Despite their small area, the southern islands of Japan can be seen as stepping stones towards a more nuanced view of cultural osmosis between Japan and the outside world. This book presents an ethnographic portrayal of the people of the Southern Ryukyu Islands and their world. In particular it explores the mind of the islanders, their relationship with the natural world, their social relationships, and the rituals which represent and give expression to these relationships.

Based on extensive original research, including participant observation, the book allows the authentic voices of the Ryukyu Island worlds to speak for themselves as well as setting the work in the wider context of anthropology, Japanese Studies and Pacific Island studies.

In the last twenty years, Indian cricket has been transformed. With the arrival of global television networks, mass-media coverage and multinational sponsors, cricket has become big business and India has become the economic driving force in the world game. For the first time a developing country has become a major player in the international sports arena.
This fully updated and revised edition of Mihir Boses classic history is a unique account of the Indian cricket phenomenon. Drawing on a combination of extensive research and personal experience, Bose traces the development of the Indian game from its beginnings as a colonial pastime to its coming of age as a national passion and now a global commercial powerhouse. This illuminating study reveals Indian crickets central place in modern India's identity, culture and society.
Insightful, honest and challenging, Bose tackles the myths and controversies of Indian cricket. He considers the game in terms of race, caste, politics, national consciousness and ambition, money, celebrity and the media, evoking all the unpredictability, frustration and glory that is the magic of Indian cricket.

The number of poor people in China is huge, despite recent economic advances. The minorities in China constitute less than ten per cent of the entire population, yet they represent forty to fifty per cent of the absolute poor. This compelling book investigates the problem of poverty and inequality in among Chinese ethnic, focusing in particular on two important questions: Have the minorities shared the fruits of spectacular economic growth in China during the past two decades? Is their backwardness due to ethnic and cultural factors or to extremely low incomes?
The authors examine the different factors explaining poverty, the relationship between poverty and ethnicity, poverty indicators that permit a comparison between minorities and non-minorities (or the Han majority), economic and demographic characteristics of minorities and their educational, occupational and gender profiles. They considers whether special measures in favor of minorities introduced by the Chinese Government have contributedto an improvement in their standard of living. International comparisons are made with other developing countries such as India, which also has substantial ethnic minorities and similar preferential policies.
"Poverty and Inequality among Chinese Minorities" gives new research findings and new thinking on a highly topical issue in Chinese development economics, which fills a gap in the existing economic literature.

With examples drawn from media coverage of the War on Terror, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and the London underground bombings, Cultural Chaos explores the changing relationship between journalism and power in an increasingly globalised news culture. In this new text, Brian McNair examines the processes of cultural, geographic and political dissolution in the post-Cold War era and the rapid evolution of information and communication technologies. He investigates the impact of these trends on domestic and international journalism and on political processes in democratic and authoritarian societies across the world. Written in a lively and accessible style, Cultural Chaos provides students with an overview of the evolution of the sociology of journalism, a critical review of current thinking within media studies and an argument for a revision and renewal of the paradigms that have dominated the field since the early twentieth century. Separate chapters are devoted to new developments such as the rise of the blogosphere and satellite television news and their impact on journalism more generally. Cultural Chaos will be essential reading for all those interested in the emerging globalised news culture of the twenty-first century.

This is an in-depth account of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service, a uniquely cosmopolitan institution established in the wake of China's defeat in the Opium Wars (1842 to 43), and a central feature of the Treaty Port system. The British-dominated service was headed by the famous Robert Hart who founded a far-reaching customs administration that also encompassed other responsibilities such as marine and harbour maintenance, quarantine, anti-piracy patrols and postal services. This institution sat at a crucial juncture between Chinese and foreign interests, and was intimately linked to British interests and fortunes in the Far East. Following the establishment of the Republic in 1911 there were grave misgivings as to whether the foreign element of the Service would survive. Yet the Service grew in influence and strength, ensuring the foreign inspectorate a continued role in China's affairs. Delivering an overview of the Service, its bureaucracy, fiscal responsibilities and life for foreigners in its employ, focusing especially on the later years of the Service, Donna Brunero draws on the experiences of the foreign administration of the Service as it attempted to negotiate between Chinese and foreign expectations and interests.

"US-China Relations in the 21st Century" addresses the bilateral relations of these two nations on an international, domestic, societal and individual level between 1990 and 2005. Peaceful power shift remains a central dilemma in world politics, since historically power transition from a dominant nation to a challenger has been associated with international wars. This book examines whether China and the US can learn from history and manage a potential power transition peacefully. Grounding his research on contemporary US-China relations with thorough theoretical, historical and policy exploration, Zhu selects two important cases of power transitions in history as the background for this study: power rivalry between Great Britain and Germany (1871-1914) that led to World War I, and the peaceful power transition from Great Britain to the United States (1865-1945).
"US-China Relations in the 21st Century" contributes to the current IR theory by proposing a new analytical model on global power transition and provides recommendations for peacefully handling a potential power transition from the US to China in the future. This original and comprehensive study is essential reading for scholars of US and Chinese foreign policy, world politics and international relations.

Contrary to the expectations of many people, China's recent economic growth has not led to the collapse of the Chinese Communist Party. In fact, the Party has recently carried out a peaceful and orderly transition to the so-called fourth generation of leadership, has revitalised itself, and created a new, younger and better trained cadre corps. Despite this successful transformation, there continue to be many problems that the Party will need to overcome if it is to remain in power, including pressures for democratization in both urban and rural areas, widespread corruption, the emergence of new social groups, and increasing dissatisfaction among workers who seem to be losing out in the present transition process. The Chinese Communist Party in Reform explores the current state of the Chinese Communist Party and the many challenges that it faces. It considers the dynamics of development in China, the Party organization, recruitment and management, and the Party's role in society more widely. It concludes by examining the prospects for the future of the Party, including whether it will continue to be able to accommodate socio-economic changes within China and pressures from abroad, and the likely nature of its evolution. Overall, this book provides a comprehensive assessment of the internal dynamics of the Chinese Communist Party and its role in Chinese society.

The internet is developing more extensively in China than any other country in the world. Chinese Cyberspaces provides multidisciplinary perspectives on recent developments and the consequences of internet expansion in China. Including first-hand research and case studies, the contributors examine the social, political, cultural and economic impact of the internet in China.

The book investigates the political implications of China's internet development as well as the effect on Chinaa (TM)s information policy and overall political stability. The contributors show how although the digital divide has developed along typical lines of gender, urban versus rural, and income, it has also been greatly influenced by the Communist Partya (TM)s attempts to exert efficient control. This topical and interesting text gives a compelling overview of the current situation regarding the Chinese internet development in China, while clearly signalling potential future trends.

Written in a clear and easy-to-follow style, this revealing text examines the contemporary political geography of the West Bank and Gaza strip.

Descriptive in nature, it documents the changes and developments since 1967 right up to the disengagement from Gaza. The book is supplemented by numerous maps and covers issues including demography, Jewish settlements, water and natural resources, transport infrastructure, planning, partition plans for Jerusalem, settlement policy and the Separation Fence.

One of the first books to tackle this contentious subject from a geographical rather than a political or historical perspective, The West Bank and Gaza Strip will be of huge interest to both undergraduate and graduate students studying the Israel-Palestine question.

In the last twenty years, Indian cricket has been transformed. With the arrival of global television networks, mass-media coverage and multinational sponsors, cricket has become big business and India has become the economic driving force in the world game. For the first time a developing country has become a major player in the international sports arena.
This fully updated and revised edition of Mihir Boses classic history is a unique account of the Indian cricket phenomenon. Drawing on a combination of extensive research and personal experience, Bose traces the development of the Indian game from its beginnings as a colonial pastime to its coming of age as a national passion and now a global commercial powerhouse. This illuminating study reveals Indian crickets central place in modern India's identity, culture and society.
Insightful, honest and challenging, Bose tackles the myths and controversies of Indian cricket. He considers the game in terms of race, caste, politics, national consciousness and ambition, money, celebrity and the media, evoking all the unpredictability, frustration and glory that is the magic of Indian cricket.

Negotiation is the most important skill anyone in the business world can have today, because people must continually negotiate their jobs, responsibilities, and opportunities. Yet, very few people know strategies for maximizing their outcomes in everyday and in more formal business situations. People often needlessly throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars and sour interpersonal relationships because they do not know how to effectively negotiate. Negotiation training and research allows opportunity for managers to assess their negotiation abilities and learn practical techniques and strategies for improving their ability to negotiate effectively.
Negotiation is an emerging topic in social psychology and academics in Business and Management are increasingly looking to social-psychological theory and research to help understand some of the fundamental processes occurring during negotiation.
This book will serve as a comprehensive overview of the topic with original contributions from leaders in social psychology and negotiation research. All topics covered in this volume are core to the understanding of the negotiation process and include: decision-making and judgment, emotion and negotiation, motivation and game theory. These chapters will strengthen basic knowledge of the principles and theories of negotiation, as well as illustrate effective implementation of negotiation strategy and dispute resolution.

Written by Gilead Sher, the Israeli Chief of Staff during the tumultuous 1999-2001 peace negotiations, this book gives an overview of the Israel-Palestine conflict, examining the core issues of contention, the various 'players' and the possible solutions formulated during the peace process effort.
Delivering a comprehensive fast paced description and analysis of the Middle East peace process, the book sheds new light on the complicated and circuitous negotiations held between the Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Americans and numerous other intermediaries. Sher presents concise contextual background and insightful analysis of the political, economic, social and cultural reasons that led to the breakdown of the process and the consequent eruption of bloody violence.
A bestseller in Israel, "The" "Israeli-Palestinian Peace Negotiations 1999-2001" has been praised by critics and embraced by readers on all sides of the political spectrum. The former Prime MinisterEhud Barak hailed it as 'The best book there is or ever will be on the process.' Contributing a new dimension to the current literature on the Middle East peace process, the book provides a fresh understanding of the link between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the current global threats of Islamic fanaticism and international terrorism.

From music to gaming, information gathering to eLearning; eCommerce to eGovernment, Lorenzo Cantoni and Stefano Tardini's absorbing introduction considers the internet as a communication technology; the opportunities it affords us, the limitations it imposes and the functions it allows. Internet explores: the political economy of the internet hypertext computer mediated communication websites as communication conceptualizing users of the internet internet communities and practices. Perfect for students studying this modern phenomenon, and a veritable e-feast for all cyber junkies.

This book examines new crimes, or crimes which are newly of great concern, in China, and assesses the balance, or rather the imbalance, between public order and human rights in the way the law deals with them. These new crimes include 'evil cults', domestic violence, sexual harassment, internet fraud, website pornography, and organised crime in the sex and drugs trades and human trafficking. The topic is of particular importance, both because current social upheaval in China, which is likely to continue, contributes a great deal to the increase of new crimes, and because there is increasing international interest in the law following China's accession to the World Trade Organisation.

This is the first explanation and evaluation of Taiwan's defence forces and infrastructure. It examines not only Taiwan's armed forces, but also its Ministry of National Defence, personnel issues, and civil-military relations. It also clearly shows how the most dangerous situation in East Asia is the dispute between China and Taiwan. Beijing insists Taiwan is a Chinese province, and threatens to use military force to ensure that status; Taipei insists it is an independent, sovereign nation. The United States has a crucial role in resolving this crisis and maintaining peace and stability, but agrees with neither side. This new book provides crucial base-line data and evaluation of one of the major participants in an ongoing crisis across the Taiwan Strait that has the potential of involving China and the United States in armed conflict. It examines the danger of a possibly nuclear conflict between China and the United States, which would seriously disrupt all of East Asia. It also shows how Taiwan's defence policies and actions do not match the threat: Taipei needs to develop and pursue realistic policies. The author served thirty years in the U.S. militaries. He has travelled widely in both China and Taiwan, including many visits to warships, air force squadrons, and army units. Additional sources for his analysis include interviews of senior policy-makers and military officers. This is essential reading for all students of East Asian security and Sino-American Relations and of International and Security Studies in general.

The stand-off across the Straits of Taiwan continues to be one of the most dangerous confrontations in Asia. The technical superiority of the Taiwanese forces has been a major factor in maintaining balance, but as mainland China's armed forces modernize, Taiwan's advantages are being eroded. In response, Taiwan has recently undertaken a major reform of its armed forces. Bringing together a wide range of experts including people who are involved in defence policy making in Taiwan, this book presents a comprehensive analysis of these reforms, and assesses their likely effectiveness. Chapters are devoted to issues including the Chinese threat, the domestic context of reform, the role of the United States and specific defence issues, making the book an invaluable guide to the changes undertaken and underway within Taiwan's strategic environment. With a foreword by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's Defense Reform will be of interest to policy makers and academics working in this vital strategic area.

This book makes a novel contribution to the study of citizenship by examining how individuals at the margins of Chinese society deal with state efforts to transform them into model citizens.
Based on extensive original research, it examines how individuals at the margins of Chinese society experienced the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the late 1990s and early 2000s. This book shows how individuals dealt with state attempts to transform them into model citizens, arguing that social and cultural citizenship has a greater impact on peoples lives than legal, civil and political citizenship. The seven case studies in this book present intimate portraits of the conflicted identities of peasants, criminals, ethnic minorities, the urban poor, rural migrant children in the cities, mainland migrants in Hong Kong and Chinese youth studying abroad as they negotiate the perilous dilemmas presented by globalization and neoliberalism. Although the focus is on marginal groups, the book portrays the nature of citizenship in China overall.
Drawing on a diverse array of theories and methods from anthropology, sociology, education, political science, cultural studies and development studies, Chinese Citizenship presents fresh perspectives and highlights the often devastating consequences that citizenship distinctions can have on Chinese lives.

What's news? A front-page news story in the United States might not appear in a newspaper in China. Or a minor story on German television may be all over the airwaves in India. But "News Around the World" shows that the underlying nature of news is much the same the world over and that people--no matter what their jobs or their status in society--tend to hold similar notions of newsworthiness.
In this richly detailed study of international news, news makers and the audience, the authors have undertaken exhaustive original research within two cities--one major and one peripheral--in each of ten countries: Australia, Chile, China, Germany, India, Israel, Jordan, Russia, South Africa, and the United States. The nations were selected for study based on a central principle of maximizing variation in geographic locations, economic and political systems, languages, sizes, and cultures. The remarkable scope of the research makes this the most comprehensive analysis of newsworthiness around the globe:
- 10 countries studied, each with a university country director
- 2 cities in each country examined, one major and one peripheral
- 60 news media studied (newspapers, television, and radio news programs), resulting in 32,000+ news items analyzed
- 80 focus groups with journalists, public relations practitioners, and audience members
- 2,400 newspaper stories ranked according to newsworthiness and compared with how prominently they were published.
"News Around the World "provides remarkable insight into how and why news stories are reported, testing and improving a theory of cross-cultural newsworthiness, It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand internationalmedia and journalism.

Providing important sociological insight into the dynamics of migration the essays in this collection focus on issues associated with migration for work both in and from the Asian region. With contributions from an international team of well-known scholars, the text sets labor migration firmly within the context of globalization, providing a focused, contemporary discussion of what is undoubtedly a major twenty-first century concern.
The first of its kind to look at the non-professionals who make up the vast majority of migrant workers in the region, the book analyses workers motivations and rationalities, highlighting the similarities of migration experiences throughout Asia. Presenting in-depth case studies of the real-life experiences and problems faced by migrant workers, the book discusses migrants relations with the state and their vulnerability to exploitation, as well as the major policy issues now facing governments, employers, NGOs and international agencies

Written by Gilead Sher, the Israeli Chief of Staff during the tumultuous 1999-2000 peace negotiations, this book provides a fast paced description and analysis of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Presenting an overview of the core issues of contention, the various key 'players' and the possible solutions formulated during the peace process effort, the book sheds new light on the events of that period. readers on all sides of the political spectrum. The former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak hailed it as 'The best book there is or ever will be on the process.' An important contribution to the current literature, it provides a fresh understanding of the link between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the current global threats of Islamic fanaticism and international terrorism.

Performative methods are playing an increasingly prominent role in research into historical production processes, materials, bodily knowledge and sensory skills, and in forms of education and public engagement in classrooms and museums. This book offers, for the first time, sustained, interdisciplinary reflections on performative methods, variously known as Reconstruction, Replication and Re-enactment (RRR) practices across the fields of history of science, archaeology, art history, conservation, musicology and anthropology. Each of these fields has distinct histories, approaches, tools and research questions. Researchers in the historical disciplines have used reconstructions to learn about the materials and practices of the past, while anthropologists and ethnographers have more often studied the re-enactments themselves, participating in these performances as engaged observers. In this book, authors bring their experiences of RRR practices within their discipline into conversation with RRR practices in other disciplines, providing a basis for interdisciplinary cross-fertilization.

Marco Polo's famous book about his journey to China, written in 1298, continues to be a subject of considerable controversy. One recent work on the subject argues that Marco Polo never went to China at all, and other scholars have pointed out apparent mistakes and important omissions in Marco's writings, including his failure to mention the Great Wall, and his apparently erroneous description of the course of the Yellow River. Haw re-examines Marco Polo's writings. The main arguments against his credibility have been negative, concentrating on things that it is argued he should have seen and noted but did not. The most serious of these supposed omissions are generally said to be his failure to describe the Chinese writing system, tea, foot-binding and the Great Wall of China. Yet Haw argues that what he does mention is impressive and argues strongly for his veracity. This book clarifies Marco Polo's itineraries in China and proposes several new identifications of places mentioned. Relying extensively on original Chinese sources and supplemented by Haw's wide knowledge of China, Marco Polo's China presents a convincing argument and concludes that his work is an accurate, important and useful source from an extraordinary period of Chinese history.

This book challenges the prevailing view of cinema and cinema culture that Hollywood/the US creates, produces and exports, with other countries importing, sometimes modifying and sometimes pirating 'original' American work. Instead the book argues that the 'original ideas' which underpin the moneymaking activities of the 'creative industries', and for which 'ownership' is secured through copyright, are often imported, 'borrowed' and modified by Hollywood itself from other cultures and national cinemas. The book considers especially Chinese and Korean cinema, and film 'piracy' in these countries, to show that ideas of cultural ownership and copyright are not as straightforward as they may at first seem, and that copyright is perhaps primarily a lever through which cultural control is exercised by the cultural big business of the dominant power.

This new book addresses three key issues: What has changed in Chinese civil-military relations? What can account for changes? And what are the implications for Chinese security policy and strategic behavior?
It tackles these questions by keenly assessing civil-military dynamics in elite politics; such dynamics in national security and arms control policy; relations between commanders and political commissars; relations between the PLA and society; civil-military dynamics regarding defense economics and logistics; and such dynamics regarding dual-use technologies and defense industry.
These analyses build into the central theme that the emphasis of Chinese civil-military relations is shifting from politics to military tasks. This is an extremely important new development by a nation many predict to become a super power in the twenty-first century.
This is therefore essential reading for all students and scholars of strategic and security studies, Chinese studies and international relations.

In "Look, a Negro!," political theorist Robert Gooding-Williams imaginatively and impressively unpacks fundamental questions around issues of race and racism. Inspired by Frantz Fanon's famous description of the profound effect of being singled out by a white child with the words "Look, a Negro!," his book is an insightful, rich and unusually wide ranging work of social criticism.
These essays engage the themes that have centrally occupied recent discussion of race and racial identity, among them, the workings of racial ideology (including the interplay of gender and sexuality in the articulation of racial ideology); the viability of social constructionist theories of race; the significance of Afrocentrism and multiculturalism for democracy; the place of black identity in the imagination and articulation of America's inheritance of philosophy; and the conceptualization of African American politics in post-segregation America.
"Look, a Negro!" will be of interest to philosophers, political theorists, and critical race theorists, students of cultural studies and film, and readers concerned with the continuing importance of race-consciousness to democratic culture in the United States.