Journey without End chronicles the years-long journey of extracontinentales-African and South Asian migrants moving through Latin America toward the United States. Based on five years of collaborative research between a journalist and an anthropologist, this book makes an engrossing, sometimes surreal, narrative-driven critique of how state-level immigration policy fails extracontinental migrants. The book begins with Kidane, an Eritrean migrant who has left his pregnant wife behind to make the four-year trip to North America; it then picks up the natural disaster-riddled voyage of Roshan and Kamala Dhakal from Nepal to Ecuador; and it continues to the trials of Cameroonian exile Jane Mtebe, who becomes trapped in a bizarre beachside resort town on the edge of the DariEn Gap-the gateway from South to Central America. Journey without End follows these migrants as their fitful voyages put them in a semi-permanent state of legal and existential liminality as mercurial policy creates profit opportunities that transform migration bottlenecks-Quito's tourist district, a Colombian beachside resort, Panama's DariEn Gap, and a Mexican border town-into spontaneous migration-oriented spaces rife with race, gender, and class exploitation. Even then, migrant solidarity allows for occasional glimpses of subaltern cosmopolitanism and the possibility of mobile futures.

Mapping the Epidemic: A Systemic Geography of COVID-19 in Italy provides a theoretical-methodological framework based on space-time analysis to map and interpret the set of factors that could have contributed to the spread of COVID-19, as well as a reflexive cartographic mapping visualizing the virus's dynamics. After an introduction that constitutes the theoretical anchor of the work carried out both with respect to territorial analysis and the use of reflexive cartography, the book discusses the role played by reflexive cartography in research on the COVID-19 pandemic conducted by an Italian university working group dealing with reticularity and the territorial fragilities that have influenced the spread. The data, subjected to analysis, are translated into reflexive cartography as a tool for restitution and investigation of the territorial dynamics. Each chapter consists of detailed information in which the European context of data analysis is illustrated, to then investigate the Italian territory and focus on the case of Lombardy and, in particular, of Bergamo as the epicenter. The book addresses the theoretical and methodological approaches of mapping the epidemic in Italy and the importance of cartography in the outbreak response, as well as including data accounting for contributing factors such as atmospheric pollution and infection rate, population distribution and major mobility corridors, and measures adopted to contain the outbreak, by implementing mapping at the regional Lombard, national, and European levels. Mapping the Epidemic: A Systemic Geography of COVID-19 in Italy uses an interdisciplinary approach that highlights the key role of geography and cartography in providing usable data and conclusions on the virus outbreak and will be valuable for researchers and professionals in the fields of geography, GIS, and spatial mapping, as well as statisticians working on mapping outbreaks and epidemiological scientists needing mapping data on the virus.

"Hubbard and Kane synthesize economics, politics, and psychology to develop a new audacious theory of why countries decline. Compulsory reading for anyone who wants to understand the major issues that America now faces" (James Robinson, coauthor of "Why Nations Fail").
From the Ming Dynasty to Ottoman Turkey to imperial Spain, the Great Powers of the world emerged as the supreme economic, political, and military forces of their time--only to collapse into rubble and memory. What is at the root of their demise, and how can the United States stop it from happening again?
A quarter century after Paul Kennedy's "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers," Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane present a bold, sweeping account of why powerful nations and civilizations break down under the heavy burden of economic imbalance. Introducing a profound new measure of economic power, "Balance" traces the triumphs and mistakes of imperial Britain, the paradox of superstate California, the long collapse of Rome, and the limits of the Japanese model of growth. Most importantly, Hubbard and Kane compare the twenty-first-century United States to the empires of old and challenge Americans to address the real problems of our country's fiscal imbalance. If there is not a new economics and politics of balance, they portend that inevitable demise is ahead.
This is more than another analysis of our nation's economy; it is a groundbreaking look at the patterns of the past and a "thought-provoking analysis that has compelling relevance for America's future" (Nobel Peace Prize-winner Henry A. Kissinger).

This volume explores the series of public protests - manifestacoes - that took place in a number of Brazilian cities in June and July 2013, when thousands of people took to the streets to demand improvements in urban infrastructures. Critically examines the role these protests played in politics, the political and their relationships to urban space and culture Analyses their connections to the emergence of a 'New Right' in Brazil, which saw the election of Bolsonaro Includes first-hand accounts and brings together contributions from both activists and scholars within a number of different fields (geography, history, philosophy, art, political economy) The first interdisciplinary English language anthology to address Brazil's 2013 protests and the broader political and cultural questions they raise A major contribution to Brazilian and Latin American Studies in Europe and the USA, as well as interdisciplinary studies of social movements, urban culture and politics

The birth of the world's great megacities is the surest and starkest harbinger of the "urban age" inaugurated in the twentieth century. As the world's urban population achieves majority for the first time in recorded history, theories proliferate on the nature of urban politics, including the shape and quality of urban democracy, the role of urban social and political movements, and the prospects for progressive and emancipatory change from the corridors of powerful states to the routinized rhythms of everyday life. At stake are both the ways in which the rapidly changing urban world is understood and the urban futures being negotiated by the governments and populations struggling to contend with these changes and forge a place in contemporary cities. Transdisciplinary by design, Monstrous Politics first moves historically through Mexico City's turbulent twentieth century, driven centrally by the contentious imbrication of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and its capital city. Participant observation, expert interviews, and archival materials demonstrate the shifting strategies and alliances of recent decades, provide the reader with a sense of the texture of contemporary political life in the city during a time of unprecedented change, and locate these dynamics within the history and geography of twentieth-century urbanization and political revolution. Substantive ethnographic chapters trace the emergence and decline of the political language of "the right to the city," the establishment and contestation of a "postpolitical" governance regime, and the culmination of a century of urban politics in the processes of "political reform" by which Mexico City finally wrested back significant political autonomy and local democracy from the federal state. A four-fold transection of the revolutionary structure of feeling that pervades the city in this historic moment illustrates the complex and contradictory sentiments, appraisals, and motivations through which contemporary politics are understood and enacted. Drawing on theories of social revolution that embrace complexity, and espousing a methodology that foregrounds the everyday nature of politics, Monstrous Politics develops an understanding of revolutionary urban politics at once contextually nuanced and conceptually expansive, and thus better able to address the realities of politics in the "urban age" even beyond Mexico City.

Land Reclamation and Restoration Strategies for Sustainable Development: Geospatial Technology Based Approach, Volume Ten covers spatial mapping, modeling and risk assessment in land hazards issues and sustainable management. Each section in the book explores state-of-art techniques using commercial, open source and statistical software for mapping and modeling, along with case studies that illustrate modern image processing techniques and computational algorithms. A special focus is given on recent trends in data mining techniques. This book will be of particular interest to students, researchers and professionals in the fields of earth science, applied geography, and those in the environmental sciences.

Coastal Reservoir Technology and Applications presents the analyses showing that the world is not running out of water, but water is running out of river mouths-we need to work to harness this resource. Compared with inland water storages and desalination technology, coastal reservoirs are a nature-based water solution without disturbing the environment. This book mainly answers the questions of what the coastal reservoir technology is, where we should construct coastal reservoirs, and how to supply sufficient, high-quality and affordable water to the world with minimum environmental/social impacts. Chapter 1 reviews modes of water resources development in the history along with current problems and reasons. Chapter 2 discusses the definition of coastal reservoirs, its classifications and applications, and the SPP/downstream water management strategy. Other chapters analyse water crisis in every continent, as well as their water solutions. The possible coastal reservoir for each major river is suggested as well. Without freshwater, no one can survive. Likewise, without sufficient, high-quality and affordable freshwater, no community can achieve sustainable development. However, water is also a killer when it is too much (floods), too dirty (pollution), and too turbid. Different from other books, this resource shows how to solve these water problems. Coastal reservoirs and SPP strategy are suggested to develop floodwater in a safe way in coastal and inland regions, respectively. Solution of water-food-energy-ecosystem nexus needs a paradigm shift from upstream to downstream water management, i.e., from mountainous dams to coastal reservoirs, which conserves the precious, clean freshwater in seawater environment.

The birth of the world's great megacities is the surest and starkest harbinger of the "urban age" inaugurated in the twentieth century. As the world's urban population achieves majority for the first time in recorded history, theories proliferate on the nature of urban politics, including the shape and quality of urban democracy, the role of urban social and political movements, and the prospects for progressive and emancipatory change from the corridors of powerful states to the routinized rhythms of everyday life. At stake are both the ways in which the rapidly changing urban world is understood and the urban futures being negotiated by the governments and populations struggling to contend with these changes and forge a place in contemporary cities. Transdisciplinary by design, Monstrous Politics first moves historically through Mexico City's turbulent twentieth century, driven centrally by the contentious imbrication of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and its capital city. Participant observation, expert interviews, and archival materials demonstrate the shifting strategies and alliances of recent decades, provide the reader with a sense of the texture of contemporary political life in the city during a time of unprecedented change, and locate these dynamics within the history and geography of twentieth-century urbanization and political revolution. Substantive ethnographic chapters trace the emergence and decline of the political language of "the right to the city," the establishment and contestation of a "postpolitical" governance regime, and the culmination of a century of urban politics in the processes of "political reform" by which Mexico City finally wrested back significant political autonomy and local democracy from the federal state. A four-fold transection of the revolutionary structure of feeling that pervades the city in this historic moment illustrates the complex and contradictory sentiments, appraisals, and motivations through which contemporary politics are understood and enacted. Drawing on theories of social revolution that embrace complexity, and espousing a methodology that foregrounds the everyday nature of politics, Monstrous Politics develops an understanding of revolutionary urban politics at once contextually nuanced and conceptually expansive, and thus better able to address the realities of politics in the "urban age" even beyond Mexico City.

Focusing on different tools, platforms, and techniques, Blockchain and the Smart City: Infrastructure and Implementation uses case studies from around the world to examine blockchain deployment in diverse smart city applications. The book begins by examining the fundamental theories and concepts of blockchain. It looks at key smart cities' domains such as banking, insurance, healthcare, and supply chain management. It examines Using case studies for each domain, the book looks at payment mechanisms, fog/edge computing, green computing, and algorithms and consensus mechanisms for smart cities implementation. It looks at tools such as Hyperledger, Etherium, Corda, IBM Blockchain, Hydrachain, as well as policies and regulatory standards, applications, solutions, and methodologies. While exploring future blockchain ecosystems for smart and sustainable city life, the book concludes with the research challenges and opportunities academics, researchers, and companies in implementing blockchain applications.