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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > General
The Japanese have long regarded themselves as a homogenous nation, clearly separate from other nations. However, this long-standing view is being undermined by the present international reality of increased global population movement. This has resulted in the establishment both of significant Japanese communities outside Japan, and of large non-Japanese minorities within Japan, and has forced the Japanese to re-conceptualise their nationality in new and more flexible ways. This work provides a comprehensive overview of these issues and examines the context of immigration to and emigration from Japan. It considers the development of important Japanese overseas communities in six major cities worldwide, the experiences of immigrant communities in Japan, as well as assessing the consequences for the Japanese people's view of themselves as a nation.
There are many different kinds of sub-national conflicts across
Asia, with a variety of causes, but since September 11, 2001 these
have been increasingly portrayed as part of the global terrorist
threat, to be dealt with by the War on Terror.
Despite its recent rapid economic growth, China's political system has remained resolutely authoritarian. However, an increasingly open economy is creating the infrastructure for an open society, with the rise of a non-state sector in which a private economy, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and different forms of social forces are playing an increasingly powerful role in facilitating political change and promoting good governance. This book examines the development of the non-state sector and NGOs in China since the onset of reform in the late 1970s. It explores the major issues facing the non-state sector in China today, assesses the institutional barriers that are faced by its developing civil society, and compares China's example with wider international experience. It shows how the 'get-rich-quick' ethos of the Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin years, that prioritised rapid GDP growth above all else, has given way under the Jiantao Hu regime to a renewed concern with social reforms, in areas such as welfare, medical care, education, and public transportation. It demonstrates how this change has led to encouragement by the Hu government of the development of the non-state sector as a means to perform regulatory functions and to achieve effective provision of public and social services. It explores the tension between the government's desire to keep the NGOs as "helping hands' rather than as autonomous, independent organizations, and their ability to perform these roles successfully.
This edited volume sets out to explore the paradox that the
European Union (EU) produces policies with strategic qualities, but
lacks the institutions and concepts to engage in strategic
reasoning and action proper.
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, but also 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.
Bringing a new dimension to the study of citizenship, Chinese
Citizenship examines how individuals at the margins of Chinese
society deal with state efforts to transform them into model
citizens in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Examining the crimes that have recently been of the greatest
concern in China, the authors assess the imbalance between public
order and human rights in the way the Chinese legal system deals
with crime. The issue of crime is of particular importance, both
because current social upheaval in China has greatly contributed to
the increase of new crimes, and because there is increasing
international interest in Chinese law following the country's
accession to the World Trade Organization. This is an in-depth study on contemporary Chinese law reform, presenting a fascinating portrait of a society and legal system grappling with vast social change.
This book explores how one of the world's most literary-oriented societies entered the modern visual era, beginning with the advent of photography in the nineteenth century, focusing then on literature's role in helping to shape cinema as a tool of official totalitarian culture during the Soviet period, and concluding with an examination of post-Soviet Russia's encounter with global television. As well as pioneering the exploration of this important new area in Slavic Studies, the book illuminates aspects of cultural theory by investigating how the Russian case affects general notions of literature's fate within post-literate culture, the ramifications of communism's fall for media globalization, and the applicability of text/image models to problems of intercultural change.
Over recent years, there has been increasing interest in the relationship between China and Japan, particularly as a way of understanding contemporary political, economic and security developments within the whole East Asia region. Caroline Rose presents a thorough, balanced and objective examination of both sides of the relationship. This will be of great interest to academics and policy-makers in the UK and US, as well as to professionals working in Chinese and Japanese communities.
This volume is an inter-disciplinary endeavour which brings together recent research on aspects of urban life and structure by architectural and textual historians and archaeologists, engendering exciting new perspectives on urban life in the pre-modern Islamic world. Its objective is to move beyond the long-standing debate on whether an 'Islamic city' existed in the pre-modern era and focus instead upon the ways in which religion may (or may not) have influenced the physical structure of cities and the daily lives of their inhabitants. It approaches this topic from three different but inter-related perspectives: the genesis of 'Islamic cities' in fact and fiction; the impact of Muslim rulers upon urban planning and development; and the degree to which a religious ethos affected the provision of public services. Chronologically and geographically wide-ranging, the volume examines thought-provoking case studies from seventh-century Syria to seventeenth-century Mughal India by established and new scholars in the field, in addition to chapters on urban sites in Spain, Morocco, Egypt and Central Asia. Cities in the Pre-Modern Islamic World will be of considerable interest to academics and students working on the archaeology, history and urbanism of the Middle East as well as those with more general interests in urban archaeology and urbanism.
Written by an international team of experts from the US, UK, Hong Kong, China, Korea and Canada, this important and interesting book examines and explores the relationship between the international political and economic system, and China s economic and political transition. Exploring international relations theory with a China-centric view, the book addresses key and significant questions such as:
Giving vital insights into China s likely development and international influence in the next decade, China s Reforms and International Political Economy is an essential and invaluable read.
This book addresses the paradox of political mobilization and the
failings of governance in India, with reference to the conflict
between secularism and Hindu nationalism, authoritarianism and
democracy.
The late Stalinist period, long neglected by researchers more interested in the high-profile events of the 1930s, has recently become the focus of much new research by people keen to understand the enormous impact of the war on Soviet society and to understand Soviet life under 'mature socialism'. Written by top scholars from high profile universities, this impressive work brings together much new, cutting edge research on a wide range of aspects of late Stalinist society. Filling a gap in the literature, it focuses above all on the experience of the Soviet people and their interaction with ideology, state policy and national and international politics.
Okinawan people have developed a unique tradition of protest in
their long history of oppression and marginalization. Beginning
with the Ryukyu Kingdom's annexation to Japan in the late
nineteenth century, Miyume Tanji charts the devastation caused by
the Second World War, followed by the direct occupation of post-war
Okinawa and continued presence of the US military forces in the
wake of reversion to Japan in 1972. With ever more fragmented organizations, identities and
strategies, Tanji explores how the unity of the Okinawan community
of protest has come to rest increasingly on the politics of myth
and the imagination. Drawing on original interview material with Okinawan protestors and in-depth analysis of protest history, Myth, Protest and Struggle in Okinawa will appeal to scholars of Japanese history and politics, and those working on social movements and protest.
Journalism and Democracy in Asia addresses key issues of
freedom, democracy, citizenship, openness and journalism in
contemporary Asia, looking especially at China, Japan, Korea,
Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The authors take varying
approaches to questions of democracy, whilst also considering
journalism in print, radio and new media, in relation to such
questions as the role of social, political and economic
liberalization in bringing about a blooming of the media, the
relationship between the media and the development of democracy and
civil society, and how journalism copes under authoritarian
rule. With contributions from highly regarded experts in the region examining a broad range of issues from across Asia, this book will be of high interest to students and scholars in political communications, journalism and mass communication and Asian studies.
Focusing on the issues associated with migrating for work both
in and from the Asian region, this book sheds light on the debate
over migration and trafficking. With contributions from an
international team of well-known scholars, the book sets labour
migration firmly within the context of globalization, providing a
focused, contemporary discussion of what is undoubtedly a major
twenty-first century concern.
Transnational Migration and Work in Asia analyzes 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.
Adib-Moghaddam examines the causes and consequences of conflict in one of the most important regions of the world. Bridging the gap between critical theories of international relations and the empirical study of the Gulf area, this book expands on the many ideologies, cultural inventions and ideational constructs that have affected relations in the past three decades. Key issues explored include:
Provocatively written, persuasively researched and conclusively argued, The International Politics of the Persian Gulf presents the first comprehensive analysis of international relations in the Gulf from an explicitly multidisciplinary perspective.
Religious procession is a significant dimension of religion in South Asia. Processions are central not only in Hinduism, but also Islam, Christianity, Jainism and Sikhism, which have large procession rituals. The last years have seen an increase in processions and ritualizations of space both in South Asia and in the South Asian Diaspora. Processions are religious display events and the increase in processions are functions of religious pluralism and competition about public space as well as economic prosperity and a revival of religious identities. Processions often bring together religion and politics since they are about public space, domination and contestation. Written by leading specialists on religious processions and ritualization of public space in South Asia and in the Diaspora, this volume presents current research on the interpretations of the role of processions, the recent increase in processions and changes in the procession traditions. South Asian Religions on Display will appeal to students and scholars of Asian studies, anthropology, religion and political science.
The Development of Modern South Korea provides a comprehensive analysis of South Korean modernization by examining the dimensions of state formation, capitalist development and nationalism. Taking a comparative and interdisciplinary approach this book highlights the most characteristic features of South Korean modernity in relation to its historical conditions, institution traditions and cultural values paying particular attention to Korean's pre-modern civilization.
With more than 700 alphabetically arranged entries, The
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture offers extensive
coverage of Japanese culture spanning from the end of the Japanese
Imperialist period in 1945, right up to the present day. Entries
range from shorter definitions, histories or biographies to longer
overview essays giving an in-depth treatment of major issues.
Culture is defined in its broadest sense to allow for coverage of
the diversity of practice and production in a country as vibrant
and rapidly changing as Japan. Including a new preface by the editor to bring the book fully up-to-date with cultural developments since 2001, this Encyclopedia will be an invaluable reference tool for students of Japanese and Asian Studies, as well as providing a fascinating insight into Japanese culture for the general reader.
This book originally examines how prominent communist intellectuals in China during the revolutionary period (1921 to 1940) constructed and presented identities for themselves and how they narrated their place in the revolution.
Though usually forgotten in general surveys of European
colonization, the Russians were among the greatest colonizers of
the Old World, eventually settling across most of the immense
expanse of Northern Europe and Asia, from the Baltic and the
Pacific, and from the Arctic Ocean to Central Asia. This book makes
a unique contribution to our understanding of the Eurasian past by
examining the policies, practices, cultural representations, and
daily-life experiences of Slavic settlement in non-Russian regions
of Eurasia from the time of Ivan the Terrible to the nuclear era.
This book dispels the widely-held view that paganism survived in
Russia alongside Orthodox Christianity, demonstrating that 'double
belief', dvoeverie, is in fact an academic myth.
This book traces the emergence of the modern Chinese press from its
origins in the western Christian missionary press in the late
nineteenth century.
The Russian revolution of 1917 was a defining event of the twentieth century, and its achievements and failures remain controversial in the twenty-first. This book focuses on the retreat from the revolution s aims in 1920 24, after the civil war and at the start of the New Economic Policy and specifically, on the turbulent relationship between the working class and the Communist Party in those years. It is based on extensive original research of the actions and reactions of the party leadership and ranks, of dissidents and members of other parties, and of trade union activists and ordinary factory workers. It discusses working-class collective action before, during and after the crisis of 1921, when the Bolsheviks were confronted by the revolt at the Kronshtadt naval base and other protest movements. This book argues that the working class was politically expropriated by the Bolshevik party, as democratic bodies such as soviets and factory committees were deprived of decision-making power; it examines how the new Soviet ruling class began to take shape. It shows how some worker activists concluded that the principles of 1917 had been betrayed, while others accepted a social contract, under which workers were assured of improvements in living standards in exchange for increased labour discipline and productivity, and a surrender of political power to the party. |
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