Ripple effect

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A diagram of the Ripple effect illustrating how the "Weinstein Scandal" led all the way to the rise of the Me Too movement. Ripple effect.png
A diagram of the Ripple effect illustrating how the "Weinstein Scandal" led all the way to the rise of the Me Too movement.

A ripple effect occurs when an initial disturbance to a system propagates outward to disturb an increasingly larger portion of the system, like ripples expanding across the water when an object is dropped into it.

Contents

The ripple effect is often used colloquially to mean a multiplier in macroeconomics. For example, an individual's reduction in spending reduces the incomes of others and their ability to spend. [1] In a broader global context, research has shown how monetary policy decisions, especially by major economies like the US, can create ripple effects impacting economies worldwide, emphasizing the interconnectedness of today's global economy. [2]

In sociology, the ripple effect can be observed in how social interactions can affect situations not directly related to the initial interaction, [3] [ page needed ] and in charitable activities where information can be disseminated and passed from the community to broaden its impact. [4]

The concept has been applied in computer science within the field of software metrics as a complexity measure. [5]

Examples

The Weinstein effect and the rise of the Me Too movement

In October 2017, according to The New York Times [6] [ circular reference ] [7] and The New Yorker , [8] dozens of women have accused American film producer Harvey Weinstein, former founder of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company, of rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse for over a period of three decades. Shortly after over eighty accusations, Harvey was dismissed from his own company, expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and other professional associations, and even retired from public view. The allegations against him resulted in a special case of ripple effect, now called the Weinstein effect. This means a global trend involving a serial number of sexual misconduct allegations towards other famous men in Hollywood, such as Louis CK and Kevin Spacey. [9] The effect led to the formation of the controversial Me Too movement, where people share their experiences of sexual harassment/assault. [10] [11]

Corporate social responsibility

The effects of one company's decision to adopt a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme on the attitudes and behaviours of rival companies has been likened to a ripple effect. Research by an international team in 2018 found that in many cases, one company's CSR initiative was seen as a competitive threat to other businesses in the same market, resulting in the adoption of further CSR initiatives. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Weinstein</span> American film producer and sex offender (born 1952)

Harvey Weinstein is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films including Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989); The Crying Game (1992); Pulp Fiction (1994); Heavenly Creatures (1994); Flirting with Disaster (1996); and Shakespeare in Love (1998). Weinstein won an Academy Award for producing Shakespeare in Love and also won seven Tony Awards for plays and musicals including The Producers, Billy Elliot the Musical, and August: Osage County. After leaving Miramax, Weinstein and his brother Bob founded The Weinstein Company (TWC), a mini-major film studio. He was co-chairman, alongside Bob, from 2005 to 2017.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jodi Kantor</span> American journalist (born 1975)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases</span> Criminal and civil cases since 2017

In October 2017, The New York Times and The New Yorker reported that dozens of women had accused the American film producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse over a period of at least 30 years. Over 80 women in the film industry eventually accused Weinstein of such acts. Weinstein himself denied "any non-consensual sex". Shortly after, he was dismissed from The Weinstein Company (TWC), expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and other professional associations, and retired from public view.

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The Weinstein effect is a phenomenon in which sexual harassment allegations of powerful figures get disclosed.

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A whisper network is an informal chain of information passed privately between people, typically women. It consists of gossip about people in a community alleged of being sexual harassers or abusers. The information is often shared between women by word of mouth or online in private communities, forums, spreadsheets, and crowd-sourced documents. The stated purpose of maintaining these lists is to warn potential victims of "people to avoid" in their industry. Whisper networks also purportedly help victims identify a common abuser and come forward together about a serial abuser.

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<i>She Said</i> (book) 2019 non-fiction book by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement is a 2019 nonfiction book written by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, two New York Times investigative reporters who exposed Harvey Weinstein's history of abuse and sexual misconduct against women, a catalyst for the burgeoning MeToo movement. The book was published on September 10, 2019 by Penguin Press.

<i>Catch and Kill</i> 2019 Ronan Farrow book on media complicity in protecting sexual abusers

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<i>She Said</i> (film) 2022 U.S. film by Maria Schrader

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References

  1. The Economic Ripple Effect Gone Awry.
  2. Thomas, Lina (2023). "US Monetary Policy Spillovers and Spillbacks". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.4370886.
  3. Development sociology By Norman Long, Routledge ISBN   978-0-415-23536-5
  4. Experience needed to make VSO's 'ripple effect' work The Guardian 17 September 2004.
  5. Black, Sue (2001). "Computing ripple effect for software maintenance". Journal of Software Maintenance and Evolution: Research and Practice . 13 (4): 263–279. doi:10.1002/smr.233. ISSN   1532-060X.
  6. "Harvey Weinstein".
  7. Kantor, Jodi; Twohey, Megan (5 October 2017). "Harvey Weinstein Paid off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades". The New York Times.
  8. "From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein's Accusers Tell Their Stories". The New Yorker . 10 October 2017.
  9. Rutenberg, Jim (23 October 2017). "A Long-Delayed Reckoning of the Cost of Silence on Abuse". The New York Times.
  10. "Powerful men confronted as "Weinstein Effect" goes global". CBS News .
  11. Worthen, Meredith (2017-12-21). "100 Powerful Men Accused of Sexual Misconduct in 2017". Biography.com . Archived from the original on 2017-12-28.
  12. Shuzhen, S., Corporate social responsibility programmes have ripple effects on other businesses, study says, Singapore Management University , published 3 September 2018, accessed 25 October 2023