Uzbekistans History, Economic and Culture

Uzbekistan is a country in central Asia which boarders Kazakhstan in the northern side, Kyrgyzstan in the eastern side and Tajikistan in the southern eastern side. During the 4th century B.C it was under the Persian rule that had been conquered by Alexander the Great.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Uzbekistan’s History, Economic and Culture specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The region incorporated Islam as a religion in 8th century when the Arab forces invaded the land. Around the 13th century the region was taken over by the Mongols from the Seljuk Turks. The 16th century saw the region been merged with their neighbors but was not to last for long as the region broke into principalities (Adams 19). However, the city-states, which included khanates, Kokand and Bukhara were not to last for long as the Russians conquered them in the 19th century. In 1924, the territory was a republic but it is in 19 25 that it became an independent under socialist republic. However, in 1991 the country declared its independence making September 1st their national holiday. The country today enjoys independence with a presidential rule. Economically, the people of Uzbekistan are agriculturalist, however, the country is endowed with many minerals. Cotton has been their main produce but has recently been replaced by natural gas. The other minerals that the Uzbekistan people are involved with are gold and uranium. The country has recently grown to be a manufacturing country, especially in the automobiles industrial where they are a big exporter to Russian market. The state has always been in control of most business enterprises, but in the recent past free market has been endorsed (Oliker 46). It is not easy to determine the growth rate of the country because the government keeps unreliable records. However, it is notable much of the wealth of the country is held by the elite in the society with alm ost a quarter of the population living below the poverty line. The government has been instrumental in preventing the country from facing capital outflow by ensuring that the country adopts the policy of substitution of their imports. The actions of the government to control economic activities have even made convertibility of different currencies of the world. The low economy has transformed to some of the individuals in the country getting involved to human trafficking business. The business usually involves girls, as they are traffics to other countries as prostitutes (BoÄ ­kova 181). Amongst the people of Uzbekistan, the elders are the most respected people in the society. They have a mode of greetings where the men put their hands on the heart of other men when greeting them, while women usually put their right hands on each other’s elbow. The mode of dressing especially to women was such that they were to cover their bodies with their heads looking down to avoid any at tention. The people of Uzbekistan are mostly Muslims with a small percentage of people enjoying other religions like Buddhist and Jewish.Advertising Looking for research paper on geography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Traditionally, matters of marriage were left to the man and the women but the approval of the parent was important. Virginity among the women was upheld and women were expected to be married much earlier than the men. Bride price had to be paid by the family of the man, and the cost incurred in the marriage ceremony was covered by the family of the wife (Hanks 83). There were defined duties of both men and women. While men were expected to work outside, the house women were expected to work indoors engaging in activities like weaving and spinning using cotton. Women were expected to cover the whole of their bodies when in public and they viewed it as observance of their faith (Adams 17). Traditional medicine was also incorporated in their treatment where herbs were used for treatment. There was also a taboo of drinking cold drinks since it was viewed as the reason why people caught cold. Arts performance that dated back during the soviet rule is still practiced. They include the crafts work as well as miniature painting. However, the practice of their music by the instruments they used in past is still in practice. Dotars that were put on the legs, flutes, and small drums are still used in the performance of their art. Unlike other countries in central Asia, Uzbekistan has adhered to the principle of legal stability. The constitution gives rights to the people to own private property and it views it as a way of giving self-respect to the people as well as a way of developing the society. Solid constitutional bases have been laid down through the years to promote and upgrade political and social relations. Economic freedom of the citizens has been highly promoted as well as the spirit of entrepreneurship with an aim of eliminating the repugnant old command-administrative system. The country has also incorporated a legal and organization environment where the society of Uzbekistan integrates with the world. Uzbekistan has adopted an open door policy that grants foreign investors reliable regal guarantee and broad economic opportunities in the economic activities. The environment for foreign investors has continually been improved as well as simplification of the procedures that are involved in creation of manufacturing enterprise for foreigners (Karimov 172). Regulatory acts created by Uzbekistan have had a comprehensive system of taxation and incentive against poetical and commercial risk for the foreigners. In turn, there has been active participation by foreign investors in this country. Some of their favorable policies to the foreigners are: freedom of buying property that the state has already privatized as well as ownership rights to these properties. Enterpri ses owned by foreigners are allowed to export without licenses as well to import duty free property from joint ventures (Karimov 173).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Uzbekistan’s History, Economic and Culture specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Economic relations between Uzbekistan and the United States have mostly been controlled by the bi-literal trade agreement signed by the two countries. The agreement was signed in 1994 and one of the benefits the agreements had to Uzbekistan was that it had an exemption provision to many of the United States importing tariffs. In the year 2000, the two countries signed a bilateral investment treaty but it did not come into force because of the weak economic reforms in Uzbekistan. In terms of imports and exports, Uzbekistan imports machines and equipment. Also inclusive in the list of the imports are chemical products and food items, especially the ones that d eal in plastics. The exports to the United States include inorganic chemistry products machines and equipment (Group Taylor Francis 2548). American companies have also been involved in investing in Uzbekistan economy in establishment of technological base in both agriculture and mining sectors. Infrastructure and food processing are also other sectors of the economy where American companies have actively involved themselves in. The American company General Motors has also established a strong link with the government of Uzbekistan and collaborated in manufacturing of cars. It is also notable that Uzbekistan is the biggest export of uranium in United States (Zhukov 213). The relation between United States and Uzbekistan can be traced back to 1991 when Uzbekistan was established as an independent nation. The following year saw the establishment of Uzbekistan embassy in United States. From that time, as part of the U.S policy, campaigns have been launched to support Uzbekistan upheld the rule of law. The relationship between the two countries increased after September 11 attacks, which led to the war in Afghanistan. However, the closeness between the two countries went a drift when United States requested the international community to get involved in investigating the Andijon violence of 2005. The reason behind sourness in the relations on was because Uzbekistan did not want involvement of United States or other European powers in influencing the government activities. However, year 2007 saw the two countries improving the relationship among them (Thackrah 240).Advertising Looking for research paper on geography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The relations were all round as they included security issues civil issues as well as economic issues. It is also an attempt by the United States to ensure that there is peace in central Asia since Uzbekistan is the country with the biggest population and the most instrumental in keeping stability. The new relation between the two countries has since to improve to the best as in the United States assistance budget there was a provision that seeks to ensure better livelihood for the people of Uzbekistan (Group Taylor Francis 554). The relationship between the two countries has also promoted the level of education in Uzbekistan as many students from Uzbekistan have studied in American universities. Works Cited Adams, Laura L. â€Å"The Spectacular State: Culture and National Identity in Uzbekistan.† Durham: Duke University Press , 2010. Print BoÄ ­kova Elena Vladimirovna, R. B. Rybakov. â€Å"Kinship in the Altaic world: proceedings of the 48th Permanent International Altais tic Conference, Moscow 10-15 July, 2005.† Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag , 2006. Print Group, Taylor Francis. â€Å"Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia 2004, Volume 4.† Lndon: Routledge , 2003. Print Group, Taylor Francis. â€Å"Europa World Year Book 2, Book 2.† London: Taylor Francis, 2004. Print Hanks, Reuel R. â€Å"Central Asia: a global studies handbook.† Califonia: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Print Karimov, I. A. â€Å"Uzbekistan on the threshold of the twenty-first century: challenges to stability and progress.† New York: Palgrave Macmillan , 1998. Print Oliker Olga, Thomas S. Szayna. â€Å"Faultlines of conflict in Central Asia and the south Caucasus: implications for the U.S. Army, Issue 1598.† Califonia: Rand Corporation, 2003. Print Thackrah, John Richard. â€Å"Dictionary of terrorism.† New York: Routledge , 2004. Print Zhukov, Boris Z. Rumer Stanislav Viï ¸  aï ¸ ¡cheslavovich. â€Å"Central Asia: the challenges of ind ependence.† New York: M.E. Sharpe , 1998. Print This research paper on Uzbekistan’s History, Economic and Culture was written and submitted by user Silver Gorilla to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Lydia Pinkham Was an Inventor and Marketer

Lydia Pinkham Was an Inventor and Marketer Only a woman can understand a womans ills.- Lydia Pinkham Lydia Pinkham was an inventor and marketer of famous patent medicine Lydia E. Pinkhams Vegetable Compound, one of the most successful products ever marketed specifically for women. Because her name and picture were on the label of the product, she became one of the best-known women in America. Occupation: inventor, marketer, entrepreneur, business managerDates: February 9, 1819 - May 17, 1883Also known as: Lydia Estes, Lydia Estes Pinkham Lydia Pinkham Early Life Lydia Pinkham was born Lydia Estes. Her father was William Estes, a wealthy farmer, and shoemaker in Lynn, Massachusetts, who managed to become wealthy from real estate investments. Her mother was Williams second wife, Rebecca Chase. Educated at home and later at Lynn Academy, Lydia worked as a teacher from 1835 to 1843. The Estes family opposed slavery, and Lydia knew many of the early abolitionist activists, including Lydia Maria Child, Frederick Douglass, Sarah Grimkà ©, Angelina Grimkà ©, and William Lloyd Garrison. Douglass was a lifelong friend of Lydia. Lydia herself became involved, joining, with her friend Abby Kelley Foster the Lynn Female Anti-Slavery Society, and she was secretary of the Freemans Society. She also became involved in womens rights. Religiously, the Estes family members were Quakers but left the local meeting over a conflict around slavery. Rebecca Estes and then the rest of the family became Universalists, also influenced by the Swedenborgians and spiritualists. Marriage Lydia married widower Isaac Pinkham in 1843. He brought a five-year-old daughter into the marriage. Together they had five more children; the second son died in infancy. Isaac Pinkham was involved in real estate but never did very well. The family struggled financially. Lydias role was primarily as the typical wife and mother of Victorian middle-class ideals. Then, in the Panic of 1873, Isaac lost his money, was sued for nonpayment of debts, and generally fell apart and was unable to work. A son, Daniel, lost his grocery store to the collapse. By 1875, the family was nearly destitute. Lydia E. Pinkham Vegetable Compound Lydia Pinkham had become a follower of nutrition reformers like Sylvester Graham (of the graham cracker) and Samuel Thomson. She brewed a home remedy made of roots and herbs, and including 18% to 19% alcohol as solvent and preservative. She had shared this freely with family members and neighbors for about ten years. According to one legend, the original formula came to the family through a man for whom Isaac Pinkham had paid a debt of $25. In desperation over their financial circumstances, Lydia Pinkham decided to market the compound. They registered a trademark for Lydia E. Pinkhams Vegetable Compound and copyrighted a label which after 1879 included Lydias grandmotherly picture at the suggestion of the Pinkham son, Daniel. She patented the formula in 1876. Son William, who had no outstanding debts, was named the legal owner of the company. Lydia brewed the compound in their kitchen until 1878 when it was moved into a new building next door. She personally wrote many of the advertisements for it, focusing on female complaints which included a variety of ailments including menstrual cramps, vaginal discharge, and other menstrual irregularities. The label originally and assertively claimed A Sure Cure for PROLAPSIS UTERI or Falling of the Womb, and all FEMALE WEAKNESSES, including Leucorrhea, Painful Menstruation, Inflammation, and Ulceration of the Womb, Irregularities, Floodings, etc. Many women were unwilling to consult physicians for their female difficulties. Physicians of the time often prescribed surgery and other unsafe procedures for such problems. This might include applying leeches to the cervix or vagina. Those supporting that eras alternative medicine often turned to home or commercial remedies such as Lydia Pinkhams. The competition included Dr. Pierces Favorite Prescription and Wine of Cardui. Growing Business Selling the compound was at core a family enterprise, even as it grew. The Pinkham sons distributed ads and even sold the medicine door to door around New England and New York. Isaac folded pamphlets. They used handbills, postcards, pamphlets, and advertisements, beginning with the Boston newspapers. The Boston advertisement brought in orders from wholesalers. A major patent medicine broker, Charles N. Crittenden, began to distribute the product, increasing its distribution to nationwide. Advertising was aggressive. The ads targeted women directly, on the assumption that women understood their own problems best. An advantage that the Pinkhams emphasized was that Lydias medicine was created by a woman, and the advertisements stressed endorsements by women as well as by druggists. The label gave the impression of the medicine being homemade even though it was commercially produced. Ads often were designed to look like news stories, usually with some painful situation that could have been alleviated by the use of the compound. By 1881, the company began marketing the compound not only as a tonic  but also as pills and lozenges. Pinkhams goals went beyond commercial; her correspondence including advice on health and physical exercise. She believed in her compound as an alternative to standard medical treatment, and she wanted to counter the idea that women were weak. Advertising to Women One feature of the advertisements of Pinkhams remedy was an open and frank discussion of womens health issues. For a time, Pinkham added a douche to the offerings of the company; women often used it as contraception, but because it was marketed for hygienic purposes, it was not targeted for prosecution under the Comstock Law. The advertising prominently featured Lydia Pinkhams image and promoted her as a brand. Ads called Lydia Pinkham the Saviour of her Sex. The ads also urged women to let doctors alone and called the compound A medicine for women. Invented by a woman. Prepared by a woman. The advertisements offered a way to write to Mrs. Pinkham and many did. Lydia Pinkhams responsibility in the business also included answering the many letters received. Temperance and the Vegetable Compound Lydia Pinkham was an active supporter of temperance. Despite that, her compound included 19% alcohol. How did she justify that? She claimed that the alcohol was necessary to suspend and preserve the herbal ingredients, and so she did not find its use incompatible with her temperance views. Using alcohol for medicinal purposes was often accepted by those who supported temperance. While there were many stories of women being affected by the alcohol in the compound, it was relatively safe. Other patent medicines of the time included morphine, arsenic, opium or mercury. Death and Continuing Business Daniel, at 32, and William, at 38, the two youngest Pinkham sons, both died in 1881 of tuberculosis (consumption). Lydia Pinkham turned to her spiritualism and held seances to try to contact her sons. At that point, the business was formally incorporated. Lydia had a stroke in 1882 and died the next year. Although Lydia Pinkham died in Lynn in 1883 at age 64, her son Charles continued the business. At the time of her death, sales were $300,000 per year; sales continued to grow. There were some conflicts with the companys advertising agent, and then a new agent updated the advertising campaigns. By the 1890s, the compound was the most advertised patent medicine in America. More images showing womens independence began to be used. Ads still used Lydia Pinkhams picture and continued to include invitations to write to Mrs. Pinkham. A daughter-in-law and later staff members at the company answered the correspondence. In 1905, the Ladies Home Journal, which was also campaigning for food and drug safety regulations, accused the company of misrepresenting this correspondence, publishing a photograph of the tombstone of Lydia Pinkham. The company responded that Mrs. Pinkham referred to Jennie Pinkham, the daughter-in-law. In 1922, Lydias daughter, Aroline Pinkham Gove, founded a clinic in Salem, Massachusetts, to serve mothers and children. Sales of the Vegetable Compound peaked in 1925 at $3 million. The business decreased after that point, because of family conflict after Charles death over how to run the business, the effects of the Great Depression and also changing federal regulations, especially the Food and Drug Act, that affected what could be claimed in the advertisements. In 1968, the Pinkham family sold the company, ending their relationship with it, and manufacturing was moved to Puerto Rico. In 1987, Numark Laboratories acquired a  license to the medicine, calling it Lydia Pinkhams Vegetable Compound. It can still be found, for instance as Lydia Pinkham Herbal Tablet Supplement and Lydia Pinkham Herbal Liquid Supplement. Ingredients Ingredients in the original compound: False unicorn root, true unicorn rootBlack cohosh rootLife rootPleurisy rootFenugreek seedAlcohol Newer additions in later versions include: Dandelion rootBlack cohosh root (as in the original)Jamaican dogwoodMotherwortPleurisy root (as in the original)Licorice rootGentian root The Lydia Pinkham Song Responding to the medication and its widespread advertising, a ditty about it became famous  and remained popular well into the 20th century. In 1969, the Irish Rovers included this on an album, and the single made the Top 40 in the United States. The words (like many folk songs) vary; this is a common version: We sing of Lydia PinkhamAnd her love of the human raceHow she sells her Vegetable CompoundAnd the newspapers publish her Face. Papers The Lydia Pinkham papers can be found at Radcliffe College (Cambridge, Massachusetts) at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library. Books About Lydia Pinkham Elbert Hubbard. Lydia E. Pinkham. 1915.Robert Collyer Washburn. The Life and Times of Lydia E. Pinkham. 1931.Sarah Stage. Female Complaints: Lydia Pinkham and the Business of Womens Medicine. 1979.R. Sobel and D. B. Sicilia. The Entrepreneurs: An American Adventure. 1986. Background, Family Mother: Rebecca ChaseFather: William EstesSiblings: nine older and two younger Marriage, Children Husband: Isaac Pinkham (married September 8, 1843; shoe manufacturer and real estate speculator)Children:Charles Hacker Pinkham (1844)Daniel (died in infancy)Daniel Rogers Pinkham (1848)William Pinkham (1852)Aroline Chase Pinkham ( 1857)