Full analysis of ancient and medieval expressions of Celtic cursing, using evidence ranging from magical charms to curse tablets. The first comprehensive study of early Celtic cursing, this work analyses both medieval and ancient expressions of Celtic imprecation: from the binding tablets of ancient Britain and Gaul to the saintly maledictions of the early medieval period, and other traces of Celtic stipulation and binding only speculated on in earlier scholarship. It provides the first full overview and analyses of the ancient Celtic use of binding curses (as attested in Old Celticand Latin inscriptions) and examines their mooted influence in later medieval expressions. Ancient finds (among them long Gaulish curse texts, Celtic Latin Curse tablets found from the Alpine regions to Britain, and fragments of Old Brittonic tablets excavated from Roman Bath) are subjected to rigorous new interpretations, and medieval reflections of the earlier tradition are also considered. BERNARD MEES gained his PhD from the University of Melbourne.

This pioneering work explores epigraphic evidence for the development of English before the Anglo-Saxon period, bringing together linguistic, historical and archaeological perspectives on early inscriptions, making them more accessible to a wider audience. The volume offers a new account of the Germanic development of Anglo-Saxon England, beginning with an examination of the earliest inscriptions from northern Europe and the oldest inscriptions preserving Germanic names, many of which have only been discovered since the 1980s. The book charts the origins of key terms such as Angle, Saxon and Jute and early writing systems used by Germanic peoples. Drawing on epigraphic evidence from northwestern Germany through to southwestern Denmark and sub-Roman Britain, Mees situates the analysis within historical and linguistic frameworks but also provides archaeological contextualisations, assessed chronologically, for the inscriptions. Taken together, the work re-examines existing models of the early development of English through the lens of contemporary approaches, opening paths for new directions in research on historical dialectology. This book is key reading for students and scholars interested in the history of English and historical linguistics.

In 1973, Daniel Bell argued that corporations in post-industrial societies increasingly needed to behave in accord with widely accepted social norms, particularly in terms of ethical behavior and social responsibility. Yet widespread criticism of business behavior was not an invention of the 1960s and 70s or a product of changing commercial norms. The key feature historically has been business scandal. Understandings of how the field of business ethics has emerged are undeveloped, however. This book is the first attempt to explain the conditions which saw a focus develop on business ethics especially in the 1960s and 70s, and how the broader field developed to encompass related notions such as corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, ethical leadership, sustainable business and responsible management education. The Rise of Business Ethics provides an introduction and analysis of the key developments in contemporary business ethics by examining them in terms of their diachronic development - the key thinkers, the key issues, the key institutions and how they each contributed to contemporary understandings of business ethics, governance and practice. Addressing the topic from a European as well as North American perspective, The Rise of Business Ethics will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of business ethics, business and society, business history, organization studies and political economy.

A fresh examination of one of the most contentious issues in runic scholarship - magical or not? The runic alphabet, in use for well over a thousand years, was employed by various Germanic groups in a variety of ways, including, inevitably, for superstitious and magical rites. Formulaic runic words were inscribed onto small items that could be carried for good luck; runic charms were carved on metal or wooden amulets to ensure peace or prosperity. There are invocations and allusions to pagan and Christian gods and heroes, to spirits of disease, and even to potential lovers. Few such texts are completely unique to Germanic society, and in fact, most of the runic amulets considered in this book show wide-ranging parallels from a variety of European cultures. The question ofwhether runes were magical or not has divided scholarship in the area. Early criticism embraced fantastic notions of runic magic - leading not just to a healthy scepticism, but in some cases to a complete denial of any magical element whatsoever in the runic inscriptions. This book seeks to re-evaulate the whole question of runic sorcery, attested to not only in the medieval Norse literature dealing with runes but primarily in the fascinating magical texts of the runic inscriptions themselves. Dr MINDY MCLEOD teaches in the Department of Linguistics, Deakin University, Melbourne; Dr BERNARD MEES teaches in the Department of History at the University of Melbourne.

Superannuation was once a privilege granted only to company head office staff and career public servants. Now in Australia nearly all workers have access to employer-contributed superannuation, and it is a fundamental pillar of Australia's retirement income system. Workers' Capital tells the story of the Australian superannuation revolution led by trade unions in the 1980s. After a series of hard-fought industrial campaigns, an enormous financial industry was created, involving hundreds of thousands of employers and covering millions of fund members. From having one of the worst retirement savings systems in the developed world, in three decades Australia had one of the best. Now the funds held in Australian superannuation accounts exceed the entire market capitalisation of all the companies on the Australian Stock Exchange. Drawing on interviews with the key players and extensive archival research, Workers' Capital is the first systematic history of the unique Australian system of industry superannuation. 'Startling and informative-I thought I knew a lot about the industry superannuation phenomenon, but this one took me by surprise. For a topic so important, a real page-turner.'Gerard Noonan, Chair of Media Super, former editor of Australian Financial Review

This is the first theoretically informed study of the relationship between an academic discipline and what the Nazis termed their Weltanschauung. The first study of Sinnbildforschung, German ideograph or swastika studies, though more broadly it tells the tale of the development of German antiquarian studies (ancient Germanic history, archeology, anthropology, folklore, historical linguistics and philology) under the influence of radical-rightwing politics, and the contemporary construction of 'Germanicness' and its role in Nazi thought. The swastika and similar symbols were employed by the ancestors of the modern-day Germans. As these had also become emblematic symbols of the forces of German reaction, Sinnbildforschung became intrinsically connected with the National Socialist regime after 1933 and disappeared along with the Third Reich in 1945.With the Nazi seizure of power, ideographic studies became directly supported by the state. In 1935, an organization was founded within the SS to further its study, the SS-Ahnenerbe. Most infamous as the organ through which medical experiments were arranged to be performed on the inmates of concentration camps, the Ahnenerbe was founded as a historical research institution before it expanded its horizons to the physical sciences.

In 1973, Daniel Bell argued that corporations in post-industrial societies increasingly needed to behave in accord with widely accepted social norms, particularly in terms of ethical behavior and social responsibility. Yet widespread criticism of business behavior was not an invention of the 1960s and 70s or a product of changing commercial norms. The key feature historically has been business scandal. Understandings of how the field of business ethics has emerged are undeveloped, however. This book is the first attempt to explain the conditions which saw a focus develop on business ethics especially in the 1960s and 70s, and how the broader field developed to encompass related notions such as corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, ethical leadership, sustainable business and responsible management education. The Rise of Business Ethics provides an introduction and analysis of the key developments in contemporary business ethics by examining them in terms of their diachronic development - the key thinkers, the key issues, the key institutions and how they each contributed to contemporary understandings of business ethics, governance and practice. Addressing the topic from a European as well as North American perspective, The Rise of Business Ethics will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of business ethics, business and society, business history, organization studies and political economy.

Prophecy, Fate and Memory in the Early and Medieval Celtic World brings together a collection of studies that closely explore aspects of culture and history of Celtic-speaking nations. Non-narrative sources and cross-disciplinary approaches shed new light on traditional questions concerning commemoration, sources of political authority, and the nature of religious identity. Leading scholars and early-career researchers bring to bear hermeneutics from studies of religion and literary criticism alongside more traditional philological and historical methodologies. All the studies in this book bring to their particular tasks an acknowledgement of the importance of religion in the worldview of antiquity and the Middle Ages. Their approaches reflect a critical turn in Celtic studies that has proved immensely productive across the last two decades.