Ivory Coast: A Tale of Chocolate and Guns

Ivory Coast is the world’s top exporter of cocoa, which the world depends on for chocolate. However lately it has been making headlines for other reasons. Keywords, such as - civil war, power struggle, internal strife, coup d’etat - likely to google “Ivory Coast” faster, cocoa only if you are patient enough. The Strife-torn Ivory Coast is a ‘not so uncommon’ vignette especially from Africa. It's rather painful that Ivory Coast, once hailed as a model of stability with decades of economic prosperity since its independence in 1960, has slipped into a blood-soaked civil war in the past twelve years.

Source: ACLED

The cocoa export in Ivory Coast has been plagued by corruption for years. Since the early eighties, a host of institutional changes and macroeconomic structural problems resulted in the deterioration of cocoa export standards, labor rights abuses and thriving black markets. The pain was compounded by a series of social and political crisis. The xenophobic “Ivoirite” policy based on the exclusion of immigrant workers from other countries led up to an attempted coup in 1999 and subsequently into civil conflict in 2002, which divided the country by the cultural fault line between Muslims in the north, and the Christian majority of the economically prosperous south. The poverty rate rose from 10 % in 1985 to around 50 % in 2008.

Source: Author's calculation

As the long-anticipated presidential election (held in October, 2010) morphed into a political limbo, cocoa exports was locked in a deadly power struggle between the renegade incumbent Laurent Gbagbo - who refused to relinquish power despite losing the election and Alassane Ouattara, a 'non-Ivoirite' - the current president with the support of world leaders. The situation worsened when Ouattara imposed an embargo on the export of cocoa beans to financially stifle his rival, Gbagbo - as almost 7 million (out of 21 million) people live off the cocoa in Ivory Coast. There is a long way go to make cocoa sustainable for farmers to support development and not exploitation. It also mandates the growth of Fair Trade cocoa farming with the big companies such as Hershey to start sourcing certified cocoa.

The least we can do - as you bite into a chocolate just spare a thought for the young children perhaps enjoying the bitter taste of it in the cocoa fields of Ivory Coast!

Is Happiness for sale?

Mignon McLaughlin once said, “Money is much more exciting than anything it buys.” Well, this may not be so true if you can buy happiness with it. Taking stock of the accumulated subjective evidences on happiness research, behavioral economists (where economists meet psychologists), in recent years, have become increasingly intrigued with the question “Can money possibly buy happiness?” Dating back to the early seventies, Richard Easterlin, a social scientist discovered that within a country, rich people tend to be much happier than the poor, but rich countries tend not to be happier than poor countries (known as Easterlin’s Paradox). What this suggests is, only relative income (compared to others within a country) matters to happiness and the economic growth may not actually be a factor in raising everyone’s well-being.

On the contrary, the University of Chicago’s Allen Sanderson claims that GDP (income of a country) and average income may still be the best measures of well-being as they correlate so strongly with access to basic necessities, better health, and education. Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson (U Penn) reaffirm this by analyzing multiple datasets. Moreover, they find a strong association of economic growth with rising happiness. 

Note: Based on Deaton and Kahneman (2010)

However convincing these outcomes may sound, perhaps a little more attention should be paid on how we measure happiness. Traditionally in surveys, a question like “How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?” evaluates a person’s happiness for life. Going one step further, Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton (Princeton) argue that there is another aspect of happiness, the emotional well-being, which refers to the emotional quality of everyday experience such as joy, sadness, anger, etc. Surprisingly, based on the outcome of more than 450K responses surveyed in the US, they conclude high income buys life satisfaction but not emotional well-being.

As it turns out, the Happiness-Gurus are far from reaching a consensus. Meanwhile lets try to be happy for nothing!

Realism and its ardent followers

Realism is a form of art where artists portray a truthful and objective vision of contemporary life. It emerged in the aftermath of the French Revolution in 1848, until then art was predominantly in the form of Classicism and Romantic subjectivism. As French society fought for democracy, artists democratized art with a vision that the knowledge derived from science and scientific objective methods could solve all human problems. In England realism depicted a social liberation of the middle and lower classes by acting against Victorian materialism. The introduction of realistic elements into art marked a new era, the positivist age. The great realist painters like Gustave Corbet, Edgar Degas, Theodore Rousseau, Rembrant van Rijn (and many more) emphasized on the phenomenon of light in their work. They canvassed the lives, appearances and problems of the unexceptional, the ordinary middle and lower classes. They brought to light the humble aspects of contemporary society, which was absent in the artificiality of Classicism and Romanticism. 

Maleki, Sisters and a book (1997)

Over time the art of Realism spread into branches - Classical realism, Socialist realism, Fantastic realism, Heroic realism - a few to name.  The socialist Realism (the sect emphasizing on working-class attributes) paved the way for the Barbizon School (a group of French landscape artists), the Impressionists (Claude Monet, the fecund impressionist), the avant-garde movements in England and others. To date there are numerous schools of Realist art run by a diverse group of international artists. Meet my favorite contemporary realist painters (if you have not come across their work yet!). Richard Schmid, an American painter, and Iman Maleki, an Iranian painter. Let the paintings speak of their class.

Maleki, Sunlight (2004)

To see more of Iman’s paintings, click http://imanmaleki.com/en/Galery/

To view Richard Schmid’s gallery, click http://www.richardschmid.com/gallery2_page.htm

Inemuri-Blessed to be asleep while present!

If you are in Japan, this cannot escape your eyes! You will find Japanese have an uncanny ability of falling asleep almost anywhere at anytime. Since I came to Japan, I have seen people sleeping in the metro (surprisingly no commuter ever seems to sleep through their stops!!), benches on busy streets, restaurants and parties (strangely enough!). It may sound hard to believe but sleepers are not so hard to find waiting in line at the platform, in discotheques, among the spectators of a closely contested baseball match, in lecture rooms, conferences and so on - where taking a nap may seem to be an unusual social conduct in other societies. However, it is common among Japanese, while doing so, to take particular pride in being very busy that they can not afford to get enough sleep at night. Well, only slackers get a full-night’s sleep. Just beat it! Follow the link for some interesting pictures http://acidcow.com/pics/15563-very-unusual-japanese-art-27-pics.html

While it is clear that this is sociologically distinct from the nocturnal sleep, it can be best understood by the term inemuri in Japanese. It is used to mean a state of shallow sleep or a short sleeping period outside the bed or futon i.e., mainly in public. The sleeper is present in a situation other than that intended for sleep.

Dr Brigitte Steger, Fellow of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Downing College, Cambridge regards inemuri as a form of social retreat. Although sleep stands in opposition to work, her findings suggest, sleep constitute an important precondition for the smooth performance of work by giving people sufficient opportunity to recuperate. Long hard slog is so typical in Japanese culture. As they find little opportunity to recuperation outside the work setting, they find ways to circumvent regulations so that they may recuperate within that setting. Digging deeper into the sociological concept of inemuri, she argues “the ambiguous existence of inemuri during work can be understood as a subordinate involvement which is subject to the rules of these kinds of involvements.” To learn more about the Japanese habit of sleeping visit her website at

http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/general_info/biographies/japanese/Steger.htm.

Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom) in Kyoto

 

Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom festival) in spring is one of the representative images of Japan. It is celebrated in many places around the globe (like in Washington DC) but when you are in Japan, Kyoto is arguably the most well-known place to view cherry blossom. For those who are not that familiar with Kyoto (other than the environmental treaty known as Kyoto Protocol), it has functioned as the cultural and historic crossroads of Japan and was the capital from 794 to 1868. 

Philosopher's Path

Last weekend I embarked on a day trip to Kyoto. It takes about 30 minutes to reach Kyoto from Osaka by Hankyu-Kyoto train line. The entire area literally blossoms in the spring. Blossoms can also be seen along the Kamogawa River. I started my tour with a walk along the Philosopher's Path, lined with beautiful cherry trees and filled with pulsating live traditional music.

Honenin Temple

I spent almost ten hours, but felt one needs more than a week to do justice to the grace of ancient Kyoto. A serene landscape with raked pebble gardens, the narrow winding alleys leading up to the temple, the sentient architecture of a temple roof and magnificently preserved old Japanese houses. Meet the exquisitely dressed Geishas at a traditional tea ceremony, or spot the tripping steps of a Maiko (an apprentice Geisha) crossing a street in Gion (Geisha district).

Shimogamo Shrine (UNESCO Site)

Kyoto has lot more to offer. More than 2000 temples and shrines, of which 17 are marked as UNESCO’s World Heritage sites, the classical Japanese gardens, the Kyoto Imperial Palace (Kyoto Gosho), Nijo Castle, craftsmen’s workshops, tea houses, dainty Japanese cuisines and shops full of locally crafted souvenirs.

Quiz for you. We often use shrine and a temple interchangeably, can you tell the difference? Two primary religions are practiced in Japan: Shinto is practiced at a shrine and Buddhism is practiced at a temple.

An Expat’s Diary: Life in Osaka

Fingers to keyboard can feel like a drag when there are waves to ride and volcanoes to hike, but documenting a journey can be one of the most rewarding parts of any travel. I set forth on a new journey as my employment brought me to Osaka, Japan. Was about to make my way through customs at the airport, an officer greeted me with a smile! I stood befuddled. Failed to remember if that had ever happened to me. A good start, must say, and loving it so far.  

Osaka literally means big hill (O=big, saka=hill). Cursor on Google brings to light the Kansai region in the main island of Honshu with a staggering population of over 18 million. Kansai houses three major cities Kobe, Kyoto and Osaka, which are roughly 40 minutes apart by train. Historically Osaka has been the commercial capital of Japan. Only the west side of the city is open to the Osaka bay (in case Tsunami concerns you!). Downtown resembles other big cities; the scrappers go skyward as you zoom in. ‘Floating Garden Observatory’ on the 39^th floor of the Umeda twin towers offers a panoramic view of Osaka. Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori are the most popular places for shopping and dining out. Avoid Saturday evenings if you plan to be there else you will go astray in the throng. Other touristic spots include the Osaka Castle, Osaka Aquarium, Universal Studios in Japan and a number of temples, shrines and amusement parks, the list goes endless.

Talk about food. God forgives the sin of gluttony. Silent vice was born as there was no self-control to resist the temptation to over-indulge myself in authentic Japanese cuisine. Be it Hako Sushi (square shaped sushi), Okonomiyaki (looks like a pancake with any ingredient from meat, seafood to vegetables), Udon (the most delicious lamen), Tamagoyaki (Omelette with seafood or vegetables inside) or simple Japanese curry rice - all the dishes are crafted meticulously using freshest ingredients. Japanese culture recognizes the importance of eye appeal by perfecting the art of presentation. Some websites rank Osaka as the world’s greatest food city, but when you are in Osaka it is food that you only care about.

Face some inconvenient truth. You need some basic Japanese words to survive here. I got lucky so far as my colleagues and staffs at Osaka University have been extremely helpful. From getting an apartment to signing a job contract or establishing a bank account, the Japanese bureaucratic system can sometimes turn you off. You can do better. Not so hard when you are surrounded by very disciplined and helpful people and when everything runs on time. The smile on your face, a modest attempt to bow and Arigato gozaimashita can really take you far – you learn not to complain! Latest news headlines say radioactive water stopped leaking into the sea near Fukushima Daiichi plant, for more information you can find the following links useful.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/ 

http://ukinjapan.fco.gov.uk/en/

http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-20110331-travel-warning.html

Until soon!