The past two decades have witnessed a revival of the concept of 'civil society'. From East Central Europe to Latin America and East Asia to the recent calls for a 'European civil society' and a 'global civil society', the concept signifies the need for national and supra-national forms of civic commitment against both unjustified state domination and neo-liberal marketization. Reviewing the long history of the concept, its use in various regional contexts and its place in critical political theory, this book takes comprehensive stock of these debates and asks about the potential of the concept of civil society in guiding political transformations towards fuller understandings of liberty and democracy. Peter Wagner is Professor of Social and Political Theory at the European University Institute, Florence, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. His publications in social and political philosophy and historical and political sociology include A Sociology of Modernity (1994), Theorizing Modernity (2001), A History and Theory of the Social Sciences (2001), and The Political Constitution of Modern Capitalism (co-editor, forthcoming 2005).

Since the late-19th century, Japan has made remarkable strides in industrialization. Beginning with the economic vision of Miura Baien in the 18th century, and employing a detailed comparison with the West, this book delves into the economic thought of the scholars who played a pivotal role in Japan's modernization process. The author takes Fukuzawa Yukichi's theory of 'civilization' as the standard measure of Japan's modernization and compares it with differing visions from various critics whose research focused on rural poverty and social problems, such as Maeda Masana, early socialists, Yanagita Kunio and Kawakami Hajime. Further, the book explores new liberalism (Ishibashi Tanzan, Fukuda Tokuzo) and Marxism (Yamada Moritaro, Uno Kozo) in the 1920s and 1930s. After discussing the dilemmas faced by economists during wartime (Takata Yasuma, Ryu Shintaro, Shibata Kei), the author concludes this intellectual history with the country's post-1945 democratic reforms and their early demise. This book is valuable reading for students and researchers of Japan's intellectual history. However, due to the book's comparative perspective, as well as the universality of the modernization experience, it will also appeal to students and researchers of the history of economic thought and modern intellectual history.

Book 1 of the book series is targeted at beginner learners of Cantonese. This volume focuses on authentic spoken Cantonese as used in contemporary Hong Kong and sets out to provide an authentic and contextualized approach to the learning of the language. This volume provides language scenarios in daily life and cover various language functions, such as icebreaking, asking for information, describing, providing information, asking for help, making appointment, and narrating. This volume provides essential learning points and solid linguistic training to learners. Book 1 of the book series can be used by universities, colleges, schools in Hong Kong, and by institutions around the world. This book is suitable for learners who are looking for self-study materials.

This book is a comprehensive and practical guide to project marketing - a crucial aspect of businesses worldwide. It encompasses a variety of key infrastructure projects such as roads, airports, ports, power, irrigation, commercial, and industrial buildings. The volume: * Provides key definitions and discusses concepts such as segmentation, target marketing, positioning in projects, and organizational buyer behaviour. * Draws and adapts from extant marketing theory and provides real-life case studies to demonstrate application of concepts. * Focuses on project marketing logic, marketing mix, negotiation techniques, and strategies to aid contracting/subcontracting firms to realize better pricing and project profitability. An essential handbook for professional marketers and researchers, this book will be indispensable for B-Schools, project managers, entrepreneurs, infrastructure corporations, and start-ups. It will serve as a key text to foster hassle-free relationships between different business actors and reduce roadblocks such as time and cost escalation, litigation, and the like.

* This collection builds a broad basis for a possible and necessary paradigmatic shift in the field of theater and performance historiography. * Would be recommended reading in for any undergraduate or master's level students studying theatre history, drama and dance. * The closest competitors do not explore the term 'entangled histories'. Therefore this collection breaks new ground by looking at this concept as a new paradigm in the field.

This book is a comprehensive critical re-reading of Nayantara Sahgal's oeuvre. One of the most significant Indian English writers, her fictional and non-fictional engagement with historical events and political dilemmas inextricably links her to the colonial, anti-colonial and post-colonial discourse in India. Drawing transcontinental connections with the ideas of Fanon, Foucault, Said, Beauvoir, White, Beck and Habermas the monograph juxtaposes recurring themes in her writing with the ideas of significant Indian post-colonial commentators. Tracing the subliminal tendencies in her writing to Gandhian humanity and Nehruvian pragmaticism, the book moves beyond cliches of feminist criticism and genealogical ties to unveil a unique artist who has folded nearly a century of Indian experience in her work. Drawing on novels, essays, speeches, journalism and interviews by Nayantara Sahgal, this volume will be of great interest to scholars of South Asian literature, post-colonialism, politics and contemporary history/culture/change.

Reviews the trajectory of Marxism Localization in modern and contemporary China Reveals the historical, political, cultural and social context of the localization of Marxism Offers an outlook of the localization of Marxism in China

Through analysis of the Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad, which pledge protection to diverse faith communities, this book makes a profoundly important contribution to research on early Islam by determining the Covenants' historicity and textual accuracy. The authors focus on the Prophet Muhammad's relationship with other faith communities by conducting detailed textual and linguistic analysis of documents which have received little scholarly consideration before. This not only includes decrees of the Prophet Muhammad, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, but also of important Muslim rulers. They present their findings in relation to contemporaneous historical writings, historic testimonies, official recognition, archaeological evidence, historic scribal conventions, date-matching calculations, textual parallelisms, and references in Muslim and non-Muslim sources. They also provide new and revised translations of various Covenants issued by the Prophet Muhammad which were attested by Muslim authorities after him. The authors argue that the claim of forgery is no longer tenable following the application of rigorous textual and historical analysis. This book is essential reading for Muslims, Christians, Jews, Samaritans, and Zoroastrians, as well as anyone interested in interfaith relations, Islamophobia, extremist ideologies, security studies, and the relationship between Orthodox and Oriental Christianity with Islam.

This book analyses the evolving geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region and explains how Djibouti fits in the global strategies of four major powers-the US, China, Japan, and France. It shows how Djibouti is emerging as a key nation in the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific, explores the interconnections between Djibouti and the Indian as well as Pacific Oceans, and through Djibouti examines broader trends in contemporary great power politics in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Belt and Road Initiative of China. Moving beyond contemporary works on the region, the author integrates Africa and the Middle East with discussions on the Indo-Pacific to illustrate the coalescing of strategic geography from Eastern Africa to the Western coast of the Americas. A major intervention, the volume will be essential reading for scholars, practitioners, and researchers of politics and international relations, security studies, African studies, peace and conflict studies, and maritime studies.

1. This interdisciplinary volume brings together scholars from across the world who have raised pertinent issues regarding the role of stand-up comedy in contemporary times especially with increased presence of OTT platforms and internet penetration that allows for easy access to this art form. 2. It looks at the theoretical understanding of the different aspects of the humour, aesthetics and politics of stand up comedy, as well as case studies of various forms of stand up comedy such as Finnish, Persian, Indonesian, Indian, etc. 3. It will be of interest to departments of media, popular culture, digital culture, sociology, digital sociology/anthropology, and English literature across the US and UK. IT will also appeal to proplr interested in performance and performance studies as it looks at the genre of stand-up comedy in the global context with chapters on Finnish, Australian, Persian and Indian stand-up comedy, to name a few.

This book examines the independent media movements by Inmediahk and Coolloud - long-established, autonomous media organizations that have agitated for the development of media freedom and human rights in Hong Kong and Taiwan since 2004 and 1997, respectively. Based on direct interviews with the founders and core members of Inmediahk and Coolloud, the author investigates the origins, growth, and achievements of Inmediahk and Coolloud's media social movements as well as the current challenges the two independent media outlets encounter with regard to funding, increasing socio-political pressure, and the complicated media environments in Hong Kong and Taiwan using the method of qualitative content interpretation. Moreover, the practicality of social media and independent media in contemporary social movements, including the 2019 Anti-Extradition Bill Movement in Hong Kong, is reviewed according to text analysis. Considering the prospect of media activism from a non-western perspective, this book will appeal not only to scholars and researchers with interests in media, social movement, and cultural studies, but also to media workers and activists across the globe.

The notion of French exceptionalism is deeply embedded in the nation's self-image and in a range of political and academic discourses. Recently, the debate about whether France really is "exceptional" has acquired a critical edge. Against the background of introspection about the nature of "national identity," some proclaim "normalisation" and the end of French exceptionalism, while others point out to the continuing evidence that France remains distinctive at a number of levels, from popular culture to public policy. This book explores the notion of French exceptionalism, places it in its European context, examines its history and evaluate its continuing relevance in a range of fields from politics and public policy to popular culture and sport. Emmanuel Godin is Senior lecturer in French and European Studies; Tony Chafer is Principal Lecturer in French and African Studies, both at the University of Portsmouth.

This book identifies differing approaches to the issues of conceptualising hegemony, hegemony-building processes and the relationship between a hegemonic state and a rising power. It focuses on transformations of the Chinese state, society and political-economy, China's rapidly ascending status in the world order and changing relations with the outside world, in particular with the US. Bringing together mainstream and critical approaches from Anglo-America and China, which occupy different positions in the core-periphery structure of social sciences knowledge production and provide diverging standpoints to understanding the phenomenon of a rising China, the book questions the existing division of labour in IR and in general social sciences knowledge production. Through the lenses of multiple Anglo-American and Chinese scholars, it offers a nuanced and multifaceted view on the issue and focuses on a direct comparison of different localized perspectives. The author scrutinizes the heterogeneity of knowledge, the relationship between power and knowledge production and the region-centricity, in particular the Western-centricity, of knowledge production by analysing the discourse on the "(re-) rising" status of China in the world. The book problematizes the close link between power and knowledge production and presents a more critical view on the conclusions drawn by each approach. Offering an understanding of the nexus between knowledge production and power structures, the heterogeneity and multiplicity of knowledge and the influence of locality on the knowledge produced in social sciences, the book will be of interest to academics working in the fields of International Relations theories, critical approaches, non-Western theories, Euro- or Western-centrism, and social sciences in China, Area Studies, in particularly China and East Asia.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to chado, the Japanese tea ceremony. Unlike other books on the subject, which focus on practice or historical background or specific issues, this book considers the subject from multiple perspectives. It discusses Japanese aesthetics and philosophy, outlines how the tea ceremony has developed, emphasizing its strong links to Zen Buddhism and the impact of other religion influences, and examines how chado reflects traditional gender and social status roles in Japan. It goes on to set out fully the practice of chado, exploring dress, utensils, location - the garden and the tea house - and the tea itself and accompanying sweets. Throughout, the book is illustrated both with images and with examples of practice. The book will be of interest to a wide range of people interested in chado - university professors and students, tourists and people interested in traditional Japanese arts.

Introducing the Negev-Bedouin land issue from the international indigenous land rights perspective, this comparative study suggests options for the recognition of their land. The book demonstrates that the Bedouin land dispossession, like many indigenous peoples', progressed through several phases that included eviction and displacement, legislation, and judicial decisions that support acts of dispossession and deny the Bedouin's traditional land rights. Examining the Mawat legal doctrine on which the State and the Court rely on to deny Bedouin land rights, this volume introduces the relevant international law protecting indigenous land rights and shows how the limitations of this law prevent any meaningful protection of Bedouin land rights. In the second part of the work, the Aborigines' land in Australia is introduced as an example of indigenous peoples' successful struggle for their traditional land rights. The final chapter analyzes the basic elements of judicial recognition of the land and shows that the basic elements needed for Bedouin land recognition exist in the Israeli legal system. Proposing practical recommendations for the recognition of Bedouin land, this volume is a key resource to scholars and students interested in land rights, international law, comparative studies, and the Middle East.

Adopting a people-centred perspective to globalization, the authors explore complex, counterintuitive and even unintended forms and consequences of bottom-up politics, going beyond simplistic understandings of ordinary people as either victims or beneficiaries of globalization.

This book examines a critical time and place in recent world history--the end of the Cold War--and the strategies and values employed in the public dipomacy of the Bush and Clinton Administrations to build domestic and international consensus. It provides insight into the uses of presidential power and provides a model and an illustration for how rhetoric may be used in the study of United States foreign policy.

This book examines Australia 's sporting relationships with the Asian region during the interwar period. Until now, Australia 's sporting relationships with the Asian region have been neglected by scholars of Australian and Asian sports history, and the broader field of Australia 's Asian context. Concentrating on the period of the 1920s and 1930s when sporting relationships between Australia and a number of Asian nations emerged in a variety of sports this book demonstrates the depth of these previously under-examined connections. The book challenges, and complicates, the broader historiography of Australia 's Asian context a historiography that has been strongly influenced by the White Australia Policy and the Pacific War. Why, for example, did white Australia so warmly welcome visiting Japanese sportsmen at a time when the Pacific region appeared to be inexorably sliding into a war that was informed by racial antagonisms?

This book examines sporting relations between Australia and seven Asian countries (China, Japan, India, Netherlands East Indies, Philippines, Malaya and Singapore) and a range of sports including rugby, football, swimming, hockey, boxing, cricket and tennis. The significance of the collection is drawn together in a concluding chapter by prominent historian David Walker.

This book was published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

The first book published in either English or Spanish about the cultural significance of Maradona. Covers Maradona as portrayed in fiction literature and cinema, documentary films, non-fiction literature, mass media and music, among other platforms. Includes chapters on Maradona as represented in the culture and media of Argentina, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the UK, highlighting the global appeal of a volume that is already focused on an international figure. By discussing how a sporting icon is constructed, codified, and imagined in popular culture, the book's relevance goes beyond the specific case of Maradona and appeals to any scholars and students interested in the links between sport, culture, and society.

Unlike most books which consider China's transformation and globalization over the last four decades by focusing on China's economic growth, this book examines how the Chinese regime has handled the increasingly complex sociopolitical and socio-economic challenges generated as a result of the country's economic growth and transformation, challenges arising both from within the country and also from the external political environment. Based on extensive original research, the book outlines how China's economic development has generated social and governance pressures, discusses the government's social, educational, and governance reforms, and highlights how China's development experiences, which differ from the Western economies with democratic political regimes, have drawn increasing attention from other countries in the developing world as an example to follow.

Includes evidence from Soviet scholarship that is often not accessible to scholars working on this period.

This book compares the different expressions of, and outcomes from, banking nationalism in two European countries to draw wider conclusions about the consequences for Banking Union in Europe and to show how national governments deal (or fail to deal) with international commitments. It reveals how and why one case - Spain - managed to tackle failing banks within EU Banking Union regulations even before they became written in EU law, while the other - Italy - had more persistent problems. The book argues that Spain demonstrates a successful case of liberal economic nationalism, typified by aggressive, early state intervention to restructure Spanish banks, and help from the European Stability Mechanism even in the face of local political opposition. Italy, meanwhile, suffered from the weaker, delayed intervention which forced it to confront European institutions with demands for special treatment as a means of externalizing its own internal weakness. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and professionals in economic policy, Economic and Monetary Union and Banking Union in Europe, European and global governance, European/EU studies, European public policy, European public administration and EU law, as well as professionals working in the banking sector.

Muslims for hundreds of years have been involved in philanthropic activities targeting poor and needy people through varied types of 'third sector' organizations (TSOs). Nonetheless, many people in Muslim majority countries (MMCs), not having freedom from hunger, face human security crises. Not much is known about the TSOs or their human security provisions in MMCs. To fill this knowledge gap, this Volume documents and analyses philanthropy and all types of third sector organizations including the awqaf (Muslim endowments) vis-a-vis human security in MMCs. The study is comprehensive in treating the subject matter (analyzing the legal environment, characteristics, extent and functioning of all forms of the third sector and their human security performances) and in geographic coverage (incorporating all forty-seven Muslim majority countries in Africa and Asia). It is also innovative expounding TSO density analysis, state support score (SSS) and a third-sector capability measure (TCM) to study their interrelationships. It is an essential unique reference book for students and scholars of the third sector and human security, international organizations, development agencies, donor governments, security experts and in particular anybody with interests in Islam and MMCs.

Since their independence in 1991, the former Soviet Republics have gone through difficult transition processes to achieve cultural, economical and political transformations. Diverse internal dynamics have produced diverse outcomes for the countries and peoples of the former Soviet space. While there are different results of transition, there are also similarities due to many common concerns and expectations. The most important question is, What have these new states transformed into where democracy, free market, and functioning civil society are concerned? Or, Has the transformation led to greater polarisation in terms of rich and poor divide, authoritarianism and withdrawal of the state from providing social security, contested geopolitics and increasing external influence? Apart from discussing the challenges that the post-Soviet states face and their coping strategies, the articles in this book also look at how the Eurasian countries participate in the globalisation process while using the energy and natural resources to their benefit.