International Organizations and the Idea of Autonomy is an exploratory text looking at the idea of intergovernmental organizations as autonomous international actors. In the context of concerns over the accountability of powerful international actors exercising increasing levels of legal and political authority, in areas as diverse as education, health, financial markets and international security, the book comes at a crucial time. Including contributions from leading scholars in the fields of international law, politics and governance, it addresses themes of institutional autonomy in international law and governance from a range of theoretical and subject-specific contexts. The collection looks internally at aspects of the institutional law of international organizations and the workings of specific regimes and institutions, as well as externally at the proliferation of autonomous organizations in the international legal order as a whole. Although primarily a legal text, the book takes a broad, thematic and inter-disciplinary approach. In this respect, International Organizations and the Idea of Autonomy offers an excellent resource for both practitioners and students undertaking courses of advanced study in international law, the law of international organizations, global governance, as well as aspects of international relations and organization.

International Organizations and the Idea of Autonomy is an exploratory text looking at the idea of intergovernmental organizations as autonomous international actors. In the context of concerns over the accountability of powerful international actors exercising increasing levels of legal and political authority, in areas as diverse as education, health, financial markets and international security, the book comes at a crucial time. Including contributions from leading scholars in the fields of international law, politics and governance, it addresses themes of institutional autonomy in international law and governance from a range of theoretical and subject-specific contexts. The collection looks internally at aspects of the institutional law of international organizations and the workings of specific regimes and institutions, as well as externally at the proliferation of autonomous organizations in the international legal order as a whole. Although primarily a legal text, the book takes a broad, thematic and inter-disciplinary approach. In this respect, International Organizations and the Idea of Autonomy offers an excellent resource for both practitioners and students undertaking courses of advanced study in international law, the law of international organizations, global governance, as well as aspects of international relations and organization.

In 1982 satellite broadcasters delivered the first pan-European television services to European viewers. European Unionists saw in this new communication technology a means of eroding national differences and uniting a fragmented continent, while others saw satellite television as a malign force which threatened to destroy European public service broadcasting. Satellite television also introduced competition and commercial services to television markets previously controlled by monopoly public service broadcasters. With the assistance of the European Broadcasting Union, public broadcasters launched their own public service channels - Eurikon, Europa, Eurosport and Euronews - as alternatives to commercial satellite television. This text explores television's role in fostering European cultural identity and the extent to which European public service broadcasters were able to meet the challenges posed by the introduction of new communication technologies. It is based on extensive primary research, interviews with participants and analysis of key European programmes. The book documents the lessons learned by public broadcasters, their alliance with Rupert Murdoch's commercial Sky netw

British television studies in the 1980s have been wide- ranging, yet in the 1990s there is a need for a new body of general theory. In this consideration of contemporary issues concerning television, Collins combines original research with provocative analysis and argument. He focuses on the impact of new technologies and national policies for television in North America and Europe. He considers television news, documentaries, and the history and likely development of media studies. In tackling these issues he considers questions of general theory challenging the dominant assumptions of scholars and forcing a reconsideration of likely future studies.

British television studies in the 1980s have been wide- ranging, yet in the 1990s there is a need for a new body of general theory. In this consideration of contemporary issues concerning television, Collins combines original research with provocative analysis and argument. He focuses on the impact of new technologies and national policies for television in North America and Europe. He considers television news, documentaries, and the history and likely development of media studies. In tackling these issues he considers questions of general theory challenging the dominant assumptions of scholars and forcing a reconsideration of likely future studies.

When Richard Collins was diagnosed with a progressive incurable disease in 2006 he decided to see as much of the world as he could while his condition allowed. The result is The Road to Zagora, a singular travel book which takes in India and Nepal, some of South America, the Middle East and Wales. 'Mr Parkinson', as Collins refers to his condition, informs the narrative. As inveterate walkers Collins and his partner Flic Eden decided to continue to travel 'close to the land' post diagnosis, leaving the tourist trails and visiting places of extremes: the Himalayas, forests, deserts. The difficulties of rough terrain, altitude, extremes of climate for a person with Collins' condition are an ongoing strand of his narrative; occasionally they cannot be overcome and Collins is forced to consider the frailties of the human body in passages of moving contemplation. The Road to Zagora also includes an element of memoir, as Parkinson's Disease also causes Collins to reflect on his life, and in particular on his relationship with Flic. There are moments of great charm as their relationship evolves, and also the drama of a previous serious illness. These recollections of pre-diagnosis life have the wistfulness of hindsight as Collins considers what constitutes a life well lived. Yet any sentiment or self-pity is denied through Collins's resolute and independent-mindedness and the quality of writing. In the travel passages the readers experiences the sheer physicality of Collins' expeditions, along with his novelist's eye for telling local detail. In the sequences of memoir the writing is humane, compassionate and quite often comic. The Road to Zagora is a memorable journey around the world, and the self.

The city is one part tarmac and stone, one part memory and imagination. It is a coming together of past, present and future. It is perhaps, a meeting place and a turning point for three people whose lives have touched before. Isabel is here to start a new job and a new life. Michael has always been here, but now, struggling with illness, everything looks different. And Daniel has come to think about a relationship and to look after a cat. He is quite certain that he did not come to this place to revisit the past...The Quality of Light is lyrical novel of love, time and geography from Whitbread-shortlisted author Richard Collins.

From the big picture to the smallest detail, Richard Collins fashions a rousing memoir about the modern-day lives of cowboys and ranchers. However, Cowboy is a Verb is much more than wild horse rides and cattle chases. While Collins recounts stories of quirky ranch horses, cranky cow critters, cow dogs, and the people who use and care for them, he also paints a rural West struggling to survive the onslaught of relentless suburbanization. A born story-teller with a flair for words, Collins breathes life into the geology, history, and interdependency of land, water, and native and introduced plants and animals. He conjures indelible portraits of the hardworking, dedicated people he comes to know. With both humor and humility, he recounts the day-to-day challenges of ranch life from how to build a productive herd, distribute your cattle evenly across a rough and rocky landscape, and how to establish a grazing system that allows pastures enough time to recover. He also intimately recounts a battle over the endangered Gila Topminnow and how he and his neighbors worked with university range scientists, forest service conservationists, and funding agencies to improve their ranches as well as the ecological health of the Redrock Canyon watershed. A rancher who wants to stay in the game doesn't dominate the landscape; instead, they have to continually study the land and the animals it supports. Collins is a keen observer of both. He demonstrates that patience, resilience, and a common sense approach to conservation and range management are what counts, combined with an enduring affection for nature, its animals, and the land. Cowboy is a Verb is not a romanticized story of cowboy life on the range, rather it is a complex story of the complicated work involved with being a rancher in the twenty-first-century West.

Welcome to the happy-go-lucky world of 19-year-old Daniel Brownlow as he travels abroad after leaving school. Things 'just happen' to Dan, a Seventies teenager with a blue Mohican and the nickname 'madness'. In "Overland" Daniel's journey to experience life heads in unexpected directions. Waiting for a bus he meets 44-year-old Oliver, a powerful man with a mysterious past, who needs his help. Dan agrees to spend 'a couple of hours' helping Oliver to catch up with his wife, who has just walked out on their family holiday, taking their car and two young children and heading home. What follows is a modern day Odyssey for both men; a journey home which swings from humour to terror, frustration to enlightenment, as they battle with events, themselves and Oliver's former girlfriend, Caroline. Collins depicts with great delicacy the growing friendship between the two men at different stages of life's journey. This rich, deft, second novel again displays Collins' precise imagery of landscape, from Europe's snow-covered mountains to flat roads and cities and down to the coast, revealing a strong and unforced affinity with the land. '"Overland"' is a compulsive read as, like Dan, the reader needs to see the book through its unexpected, sometimes enjoyable, sometimes horrific, twists and turns, to its final destination.

This work is a celebration of the dialect spoken in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and South Staffordshire. The amazing text and cartoon-like illustrations capture the warmth and humour of the East Midlands.

Several of the most important and influential political economists of communication working today explore a rich mix of topics and issues that link work, policy studies, and research and theory about the public sphere to the heritage of political economy. Familiar but still exceedingly important topics in critical political economy studies are well represented here: market structures and media concentration, regulation and policy, technological impacts on particular media sectors, information poverty, and media access. The book also features new topics for political economy study, including racism in audience research, the value and need for feminist approaches to political economy studies, and the relationship between the discourse of media finance and the behavior of markets.

The plots of two novels intertwine and contaminate one other in this innovative and deeply affecting tale about the boundaries of fiction, friendship, and love. When John allows his best friend Julian to read his novel, it becomes clear to Julian that the contents of the work are more fact than fiction, revealing their shared love for Catherine and tracing the descent of their once-ideal friendship into jealousy and recrimination. As John and Julian's friendship deteriorates in the real world, it becomes evident that John's fiction has invaded reality and turned thier nonfiction lives upside down.

The Irish Yearbook of International Law supports research into Ireland's practice in international affairs and foreign policy, filling a gap in existing legal scholarship and assisting in the dissemination of Irish policy and practice on matters of international law. On an annual basis, the Yearbook presents peer-reviewed academic articles and book reviews on general issues of international law, as well as topics with significant interest for an Irish audience. Designated correspondents provide reports on international law developments in Ireland, Irish practice in international bodies, and the law of the European Union as relevant to developments in Ireland. This volume of the Yearbook includes contributions on international humanitarian law, including intersections with international human rights law and the law of state responsibility, the concept of due diligence in international law, and the exercise of international criminal jurisdiction with specific reference to Irish law.

Modern international law is widely understood as an autonomous system of binding legal rules. Nevertheless, this claim to autonomy is far from uncontroversial. International lawyers have faced recurrent scepticism as to both the reality and efficacy of the object of their study and practice. For the most part, this scepticism has focussed on international law's peculiar institutional structure, with the absence of centralised organs of legislation, adjudication and enforcement, leaving international legal rules seemingly indeterminate in the conduct of international politics. Perception of this 'institutional problem' has therefore given rise to a certain disciplinary angst or self-defensiveness, fuelling a need to seek out functional analogues or substitutes for the kind of institutional roles deemed intrinsic to a functioning legal system. The author of this book believes that this strategy of accommodation is, however, deeply problematic. It fails to fully grasp the importance of international law's decentralised institutional form in securing some measure of accountability in international relations. It thus misleads through functional analogy and, in doing so, potentially exacerbates legitimacy deficits. There are enough conceptual weaknesses and blindspots in the legal-theoretical models against which international law is so frequently challenged to show that the perceived problem arises more in theory, than in practice.