In earlier times, for the Chinese, Korea was 'the country of courteous people from the east', and for westerners 'the land of the morning calm' or 'hermit kingdom'. In this fascinating collection of writings on times past in Korea the author helps to lift the veil on this once closed country, providing the reader with a wide selection of first-hand accounts by travellers who 'discovered' Korea - some as snapshots by those passing through, others more detailed evaluations of Korean culture and everyday life by those who spent time there. The collection covers a period of over 400 years - from Hendrik Hamel's journal of the 1600s to early 20th century records, such as Roy C. Andrew's 1918 published account of his expedition, entitled Exploring Unknown Corners of the 'Hermit Kingdom'.

Contemporary Anti-Muslim Politics provides a succinct but potent critique of the policies of Western nations toward Muslims, particularly the aggressive foreign policies of the United States and the exclusionary domestic policies of Europe. These policies have already claimed millions of Muslim lives. For decades, policies that rely on war, exclusion, and ghettoization have triggered conflict escalation. The actions of groups such as the Islamic State and Boko Haram are reactions to this history. Their tactics exacerbate negative stereotyping of Muslims generally and Western military strategies cause many Muslims to pursue survivalist politics that enable and strengthen such groups. Anti-Muslim politics in Western nations takes many forms beyond war and exclusion, including racialization, stereotyping, sacrilegious cultural assaults, mass media scapegoating, and even tolerance, which implies something unpalatable in need of toleration. The gridlock brought by pluralism and constitutionalism, both in Europe and the United States, serves few people well, but it has locked Muslims into an especially abusive status quo.

China Development Research Foundation is one of the leading economic think tanks in China, where many of the details of China's economic reform have been formulated. Its work and publications therefore provide great insights into what the Chinese themselves think about economic reform and how it should develop. This book sets out the general objectives, principles and framework of a proposed new social welfare system for China, putting forward relevant policy recommendations. It provides a comprehensive overview of China's current welfare services, including retirement pensions, education, health, employment, housing and social security payments, and goes on to cost the proposed new social welfare system and assess the government's capacity for implementing it. It shows how the new system will, within an integrated framework, provide comprehensive welfare for all, including rural and urban citizens, migrant workers and disadvantaged groups such as rural and urban poor. It also shows how the new system will aim to balance economic and social development whilst maintaining China's high economic growth rate, increasing domestic demand and promoting economic restructuring.

The first English collection of translated essays, by Chinese literary scholars, writers, and critics, this volume focuses on the legacy of socialist culture and post-socialist phenomena within the context of capitalist globalization. By rethinking socialism, literature, and culture in relation to the intellectual and cultural trends since the start of the reform and by debating the rise of the 'new left' culture, this book seeks to offer critical voices while evoking the themes of the socialist past to bear on the 21st-century Chinese intellectual and cultural scenes.

NATO's quickly evolving relationship with Central and Eastern Europe is forming a new basis for security in the region. Enlargement into the former-Soviet bloc, the conflict over Kosovo, and developing foreign and domestic events are drastically changing the technical aspects of security management, the perceptions of security held by the region's countries, and the actual security situation on the ground. Almost NATO broadly examines the region's current security situation and specifically explores NATO's relationship with Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and the Baltic states all non-members, but each with its own expectations for membership and relationship to the organization. Russia's interaction with NATO since the end of the Cold War and that country's crucial role in the region's future rounds out the regional coverage. The book's connective tissue is a broader concept of security that encompasses the European Union, environmental concerns, minority issues, and economic and political performance as Europe moves into the 21st century. The interrelationship and significance of varied concepts of security are summarized and further developed in the concluding chapter, along with an effort to place developments in the region within a more theoretical perspective. The result is a book of significant breadth and substantial utility, one invaluable to readers trying to understand the region and NATO's role in its security.

Examines the complexity and the humanity of the opioid epidemic America’s opioid epidemic continues to ravage families and communities, despite intense media coverage, federal legislation, criminal prosecutions, and harm reduction efforts to prevent overdose deaths. More than 450,000 Americans have died from opioid overdoses since the late 1990s. In Opioid Reckoning, Amy C. Sullivan explores the complexity of the crisis through firsthand accounts of people grappling with the reverberating effects of stigma, treatment, and recovery.  Nearly everyone in the United States has been touched in some way by the opioid epidemic, including the author and her family. Sullivan uses her own story as a launching point to learn how the opioid epidemic challenged longstanding recovery protocols in Minnesota, a state internationally recognized for pioneering addiction treatment. By centering the voices of many people who have experienced opioid use, treatment, recovery, and loss, Sullivan exposes the devastating effects of a one-size-fits-all approach toward treatment of opioid dependency. Taking a clear-eyed, nonjudgmental perspective of every aspect of these issues—drug use, parenting, harm reduction, medication, abstinence, and stigma—Opioid Reckoning questions current treatment models, healthcare inequities, and the criminal justice system. Sullivan also imagines a future where anyone suffering an opioid-use disorder has access to the individualized care, without judgment, available to those with other health problems.  Opioid Reckoning presents a captivating look at how the state that invented “rehab� addresses the challenges of the opioid epidemic and its overdose deaths while also taking readers into the intimate lives of families, medical and social work professionals, grassroots activists, and many others impacted by the crisis who contribute their insights and potential solutions. In sharing these stories and chronicling their lessons, Sullivan offers a path forward that cultivates empathy, love, and hope for anyone affected by chaotic drug use and its harms.

This collection brings together international experts on the cinema of migration and diaspora in postcolonial and postnational Europe. It offers a comprehensive theoretical and analytical discussion of a highly productive creative sector and documents the spectrum of this area of exploration in European, transnational and World Cinema studies.

Masculinity is not a monolithic phenomenon, but a historically discontinuous one-a fabrication as it were, of given cultural circumstances. Because of its opacity and instability, masculinity, like more recognizable systems of oppression, resists discernibility. In Macho Ethics: Masculinity and Self-Representation in Latino-Caribbean Narrative, Jason Cortes seeks to reveal the inner workings of masculinity in the narrative prose of four major Caribbean authors: the Cuban Severo Sarduy; the Dominican American Junot Diaz; and the Puerto Ricans Luis Rafael Sanchez and Edgardo Rodriguez Julia. By exploring the relationship between ethics and authority, the legacies of colonial violence, the figure of the dictator, the macho, and the dandy, the logic of the Archive, the presence of Oscar Wilde, and notions of trauma and mourning, Macho Ethics fills a gap surrounding issues of power and masculinity within the Caribbean context, and draws attention to what frequently remains invisible and unspoken.

In today's globalized world, modern society is characterized by rapid transitions in space that are in part the result of technological developments of previous decades. This unique book deals with the complex issues raised by these transformations, focusing particularly on the impacts on regional development, technological innovation, and the flows and mobility of ideas, knowledge, people and firms. Societies in Motion examines the dynamic forces of technological and institutional change that are affecting the design of society, the economy and the environment, and provides a base for policy makers to develop new systems for a better, more sustainable future. The leading contributors adopt a systems approach to mobility exploring knowledge, ideas, flows of information and creativity, human capital and transportation. Authoritative and detailed, this book is an ideal source of analysis and debate for research scholars and students of regional science, economics and geography. Policy makers will also find plenty of invaluable information in this original volume. Contributors include: P. Aroca, H. Aviram, G. Avnimelech, D. Banister, R. Bar-El Hillel Bar-Gera, D. Boyce, D. Constantin, J. Corcoran, H.L.F. de Groot, A. Faggian, D. Felsenstein, A. Frenkel, M. Givoni, Z. Goschin, D.A. Griffith, S. Hazam, G.J.D. Hewings, J. Knoben, M. Malul, P. McCann, P. Monkkonen, P. Nijkamp, R. Patuelli, P.H. Pellenbarg, J.M. Quigley, M.M. Ridhwan, P. Rietveld, D. Schwartz, D. Shefer, Y. Shiftan, M. Sonis, M. Tiefelsdorf

This study presents new microeconomic analyses of congestion-prone services that comprise most private and public services at the final consumption stage. It accounts for two distinctive features of congestion-prone services: the discrepancy between capacity and throughput, and service quality competition. To accommodate these features, a series of new decision-making theorems for consumers and suppliers is developed. The resulting demand and cost functions incorporate service time as the variable that reflects congestion and service quality. In market equilibrium, interactions between consumers and firms endogenously determine the industrial organization type of each firm and thus allow the coexistence of multiple industrial organization types in the same market. Efficiency of resource allocation is assessed by applying two different criteria: service quality diversity throughout the market and Pareto optimality in each submarket.

This book uses household survey data from five Central Asian countries to analyse the important consequences of, and elements that constitute, the creation of a market economy. The countries studied - Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - had taken minimal action towards creating a market economy before the dissolution of the USSR in late 1991. From similar initial conditions they have pursued different post-independence economic strategies, making them ideal candidates for comparative analysis. The pivotal question concerns the determination of living standards. Who gained and who lost from the transition to a market economy? Which characteristics are rewarded in a new market economy? How do national policies and other systematic factors affect these outcomes? The authors also address other important issues that have emerged during transition debates: the position of women and the role of small businesses. The book analyses the gender issue in the narrow, but significant, sense of what happened to women in the labour market and the authors also analyze the characteristics of households with non-farm businesses. This book will prove invaluable to academics and researchers of Asian studies and particularly those with an interest in economic development and labour economics within the region.

Urban Environments and Health in the Philippines offers a retrospective view of women street vendors and their urban environments in Baguio City, designed by American architect and planner Daniel Burnham in the early twentieth century, and established by the American imperial government as a place for healing and well-being. Based on a transdisciplinary multi-method study of street vendors, the author offers a unique perspective as a researcher of the place, to ultimately ask how marginalized women authenticate and democratize prime urban spaces for their livelihoods. This book provides a portal to another way of seeing and understanding streets and people, covering spatial units at multiple scales, design imperialism and its impact on health, and resilience strategies for challenging realities. Blending subjects of architecture, planning, and health, this book is an ideal read for those interested in fields of urban planning and design, public health, landscape architecture, geography, and social sciences.

This book provides a thought-provoking and wide-ranging history of the whole of Europe between 1900 and 1945. Featuring six lively and stimulating chapters that have been specifically written for this volume, Europe 1900-1945 focuses on the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of this time period. It also examines the international relations within Europe and the wider world. Particular care is taken to integrate developments in southern and eastern Europe (including the USSR) into the more familiar story of what occurred in western and central Europe. A guide to further reading, a chronology, and an index allow readers to follow up on interest in particular countries.

Despite notable socio-economic development in the Arab region, a deficit in democracy and political rights has continued to prevail. This book examines the major reasons underlying the persistence of this democracy deficit over the past decades and touches on the prospects for deepening the process of democratization in the Arab World. Contributions from major scholars in the region give a cross country analysis of economic development, political institutions and social factors, and the impact of oil wealth and regional wars, and present a model for democracy in the Arab world. Case studies are drawn from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan and the Gulf region, building on these cross-country analyses and probing beyond the model's main global variables. Looking beyond the effect of oil and conflicts, the chapters illustrate how specific socio-political history of the country concerned, fear of fundamentalist groups, collusion with foreign powers and foreign interventions, and the co-option of the elites by the state contribute to these problems of democratization. Situating the democratic position of the Arab World in a global context, this book is an important contribution to the field of Middle Eastern politics, development studies, and studies on conflict and democracy.

This book examines how gay place-making challenged the juggernaut of neoliberal urbanization in the Malate district of Manila. In this ethnography, Collins explores the creation of place, characterized by neighborhood renewal, gay community and entrepreneurialism, and informal gay sexual labor. Malate teaches us that the power of sexual community to sustain a transgressive, inclusive, gay neighborhood is circumscribed and fleeting, and that urban livability, justice, and freedom must be pursued through organized grassroots political projects if the magic of Malate is to be revived for all its residents.

This theoretically rooted and research-based book provides insights on the JESSICA funding model which - unlike the traditional non-repayable aid - focuses on supporting sustainable urban development projects in a repayable and recyclable way. Looking through the lens of the JESSICA financial engineering mechanism used in urban transformation, it examines the functioning and performance thereof and formulates policy recommendations for the future. The aim of this volume is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the JESSICA sustainable funding model by exploring its repayable assistance mechanism to support sustainable urban development projects. The authors make several noteworthy contributions to the literature on EU cohesion policy and shed light on the use of the repayable instruments within public interventions, while providing, for the first time, a critical analysis of the JESSICA sustainable funding model from the holistic perspective which is especially relevant for supporting sustainable urban development. Financial Engineering in Sustainable Funding of Urban Development in the EU provides policy-significant findings that are important for EU cohesion policy in the field of repayable assistance to be reinvested in the long term in urban and regional transformation.

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This reader provides substantial extracts from the core texts in the field of American social and political thought. It demonstrates the rich intellectual tradition of the United States, giving an unparalleled understanding of American society and politics through the reproduction of key writings from a wide variety of thinkers.

The first part covers the core traditions of American social and political thought--American Exceptionalism, Political Theology, Republicanism, Liberalism, and Pragmatism. In the second part, texts have been selected to demonstrate the ways in which these traditions have been applied to a broad range of issues and conditions.

Exceptionally well-written and jargon-free, with helpful introductions and selections from Frederick Jackson Turner, Max Weber, Michael Sandel, John Rawls, C. Wright Mills, Sheldon Wolin, Judith N. Shklar, bell hooks, Michael Walzer and Richard Rorty, among others, American Social and Political Thought will be the core text in the field.

This book provides comparative, multi-disciplinary research on the surplus food distribution in Europe and its relation to food poverty, with a focus on the interaction of for-profit and non-profit organisations. It offers an informed and rich discussion in understanding the collaboration between profit and non-profit organisations involved in food recovery dynamics, and provides understanding as to how the two types of players create effective, innovative and sustainable processes. Building on sociology, food justice, and sustainable management fields, the book will be of interest to a diverse range of scholars, policy makers and practitioners inspiring innovation in how to address food poverty through surplus food recovery.

This book addresses a number of vital economic convergence issues in the European Union. These are both general and specific issues relating to financial and monetary matters as well as social and labour market concerns. The book opens with a discussion of problems of a general nature. Questions posed include: What is the convergence record in the EU so far? Is there a sign of Baumol and Quah's 'convergence clubs' and 'twin peaks'? Have the 'structural funds' of the European Commission made any difference? The authors then analyse questions of a fiscal and monetary nature: Can we expect the monetary policy of the ECB to have similar effects in the EMU member-states, or is it in itself a source of asymmetric shocks? Has EU membership made any difference, with respect to the initial differences in tax revenue structures? Finally the book focuses on questions regarding social and labour markets: Is global economic convergence compatible with sustainable differences in national social protection levels? Does European globalisation force labour markets to 'de-institutionalise' and do European labour markets converge to a 'Third Way' model? Academics and researchers of European studies and economic policy will find this up-to-date book of great interest, as will policymakers and business leaders both affected by and from within the EU.

This edited volume addresses various aspects of social and political development in Turkey and the latter's role within a global context. Paradigmatically and theoretically, it is situated in the realm of communication and/for social change. The chapters thread together to present a fresh and innovative study that explores an array of issues related to the Gezi protests and their aftermath by scholars and activists from Scandinavia, Turkey and India. Through its thorough analysis of the government's repressive policy and the communication strategies of resistance, during the protests as well as in the dramatic on-going aftermath, the volume has wide international and interdisciplinary appeal, suitable for those with an interest in globalization, communication and media, politics, and social change.

Reissued with a new introduction by the author, The Paraguayan War is an engrossing and comprehensive account of the origins and early campaigns of the deadliest and most extensive interstate war ever fought in Latin America. One of the first significant investigations of the Paraguayan War available in English, it investigates the complexities of South American nationalism, military development, and political intrigue.A 2003 CHOICE Academic Title of the Year, The Paraguayan War sets the stage for The Road to Armageddon, Thomas L. Whigham's exploration of the effects of this devastating conflict on individuals, Paraguayan society, and the continent as a whole. Together, these books fill an important gap in our understanding of Latin American history.

This excellent reference source brings together hard-to-find information on the constituent units of the Russian Federation. The introduction examines the Russian Federation as a whole, followed by a chronology, demographic and economic statistics, and a review of the Federal Government. The second section comprises territorial surveys, each of which includes a current map. This edition includes surveys covering the annexed (and disputed) territories of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as updated surveys of each of the other 83 federal subjects. The third section comprises a select bibliography of books. The fourth section features a series of indexes, listing the territories alphabetically, by Federal Okrug and Economic Area. Users will also find a gazetteer of selected alternative and historic names, a list of the territories abolished, created or reconstituted in the post-Soviet period, and an index of more than 100 principal cities, detailing the territory in which each is located.

Among all the authors on the Hezbollah, you are the deepest and most complex one. I am enjoying reading you a lot and find that finally, serious and long-lasting academic work is being done on the party. Victoria Fontan Associate Professor, University for Peace. Hizbullah's identity construction is an intelligent contribution to the academic debate on the dynamics of change in the political identity of Islamist movements; a process which is far from being concluded. Alagha's reliance on a robust empirical basis and his analysis also of the most recent events make this study a valuable addition to the literature on the subject. Filippo Dionigi London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. International Affairs 87.5 (September 2011): 1262-1264. Alagha offers a nuanced and sophisticated look at how Hizbullah's ideology and political tactics have evolved. His work sheds light on an important, but to Western audiences mysterious and opaque, political force in Lebanon. Daniel Byman Director of Georgetown's Security Studies Program and the Center for Peace and Security Studies and Professor at the School of Foreign Service.