by using the cost-benefit analysis instrument in a few government actions in Great Britain, USA and Europe. As far as our country is concerned, we have chosen to study the cost benefit analysis within the Roia Montan project, where we have noticed a huge potential profit for the Gold Corporation company to the detriment of incredible losses caused to the environment. 1. THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Industrial activity causes important changes to the environment. However, not all industrial fields have a major impact on the environment. The main industrial branches having a major impact on the environment are: the energetic industry, the chemical industry, the cement and other construction materials industry, the ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, oil refinery etc. There are complex industrial processes using raw materials during which various polluting
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Generally speaking, the promoted agricultural politics aim at supplying the food needed for the population. Meanwhile, through methods of intensifying the agricultural production, the quality of land is degrading. Such government actions can be typical also for Romanian governments. There have been taken into consideration the decisions of draining the lakes in the Danube system, enforcing an exploitation rate of forests bigger than the natural regeneration rate, high range works with disastrous effects that are irreversible for the environment, as well as those linked to fructifying the pyrites in the Climani Mountains, the shale at Anina, promoting the monoculture on extended agricultural areas, etc.
Governmental actions
Figure no. 2 The main agents of the environment degradation The cost-benefit analysis applied to environment protection activities has proved for instance that in the USA, the 1:3 ratio between expenses and benefits has been registered at the air quality control and in Germany the 1:5,7 ratio has been registered in the species preservation case (including trees etc). The methodology of counting the benefits and costs related to the environment and economic activity has not yet been finalized, but the existing literature in this matter is speaking by itself regarding the ampleness of preoccupations within which, a national statistic indicator has been identified, that is the Gross national product of scrap. This new statistic indicator offers information regarding the soundness of economy and social welfare. Other examples refer to: Demographic growth generates environment externalities. A constant, economically related population increases the living standard. Education and economic development are the safest ways to demographic stability; Greenhouse effect is not to be neglected; the more people, the bigger the pressure on the resources, even if we consider the regenerating resources; Economic growth is a favorable agent for environment degradation, even if improvements of peoples health and welfare are expected; Economic development related to natures needs and restrictions enforces setting up a link between economic and ecologic policies in all state levels, as well as in all industry branches. Blending the development of economic activities with the nature protection criteria requires admitting the fact that economic growth is able to generate ecologic benefits. Economic development pushes up the societys aspiration level and generates the premises for improving the environment quality. Income increase and better living standard supposes meeting the main material needs, enabling people to focus both on the quality of their living as well as on that of the environment where they live.
Figure 1. The agents of the industrial activities impact on the environment The classics insist on the poor functioning of the market as main cause for the degradation of the environment. When market acts free, the deciding agents are not encouraged to take into account the third parties interests as they are only preoccupied by the maximizing of their interests. Such examples are often met among people representing the interests of flight companies (noise disturbs the over flown population), highways (imagine what traffic means to those people living in the neighborhoods), energetic installations (coal, uranium consumers) etc. When inhabitants affected by industrial activities do not get compensations, we are talking about externalities. In the particular case of markets poor functioning, this happens because no one is in control of the property over the natural resources. Take air for instance: it is one of the freely accessible resources. It does not belong to anyone specifically and therefore, all poisonous emissions resulted from the anthropic activity will be released in the atmosphere. Despite all these, in order to diminish the pollution intensity, society has established its own rules regarding the CO , NO , SO , CO, CFC etc. emissions. Given the fact that there is no owner of the environment agents, of the economic resource, an intermediary ownership can be accepted such as treaties and agreements establishing a system of rules for accessing and using the resources. The main agents of the environment degradation are underlined under figure no. 2: the poor functioning of the market; government actions that jeopardize most of the times the quality of the environment even if this is not purposely intended. Governments are invested on rather short terms, of four years, and in order to keep and consolidate their position, they often activate actions and sources that have long and medium term impact on society and environment.
2 2 2
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Efficiency Efficiency
The cost-benefit analysis can frequently be used by governments for evaluating social costs and benefits of the project (e.g. in the energy field, roads, environment protection activities etc) also considering the externalities, public goods, macro-economic consequences etc. The main features of the cost-benefit analysis supposes the definition of concepts such as: a) benefit is defined as welfare improvement, while cost is counted as a loss of the latter; b) a welfare growth, a benefit is counted by the willingness to pay CP - WPA that is as much as an individual wants to pay to protect his benefit or by the willingness to accept - CA WTA; c) a welfare loss (cost) is counted by capacity of loss tolerance or by the willingness to pay in order top prevent the loss; d) both CA and CP express human preferences with fundamental value within the cost-benefit analysis. There is
no social entity below or above the individual, therefore society is always seen as an aggregation of individuals; e) if benefits are higher than costs, the investment plan has a positive value, but carried it out depends on the budget possibilities. Environment policies and projects passing the test of the cost-benefit analysis are classified based on the preferences range and carried out depending on the cost-benefit rate. Every level of the cost-benefit analysis generates a group of rules originating in the economic efficiency concept. The base of the cost-benefit analysis consists of the fact that benefits have to exceed the costs in any implementing stage of the project. The general tendency is to estimate mainly the benefits. Economic science underlines the consumers tendency to maximize availability in order to reach price and income performance while producers maximize the profit included in the price performance. Environment degradation generates costs that will be paid by society (environment externalities) representing according to A. Iancu the direct and indirect effects produced by pollution in economy. We are talking about the losses produced by pollution in the detriment of the natural environment and the one created by people o none hand, as well as calculating the economic and social results produced by putting out or reducing the pollution emissions as well as the financial efforts on the other hand. Environment protection is not reduced only to costs. It also generates benefits as positive externalities. In Great Britain, the cost-benefit analysis is favorably regarded. It may not be frequently used by environmental agencies or in taking government decisions, but it surely influences all these. In Europe, compared to Great Britain, environment policy is less influenced by the cost-benefit analysis. If in Great Britain the new environment law requires the use of the costbenefit analysis by the environment agencies, on the old continent, likewise decisions are stipulated by article 130 R in the United European Act. The methodology for counting costs and benefits (figure no. 3) related to environment protection and economic activity hasnt been finalized yet. This is why some specialists use the total economic value (VET) of ecologic resources. VET has two main elements: used value (VF) and unused value (VNF). VF is made up of the direct use value (VFD), the indirect used value (VFI) and the potential use value (VPF). Existential value is a major element (VE).
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Figure no. 4 Obstacles in using the cost-benefit analysis within environment policy Cost-benefit supporters state that this could replace taking decisions. Even if every legal decision is strengthened by using the cost-benefit analysis in the environment policy, its part should not be over-estimated. It can be considered that it constitutes an extra information source before taking decisions and it is even wise to do a cost-benefit analysis because economic efficiency is many times forgotten when making political decisions.
USED VALUE
UNUSED VALUE
Existential value
Figure no. 3. Methodology of counting costs and benefits Obstacles in using the cot-benefit analysis in the environment policies (figure no. 4) can be summarized the following way: Fructifying nature is a controversy due to not understanding the issue. Many economists ignore the link between exploiting nature and fructifying it. The ecosystem elements are strongly connected to each other so that the sum of the component elements is not higher than the total. Nature, regarded as a production agent shows a limited availability of the natural resources in need for evaluation. Not all natural resources are commercial merchandise, therefore there is no settled price for them. Lack of information leads to unclear expression of individual preferences. The consumer is the sovereign in an decentralized economy and the outcome of fructifying the environment agents is made up based on the individual preferences, after making request and limited resources meet. Given the fact that reality is far from a perfect market, prices offer false information regarding the limits of resources especially when it comes to monopoly. Moral imposes several questions, some economists saying that there is no economy characterized by the consumers un-limited sovereignty. Some preferences conflicting with moral requirements of society are forbidden, thus influencing the monetary value.
Moral
Individual preferences
Nature frunctifying
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private company level financially potent). Until putting into practice such a plan, the present mining excavations could go on in a way and to such an extent so that the environment, the unique archeological remnants and the tourist potential of the area should not be jeopardized.
CONCLUSIONS
Taking into account the historical potential of the area, the unique natural habitat of the Apuseni Mountains, it is strongly needed that all interested authorities and institutions in Romania together with scientists, with ecology and archeology international organizations should join their efforts in order to declare this area as a nationally top important region, one protected by law, and the Roman galleries and other neighboring archeology sites should be included in the world cultural patrimony. An alternative solution has to solve unemployment and poverty issues on the long run. Such solution has to be established on the regenerating resources in the area, on the cultural tourism to which the archeological richness of the area can be counted as a plus. Declaring the area as an archeological park belonging to the world patrimony protected by the UNESCO (quite an achievable goal!) would improve tourist interest and could bring European Union funds for the continuation of archeological research. The Romanian state or the home investors should promote in this area investments having a permanent and long term effect. Obviously, a well documented study is required in this respect along with a rigorously planned and coordinated program (either on a government level, or on
REFERENCES
1. Bran P. (coordinator), Bran F., Roca I, Creu R., Manea G, The economic dimension of the environmental impact Roia Montan Study, The ASE printing house, Bucharest 2004; 2. Fodor. D., Baican,G. The impact of mining industry on the environment, Ed. Infomin, Deva, 2001 3. Onic. I., The environment impact of mineral resources excavations, Ed. Universitas, Petroani, 2001; 4. Onic I, article The engineering universe magazine no. 20/2008; 5. Haiduc I, Rglie ., Risks and development alternatives in the Roia Montan area, Cluj Branch of the Romanian Academy, Economic Industry and Services Centre 6. Bran F., Ioan I, Globalization and environment, The university printing house 2008 7. Bran F. The ecologic element of economic development decisions: study (forestry and tourism), The ASE printing house, 2002 8. Bran F, Rojanschi V, Evaluation of the ecologic impact and environmental audit, The ASE printing house, 2004.
Abstract: Since 2007, Romania is a member of the European Union and is a trustful partner for companies and countries around the world, as well as an alternative for entering Europe for the international commerce and foreign investments. This new position brought important changes from the perspective of national security. The paper aims to bring more light on aspects to be considered in policy making so that Romania to be able to cope with the security challenges. The new vision on scientific research, technological development and innovation proves that the world is heading towards knowledge, the investments in intangible values through scientific discovery and innovation become increasingly important and determine on a large scale the economic progress and social