The past two decades have witnessed a revival of the concept of 'civil society'. From East Central Europe to Latin America and East Asia to the recent calls for a 'European civil society' and a 'global civil society', the concept signifies the need for national and supra-national forms of civic commitment against both unjustified state domination and neo-liberal marketization. Reviewing the long history of the concept, its use in various regional contexts and its place in critical political theory, this book takes comprehensive stock of these debates and asks about the potential of the concept of civil society in guiding political transformations towards fuller understandings of liberty and democracy. Peter Wagner is Professor of Social and Political Theory at the European University Institute, Florence, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. His publications in social and political philosophy and historical and political sociology include A Sociology of Modernity (1994), Theorizing Modernity (2001), A History and Theory of the Social Sciences (2001), and The Political Constitution of Modern Capitalism (co-editor, forthcoming 2005).

The annual is a venue of publication for sociological studies of Chinese societies and the Chinese all over the world. The main focus is on social transformations in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the mainland, Singapore and Chinese overseas.

This book draws attention to two neglected areas in the growing body of research on welfare in China: subnational variation and the changing mix of state and non-state provision. The contributors to this volume demonstrate the diversity of local welfare provision that lies behind broad national policies and programmes. Their focus on local diversity is particularly relevant to understanding the welfare system in China because national state programmes are so often organized by local governments in line with the specifics of their economic and social development. At the same time that social and economic development is itself independently creating an array of different conditions that shape non-state (family, business and third sector) welfare roles . Through chapters that draw on original research in eight provinces, the book adopts a 'local' perspective to illustrate and explain some of the transformations that are under way and discuss not only local government initiatives and programmes, but also the services and support provided by families, informal social networks and community or third sector organizations, as well as those delivered by private businesses on a commercial, for-profit basis. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese society, social policy, and Chinese studies more widely. Beatriz Carrillo is Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Jane Duckett is Professor of Chinese and Comparative Politics at the University of Glasgow, UK

This book traces three decades of securitization in Angola. As a governing strategy during war and peacetime, it muted the aspirations of those on opposing sides, distorted the state, emboldened elites and redefined the identity of Angolans. Through this lens, Paula Cristina Roque provides an original account of Angola's post-conflict state-building. Securitization protected the interests of President dos Santos, the ruling MPLA party and the elites supporting the regime. Angola's array of security forces and infrastructure provided an alternative to a fully functioning executive, at national, provincial and local levels. The intrusive way in which any form of dissent or activism was crushed allowed the presidency to control the direction and narrative of the post-war years. But the facade of democracy, development and stability hid a very different reality for the majority of Angolans, who remained poor, disenfranchised and marginalized. Roque explores the inner workings of the intelligence services, army and presidential guard, explaining the trajectory of a survivalist and fearful regime presiding over scarcities and injustices. She shows that the survival of national security and governing elites was the highest priority. The 'shadows' held far more power than institutions, and weakened them-widening the gap between government and governed.

This volume examines Jewish literature produced from c. 700 B.C.E. to c. 200 C.E. from a socio-theological perspective. In this context, it offers a scholarly attempt to understand how the ancient Jewish psyche dealt with times of extreme turmoil and how Jewish theology altered to meet the challenges experienced. The volume explores various early Jewish literature, including both the canonical and apocryphal scripture. Here, reference is often made to a divine epiphany (a moment of unexpected and prodigious revelation or insight) as a response to abuse, suffering and passion. Many of the chapters deal with these issues in relation to the Antiochan crisis of 169 to 164 B.C.E. in Judea, one of the more notable periods of oppression. This watershed event appears to have served as a catalyst for the new apocalyptic texts which were produced up until c. 200 C.E, and which reflect a new theological dynamic in Judaism – one that informed subsequent Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. Passion, Persecution and Epiphany in Early Jewish Literature will be of interest to anyone working on the Bible (both Masoretic and LXX) and early Jewish literature, as well as students of Jewish history and the Levant in the classical period.

The notion of French exceptionalism is deeply embedded in the nation's self-image and in a range of political and academic discourses. Recently, the debate about whether France really is "exceptional" has acquired a critical edge. Against the background of introspection about the nature of "national identity," some proclaim "normalisation" and the end of French exceptionalism, while others point out to the continuing evidence that France remains distinctive at a number of levels, from popular culture to public policy. This book explores the notion of French exceptionalism, places it in its European context, examines its history and evaluate its continuing relevance in a range of fields from politics and public policy to popular culture and sport. Emmanuel Godin is Senior lecturer in French and European Studies; Tony Chafer is Principal Lecturer in French and African Studies, both at the University of Portsmouth.

This book examines a critical time and place in recent world history--the end of the Cold War--and the strategies and values employed in the public dipomacy of the Bush and Clinton Administrations to build domestic and international consensus. It provides insight into the uses of presidential power and provides a model and an illustration for how rhetoric may be used in the study of United States foreign policy.

Over the past decade or so, the wealth produced by Qatar's oil and gas exports has generated a construction development boom in its capital city of Doha and the surrounding vicinity. Since the late 1990s, the number of inhabitants has grown from less than 400,000 to more than 1.7 million today. In many respects, Doha is portrayed as an important emerging global capital in the Gulf region, which has been positioning and re-inventing itself on the map of international architecture and urbanism, with a global image of building clusters of glass office towers, as well as cultural and educational facilities. While focusing on the architectural and planning aspects of Doha's intensive urbanization, this first comprehensive examination of the city sets this within the socio-political and economic context of the wider Arabian Peninsula. 'Demystifying Doha - On Architecture and Urbanism in an Emerging City' features a comprehensive discussion on contemporary architecture and urbanism of Doha as an emerging regional metropolis. It provides a critical analysis of the evolution of architecture and urbanism as products of the contemporary global condition. Issues that pertain to emerging service hubs, decentralised urban governance, integrated urban development strategies, image-making practices, urban identity, the dialectic relations between the city and its society and sustainable urbanism are all examined to elucidate the urban evolution and the contemporary condition of Doha. 'Demystifying Doha - On Architecture and Urbanism in an Emerging City' concludes by suggesting a framework for future studies of the city as well as for investigating the future of similar cities, setting out an agenda for sustainable urban growth, while invigorating the multiple roles urban planners and architects can play in shaping this future.

Routledge Library Editions: Syria brings together as one set, or individual volumes, a series of previously out-of-print classics from a variety of academic imprints. With a variety of titles covering Syria's politics, history and culture, this set provides in one place a wealth of important reference sources from a wide range of authors expert in the field.

This book explores how and why the idea of the African environmental crisis developed and persisted through colonial and post-colonial periods, and why it has been so influential in development discourse. From the beginnings of imperial administration, the idea of the desiccation of African environments grew in popularity, but this crisis discourse was dominated by the imposition of imperial scientific knowledge, neglecting indigenous knowledge and experience. African Environmental Crisis provides a synthesis of more than one-and-a-half century's research on peasant agriculture and pastoral rangeland development in terms of soil erosion control, animal husbandry, grazing schemes, large-scale agricultural schemes, social and administrative science research, and vector-disease and pest controls. Drawing on comparative socio-ecological perspectives of African peoples across the East African colonies and post-independent states, this book refutes the hypothesis that African peoples were responsible for environmental degradation. Instead, Gufu Oba argues that flawed imperial assumptions and short-term research projects generated an inaccurate view of the environment in Africa. This book's discussion of the history of science for development provides researchers across environmental studies, agronomy, African history and development studies with a lens through which to understand the underlying assumptions behind development projects in Africa.

The relationship between innovation, networks and localities is of central concern for many nations. However, despite increasing interest in the components of this research triangle, efforts in these fields are hampered by a lackofconceptual and empirical insights. This volume brings together contributions from a distinguished group of scholars working in different but related disciplines, and aims to provide a fresh look at this research triangle. The objective is to offer a concise overview of current developments and insights derived from recent studies in Europe and North America. All of the contributions are based on original research undertaken in the various regions and nations and are published here for the first time. We are grateful to all those who have contributed to this volume for their willingness to participate in the project. Without their co-operation this book would not have been possible. We should like, in addition, to thank Angela Spence for her careful linguistic editing and assistance in co-ordinating the production of the camera ready copy. Lastly, but not least, we wish to express our gratitude for support from our home institutions, and in particular the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Institute for Urban and Regional Research), the Austrian Ministry for Science and Transport, the Styrian Government (Section for Science and Research) and the Federation of Austrian Industry in Styria for the financial backing received. April 1999 Manfred M.

This bundle of 13 titles covers a wide spectrum of sub-disciplines from across the field of Middle Eastern Studies, including politics, diplomacy, international relations, geography and anthropology. Mainly reissues of titles first published in the 1980s and early 1990s, the set incorporates seminal works from some of the most prominent scholars in the field, including Dilip Hiro, Peter Mangold, Amitav Acharya and Yair Aharoni. A comprehensive list that deals with issues that are still exceptionally applicable to academia and global society today, this set will be of particular value to students of Middle Eastern Studies and International Relations.

0. 1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEMATIC This study is devoted to an examination of a concept of crucial significance for Soviet aesthetics - the concept of the aesthetic (esteticeskoe). Soviet aestheticians have for some time already been trying to design a concept of the aesthetic that would satisfy, on the one hand, the requirements of aesthe tic phenomena, and, on the other hand, the principles of the Marxist-Leninist world view. The first part of this work shows how the concept of the aesthetic has been and continues to be problematic for Soviet aestheticians. This task is carried out by dwelling, first of all, on the controversies among Soviet aesthe ticians concerning meta-aesthetic issues, viz, the nature and scope of aesthetics as well as its place among other philosophical and non-philosophical disci plines. A particularly clear view of the problems that have traditionally pre occupied Soviet aestheticians is provided by an examination of what they standardly call the 'method of aesthetics', where 'method' is understood in the sense of an explanatory framework rather than in the strict logico-scien tific sense of the term. This discussion will provide the occasion to pass in review the main periods of Soviet aesthetics and the characteristic aspects of each. The chapter on the sources of contemporary Marxist-Leninist aesthetics brings into relief the lack of a homogeneous tradition in the question of the nature of the aesthetic and other related problems."

Democracy cannot be implemented overnight. Democratization is an often unpredictable process. This book concentrates on that political transformation in one of Indonesia's most 'traditional' islands, Sumba. Why does democratization create such great opportunities for local politicians with their private agenda's? Why does regional autonomy, as part of the national democratization program, promote socio-economic inequality in West Sumba?

Adopting a people-centred perspective to globalization, the authors explore complex, counterintuitive and even unintended forms and consequences of bottom-up politics, going beyond simplistic understandings of ordinary people as either victims or beneficiaries of globalization.

Since their independence in 1991, the former Soviet Republics have gone through difficult transition processes to achieve cultural, economical and political transformations. Diverse internal dynamics have produced diverse outcomes for the countries and peoples of the former Soviet space. While there are different results of transition, there are also similarities due to many common concerns and expectations. The most important question is, What have these new states transformed into where democracy, free market, and functioning civil society are concerned? Or, Has the transformation led to greater polarisation in terms of rich and poor divide, authoritarianism and withdrawal of the state from providing social security, contested geopolitics and increasing external influence? Apart from discussing the challenges that the post-Soviet states face and their coping strategies, the articles in this book also look at how the Eurasian countries participate in the globalisation process while using the energy and natural resources to their benefit.

How is it that the modest pace of change which typified the French economy a century ago gave way after 1945 to a new, revived capitalism and a superior economic performance? Mairi Maclean argues that the new French capitalism of the 21st century is the product of an ideological struggle in which the forces of modernization triumphed over the old guard of French nationalism.

What Robots Can and Can't Be is a self-contained, rigorous, sustained argument for the unique, two-sided position that: (side one) Al will continue to produce machines with greater and greater capacity to pass stronger and stronger versions of the Turing Test; but that (side two) the Person Building Project' (the attempt by cognitive engineers to build a machine which is a person) will inevitably fail. The defense of side two rests in large part on a refutation of the proposition that persons are automata -- a refutation involving an array of issues, from free will to GAdel to introspection to Searle and beyond. The defense of side one brings the reader face to face with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they tackle perhaps their toughest case (Silver Blaze'); the upshot of this visit with Conan Doyle's duo is an algorithm-sketch for the solving of murder mysteries. Side two also involves a look at the author's mechanical' approach to writing fiction, and the philosophical side of computerized story generation. The volume is peppered with numerous illustrations, all quite professionally done.

For several years now, the concepts of 'civil culture' and 'civil society' have been widely discussed in the social sciences. Theoretically innovative and empirically rich, this volume is one of few studies that offer solid and focused ethnographic research on how the tenets and assumptions of civil culture are inculcated in schools. The authors examined school curricula, texts and pedagogical practices, observed daily interaction within the schools and outside, and conducted numerous interviews and discussion groups. The experience of students from Turkish backgrounds in the four countries was given special attention, thus offering valuable insights into the changing dynamics of nation-state civil cultures in multicultural societies.

As kinship relationships and support networks across family lines weaken with modernization, economic stressors take a great toll on children. Kenya, like some other nations in Africa and around the globe, has witnessed a rapid rise in street children. The street children in Nairobi come from single parent families which are mostly headed by women. Another group are AIDS orphans. This study documents how street children in Nairobi follow survival strategies including (for boys) collecting garbage, and (for girls), prostitution. Gender is emphasized throughout the book.

Although impoverished families are the most likely to produce street children, not all poor families have their children on the streets. The problem of street children is a complex one that calls for a comprehensive and coordinated policy and program for intervention at all levels and in all sectors of society. Alleviating poverty and rebuilding the family institution should be among the first steps in addressing the problem.

For thousands of years, Pacific Northwest Indians fished, bartered, socialized, and honored their ancestors at Celilo Falls, part of a nine-mile stretch of the Long Narrows on the Columbia River. Although the Indian community of Celilo Village survives to this day as Oregon's oldest continuously inhabited town, with the construction of The Dalles Dam in 1957, traditional uses of the river were catastrophically interrupted. Most non-Indians celebrated the new generation of hydroelectricity and the easy navigability of the river "highway" created by the dam, but Indians lost a sustaining center to their lives when Celilo Falls was inundated. Death of Celilo Falls is a story of ordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances, as neighboring communities went through tremendous economic, environmental, and cultural change in a brief period. Katrine Barber examines the negotiations and controversies that took place during the planning and construction of the dam and the profound impact the project had on both the Indian community of Celilo Village and the non-Indian town of The Dalles, intertwined with local concerns that affected the entire American West: treaty rights, federal Indian policy, environmental transformation of rivers, and the idea of "progress."

Over the past two years, the world has been preoccupied with the Asia crisis, its contagion and its economic impact. The social dimension of the turmoil has only recently become the point of focus for debates and investigations by national and international organizations. This book is the first serious academic contribution to this important dimension and contains extensive research, sound analysis and concise presentation by national and international experts on such issues as poverty, education, training, health, nutrition and employment for a number of major economies in Asia and Oceania affected by the crisis.

These papers are intended to demonstrate the complexity of the historical processes leading up to the abolition of slavery in 1793-1794, and again in 1848, given that Bonaparte had restored the former colonial regime in 1802. Those processes include the slave insurrections and the many forms of resistance to slavery and servile work, the philosophical and political debates of the Enlightenment, the attitude of the Church, the action of anti-slavery associations and the role of revolutionary assemblies, not forgetting the importance of the economic interests that provided the backcloth to philosophical discussions in the matter. The close interweaving of the colonial spheres of the majority of European powers inexorably raised slavery to an international plane: from then on anti-slavery too became a cosmopolitan movement, and these present studies strive to take account of this important innovation at the end of the eighteenth century. This work, written in tribute to Leger Felicite Sonthonex, who was responsible for the first abolition in Santo Domingo in 1793, and to Victor Schoelcher, principal architect of the abolition of 1848, is intended to link two highly symbolic dates in the tragic history of the "first colonization": 1793 marks the beginning of the age of abolitions, yet it was not until half a century later that France, now republican once more, renewed links with the heritage of the Enlightenment and of Year II.