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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > General
Recent enlargement to the east made the European Union a more diverse social space and brought it into more direct contact with the social and cultural aftermath of communism. Sound empirical knowledge on heterogeneity and homogeneity in European societies after the EU enlargement is lacking. By bringing together a collection of informative analyses of key domains of social life in the new member states and candidate countries, viewed in comparison both to each other and to the 'old' EU-15, this handbook will help social scientists, policy makers and other observers cope with the unfamiliarity of this new world. In particular, it examines the implications of the new member states' membership for the future course of EU integration. This substantial text contains seventeen chapters with a focus on social conditions, such as:
Making use of a range of data, this handbook will be an essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers of Sociology, Social Policy and Welfare, European Studies and European Union Policy.
In this timely and important study Martin Montgomery unpicks the inside workings of what must still be considered the dominant news medium: broadcast news. Drawing principally on linguistics, but multidisciplinary in its scope, The Discourse of Broadcast News demonstrates that news programmes are as much about showing as telling, as much about ordinary bystanders as about experts, and as much about personal testimony as calling politicians to account. Using close analysis of the discourse of television and radio news, the book reveals how important conventions for presenting news are changing, with significant consequences for the ways audiences understand its truthfulness. Fully illustrated with examples and including detailed examination of the high profile case of ex-BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan, The Discourse of Broadcast News provides a comprehensive study which will challenge our current assumptions about the news. The Discourse of Broadcast News will be a key resource for anyone researching the news, whether they be students of language and linguistics, media studies or communication studies.
Japanese Cinema includes twenty-four articles on key films of Japanese cinema, from the silent era to the present day, providing a comprehensive introduction to Japanese cinema history and Japanese culture and society. Studying a range of important films, from Late Spring, Seven Samurai and In the Realm of the Senses to Godzilla, Hana-Bi and Ring, the collection includes discussion of all the major directors of Japanese cinema including Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, Oshima, Suzuki, Kitano and Miyazaki. Each chapter discusses the film in relation to aesthetic, industrial or critical issues and ends with a complete filmography for each director. The book also includes a full glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography of readings on Japanese cinema. Bringing together leading international scholars and showcasing pioneering new research, this book is essential reading for all students and general readers interested in one of the world's most important film industries.
Iran is an ancient country, an oil-exporting economy and an Islamic Republic. It experienced two full-scale revolutions in the twentieth century, the latter of which had large and important regional and international consequences, including an eight-year war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. And now in the twenty-first century, it confronts issues and experiences problems which have important implications for its future development and external relations. Featuring outstanding contributions from leading sociologists, social anthropologists, political scientists and economists in the field of Iranian studies, this book is the first to examine Iran and its position in the contemporary world. In developing this argument, topics examined include: social developments in the country including gender relations contemporary politics international relations relations with the US and Israel nuclear weapons and energy programmes oil and the development of the economy.
The Japanese economy is beginning to show signs of recovery after years of stagnation/deflation, but many Japanese policymakers warn that this economic growth may be sluggish: slower than in the United States and certainly slower than in other East Asian countries. Japan faces significant economic problems, including an aging population, a large fiscal deficit, and the need to adjust to the IT economy and to competition with the rest of East Asia. A slow growth scenario would greatly reduce opportunities for new productive investment and would make it increasingly difficult to provide for Japan's growing social needs. The authors of this book argue that Japan can and should grow more rapidly, and examine the reasons for the sluggish performance of the Japanese economy. For example, some Japanese economic sectors, particularly in distribution and finance, have failed to take advantage of new information and communications technology to accelerate the growth of productivity, as has happened in other countries, such as the US. Production function studies and econometric model simulations suggest that with appropriate policies the Japanese economy can grow more rapidly and deal with its future problems. The book posits a number of policy proposals which would help to accelerate Japan's economic growth This book will be of interest to students of the Japanese economy, macroeconomics and international economies, and also to policymakers and professionals interested in Japan's economy.
The NATO Advanced Study Institute "Axiomatic, enriched and rna tivic homotopy theory" took place at the Isaac Newton Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge, England during 9-20 September 2002. The Directors were J.P.C.Greenlees and I.Zhukov; the other or ganizers were P.G.Goerss, F.Morel, J.F.Jardine and V.P.Snaith. The title describes the content well, and both the event and the contents of the present volume reflect recent remarkable successes in model categor ies, structured ring spectra and homotopy theory of algebraic geometry. The ASI took the form of a series of 15 minicourses and a few extra lectures, and was designed to provide background, and to bring the par ticipants up to date with developments. The present volume is based on a number of the lectures given during the workshop. The ASI was the opening workshop of the four month programme "New Contexts for Stable Homotopy Theory" which explored several themes in greater depth. I am grateful to the Isaac Newton Institute for providing such an ideal venue, the NATO Science Committee for their funding, and to all the speakers at the conference, whether or not they were able to contribute to the present volume. All contributions were refereed, and I thank the authors and referees for their efforts to fit in with the tight schedule. Finally, I would like to thank my coorganizers and all the staff at the Institute for making the ASI run so smoothly. J.P.C.GREENLEES."
Parliaments or legislatures are the keystone of democratic governance and they are critical in securing government accountability. This book presents a comparative analysis of the role of parliamentary committees in securing government accountability in the three largest and most important functioning democracies in South Asia: Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. The author compares the nascent democracy of Bangladesh with the stable and vibrant democratic system of India since its independence from the British in 1947 and Sri Lanka's longstanding and established democracy. He argues that in each country, parliament has been able to survive and perform the key parliamentary tasks of representation, legislation, oversight of the executive, conflict resolution and regime maintenance; concluding that parliamentary committees in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka do not perform as successfully as their counterparts in the Western world in controlling the government and holding it to account; however, their role in securing government accountability is not irrelevant. Parliamentary Control and Government Accountability in South Asia will be a useful reference for studying third world parliaments in particular.
Over the last fifteen years local citizens' movements have spread rapidly throughout Japan. Created with the aim of improving the quality of the local environment, and of environmental management processes, such activities are widely referred to as machizukuri, and represent an important development in local politics and urban management in Japan. This volume examines the growth and nature of such civil society participation in local urban and environmental governance, raising important questions about the changing roles of and relations between central and local government, and between citizens and the state, in managing shared spaces. The machizukuri processes studied here can be seen as the focus of an important emerging trend toward increased civic participation in managing processes of urban change in Japan. The contributors provide a comprehensive overview of the machizukuri phenomenon through examination not only of theory and history, butalso of case studies illustrating real changes in the institutions of place making and neighbourhood governance. Living Cities in Japan will be of particular value to readers interested in social, urban, geographical and environmental studies.
Through careful historical and ethnographic research and
extensive use of local scholarly works, this book provides a
persuasive and careful analysis of the production of knowledge in
Central Asia. The author demonstrates that classical theories of
science and society are inadequate for understanding the science
project in Central Asia. Instead, a critical understanding of local
science is more appropriate. In the region, the professional and political ethos of Marxism-Leninism was incorporated into the logic of science on the periphery of the Soviet empire. This book reveals that science, organizes and constructed by Soviet rule, was also defined by individual efforts of local scientists. Their work to establish themselves 'between Marx and the market' is therefore creating new political economies of knowledge at the edge of the scientific world system.
The Hemshin are without doubt one of the most enigmatic peoples of Turkey and the Caucasus. As former Christians who converted to Islam centuries ago yet did not assimilate into the culture of the surrounding Muslim populations, as Turks who speak Armenian yet are often not aware of it, as Muslims who continue to celebrate feasts that are part of the calendar of the Armenian Church, and as descendants of Armenians who, for the most part, have chosen to deny their Armenian origins in favour of recently invented myths of Turkic ancestry, the Hemshin and the seemingly irreconcilable differences within their group identity have generated curiosity and often controversy. The Hemshin is the first scholarly work to provide an in-depth study of these people living in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. This groundbreaking volume brings together chapters written by an international group of scholars that cover the history, language, economy, culture and identity of the Hemshin. It is further enriched with an unprecedented collection of maps, pictures and appendices of up-to-date statistics. The Hemshin forms part of the Peoples of the Caucasus series, an indispensable and yet accessible resource for all those with an interest in the Caucasus. This handbook provides a ready introduction and practical guide
to the Hemshin people and language.
This book surveys a 'cluster' of works that seek to explore the cultures of cyberspace, the Internet and the information society. It introduces key ideas, and includes detailed discussion of the work of two key thinkers in this area, Manuel Castells and Donna Haraway, as well as outlining the development of cyberculture studies as a field. To do this, the book also explores selected 'moments' in this development, from the early 1990s, when cyberspace and cyberculture were only just beginning to come together as ideas, up to the present day, when the field of cyberculture studies has grown and bloomed, producing innovative theoretical and empirical work from a diversity of standpoints. Key topics include: life on the screen network society space of flows cyborg methods. Cyberculture Theorists is the ideal starting point for anyone wanting to understand how to theorise cyberculture in all its myriad forms.
The fight against terrorism is receiving increased awareness due to recent wor- wide large-scale terrorist acts, and only since then has some attention been directed specifically to victims of terrorism. Existing legal instruments of international b- ies like the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations c- cerning victims of terrorism are relatively abstract or include victims of terrorism under the broader heading of victims of crime in general. In addition, policies and legislation relating to victims of crime or victims of terrorism vary widely on the domestic level. Against this background, the European Union commissioned a project that should aim to develop more extensive standards for the aid and ass- tance of victims of terrorism at the European level. This study provides the basis from which more extensive standards could be derived. The study focuses parti- larly on developing standards in the field of continuing assistance, access to justice, administration of justice and compensation to victims of terrorism. A novel feature of the approach is that also the possible utility of restorative justice approaches is examined. An important question to address was whether there is a real need to adopt s- cific standards for victims of terrorism, thereby implying that their needs might differ from victims of ordinary crime.
Recently there has been rapid progress towards understanding the separate theories of the strong, weak and electromagnetic inter actions within the framework of the standard SU(3) x SU(2) x U(l) model. The purpose of the Second Workshop on Grand Unification was to discuss the physics beyond the standard model and the major topic was grand unified theories which unify the strong, weak and electromagnetic sectors. Grand unified theories are presently being used to calculate experimentally accessible quantities such as the proton lifetime and nucleon decay branching ratios. Meanwhile, experiments are currently being performed, and new, dedicated experiments mounted, to measure these quantities. Reports on these experimental and theoretical activities occupied much of the workshop. Furthermore, since grand unified theories allow one to extrapolate the behavior of the universe back to the first instants after the big bang, their cosmological implications and the constraints on these theories from cosmology were of great interest at the workshop. The conference opened with a keynote address by S. L. Glashow in which he discussed among other topics baryon minus lepton number conservation, neutrino masses and a neutrino-free universe. To maximize the interplay between theorists and experimentalists, theoretical and experimental talks were interleaved. An experimental highlight of the workshop was the presentation by S. Miyake of three candidate events for proton decay."
Focusing on the ground-breaking work of Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman, Teresa de Lauretis and Barbara Creed, this book explores how, since it began in the 1970s, feminist film theory has revolutionized the way that films and their spectators can be understood. Examining the new and distinctive approaches of each of these thinkers, this book provides the most detailed account so far of their ideas. It illuminates the six key concepts and demonstrates their value as tools for film analysis: the male gaze; the female voice; technologies of gender; queering desire; the monstrous-feminine; and masculinity in crisis. Testing their ideas with a number of other examples from contemporary cinema and TV, Shohini Chaudhuri shows how these four thinkers construct their theories through their reading of films. This is an excellent study companion for all students of film theory and women's studies.
This book covers not only the political situation in Zimbabwe, but its international context and those areas of privation, exclusion and silence within the country that are beneath the everyday face of politics. Written by either a Zimbabwean or an internationally acknowledged expert on aspects of Zimbabwe, all the authors agree that the silences in and surrounding the African state cannot continue. This volume utilizes the perspectives of diplomacy, health, law and literature written in both English and Shona, and of those deeply concerned with democratization in Zimbabwe and its surrounding region. Zimbabwe and the Space of Silence will be of interest to students and scholars of African studies, African and Third World politics and international law. This book was previously published as a special issue of The Round Table.
This text critically examines the belief that the EU not only has an impact on the international system but also a 'normative', 'civilian' and 'civilizing' power. The contributors question whether this assertion fits with the empirical record or is merely based on anecdotal evidence and whether there is a theoretical basis for the expectation of a 'normative' or 'civilizing' power. Moving the research agenda forward, the book establishes criteria and assessment standards for examining the EU's international role and its putative normative dimension. Such an endeavour is particularly important against the backdrop of recent developments in European security and defence. The acquisition of military means, or the EU's ambition to acquire such means, might weaken at least the argument that the EU is a 'civilian' power and could provoke a shift towards a policy more akin to traditional 'great powers.' This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.
Secession has become this decade's single most important issue - a worldwide phenomenon, threatening violence, instability and a radical redrawing of international boundaries. While the literature on secession has focused on issues of politics and ethnicity, there has been very little written on the economic issues involved: Dr Bookman's new work goes a long way to correcting this. The Economics of Secession studies some thirty contemporary secession movements and traces the changing role played by economics before, during, and after secession: in the evaluation of the costs and benefits associated with respective unions, in the disentanglement of mutual ties, and in the determination of a region's future viability as a separate state. It is additionally argued that economic factors will become ever more important in the future redrawing of frontiers. This is an extremely significant contribution to the understanding of an ever more unstable world.
The dilemma facing Cyprus--that of limited water supplies (both in terms of quantity and quality) in the face of steadily increasing water demand, coupled with a fragmented institutional structure of the water sector--is characteristic of most arid and semi-arid countries all over the world. Another common characteristic of Cyprus is that the water management administrative boundaries there do not coincide with the hydrological ones, while the ongoing political problem of the island creates significant administration problems.
This is the first anthology devoted exclusively to the subject of colour in film and its history, production and technology. Set out in thematic sections, the book addresses key issues in the field including: the development of colour technology how visual stule was affected by the shift from black and white to colour colour in film theory and the writings of authors such as Bresson, Eisenstein and Oshima colour in the films of Godard, Hitchcock, Almodovar and many more. Including case studies too, this is the perfect introductory guide to a key element in film form and theory. A must for any student starting a film studies course.
Art and Science in Word and Image investigates the theme of 'riddles of form', exploring how discovery and innovation have functioned inter-dependently between art, literature and the sciences. Using the impact of evolutionary biologist D'Arcy Thompson's On Growth and Form on Modernist practices as springboard into the theme, contributors consider engagements with mysteries of natural form in painting, photography, fiction, etc., as well as theories about cosmic forces, and other fields of knowledge and enquiry. Hence the collection also deals with topics including cultural inscriptions of gardens and landscapes, deconstructions of received history through word and image artworks and texts, experiments in poetic materiality, graphic re-mediations of classic fiction, and textual transactions with animation and photography. Contributors are: Dina Aleshina, Marcia Arbex, Donna T. Canada Smith, Calum Colvin, Francis Edeline, Philippe Enrico, Etienne Fevrier, Madeline B. Gangnes, Eric T. Haskell, Christina Ionescu, Tim Isherwood, Matthew Jarron, Philippe Kaenel, Judy Kendall, Catherine Lanone, Kristen Nassif, Solange Ribeiro de Oliveira, Eric Robertson, Frances Robertson, Cathy Roche-Liger, David Skilton, Melanie Stengele, Barry Sullivan, Alice Tarbuck, Frederik Van Dam.
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.
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.
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. |
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