In today's world, it is crucial to understand how cities and urban spaces operate in order for them to continue to develop and improve. To ensure cities thrive, further study on past and current policies and practices is required to provide a thorough understanding. Urban Poetics and Politics in Contemporary South Asia and the Middle East examines the poetics and politics of city and urban spaces in contemporary South Asia and the Middle East and seeks to shed light on how individuals constitute, experience, and navigate urban spaces in everyday life. This book aims to initiate a multidisciplinary approach to the study of city life by engaging disciplines such as urban geography, gender studies, feminism, literary criticism, and human geography. Covering key topics such as racism, urban spaces, social inequality, and gender roles, this reference work is ideal for government officials, policymakers, researchers, scholars, practitioners, academicians, instructors, and students.

This issue examines how performance curators are responding to today's crises both within the world of theater and performance and in the broader spheres of politics, economics, and history. Interviews with four leading performance curators-Boris Charmatz, Sodja Lotker, Florian Malzacher, and Miranda Wright-explore the evolution of their work in response to changes in funding, audience demographics, and creative practices. A special section, coedited by Sigrid Gareis, features essays from a convening at the 2015 SpielART festival that consider the role of the curator in transnational exchange and in response to issues of postcolonialism. Contributors. Tilmann Broszat, Boris Charmatz, Kenneth Collins, Thomas F. DeFrantz, Sigrid Gareis, Andre Lepecki, Sodja Lotker, Florian Malzacher, Jay Pather, Suely Rolnik, Tom Sellar, Miranda Wright

This book addresses the different forms of austerity, contestation and resistance, in order to understand how they relate to one another and the impact they have on the democratic quality of public debates, the trust in public institutions and the legitimacy of law. Contestation of austerity includes not only traditional activism strategies such as human rights litigation and direct democracy instruments, but also new forms of collective action and collaborative resistance. Most importantly, many of the new anti-austerity initiatives also aim to renovate existing modes of democratic decision-making on the European, national, regional and local levels. The book focuses on different types of contesting austerity measures and the interaction between institutional and civil society actors. It will enhance understanding of how the various actors frame not only their goal but also the underlying social conflict to contest austerity and through which means they try to achieve political and legal changes. With 16 chapters written by contributors from Spain, Germany, Greece, Portugal and the UK, the book approaches 3 crucial areas of austerity policies: cuts in payment and pensions, labour law reform, and old and new poverty. In each field, the contributors analyse the processes of decision-making and contestation from 3 perspectives: institutions, democratic theory and societal responses.

Foreign Direct Investment and the Chinese Economy provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of foreign direct investment, with extensive empirical evidence, on the Chinese economy over the last three and a half decades. Chunlai Chen presents a compelling and thorough analysis of the leading theoretical explanations of the impact of FDI through a series of rigorous and in-depth empirical investigations on China's regional economic growth, urban-rural income inequality and urbanization development. These case studies show that despite FDI's contribution to economic growth, reduction of income inequality and the rise in urbanization, there is further evidence of uneven regional distribution of FDI inflow. This has negatively affected economic growth, exacerbated income inequality and impeded urbanization of inland China. The book concludes by demonstrating that these findings have important policy implications, not only for China, but also for other developing countries influenced by the implementation of FDI policies. This work of highly focused theoretical analysis is an invaluable resource for scholars and students of economics as well as policy-makers who are interested in the Chinese economy.

Taking a realist approach, this insightful book looks at the forces shaping the evolution of global infrastructure networks. As the international economy globalises, there is an emergent need for national systems to adapt and integrate to form a global system. The authors expose the move to interconnect state infrastructures as a strategy to support and enhance states' territoriality. Examined through the lens of economic infrastructure (including transport, energy and information) this book addresses the forces of integration and fragmentation in the development of global networks. The significant impact of globalisation on infrastructure adaptation is especially highlighted, as well as the key limitations hindering development. Global Infrastructure Networks will be of great interest to academics and graduate students of geography, political economy and public policy. International policy makers will also find this a compelling read, as it identifies the benefits and limitations of upcoming developments in global infrastructure.

The Economy of Ireland (14th edition) takes a holistic examination of the Irish Economy in light of events including the Celtic Tiger boom, recession, recovery and a global pandemic. The textbook considers the evolution of the Irish economy over time; the policy priorities for a small regional economy in the eurozone; the role of the state in policy making; taxation and regulatory policy; and the challenge of sustainable development. This provides a framework for analysing policy issues at a national level, including the Irish labour market and migration, inequality and poverty, and the care economy. The book then considers issues at a sectoral level, from agriculture and trade to the education and health sectors. Packed with the latest available data, contemporary examples and analysis of topical issues, this is an ideal text for students studying modules on Irish Economics.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has been described as the next big leap in digital capitalism. Digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 3D printing and robotisation, we are led to believe, will bring more progress, growth and development while also helping us to resolve the deep and multiple crises the world is in. Billions are being invested in these technologies, accompanied by sharp geopolitical rivalries to secure an edge in the control over them.

Volume 8 in the Democratic Marxism series invites readers to think more deeply and critically about digital capitalism and its limits. While most governments in the world, including South Africa, have accepted a techno-nationalist narrative and have deliberated onas the risks for the planet and humanity, the volume interrogates the effects and consequences of advances in artificial intelligence and heightened technological innovation and industrialisation on employment, democracy and the climate.

Viewing the grand social engineering of 4IR through a Marxist lens, the volume contributors engage critically with the class project of digital monopoly capitalism and its powerful totalitarian tendencies. They question the dangerous technotopian imaginary shaping this digital techno-shift, the implications of algorithmic data extractivism, the securitisation of already weak market democracies, the social consequences of digital learning, lack of regulation , and the power dynamics in the labour process.

Anchored in techno-realism, the interdisciplinary perspective captured in this volume puts forward alternatives for democratisation and a just transition in order to protect human and non-human life.

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected global trade. While factories have stopped production worldwide due to COVID-19, global trade has also been adversely affected by the pandemic. The international trade of the world's top exporting countries has begun to decline. Although it is too early to judge the impact of the pandemic on world trade, as the virus has not yet been eradicated, research into the cause-effect relationship between these two phenomena is necessary to understand the magnitude of its impact as well as possible solutions to the problem. The Transformation of Global Trade in a New World provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest findings in the field of international business and internationalization. It addresses the asymmetric impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international trade and the methods of entry into foreign markets together with the future prospects of global trade in an era of globalization. Covering topics such as economic crisis, green finance, and labor force sustainability, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for business leaders and executives, economists, logistics professionals, sociologists, students and faculty of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

In recent years many new international market leaders from the BRICS countries have emerged in diverse manufacturing and service industries. How did these new leaders emerge and become key players in their respective industries? What factors contributed to their success and enabled them to become market leaders? This new study answers these important questions with evidence presented from case studies in the automotive, pharmaceutical and ICT industries of China, India and Brazil. A common framework of analysis is followed throughout the volume allowing readers to compare and contrast the cases examined. This framework brings together factors at the firm, country and sectoral levels to explain the rise to leadership of these firms. The book highlights the importance of vibrant entrepreneurship and demonstrates that being local and having an ability to learn and build capabilities based on local knowledge have been major drivers of market success. Yet it also shows how such firm-level factors have been complemented by the role of both national and sectoral systems of innovation. This book offers an integrated framework for the study of innovation and the rise of market leaders as well as original case studies from important emerging economies. It will appeal to students, scholars, researchers and policy-makers interested in economic development and catch-up, entrepreneurship, innovation management and evolutionary economics. Contributors include: P. Adams, W. Bai, L.R. Cavalcante, X. Chen, R.A. Filgueiras de Sousa, B. Guo, S. Hong, Q. Li, A. Madhavan, F. Malerba, S. Mani, B.C.P. Oliveira de Araujo

The public space of democracies is constructed in a context that is marked by the digital transformation of the economy and society. This construction is carried out primarily through deliberation. Deliberation informs and guides both individual and collective action. To shed light on the concept of deliberation, it is important to consider the rationality of choice; but what type of rationality is this? References to economic reason are at once widespread, crucial and controversial. This book therefore deals with arguments used by individuals based on the notions of preferential choice and rational behavior, and also criticizes them. These arguments are examined in the context of the major themes of public debate that help to construct the contemporary public space: "populism", social insurance, social responsibility and environmental issues. Economic Reason and Political Reason underlines the importance of the pragmatist shift of the 2000s and revisits, through the lens of this new approach, the great utilitarian and Rawlsian normative constructs that dominated normative political economics at the end of the 20th century. Alternative approaches, based on the concept of deliberative democracy, are proposed and discussed.

Offering a thorough assessment of recent developments in the economic literature on happiness and quality of life, this major research handbook astutely considers both methods of estimation and policy application. Luigino Bruni and Pier Luigi Porta's refreshing, and constructively critical, approach emphasizes the subject's integral impact on latter-day capitalism.Expert contributors critically present in-depth research on a wide range of topics including: - the history of the idea of quality of life and the impact of globalization - links between happiness and health - comparisons between hedonic and eudaimonic well-being - the relational and emotional side of human life, including subjective indicators of well-being - genetic and environmental contributions to life satisfaction - the impact of culture, fine arts and new media. Accessible and far-reaching, the Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Happiness and Quality of Life will prove an invaluable resource for students and scholars of welfare and economics as well as practicing psychologists and researchers. Contributors: M. Bianchi, L. Bruni, L. Crivelli, S. Della Bella, A. Delle Fave, E. Diener, E. Granata, M. Guerini, P. Krause, B. Lopez Noval, M. Lucchini, F. Maggino, H.A. Marujo, N. Matteucci, C. Miller, J. Morozink Boylan, L.M. Neto, G. Nuvolati, A. Pelloni, P.L. Porta, M. Rojas, C.D. Ryff, A. Sen, M.J. Sirgy, L. Stanca, L. Tay, R. Veenhoven, S. Vieira Lima

Imad Moosa challenges convention with this comprehensive and compelling critique of the limitations and abuses of econometrics, condemning the common practices of misapplied statistical methods in both economics and finance. After reviewing the Keynesian, Austrian and mainstream criticisms of econometrics, it is demonstrated that by using standard econometric techniques, methods and models can be manipulated to produce any desired result. These hazardous analyses may then be relied upon to support flawed policy recommendations, ideological beliefs and private interests. Moosa proposes that the way forward should instead be to rely on clear thinking, intuition and common sense rather than continue with the reliance upon econometrics. The mathematization of economics has limited the accessibility and participation in economic discussion by making the area into a complex `science' when it should not be. Appealing to both academics and practitioners of economics and finance, this book serves to challenge the acceptance of econometrics as offering trustworthy analysis. Any individual interested in this sort of empirical work will find this book a captivating read on the limitations of econometrics.