Before the 1990s, China's telecommunications sector was a lacklustre monopoly featured by poor-quality service and inadequate capacity. Today the country boasts a dynamic telecommunications industry with the world's largest communications network and user-base with over 460 million telephone subscribers. China's accession to the WTO in 2001 has opened this huge developing telecommunications market to foreign participation and investment. The authors examine the singularity of the Chinese experience in building up its extensive telecommunications network in merely a decade, by reviewing China's national industrial policies and institutional reforms within the industry. The reader will find in this volume a unique and in-depth analysis of the interplay between political and economic forces amidst the industry's structural overhaul and regulatory reforms. The accounts of industrial features and market conditions are enriched with up-to-date data, which are extremely useful for appreciating the development and prospects for this fast-growing market, set against the backdrop of China's accession to the WTO. Scholars of China or Asian studies and researchers of information-communications industry and Asian/China studies will find this work of great interest, as will governmental policymakers, both in China and beyond. For foreign business practitioners eyeing this market, this volume provides a helpful guide to understand China's various interests and public welfare considerations that motivate changes in policies towards foreign investment and participation.

Here is a comprehensive historical overview of the recent discussion in the Judeo-Christian religions regarding homosexuality. Breaking new ground in the scholarship about Judeo-Christian religion and homosexuality, this wide-ranging volume features insightful new perspectives on the relationship between the church and homosexuals. Aimed at scholars, religious professionals, counselors, and therapists, Homosexuality and Religion provides valuable information on both historical and contemporary religious thought and life and homosexuality. Some of the provocative topics include gay and lesbian clergy, psychological/pastoral counseling for lesbians and gay men, and the church and homophobia.

• Presents a critical and intersectional examination of gang life • Assists researchers who wish to utilize a progressive, critical, and intersectional approach to study the impacts of gangs • Uniquely contextualizes the lived experiences of gang members

West Africa (1977) surveys the first century of European enterprise – rivalry, and exploitation – in West Africa. It examines the achievements of the Portuguese during the century following their exploration of its shores, and the successive attempts of its rivals – Castilians, the French and English – to disrupt the commercial monopoly claimed by Portugal in West African waters.

This is the fifth volume of The NEBI Yearbook, whose aim it is to provide a balanced picture of integration in the North European and Baltic Sea areas. The special focus of NEBI 2003 is to survey the lessons learned and the experience gained as a result of a decade of intensive pan-Baltic and Barents co-operation made possible as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Like the previous volumes, NEBI 2003 contains a unique Statistical Section covering the entire NEBI area.

The Buddhist monk Fazang (643-712), regarded today mainly as a scholastic monk, was in fact one of the greatest metaphysicians in Asia. This biographical - and hagiographical - study of Fazang seeks to explore his other contributions and in so doing to correct some major mis-presentations and misinterpretations existing in modern scholarship. It highlights and uncovers aspects of Fazang's complicated life which have been neglected or ignored until now. By experimenting with some methodological innovations in reading medieval Chinese monastic hagio-biography, this study reveals general features, structures and overall governing laws of medieval East Asian monastic hagio-biographic literature. In doing so it is a major contribution to the ongoing discussion among scholars of hagiography in other contexts as well.

Augusta Rohrbach broadens our understanding of the American literary tradition by showing how African American literature and culture greatly influenced the development of realism. Rohrbach traces the influences of the slave narratives—such as the use of authenticating details, as well as dialect, and a frank treatment of the human body—in writings by Howells, Wharton, and others, and explores questions about the shifting relationship between literature and culture in the US from 1830-1930. Beginning with the question, “How might slave narratives—heralded as the first indigenous literature by Theodore Parker—have influenced the development of American Literature?” Rohrbach develops connections between an emerging literary marketplace, the rise of the professional writer, and literary realism.

This volume considers current and future challenges for nature law and policy in Europe. Following the Fitness Check evaluation of the Birds and Habitats Directives, in 2017 the EU adopted an Action Plan for nature, people and the economy to rapidly improve the Directives' implementation and accelerate progress towards the EU's biodiversity targets for 2020. More recently, the EU has adopted a Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and proposed an EU Nature Restoration Law. This book makes a timely contribution by examining the current state of play in light of recent and historical developments, as well as the post-2020 nature law and policy landscape. While evidence suggests that Natura 2000 and the Habitats and Birds Directives have delivered conservation benefits for wildlife in Europe, biodiversity loss continues apace. The book reviews the requirements for an effective international nature conservation system, with reference to the Birds and Habitats Directives. It examines regulatory regimes, current legal issues in the fields of site protection and species protection, the protection of areas outside Natura 2000, recent developments in the EU and the UK, including the implications of Brexit, agriculture and nature conservation, litigation, science and access to justice. Written by leading experts in the field, from a range of stakeholder groups, the volume draws on diverse experiences as well as providing interdisciplinary perspectives. This volume will be essential reading for students and scholars interested in European environmental policy and law, including lawyers, ecologists, environmental scientists, political scientists, natural resource managers, and planners. It will also be of interest to conservation practitioners, policy-makers and NGOs.

This book explores how equestrians are highly invested in the idea of profound connection between horse and human and focuses on the ethical problem of knowing horses. In describing how ‘true’ connection with horses matters, Rosalie Jones McVey investigates what sort of thing comes to count as a ‘good relationship’ and how riders work to get there. Drawing on fieldwork in the British horse world, she illuminates the ways in which equestrian culture instils the idea that horse people should know their horses better. Using horsemanship as one exemplary instance where ‘truth’ holds ethical traction, the book demonstrates the importance of epistemology in late modern ethical life. It also raises the question of whether, and how, the concept of truth should matter to multispecies ethnographers in their ethnographic representations of animals.

Literature after Fukushima examines how aesthetic representation contributes to a critical understanding of the 3.11 triple disaster - the Great East Japan earthquake, tsunami, and multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Through an examination of key works in the expanding corpus of 3.11 literature the book explores how the disaster-both its immediate aftereffects and its continued unfolding-reframed discourse in various areas such as trauma studies, eco-criticism, regional identity, food safety, civil society, and beyond. Individual chapters discuss aspects of these perspectival shifts, tracing the reshaping of Japanese identity after the triple disaster. The cultural productions explored offer a glimpse into the public imaginary and demonstrate how disasters can fundamentally redefine our individual and shared conception of both history and the present moment. Literature after Fukushima is the first English-language book to provide an in-depth analysis of such a wide range of representative post-3.11 literature and its social ramifications. Contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the post-disaster climate of Japanese society and adding new perspectives through literary analysis, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of Japanese and Asian Studies, Literary Studies, Environmental Humanities, as well as Cultural and Transcultural Studies.

The failure to deal with social-sexual issues may impair the progress of recovery in a chemically dependent individual and his or her family. The failure to deal with sexual compulsivity in intravenous drug abusers may seriously impair our ability to deal with AIDS. The failure to deal with chemical dependence may render family therapy ineffective in the treatment of sex offenders. Despite the connection between chemical dependency and intimacy dysfunction, the intimacy concerns are rarely recognized in the diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare of the chemically dependent person and his or family. In this pioneering work, experts in the fields of chemical dependence and human sexuality provide professionals with information and skills to deal with intimacy dysfunction issues--offering hope for improving treatment and rehabilitation of chemically dependent individuals and their families. Typical intimacy dysfunctions are explored, as well as treatment methods and strategies that have proven to be effective. A valuable resource guide, this comprehensive volume addresses the key issues in the multidisciplinary approach to the study of chemical dependency and intimacy dysfunction.

The experience of the King's church in early America was shaped by the unfolding imperial policies of the English government after 1675. London-based civil and ecclesiastical officials supervised the extension and development of the church overseas. The recruitment, appointment and financial support of the ministers were guided by London officials. Transplanted to the New World without the traditional hierarchical structure of the church - no bishop served in the colonies during the colonial period at the time of the American Revolution - it was neither an English-American nor American-English church, yet it modified in a distinctive manner. instrument of imperial policy and an examination of: unfolding imperial policies of the Committee of Trade and Plantations that aided and supported the extension of the King's church overseas; the civil and ecclesiastical agencies and leaders that developed and implemented the policies for the development and supervision of the church in the American colonies; the financial support of the King's church in America; and the impact of the American Revolution on the King's church.

This book explores the relationships between artificial intelligence (AI) and education in China. It examines educational activity in the context of profound technological interventions, far-reaching national policy, and multifaceted cultural settings. By standing at the intersection of three foundational topics: AI and the recent proliferation of data-driven technologies; education, the most foundational of our social institutions in terms of actively shaping societies and individuals; and finally, China, which is a frequent subject for dramatic media reports about both technology and education, this book offers an insightful view of the contexts that underpin the use of AI in education, and promotes a more in-depth understanding of China. Scholars of educational technology and digital education will find this book an indispensable guide to the ways new technologies are imagined to transform the future, while being firmly grounded in the past.

Black Lives Are Beautiful is a workbook explicitly designed to help to help members of the Black community counter the impacts of racialized trauma while also cultivating self-esteem, building resilience, fostering community, and promoting Black empowerment. As readers explore each part of this workbook, they will develop tools to overcome the mental injuries that occur from living in a racialized society. Clinicians who use this workbook with clients will find a practical toolbox of racially informed interventions to aid clinicians, particularly White clinicians, in culturally sensitive clinical practice.

This book explores cutting-edge models and practices that support cultural alliances over boundaries. It examines trends in Asia's modification of its economic and fiscal environment, strategies undertaken by multinational companies and governments in Asia in coping with divergent cultures, organizational restructuring to support alliance formation and maintenance and post-crisis strategies. The book illustrates the range of governance structures that are seen to be better (or worse) at supporting alliances and it offers an approach to ameliorating difficulties.

The Routledge History of Global War and Society offers a sweeping introduction to the most significant research on the causes, experiences, and impacts of war throughout history. This collection of twenty-seven essays by leading historians demonstrates how war and society studies have dramatically expanded the chronological, geographic, and thematic breadth of the field of military history. Each chapter addresses the ways in which recent scholarship has integrated cultural, ethical, environmental, medical, and ideological factors to explain both conventional conflicts and genocide, terrorism, and other forms of mass violence. The broad scope of the collection makes it the perfect primer for scholars and students seeking to understand the complex interactions of warfare and those affecting and affected by conflict.

1. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the Falkland/Malvinas War. 2. It is written by both Argentinian and Australian (one British born Australian) Scholars and rich in archival resources. 3. With the 40th Anniversary of the Falkland/Malvinas War in 2022 this book will be of interest to departments of Military history and British and Latin American History across UK.

"[A]n excellent book..." -The Economist Financial Times Asia editor David Pilling presents a fresh vision of Japan, drawing on his own deep experience, as well as observations from a cross section of Japanese citizenry, including novelist Haruki Murakami, former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, industrialists and bankers, activists and artists, teenagers and octogenarians. Through their voices, Pilling's Bending Adversity captures the dynamism and diversity of contemporary Japan. Pilling's exploration begins with the 2011 triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. His deep reporting reveals both Japan's vulnerabilities and its resilience and pushes him to understand the country's past through cycles of crisis and reconstruction. Japan's survivalist mentality has carried it through tremendous hardship, but is also the source of great destruction: It was the nineteenth-century struggle to ward off colonial intent that resulted in Japan's own imperial endeavor, culminating in the devastation of World War II. Even the postwar economic miracle-the manufacturing and commerce explosion that brought unprecedented economic growth and earned Japan international clout might have been a less pure victory than it seemed. In Bending Adversity Pilling questions what was lost in the country's blind, aborted climb to #1. With the same rigor, he revisits 1990-the year the economic bubble burst, and the beginning of Japan's "lost decades"-to ask if the turning point might be viewed differently. While financial struggle and national debt are a reality, post-growth Japan has also successfully maintained a stable standard of living and social cohesion. And while life has become less certain, opportunities-in particular for the young and for women-have diversified. Still, Japan is in many ways a country in recovery, working to find a way forward after the events of 2011 and decades of slow growth. Bending Adversity closes with a reflection on what the 2012 reelection of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and his radical antideflation policy, might mean for Japan and its future. Informed throughout by the insights shared by Pilling's many interview subjects, Bending Adversity rigorously engages with the social, spiritual, financial, and political life of Japan to create a more nuanced representation of the oft-misunderstood island nation and its people. The Financial Times "David Pilling quotes a visiting MP from northern England, dazzled by Tokyo's lights and awed by its bustling prosperity: 'If this is a recession, I want one.' Not the least of the merits of Pilling's hugely enjoyable and perceptive book on Japan is that he places the denunciations of two allegedly "lost decades" in the context of what the country is really like and its actual achievements." The Telegraph (UK) "Pilling, the Asia editor of the Financial Times, is perfectly placed to be our guide, and his insights are a real rarity when very few Western journalists communicate the essence of the world's third-largest economy in anything but the most superficial ways. Here, there is a terrific selection of interview subjects mixed with great reportage and fact selection... he does get people to say wonderful things. The novelist Haruki Murakami tells him: "When we were rich, I hated this country"... well-written... valuable." Publishers Weekly (starred): "A probing and insightful portrait of contemporary Japan."

This book discusses the nature of China's current international reassertion of itself, and the thinking and attitudes which lie behind it. It argues that the Chinese leadership has a strongly held view of its own high moral authority, which emphasises inclusion, equality and mutual benefits, and that this sense of morality underpins the driving forces for China's foreign policies, the geo-strategic reasoning for outward expansion, China's strategic culture, the idealistic rationalization of China's overseas activities, the overall Chinese worldview, and China's vision of the Chinese world order. Based on original research into both writings for policy-making purposes, which indicate realistic assessments of world politics and of China's international capacity, and also narratives for public consumption, which have less emphasis on self-interest and realpolitik, the book approaches the subject empirically, and not through the lens of any international relations theory. It highlights how China's outward expansion has been characterized mainly by spreading influence through non-use of force, and strategies of "inclusiveness", "co-operation" and "winning without fighting". The book concludes however that Beijing's self-privileging high morality may have the unfortunate consequence of reinforcing its own behaviour which defies international order and which others disapprove of, thereby increasing the likelihood of non-armed and armed conflicts.

This groundbreaking book examines the diverse manifestations of homosexuality in various historical periods and non-Western cultures. The distinguished authors examine Kimam male ritualized homosexual behavior, Mexican homosexual interaction in public contexts, male homosexuality and spirit possession in Brazil, and much more.

This book is about contemporary senses of life after death in the United States, Japan, and China. By collecting and examining hundreds of interviews with people from all walks of life in these three societies, the book presents and compares personally held beliefs, experiences, and interactions with the concept of life after death. Three major aspects covered by the book Include, but are certainly not limited to, the enduring tradition of Japanese ancestor veneration, China's transition from state-sponsored materialism to the increasing belief in some form of afterlife, as well as the diversity in senses of, or disbelief in, life after death in the United States. Through these diverse first-hand testimonies the book reveals that underlying these changes in each society there is a shift from collective to individual belief, with people developing their own visions of what may, or may not, happen after death. This book will be valuable reading for students of Anthropology as well as Religious, Cultural, Asian and American Studies. It will also be an impactful resource for professionals such as doctors, nurses, and hospice workers.