This book examines the rise of Chinese capitalism and discusses its effects on both itself and its neighbours. The collection is comprised of sixteen previously published or forthcoming articles that combined provide historical, comparative and theoretically informed perspectives on the spread of Chinese capitalism.

This book explores dilemmas that Buddhism faces in relation to the continuing ethnic conflict and violence in contemporary Sri Lanka. Using an interdisciplinary approach, prominent scholars in the fields of anthropology, history, Buddhist studies and Pali examine multiple dimensions of the problem. Buddhist responses to the crisis are discussed in detail, along with how Buddhism can help to create peace in Sri Lanka. Evaluating the role of Buddhists and their institutions in bringing about an end to war and violence as well as possibly heightening the problem, this collection puts forward a critical analysis of the religious conditions contributing to continuing hostilities.

From the verticals of New York, Hong Kong and Australia's Gold Coast to the sprawls of London, Paris and Jakarta, this cross-disciplinary volume of new writing examines constructions, representations, imaginations and theorizations of urban space and cityscapes in modern and contemporary culture. Linked by a shared concern for issues of spatiality, the essay topics are organized around three interrelated themes - image, text, and form - and range from the examination of cyberpunk skylines, postcolonial urbanism, and the cinema of urban disaster, to the analysis of iconic city landmarks such as the Twin Towers, the London Eye, and the Jewish Museum Berlin.
Working at the intersections of visual, material, and literary culture, "Urban Space and Cityscapes" seeks in particular:
- to provide new critical and theoretical perspectives on the city at a time when the condition and future of urbanism are major subjects of international and public concern.
- to examine the aesthetic, narrative, and representational strategies used to interpret the dynamic space of cities.
- to explore the relationship between urban space and a variety of pressing cultural concerns, including issues of identity, memory, technology, class, gender, nation, and ethnicity.
With original essays from the fields of architecture, cultural theory, film, geography, literature, and visual art, "Urban Space" "and Cityscapes" offers fresh insight into the increasingly complex relationship between urban space, cultural production, and everyday life.

From the verticals of New York, Hong Kong and Australia's Gold Coast to the sprawls of London, Paris and Jakarta, this cross-disciplinary volume of new writing examines constructions, representations, imaginations and theorizations of urban space and cityscapes in modern and contemporary culture. Linked by a shared concern for issues of spatiality, the essay topics are organized around three interrelated themes - image, text, and form - and range from the examination of cyberpunk skylines, postcolonial urbanism, and the cinema of urban disaster, to the analysis of iconic city landmarks such as the Twin Towers, the London Eye, and the Jewish Museum Berlin.
Working at the intersections of visual, material, and literary culture, "Urban Space and Cityscapes" seeks in particular:
- to provide new critical and theoretical perspectives on the city at a time when the condition and future of urbanism are major subjects of international and public concern.
- to examine the aesthetic, narrative, and representational strategies used to interpret the dynamic space of cities.
- to explore the relationship between urban space and a variety of pressing cultural concerns, including issues of identity, memory, technology, class, gender, nation, and ethnicity.
With original essays from the fields of architecture, cultural theory, film, geography, literature, and visual art, "Urban Space" "and Cityscapes" offers fresh insight into the increasingly complex relationship between urban space, cultural production, and everyday life.

Inter-disciplinary in approach, this collection of essays explores Chinas reform era development within the concept of trans-locality. A key element of spatial change in today's China has been the unprecedented geographic mobility of millions of labor migrants, tourists, brides, entrepreneurs, and many others. But trans-locality doesn't just mean people. It is crucially constituted by the circulation of capital, ideas, images, goods, styles, services, disease to name but a few.
With contribution from well-respected China specialists, the essays focus simultaneously on mobilites and localities, drawing our attention to the multiplying forms of mobility in China whilst retaining the importance of localities in peoples lives. The book provides a clear path to understanding the importance of trans-locality as a concept along with concrete examples of its operation in China. Unique in approach, it is at once a study of the connections between location and culture, politics, economics, bodies, gender and technology.

"Broadcasting the Blues: Black Blues in the Segregation Era "is based on Paul Oliver's award-winning radio broadcasts from the BBC that were created over several decades. It traces the social history of the blues in America, from its birth in the rural South through the heyday of sound recordings. Noted blues scholar Paul Oliver draws on decades of research and personal interviews with performers -- some of whom he "discovered" and recorded for the first time -- to draw a picture of how the blues aesthetic developed, giving new insights into the role blues played in American society before racial integration.
The book begins by outlining the history of the blues from African music through country stomps, ragtime songs, and field hollers. From the heroic figures of black folksong -- including the steel-driving railroad worker John Henry and the destructive Boll Weevil -- to the content of the emerging blues, the author discusses the "meaning" behind the often coded words of the blues, evoking topics such as playful sexuality, magic and medicine, the stresses of segregation, and commentary on national events. Finally, the author traces the history of blues documentation, showing how our views of the early blues have been shaped through a complex interplay of social forces, and indicating possible lines for future research.

This book assumes no prior knowledge of the language and begins with the teaching of the Persian alphabet. Grammar and vocabulary are each covered in full. The course has not adopted any method of transliteration and expects the student to read and write in Persian script from the start. It places equal emphasis on reading, writing and speaking. It aims to provide the student with the necessary skills for social interaction, as well as a basis for the study of modern literature.
The course consists of 48 units and favors teaching by communicative and contextual learning. Most units begin with a reading exercise used to introduce an item of grammar and new vocabulary, followed by explanations and drill exercises aimed at consolidating the student's understanding.
Each unit also contains a strong oral communication element which helps the student assimilate the theory through interaction with the teacher and other students, at first concentrating on transactional language, then moving increasingly towards more idiomatic Persian.
Complete with a Persian-English and English-Persian vocabulary list key to all the exercises and tape recordings, this is an up-to-date textbook which can be used both by teachers or individuals wishing to learn Persian independently.

In 1991 Taiwan held its first fully democratic election. This first single volume of party politics in Taiwan analyzes the evolution of party competition in the country, looking at how Taiwan's parties have adjusted to their new multi-party election environment. It features key chapters on:

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• the development of party politics in Taiwan
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• the impact of party change on social welfare, corruption and national identity
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• party politics in the DPP era.

Including interviews with high-ranking Taiwanese politicians and material on the 2004 Presidential election, this important work brings the literature up-to-date. It provides a valuable resource for scholars of Chinese and Taiwanese politics and a welcome addition to the field of regime transition and democratization.

The contributions of leading Kantian and Kierkegaardian scholars to this collection break down to the simplistic contrast in which Kant is seen as the advocate of a rational moral theology and Kierkegaard as the advocate of an irrationalist faith. This collection is an ideal text for discussion of central issues.

This study explores the relationship between the nature and context of non-traditional occupations and the empowerment status of women in society. Specifically, it examines the extent to which women in non-traditional occupations have been empowered by their skills, knowledge, and position within the Togolese Government's existing training policies for the increased participation of women in non-traditional sectors of the labor force.
In Togo, like many other African countries, several evaluation exercises have been conducted regarding the number of women who have successfully completed their training in non-traditional occupations. However, none has focused on how those women cope with everyday cultural and social challenges or addressed the issues of movement for the development of women.
Nineteen (19) women who had received a qualification in a non-traditional occupation, were interviewed on their perceptions of empowerment, and on what gains, difficulties and challenges the faced in their lives. Theanalysis of their related experiences compared with other Togolese informants as well as the national and international literature on empowerment suggests that although there are some gains, the reality of empowerment is still an unfulfilled dream for those women.
The conditions affecting these women's empowerment in the Togolese society include expectations as related to the roles and duties of a woman and the country's socio-economic situation. Strategies to create sustainable employment are recommended to increase the potential of non-traditional occupations to foster empowerment.

First published in 1969. Contains some of Joseph Needham's most significant essays, lectures and broadcasts on the history of Chinese science, technology and culture. Also included are some more personal thoughts stimulated by his own travels and experiences in China, including a number of poems. The book discusses the valuable social and intellectual influences which have flowed to Europe from South as well as East Asia, and suggests that the events of the twentieth century were a natural development of Chinese history, not a deviation from it.

Japan's savings are among the highest in the world, and these high rates have played a valuable role throughout the post-war period. However, over the next several decades, Japan's population will be ageing rapidly. Will this lower Japanese savings rates? Using up-to-date financial and demographical data, author Robert Dekle finds that the answer to this question is an emphatic 'yes'. Understanding Japanese Saving holds key lessons for Western nations undergoing similar demographic transformations as well as developing countries looking to establish public savings institutions.

Do you have to be one to know one? Madhvacarya, the founder of the thirteenth century school of Vedanta, answered this question with a resounding 'yes!' Madhvacarya's insistence that one must be a Madhva to study Madhva Vedanta led him to employ various strategies to exclude outsiders and unauthorized readers from accessing the root texts of his tradition and from obtaining oral commentary from living virtuosos. Deepak Sarma explores the degree to which outsiders can understand and interpret the doctrine of the Madhva school of Vedanta. The school is based on insider epistemology which is so restrictive that few can learn its intricate doctrines. This book reveals the complexity of studying traditions based on insider epistemologies and encourages its audience to ponder both the value and the hazards of granting any outsider the authority and opportunity to derive important insights into a tradition as an insider. The first analysis of the Madhva tradition, this work contributes to the ongoing controversies regarding epistemic authority and voice in religious studies.

This book uses a wide range of original Japanese sources to trace important aspects of the history of Japanese economic ideas, in particular, the development of Japan's industrial policy. In contrast to most others who begin their story within the 1930s or after 1945, Sohn goes back to the Meiji era to trace the evolution of Japanese developmental debates, state policies and market strategies involving cartels and small enterprises, city and countryside, and approaches that variously emphasize the market and the role of the state as Japan seeks to position itself in the world and regional economies.

In this volume, well-known experts analyze some of the most important problems of the rapid growth of international trade, foreign direct investment, and the problems related to the economic environment within which such trade and investment take place.

This is a study of social protest and repression in one of the twentieth century's most important revolutionary hotspots. It explains why Barcelona became the undisputed capital of the European anarchist movement and explores the sources of anarchist power in the city. It also places Barcelona at the center of Spain's economic, social, cultural and political life during 1898-1937.
During this period, a range of social groups, movements and institutions competed with one another the impose their own political and urban project on the city: the central authorities struggled to retain control of Spain's most unruly; nationalist groups hoped to create the capital of Catalonia; local industrialists attempted to erect a modern industrial city; the urban middle classes planned to democratize the city; and meanwhile, the anarchists sought to liberate the city's workers from oppression and exploration. This resulted in an myriad of frequently violent conflicts for control of the city, both before and during the civil war.
This is a work of seminal importance in the field of contemporary Spanish history, and fills a significant gap in current literature.

Drawing on the full range of materials published during the Twentieth Century, this three volume set incorporates previously published material concerning the formation of 'racial' identities in Japan, and social exclusion as experienced by the Ainu, Burakumin, Okinawans, and Chinese and Korean residents. It also includes material related to migration, both pre- and post-war, with special reference to the formation of Nikkeijin (Latin American national of Japanese descent) communities. In addition to those populations conventionally defined as minorities, 'racial' discourse also affects Japanese attitudes toward and perceptions of other groups (e.g. Asians, Blacks, Jews). To ensure both the fullest possible coverage of the related literature and to provide a framework for comparative analysis, this set also incorporates analyses of Japanese attitudes toward these groups.
Intended as a resource for both students and specialist researchers, this collection provides a unique introduction of the English language literature related to 'race', migration, and identity in Japan. In addition to textual material related to specific issues or groups, the set provides comprehensive bibliographies and a listing of relevant Internet sources.
There is also a new introduction and thorough index, making this set an invaluable reference tool.

Speaking truth to power demands diplomatic skills. This book looks at the way advice, which is needed by all executives, is provided to the summit of government in twelve advanced industrialized countries (Australia, Belgium, Britain, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and the US). It examines the increasing pressures for centralization as core executives confront the differentiation and pluralization of government and the interplay of constitutional, political, and institutional factors.

As over half the assets of many major companies are now intangible assets, there is an increasing need to assess more accurately the value of intellectual property (IP) from a wider interdisciplinary perspective. Re-evaluating risk and understanding the true value of intellectual property is a major problem, particularly important for business practitioners, including business analysts and investors, venture capitalists, accountants, insurance experts, intellectual property lawyers and also for those who hold intellectual property assets, such as media, publishing and pharmaceutical companies, and universities and other research bodies. Written by the foremost authorities in the field from Britain, Japan and the US, this book considers the latest developments and puts forward much new thinking. The book includes thorough coverage of developments in Japan, which is reviewing the value of IP at a much quicker pace than any other country and is registering ever-increasing numbers of patents in the course of inventing its way out of economic inertia.

This book examines Irish, Basque, and Carlist nationalism in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first chapter covers definitions of the nation and nationalism, the relationship of both to politics and ideology, and an overview of the inception and evolution of nationalism in Western Europe. The following chapter explores case studies through providing historical background of the relevant regions of the UK and Spain and discussing the respective movements and their ideological development. The final chapter deals with comparisons of the case-studies and categorizes variants of nationalism in the liberal states of Europe.

The transition of Russia to a 'developed market economy' has been slower, more contradictory and less predictable than expected. This book examines contemporary Russian socio-economic development, and explores the degree to which Russian experiences can be incorporated into current social science theories. In particular, it questions how far the concept of 'globalization' is applicable to the situation in Russia.

This book provides an overview of the current state of Malaysia, looking at political and economic developments and at governance, and discussing the impact of ethnicity, patronage and the reform movement. Apart from discussing issues such as Islamisation and identity transformations within Malaysian society, it reviews policies like privatisation and provides an examination of business enterprise, exploring how control of 'corporate Malaysia' is interlinked with political developments. This study's primary focus is an analysis of why the reform movement failed to secure substantial support in the late 1990s even though many Malaysians then appeared ready to hold the government accountable for its poor record of a democratic and transparent form of governance. This volume also assesses the likelihood of change as a result of the retirement of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad