Online Learning, Instruction, and Research in Post-Pandemic Higher Education in Africa, edited by Martin Munyao, brings together interdisciplinary authors to address online learning, teaching online, educational technology, online/remote research, institutional collaboration in online higher education, and teaching STEM online. This book argues that beyond survival, universities need to adapt to technology-mediated communication learning to thrive. Disruptive technologies have recently proved to be means of thriving for institutions of higher learning. This is what one contributor calls 'switching to SIDE-mode.' They call for not just teaching for the sake of it, but teaching to communicate and to achieve the desired learning outcomes that seek to transform the whole person. Effective technology mediated teaching for communication does exactly that. Because universities are also research hubs, this book also addresses remote research. It reflects on how change in teaching and learning in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) has impacted Africa through digital transformation. In particular, institutions are collaborating more now than ever before. Finally, this book addresses the challenges of teaching STEM programs online in Africa.

This book examines the failure of Islamic politics in becoming a hegemonic force in Indonesia and the far-reaching consequences for current practices of democracy and of Islam itself. In contrast to the thesis of compatibility between Islam and democracy following the dominant discourse of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and neoliberal democracy, this study situates Islamic politics in broader social settings by examining its nature and trajectories throughout Indonesia's modern political history. The book thus investigates how the practices of Islamic politics, or Islamism, have shaped and been transformed through political contestations and the formation of coalitions of multiple forces in constructing Indonesia's socio-political landscape. Using the concept of hegemony from poststructuralist discourse theory, the analytical framework applied in this book goes beyond liberal epistemologies of Islamism that prescribe the separation of religion from politics and treat Islamism as an object of intervention. Instead, the book is premised on the contention that Indonesia is a political construction, in which Islam has become one of the major discourses that have defined and transformed Indonesia's nation-state throughout history. In this view, it is argued that the nature and dynamics of Islamism are not driven primarily by different interpretations of religious doctrines, cultural norms or by the imperative of institutions. Rather, the struggles of different Islamist projects in their quest for hegemony are contingent on the outcomes of socio-political changes and contestations that involve multiple political forces, both within and beyond the Islamists, in specific historical conjunctures.

This book provides a unique Pakistani perspective and understanding of a region that has not been studied extensively to date. Pakistan's Frontier Region has been at the forefront of the War on Terror since 2001. The Federally Administered Tribal Agencies (now known as merged Tribal Districts) are a critical geostrategic area for Pakistan. This work highlights key economic, political, and religious issues in the FATA-KP region in order to identify means to eradicate ongoing conflicts and integrate the region within mainstream Pakistani society. This project proposes a series of phased economic development reforms that can guide FATA's transition as an integrated territory within the rest of Pakistan. These reforms can and should encourage dimensions of indigenous economic practices, women's empowerment, the education system, food security, subsistence agriculture, and transportation and communication infrastructure where possible. These improvements can be implemented in 10+ year plans designed to organize a committed effort to develop and integrate FATA with the rest of Pakistan.

All too often in situations of armed conflicts, rape and other acts of sexual violence are used as military tactics. The use of sexual violence as a strategy of war is distinctively destructive and not only leaves victims with significant psychological scars but also tears apart the fabric of families and affected communities. Sexual Violence and Effective Redress for Victims in Post-Conflict Situations: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a collection of innovative research that analyzes these crimes and their implications for the needs of victims in post-conflict justice processes and how these needs can be effectively addressed in order to support the affected community. To conduct this analysis, it explores the distinct aspects of these crimes to understand the nature and extent of the social challenges and damage facing the victim, and examines the challenges and limitations of international criminal justice in dealing with a wide range of victim needs. While highlighting topics including judicial accountability, victims' rights, and criminal justice, this book is ideally designed for psychologists, therapists, government officials, academicians, policymakers, and researchers.

How aesthetic religious experiences can create solidarity in marginalized communities Latine Catholics have used Our Lady of Guadalupe as a symbol in democratic campaigns ranging from the Chicano movement and United Farm Workers' movements to contemporary calls for just immigration reform. In diverse ways, these groups have used Guadalupe's symbol and narrative to critique society's basic structures-including law, policy, and institutions-while seeking to inspire broader participation and representation among marginalized peoples in US democracy. Yet, from the outside, Guadalupe's symbol is illegible within a liberal political framework that seeks to protect society's basic structures from religious encroachment by relegating religious speech, practices, and symbols to the background. The Aesthetics of Solidarity argues for the capacity of Our Lady of Guadalupe-and similar religious symbols-to make democratic claims. Author Nichole M. Flores exposes the limitations of political liberalism's aesthetic responses to religious difference, turning instead to Latine theological aesthetics and Catholic social thought to build a framework for interpreting religious symbols in our contemporary pluralistic and participatory democratic life. By offering a lived theology of Chicanx Catholics in Denver, Colorado, and their use of Guadalupe in the pursuit of justice in response to their neighborhood's gentrification, this book provides an important framework for a community of interpretation where members stand in solidarity to respond to justice claims made from diverse religious and cultural communities.

The recent economic crisis has had severe and negative impacts on the EU over the last decade. This book focuses on a neglected dimension by examining European political entrepreneurship in times of economic crisis with particular emphasis on EU member-states, institutions and policies. Governance and Political Entrepreneurship in Europe examines the role that the political entrepreneur can play in promoting entrepreneurship and growth. The book includes an actor and a structure perspective by focussing on politicians and institutions within the public sector that use innovative approaches to encourage businesses with a goal of growth and employment. This exemplary book is a useful tool for entrepreneurship and political science scholars wishing to gain a better understanding of the ways in which political bodies can impact economic development. EU politicians and public servants would also benefit from reading this timely book as it offers key information on how they can help to promote growth. Contributors include: M. Alebaki, C. Berggren, M.-L. von Bergmann-Winberg, S. Gretzinger, C. Karlsson, B. Leick, A. Olausson, A. Parkhouse, E. Petridou, B. Pircher, C. Silander, D. Silander, P. Stroemblad, S. Tavassoli, E. Wihlborg

This book looks into different forms of social exclusion in different societies or contexts. It is important to note that in some cases, social exclusion is fueled by the deprivation of economic resources, political and social rights. In contrast, social constructs or cultural norms constitute significant factors in other cases. At the subject (macro) level, this book opens up an avenue where researchers from different subjects can look into how central issues of their subject can be understood through the lenses of social exclusion. For example, historical perspectives of social exclusion, sociological perspectives of social exclusion, religiosity and social exclusion, gender perspectives of social exclusion, educational perspectives of social exclusion, etc. At the thematic (micro) level, this book looks into how specific themes like racism, the corona virus pandemic, albinism, media, sexuality and gender intersect with social exclusion. In doing all these, the book also provides a much-needed multidisciplinary and methodological understanding of issues of social exclusion.

In Walking, Henry David Thoreau talks about the importance of nature to mankind, and how people cannot survive without nature, physically, mentally, and spiritually, yet we seem to be spending more and more time entrenched by society. For Thoreau walking is a self-reflective spiritual act that occurs only when you are away from society, that allows you to learn about who you are, and find other aspects of yourself that have been chipped away by society. This new edition of Thoreau's classic work includes annotations and a biographical essay.

The idea that constitutions are gendered is not new, but its recognition is the product of a revolution in thinking that began in the last decades of the twentieth century. As a field, it is attracting scholarly attention and influencing practice around the world. This timely Handbook features contributions from leading pioneers and younger scholars, applying a gendered lens to constitution-making and design, constitutional practice and citizenship, and constitutional challenges to gender equality rights and values. Offering cutting-edge perspective on the constitutional text and record of multiple jurisdictions, from long-established to newly emerging democracies, Constitutions and Gender portrays a profound shift in our understanding of what constitutions stand for and what they do. Its central insight is that democratic constitutions must serve the needs and aspirations of all the people, and constitutional legitimacy requires opportunities for participation in both the fashioning and functioning of a country's constitution. This challenging assessment is of relevance to scholars and practitioners of law and politics, and gender and feminism as well as practitioners and advisers involved in constitution-making. Contributors include: C. Albertyn, M. Allen, D. Anagnostou, B. Baines, J. Bond, J. Bond, M. Davis, R. Dixon, K. Gelber, B. Goldblatt, H. Irving, V. Jackson, J. Kang, W. Lacey, S. Millns, C. Murray, R. Rubio-Marin, A. Stone, S. Suteu, S. Williams, J. Vickers, C. Wittke

Turkey's EU accession talks, which began in 2005, were intended to strengthen Turkey's democracy and the EU's ability to embrace difference. Instead, we have seen repeated questioning of Turkey's 'Europeanness' and mutual exploitation of the other's weaknesses. Offering a unique analysis of conversations in and about Turkey and the EU, Lucia Najslova adopts an interdisciplinary ethnographic lens, taking the reader through misunderstandings in the diplomatic framework and into everyday interactions between various protagonists of the relationship. Questions of belonging and recognition underpin the analysis and connect various research sites, including the 2016 refugee deal and the status of Turkish Cypriots. Najslova delves into the temporal dimensions of this dynamic, such as questions surrounding Turkish modernity and nation-building, and asks whether there is such a thing as good timing for democracy and what would happen if the diplomatic framework of Turkey-EU relations started moving faster.