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.

"Word from the Mother" presents a definitive statement on African American English from the hugely respected linguist, Geneva Smitherman; and her message is clear: black American speech enriches, rather than undermines, general American English.
Written with flashes of African American language throughout, the work gives an overview of past debates on the speech of African Americans, and provides a vision for the future. Demonstrating the stark contrast between the perceptions of the language from those outside the community, with the views of African Americans, the author explores the relationship between language and race, and the reflection of gender in language practices.
From her discussion on rhyme and rhetoric in the black speech community, to the summary of African American idioms and expressions, Geneva Smitherman argues that 'bilingualism' is necessary for all Americans if they are to take their place in the global village.
Including cartoons, poetry and hip hop lyrics which humorously illustrate her argument, Word from the Mother is a an essential read for students of African American English, language and culture and sociolinguistics, as well as the general reader interested in the worldwide adoption of black popular culture.

Rapid economic growth in the world's most populous nation is leading to widespread soil erosion, desertification, deforestation and the depletion of vital natural resources. The scale and severity of environmental problems in China now threaten the economic and social foundations of its modernization. Using case studies, Morton analyzes the relationship between international and local responses to environmental problems in China, challenging the prevailing wisdom that weak compliance is the only constraint upon local environmental management in China. It advances two interrelated discussions: first, it constructs a conceptual framework for understanding the key dimensions of environmental capacity. This is broadly defined to encompass the financial, institutional, technological and social aspects of environmental management. Second, the book presents the results of an empirical inquiry into the implementation of donor-funded environmental projects in both China's poorer and relatively developed regions. By drawing upon extensive fieldwork, it seeks to explain how, and under what conditions, international donors can strengthen China's environmental capacity, especially at the local level. It will be of interest to those studying Chinese politics, environmental studies and international relations.

Events of the past twenty years, including the Cold War and the War on Terror, have meant that the environments of international development co-operation have changed extensively, with dramatic consequences for development policies and North-South relations in general.

Perspectives on European Development Cooperation takes stock of such changes, describing and analyzing the new European development agenda, including the role of the European Union. Essays by prominent authorities in the field examine the development policies of individual donor countries and focus on the principles and objectives governing aid strategies and the performances of these policies.

This book will be of interest to students of development studies and those involved in determining development policy.

Michael Leifer, who died in 2001, was one of the leading scholars of Southeast Asian international relations. He was hugely influential through his extensive writings and his contacts with people in government and business in the region. He also inspired many new students of the region, an impressively large number of whom are now leading figures in their own right in the study of Southeast Asian international relations.
In this important book many of Michael Leifer's students, colleagues and friends come together to explore the key themes of Michael's work, and to discuss the contributions he made. The particular themes explored include the notion of 'order' - a key theme in Michael Leifer's work, a concept never fully defined; the institutions concerned with regional order, especially ASEAN and the ASEAN Regional Forum, which Michael viewed as being only limited in their effectiveness; maritime security and its management, a little studied, but highly important, aspect of Southeast Asian Security, where the interests of China potentially conflict with those of Southeast Asian states; and the making of foreign policy within particular states, where Michael Leifer emphasised the important role of the different worldviews of different states. The book concludes with an overall assessment of Michael Leifer's contribution to the study of Southeast Asian international politics.

Tabloid Britainexamines four popular tabloid newspapers and uncovers the variety of linguistics strategies they use to depict contemporary Britain. These strategies are shown to construct, in a circular fashion, an impersonation of the language of the community of readers which the newspapers seek to attract.

Including examples taken from a month-long study, Martin Conboy considers how this imaginary community of the British nation is drawn through themes such as 'outsiders' and 'insiders', women, celebrity, history and politics. Conboy also demonstrates how the tabloids constitute a successful modern variation of journalism hich has extended its influence beyond the boundaries of print and triggered debate about the related phenomenon of 'tabloidization'.

This critical study of the newspapers' version of popular rhetoric will be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of English, Media and Communication, and Journalism.>

In spite of the considerable attention devoted to the third/ninth century by scholars of Arabic literature, credit for the elaboration of the notion of adab in its wider meaning of literary culture is given to and concentrated upon only a handful of writers. The disproportionate emphasis, within and outside the Arabic literary-historical and critical tradition, has been at the expense of certain crucial aspects of that tradition. This book re-evaluates the literary history and landscape of the third/ninth century by demonstrating and emphasising the significance of an important transformation, namely the one signalled by the transition from a predominantly oral-aural culture to an increasingly writerly, literate, and bookish one. This transformation had a profound influence on the production of learned and literary culture; on the modes of transmission of learning; on the nature and types of literary production; on the nature of scholarly and professional occupations and alliances; and on the ranges of meanings of certain key concepts, such as plagiarism. In order better to understand these, attention is focused on a central but understudied figure, Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur (d. 280/893

Transnational Cinema: The Film Reader provides an overview of the key concepts and debates within the developing field of transnational cinema.

Bringing together seminal essays from a wide range of sources, this volume engages with films that fashion their narrative and aesthetic dynamics in relation to more than one national or cultural community. The reader is divided into four sections:

• From National to Transnational Cinema
• Global Cinema in the Digital Age
• Motion Pictures: Film, Migration and Diaspora
• Tourists and Terrorists.

Analyzing the complex interaction between the material and immaterial aspects of new digital technologies, this book draws upon a mix of theoretical approaches (including sociology, media theory, cultural studies and technological philosophy), to suggest that the 'Matrix' of science fiction and Hollywood is simply an extreme example of how contemporary technological society enframes and conditions its citizens. Arranged in two parts, the book covers: theorizing the Im/Material Matrix living in the Digital Matrix. Providing a novel perspective on on-going digital developments by using both the work of current thinkers and that of past theorists not normally associated with digital issues, it gives a fresh insight into the roots and causes of the social matrix behind the digital one of popular imagination. The authors highlight the way we should be concerned by the power of the digital to undermine physical reality, but also explore the potential the digital has for alternative, empowering social uses. The book's central point is to impress upon the reader that the digital does indeed matter. It includes a pessimistic interpretation of technological change, and adds a substantial historical perspective to the often excessively topical focus of much existing cyberstudies literature making it an important volume for students and researchers in this field.

Korea is currently witnessing huge social change with unprecedented divorce rates and the disintegration of the traditional family system. Fusing audience research and ethnography, "Women, Television and Everyday Life in Korea" presents a compelling account of women's changing lives and identities in relation to the impact of the most popular media culture in everyday life-television.
Within the historically-specific social conditions of Korean modernization Kim analyses how Korean women of varying age and class groups cope with the new environment of changing economical structures and social relations. The central arguments presented revolve around the revelatory and self-reflexive nature of TV talk and its function as a form of empowerment. The book argues that television is an important resource for women, stimulating them to research their own lives and identities. Kim reveals Korean women as creative, energetic, and critical audiences in their responses to evolving modernity and the impact of the West.
Based on original empirical research, "Women, Television and Everyday Life in" "Korea" explores the hopes, aspirations, frustrations and dilemmas of Korean women as they try to cope with life beyond traditional grounds. Going beyond the traditional Anglo-American view of media and culture, this text will appeal to both Korean area studies and media and communications studies.

This book introduces the syntactic process of auxiliary formation and applies it to the grammatical analysis of the indicative, or non-modal, auxiliary verbs of Modern Tamil. Using data from spoken and written registers gathered over several years, the book demonstrates for the first time the systematic nature of auxiliary verb phenomena, and how they are integrated into the grammar of the language.
Including fresh information on new verb constructions, verbal categories and tenses, this book will be a welcome addition to the current general linguistics literature, in particular the study of verbal categories and the morphosyntactic processes that instantiate them.

Ethnomusicology: A Contemporary Reader is designed to supplement a textbook for an introductory course in ethnomusicology. It offers a cross section of the best new writing in the field from the last 15-20 years. Many instructors supplement textbook readings and listening assignments with scholarly articles that provide more in-depth information on geographic regions and topics and introduce issues that can facilitate class or small group discussion. These sources serve other purposes as well: they exemplify research technique and format and serve as models for the use of academic language, and collectively they can also illustrate the range of ethnographic method and analytical style in the discipline of ethnomusicology. Ethnomusicology: A Contemporary Reader serves as a basic introduction to the best writing in the field for students, professors, and music professionals. It is perfect for both introductory and upper level courses in world music.

The Korean language is ranked 11th among the languages in the world in terms of numbers of speakers. Korean is now studied as an important foreign language in an increasing number of countries. This book provides a good overview of the language in a readable way without neglecting important structural aspects of the language. Furthermore, the book explains geographical, historical, social and cultural context of the language.
This book provides a general description of the Korean language by highlighting important structural aspects of the language, whilst keeping technical details to a minimum. It situates the Korean language in its geographical, historical, social and cultural context so that readers can gain a good understanding of its speakers and the environment in which it is used. Covering a wide range of topics on Korean including its genetic affiliation, historical development, sound patterns, writing systems, vocabulary, grammar and discourse, the book also illuminates differences between North and South Korean, and related language planning and policy issues. "The Korean Language" is designed to be accessible primarily to English-speaking learners of Korean and scholars working in disciplines other than linguistics, although it also serves as a useful introduction for general linguists. The book will complement Korean language textbooks used in the classroom. It will be welcomed not only by readers with a wider interest in Korean studies, but also by Asian specialists in general. Moreover it will be valuable reading for so-called heritage learners of Korean.)

Theatre occupied a particularly important place in the life of the elite, for whom owning a theatre troupe was highly fashionable and for whom theatre performances were an integral part of formal gatherings, various rituals and ceremonies. Based on an exploration of original historical records, including comparisons with other forms of ancient theatre, Shen provides an overview of elite theatre in Ming China and examines the details of theatrical performance.

Analyzing the complex interaction between the material and immaterial aspects of new digital technologies, this book draws upon a mix of theoretical approaches (including sociology, media theory, cultural studies and technological philosophy), to suggest that the 'Matrix' of science fiction and Hollywood is simply an extreme example of how contemporary technological society enframes and conditions its citizens. Arranged in two parts, the book covers: theorizing the Im/Material Matrix living in the Digital Matrix. Providing a novel perspective on on-going digital developments by using both the work of current thinkers and that of past theorists not normally associated with digital issues, it gives a fresh insight into the roots and causes of the social matrix behind the digital one of popular imagination. The authors highlight the way we should be concerned by the power of the digital to undermine physical reality, but also explore the potential the digital has for alternative, empowering social uses. The book's central point is to impress upon the reader that the digital does indeed matter. It includes a pessimistic interpretation of technological change, and adds a substantial historical perspective to the often excessively topical focus of much existing cyberstudies literature making it an important volume for students and researchers in this field.

Farm and business lobby groups played a vital role in the erosion of the American-led trade embargo against China from 1949-79. In this comprehensive study, based on recently declassified primary source material, trade negotiations and agreements are examined and a detailed account of developing economic links between East and West is also provided.
Developing economic relations and tensions with US policy are discussed in the context of PRC and Western economic and agricultural problems, Beijing's development strategies, Sino-Soviet relations and the backdrop of War in Asia. The story starts with regional grain shortages as a result of Mao's self-sufficiency policies. Washington failed to prevent its allies from stopping politically influential private and semi-official trade promotion organizations from maintaining more stringent trade restrictions aimed at preventing China's economic development. Mitcham also charts the rise and fall of the Great Leap Forward and China's eventual recovery, capped by rapprochement, the re-opening of important diplomatic and trade relations and Beijing's readjustment policies. By the late seventies, the stage was set for the rise of the Chinese economic engine, and a shift in economic thinking that continues to have repercussions both within China and around the world today.
For historians, economists, political scientists, government officials, business representatives and others with an interest in Chinese economics and history, China's Economic Relations with the West and Japan will be essential reading.

Series Information:
Asia's Transformations/RoutledgeCurzon Studies in Asia's Transformations

Based on a collection of labor contracts and other documents, this book examines the legal, economic and social relations of labor as they developed in the commercial enterprises of Tokugawa Japan. The urban focus is Kyoto, the cultural capital and smallest of the three great cities of the Tokugawa period, but the data comes from a wider region of commercial and castle towns and rural villages in central Japan.
Tokugawa businesses were family firms, but the system differed from that found in European cities at this time, and differences in family practice also resulted in a different organization adapted to business needs. This semi-public family environment also lent itself to conflict as outsiders were incorporated into family space, hierarchies and affairs. Conflict and its resolution is a topic of special interest in this study. Problems such as embezzling, stealing and absconding, and the mechanisms developed to address these problems in the paternalistic environment of family firms are portrayed through letters and other documents of accusation, investigation, apology, reconciliation and punishment. Numerous translated excerpts of documents written by and for workers and employers bring the voice of the people to life and in this analysis of labor relations.

Almost all women and men claim that gender equality within their relationships is the ideal. In practice, however, equality is not predominant within many couples and families. This book develops current debates about individualisation within families a " particularly how partners understand and resolve tensions between the need for togetherness and personal autonomy, and how partners view and work with increasing gender equality.

Individualism and Families is based on a large Swedish study from two of the foremost European experts on the sociology of the family. The study looks particularly at partnering, parenting, intimacy, commitments, attitudes to finances and gender divisions of labour.

During the period 1965 to 1990 East Asia was the world's fastest growing region. Economic Development in Pacific Asia provides illuminating, non-technical perspectives on key facets of the region's economies. The text focuses on the eight countries which accounted for the majority of the economic growth: Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Empirical evidence is used to provide a revealing, multi-dimensional statistical profile of the countries as well as the region as a whole. Rather than present a statistical history of each country, the text highlights the relative performance in terms of the variables which are studied within each chapter. Akhand and Gupta examine a range of popular topics including: the relative role of factors accumulation versus technology change factor price distribution and employment growth, poverty and income distribution the Asian Crisis and corruption. In addition, the book examines topics rarely covered in the current economics literature such as urbanization, the gender gap and the digital divide. It provides an accessible and wide ranging assessment of the existing evidence and current arguments on East Asian economic development, and is a valuable addition to economists, policy makers and those interested in Asian economic affairs.

During the 1970s, dissidents like Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn dominated Western perceptions of the USSR, but were then quickly forgotten, as Gorbachev's reformers monopolised the spotlight. This book restores the dissidents to their rightful place in Russian history. Using a vast array of samizdat and published sources, it shows how ideas formulated in the dissident milieu clashed with the original programme of perestroika, and shaped the course of democratisation in post-Soviet Russia. Some of these ideas - such the dissidents' preoccupation with glasnost and legality, and their critique of revolutionary violence - became part of the agenda of Russia's democratic movement. But this book also demonstrates that dissidents played a crucial role in the rise of the new Russian radical nationalism. Both the friends and foes of Russian democracy have a dissident lineage.

This book provides a detailed examination of judicial decision-making in Japanese cases involving sexual violence. It describes the culture of 'eroticised violence' in Japan, which sees the feminine body as culpable, and the legal system which encourages homogeneity and conformity in decision-making, and shows how the legal constraints confronting women claiming sexual assaults are enormous. It includes analysis of specific case studies, and a discussion of recent moves to address the problem.

A comprehensive introduction to the historical forces and recent social and political developments that have shaped today's Armenian people. With contributions from leading Armenian, American and European specialists, the book focuses on identity formation, exploring how the Armenians' perceptions of themselves and their place in the world are informed by their history, culture and present-day situation. The book also covers contemporary politics, economy and society, and relates these to ongoing debates over future directions for the Armenian people, both in the homeland and in the diaspora communities.

This book brings together studies by experts in the study of religion in nineteenth century Iran. Broad areas covered include the relationship between religion and the state, the importance of archival materials for the study of religion, the developments in Qajar religious thought, the position of religious minorities in Qajar Iran and the relationship between religion and Qajar culture. The centrality of Shi'ite Islam to any understanding of Qajar religion is emphasised, though non-Muslim religious communities, and their relationship with the Shi'ite hierarchy and the state are also studied. For the first time, a collection of studies by the leading researchers in the field are collected in one place. The collection represents the proceedings of a conference in September 2000 at the University of Bristol.