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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Area / regional studies > General
This book presents novel theoretical and empirical findings on the issue of unrecognized states and secession. The first part of the book conceptualizes unrecognized states as entities with a national identity and which have achieved political independence, yet are not internationally recognized as independent states. It also addresses topics such as the role of superpowers in secessionist conflicts, ontological security in post-Soviet states, and factors influencing the legitimacy of secession referenda. In turn, the book's second part presents selected case studies on various secessionist regions and territories, including Kurdistan, the Caucasus, Kosovo, and Bougainville.
This engaging new biography dispels many myths surrounding Nehru, and distinguishes between the icon he has become and the politician he actually was. Benjamin Zachariah places Nehru in the context of the issues of his time, including the central theme of nationalism, the impact of Cold War pressures on India and the transition from colonial control to a precarious independence. How did Jawaharlal Nehru come to lead the Indian nationalist movement, and how did he sustain his leadership as the first Prime Minister of independent India? Nehru's vision of India, its roots in Indian politics and society, as well as its viability have been central to historical and present-day views of India. Connecting the domestic and international aspects of his political life and ideology, this study provides a fascinating insight into Nehru, his times and his legacy.
A comprehensive survey of all the countries and territories of Central and South-Eastern Europe, presenting the latest economic and political developments. * Includes expert comment on issues of regional importance, up-to-date statistics, a directory of institutes and companies and political profiles * Provides an impartial and current perspective on economic and political developments * Over 750 pages of authoritative analysis, current statistics, directory data and biographical details. General Survey Leading authorities on the area analyse topics of regional interest. Subjects covered are: Central and South-Eastern European Economies; Social Policy and Welfare in Central and South-Eastern Europe: Legacies, Trends and Choices; Religion in Central and South-Eastern Europe; Minorities in Central and South-Eastern Europe; The Baltic Sea Region; The Former Yugoslavia After Milosevic; The Macedonian Question and The Environmental Dimension of Transition in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Country Surveys * Detailed individual chapters for each country that include a description of physical and social geography; a chronology; essays on the history and economy; a statistical survey; and a directory of names and addresses and background information covering the constitution, national and local government, political organizations, the judicial system, religion, the press, finance, trade and industry etc. Political Profiles * Biographical details on the leading figures in the region. Regional Information * Detailed information on the following: regional organizations; research institutes; a select periodicals bibliography and a select books bibliography.
The Thucydides trap and a US-China face-off are not structurally inevitable; US-China relations are what the US and China make of them. Phua focuses on the ability to see "US as US" and "China as China" to trigger both countries' cultural tendencies towards pragmatism. Phua examines China's arduous journey to fit in the Westphalian system, the deep cultural misunderstandings by the West of Sunzi's The Art of War, and attempts to offer an inside-out cultural synthesis of classical and modern Chinese thought as a proxy of their operational code, beyond the standard cliches about Confucian and Daoist thought. He builds on Jervis' perception and misperception as well as Alastair Johnston's cultural realism. Readers will benefit from a culturally-Chinese, western-educated and politically neutral understanding of "China as China". An essential primer for academics, practitioners and students of international relations, diplomacy and Chinese culture.
This interdisciplinary book offers a new analysis of the concepts, spaces, and practices of activism that emerge under diverse authoritarian modes of governance in Asia. Demonstrating the limitations of existing conceptual approaches in accounting for activism in Asia, the book also offers new understandings of authoritarian governance practices and how these shape state-civil society relations. In conjunction with its tripartite theoretical framework, the book presents regional knowledge from an array of countries in Asia, with empirically rich contributions from both scholars and activists. Through in-depth case studies, the book offers new scholarly insights that highlight the ways in which activism emerges and is contested across Asia. As such, it will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian politics, law, and sociology.
This book examines and explains the Center-Left's political decline since 2008, whilst analyzing the factors that account for its sagging electoral and popular support, losing voters both to the Far-Left, the Far-Right, and abstentions. Focusing on the era since the 2008 financial crisis in particular, while also charting the historical genealogy that led to the current impasse, the book examines how, when and why the collapse of Europe's Center-Left occurred. Moving beyond existing and slightly dated accounts, the contributors explore why Social Democrats lack compelling answers to pressing current policy challenges. Faced with a decline in its core clientele, namely blue-collar workers, the Center-Left is being outflanked and risks permanently jeopardizing its erstwhile status as representing a catch-all party. Exploring one of the more pressing and timely political puzzles of the contemporary political scene in Europe, the book identifies six factors that have driven the decline of the Left and examines them systematically across eight countries: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, and Denmark. This book will be of particular interest to both scholars and students of social democracy, political parties, and the politics of the Left and more broadly to those interested in European and comparative politics, governance, and contemporary history.
This monograph explores and investigates narratives of physical, psychological, and emotional dislocation that take place within the Arab world, approaching them as manifestations of the Arabic word ghurba, or estrangement, as a feeling and state of being. Distancing itself from the centrality of the "West" in postcolonial and Arabic literary studies, the book explores experiences of migration, displacement and cosmopolitanism that do not directly ensue from the encounter with Europe or the European other. Covering texts from the Levant, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula and beyond from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, the book grounds narratives of dislocation in the political, social and cultural structures that affect the everyday lived experiences of individuals and communities. An analysis of Arabic, Turkish and English texts - encompassing fiction, memoirs and translations - highlights less visible narratives of ghurba, specifically amongst ethnic minorities and religious communities. Ultimately, the chapters contribute to a picture of the Arab world as a place of ghurba where mobile and immobile subjects, foreigners and local inhabitants alike, encounter alienation. Bringing together a diverse range of academic perspectives, the book will be of interest to students and scholars in postcolonial and comparative literary studies, history, and Arabic and Middle East studies.
Explosive economic and social changes in the Asia Pacific region
have meant that much of what we know about the area is outdated.
This book addresses this and looks at the "human resource period"
with detailed analysis, discussion and predictions for the future.
Focusing on the areas of China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the
Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand the book explores the
reasons behind changes and whether they indicate movement of
convergence or divergence, the key issues for management and the
implications for theory development.
These essays are mainly concerned with the development of some of Max Gluckman's ideas about African politics. He regarded frequent rebellions to replace incumbents of political offices (as against revolutions to alter the structure of offices) as inherent in these politics. Later he connected this situation with modes of husbandry, problems of the devolution of power, types of weapons and the law of treason. He advanced to a general theory of ritual, as well as to general propositions about the position of officials representing conflicting interests within a hierarchy, typified by the African chief under colonial rule. Originally published in 1963.
This book presents an authoritative and illuminating insight into
the development and most important characteristics of Japanese
society and culture. Approaching the subject from a number of
different points of view.
This book is unique in its approach in that each chapter covers women in their everyday lives and the problems, which concern them. Until now, ethnographic research has almost always been carried out with the help of the male population and as a result the picture that has emerged has been largely the image, which the men, and the men alone, have of their society. Originally published in 1963.
The force of hunger in shaping human character and social structure has been largely overlooked. This omission is a serious one in the study of primitive society, in which starvation is a constant menace. This work remedies this deficiency and opens up new lines of anthropological inquiry. The whole network of social institutions is examined which makes possible the consumption, distribution, and production of food-eating customs, as well as the religion and magic of food-production.
The book is structured as follows: * An introduction of old Bantu culture * An account of modern Bantu life * Discussion of the influence exerted by Christianity and Education upon communal life of the Bantu * Examination of special aspects of Bantu culture as they have been modified by Western civilization: language and music * The economic, political and legal positions of the native tribes in South Africa are also covered. First published in 1934.
The prospect of being a full member in the European Union, Turkey faces deep processes of economical, political and social changes. In order both to examine and to manage these changes it is of fundamental importance to throw a closer view to Turkish politics and economy. The first three chapters provide a detailed study mainly on the political sphere and the transformation in domestic politics to preparatory to European Union integration. The remaining chapters deal with the analysis from the point of view of political economy (e.g. management, tourism, industrialization and foreign trade). The book has been structured in such a way that the readers can also "pick and mix" chapters in response to their interests and needs.
Focussing on the problems of change and resistance to change that mark the African sub-continent, this book examines Africa's place in the world from earliest times. It considers the nature of its peoples in their prehistoric development, the ways in which their cultures were oriented, and the ways in which these cultures guided their reactions to European ideas. It also assesses the human responses to industrial, technological and economic changes and the re-discovery by the Africans of African culture. Originally published in 1962.
This book covers the life of a small Mestizo community in Columbia, with its people and institutions, its traditions in the past and its outlook on the future. Chapters include: * information on the health and nutritional status of the community * discussion of formal education and certain sets of patterned attitudes such as those which refer to work, illness, food and personal prestige. Originally published in 1961.
This interdisciplinary book examines Brexit from a political economy perspective, enriched by insights from scholars of political science, history and law. Shedding light on the key motivations for Brexit, this incisive book seeks to better understand what shapes the UK's political and economic preferences and the fundamental causes and issues that have moulded its stance on the EU. Political issues explored include the political rationality of Brexit and the reasons for the UK's unsustainable position in the EU, specific UK sovereignty concerns in the absence of a written constitution, the issue of preferences, and the UK's prospective standing in the world post EU exit. Economic considerations such as the root causes of Brexit, examination of the properties of the single market and EU regulation, including the issue of the City of London, and the importance played by subjective wellbeing rather than economic growth are investigated, as well as the challenges to be confronted post-Brexit. The Politics and Economics of Brexit will be a key resource for scholars and students interested in the European Union, European governance and political economics. Analysing the Brexit impasse from 2016-2019, this comprehensive book will also be valuable to those working in comparative politics, international relations, business and industry. Contributors include: S. Baroncelli, A. Bongardt, R. Bourgeot, P. Della Posta, R. Di Quirico, E. Diodato, S. Giusti , S. Rehman, M. Rosini, L.S. Talani, F. Torres
Mexico underwent tremendous growth and transition during the twentieth century, transforming it from a rural country into an urban nation that formed part of a much wider global process of modernisation/westernisation. During this time, Mexican Modernist architecture came into its own, becoming recognised both nationally and internationally as a paradigmatic example of this new design approach. However, relatively little is still known about how Mexican Modernism was able to become a mature and confident movement so quickly, one with such strongly held convictions that they are still very much alive and well today, and which are still shaping and influencing Mexicos architectural forms, lifestyles, values and ideals. This book examines those elements that contributed to its making during the twentieth century. In so doing, it considers Mexican Modernism to be a direct product of its socio-cultural settings and so uses a cultural studies approach to identify the key drivers, or 'power structures', which were involved. Five power structures are investigated which relate to academic, economic/political, social, gender, and post-colonial status. Such power structures are analysed by looking in close detail at 13 of the most famous Mexican architects, documenting their ideas through their own verbal testimonies and their most interesting buildings. Those architects include: Jose Villagran Garcia, Luis Barragan and Juan O'Gorman from the first generation; Pedro Ramirez Vazquez, Agustin Hernandez and Abraham Zabludovsky from the second; Carlos Mijares, Ricardo Legorreta and Juan Jose Diaz Infante from the third; and finally, Enrique Norten, Clara de Buen, Alberto Kalach and Javier Sordo Madaleno from the fourth generation. This book's uniqueness lies in revealing the inter-relationships of the power structures that have controlled and constrained what Mexican architecture could achieve, offering a dissection of what happened within the profession. The book also criticizes the persistence of these same power structures today, and it voices the urgent need for a new kind of architecture for the future. It is essential reading for anyone studying Mexican architecture.
Comprehensive and accessible, this book will be an indispensable resource for anyone studying premodern Asia. The volume’s first of six sections provide historical and environmental contexts, discusses data sources, and the nature of knowledge production. The next three sections examine the anthropogenic landscapes of Angkor (agrarian, urban, and hydraulic), the state institutions that shaped the Angkorian state, and the economic foundations on which Angkor operated. Part V explores Angkorian ideologies and realities, from religion and nation to identity. The volume’s last part reviews political and aesthetic Angkorian legacies in an effort to explain why the idea of Angkor remains central to its Cambodian descendants. Maps, graphics and photographs guide readers through the content of each chapter. Chapters in this volume synthesize more than a century of work at Angkor and in the regions it influenced. The Angkorian World will satisfy students, researchers, academics, and the knowledgeable layperson who seeks to understand how this great Angkorian Empire arose and functioned in the premodern world.
In Purposeful Education for Africa, originally published in 1964, K. A. Busia writes cogently and perceptively about a philosophy of education for the huge diverse complex called Africa. With his knowledge of both Africa and the West, this combination of perception would provide a stimulus to those concerned with the broadest and deepest aspects of education in Africa at the time. Based on his own studies in all types of schools throughout Africa in the early 1960s, he takes the best elements from out of Africa as well as within, seeking to provide a social philosophy of education to help fulfil national aspirations and goals. Reissued here with a new introduction it asks many questions still being discussed today.
The Latin American continent contains an incredibly rich diversity from which humans derive a range of ecosystem services (e.g. material goods, cultural benefits, climate regulation, etc.) that contribute to livelihoods and well-being. It has become critical to reconcile social and environmental issues in the region to ensure that development is sustainable and aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. To ensure the sustainable use and management of social and natural capital in the region, business, government, social enterprises and NGOs are engaging in different forms of social innovation that account for social, ecological and environmental values. This requires the integration of social and natural capital into decision-making at all levels. Latin America presents a useful scenario to explore social innovation in relation to social and environmental values and the management of local human and natural resources. This book presents social innovation initiatives that incorporate social and natural capital into decision-making processes in Latin America. This book aims to provide the reader with an insight into the relevance of social innovation for maintaining and restoring social and natural capital in Latin America. Using case studies from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Mexico, this book provides an insight into the interactions between social innovation and social and natural capital in Latin America and will be of interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of social innovation, management studies, environmental economics and sustainability.
This book offers a novel approach to the study of nation branding as a strategy for political legitimation in authoritarian regimes using the example of military-ruled Thailand.
Towards Inclusive Societies: Psychological and Sociological Perspectives focuses on the importance of building inclusive societies and communities for global human welfare within psychological, social, political, and cultural realms. It discusses the engagement of psychology and other social science disciplines on the need for building both cultural sensitivity and interdisciplinary dialogue. The volume presents the issues and consequences of globalization and diversity in the social and psychological domains and their role in shaping the physical and mental health of people. It systematically examines the various parameters of inclusivity such as equality, equity, social identity, social stigma, and coexistence of differences in socio-cultural behaviour. The volume focuses on the developments towards building inclusive societies in the South Asian countries including, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. It also highlights the challenges and possibilities in making social-psychological discourses more inclusive. This book will be of interest to students, teachers, and scholars of psychology, cultural psychology, gender psychology, social psychology, sociology, and political science and social work. It will also be useful for psychologists, sociologists, social scientists, social workers, political scientists, and Gandhian philosophers.
This edited volume examines the most pressing social and political issues confronting Israel from a multidisciplinary perspective, focusing on the breakdown of social solidarity and the inability to formulate consensus. The contributors – encompassing political scientists, historians, communication researchers, sociologists, economists, and educators – focus on specific topics that serve as exemplary cases of various trends of consensus and polarization. These trends are examined in the context of ideological, religious, economic, national, and ethnic cleavages. In addition, this volume analyzes how political actors’ preference for “non-decision” on various issues has resulted in the maintenance of a status quo, with cleavages or conflicts being neither mitigated nor polarized. Together, this collection of articles paints a picture of Israel as a state racked by increasing polarization along ideological and religious lines. It is argued that this difficulty in determining a consensual definition of the state threatens to destroy social solidarity in Israel altogether, a climate in which “the center cannot hold.” This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the major internal threats to Israel’s self-definition as a Jewish-democratic state and will also appeal to sociologists and political scientists interested in global polarization trends.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of caste in contemporary India. With contributions from scholars like Valerian Rodrigues, B.B. Mohanty, Surinder Jodhka, and Anand Teltumbde, it discusses wide-ranging themes like the trajectory of caste in post-independence India; Dalits and cultural identity; the paradox of being a Dalit woman; caste violence and social mobility; Ambedkar’s quest for the right of social equality; social security for the inclusive development of Dalits; discrimination and exclusion of Dalits in education; and Dalit merit and institutional injustice, and presents an overview of the struggles for distributive justice in India. This volume will be of importance to scholars and researchers of Dalit studies, social justice, exclusion studies, caste studies, affirmative action, political studies, sociology, social anthropology, and South Asian politics. |
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