The concept of 'hybridity' is often still poorly theorized and problematically applied by peace and development scholars and researchers of resource governance. This book turns to a particular ethnographic reading of Michel Foucault's Governmentality and investigates its usefulness to study precisely those mechanisms, processes and practices that hybridity once promised to clarify. Claim-making to land and authority in a post-conflict environment is the empirical grist supporting this exploration of governmentality. Specifically in the periphery of Bukavu. This focus is relevant as urban land is increasingly becoming scarce in rapidly expanding cities of eastern Congo, primarily due to internal rural-to-urban migration as a result of regional insecurity. The governance of urban land is also important analytically as land governance and state authority in Africa are believed to be closely linked and co-evolve. An ethnographic reading of governmentality enables researchers to study hybridization without biasing analysis towards hierarchical dualities. Additionally, a better understanding of hybridization in the claim-making practices may contribute to improved government intervention and development assistance in Bukavu and elsewhere.

Thirty Narratives of Romantic love, Dwarfs, Witches and much more. They will please both children and adults. Children will enjoy their entertainment value. Adults will appreciate them for their philosophical and humoristic aspects.

This book adheres to the vision that in the future compelling user experiences will be key differentiating benefits of products and services. Evaluating the user experience plays a central role, not only during the design process, but also during regular usage: for instance a video recorder that recommends TV programs that fit your current mood, a product that measures your current level of relaxation and produces advice on how to balance your life, or a module that alerts a factory operator when he is getting drowsy. Such systems are required to assess and interpret user experiences (almost) in real-time, and that is exactly what this book is about. How to achieve this? What are potential applications of psychophysiological measurements? Are real-time assessments based on monitoring of user behavior possible? If so, which elements are critical? Are behavioral aspects important? Which technology can be used? How important are intra-individual differences? What can we learn from products already on the market? The book gathers a group of invited authors from different backgrounds, such as technology, academy and business. This is a mosaic of their work, and that of Philips Research, in the assessment of user experience, covering the full range from academic research to commercial propositions..

This volume interrogates the condition of the neoliberal project in the wake of the global crisis and neoliberalism's predicted death in 2007, both in terms of the regulatory structures of finance-led capitalism in Europe and North America, and the impact of new centres of capitalist power on global order.

The economic unification of Europe has created a lot of victims. The realization of the single market has taken place without any adjusting or accompanying economic and social policies. Its effects on social and human relations go far beyond the economic and commercial areas its authors had in mind. It has in fact led to changes in European society that are so far-reaching that they could very well be characterized as mutations. This book looks at the phenomenon of social dumping in the wider context of liberalized social competition as steered by the European Union. It contains a number of testimonies by people who actively fight social dumping, with special attention paid to the harrowing dumping practices in the road transport sector. Some of the authors also examine the phenomenon of social dumping in relation to compliance with the fundamental right of all workers to respect for their dignity as human beings. In this respect, the underlying question is whether, by tolerating legislation that allows human dignity to be violated by social dumping, the European and national legislators in fact infringe on this key fundamental right.This book is intended for practitioners, academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the area of social policy.

This book reflects the move in Human Computer Interaction studies from standard usability concerns towards a wider set of problems to do with fun, enjoyment, aesthetics and the experience of use.

Traditionally HCI has been concerned with work and task based applications but as digital technologies proliferate in the home fun becomes an important issue. There is an established body of knowledge and a range of techniques and methods for making products and interfaces usable, but far less is known about how to make them enjoyable.

Perhaps in the future there will be a body of knowledge and a set of techniques for assessing the pleasure of interaction that will be as thorough as those that currently assess usability. This book is a first step towards that. It brings together a range of researchers from academia and industry to provide answers. Contributors include Alan Dix, Jacob Nielsen and Mary Beth Rosson as well as a number of other researchers from academia and industry.

First published in 1990, Global Capitalism and National Decline is a major contribution to the study of British political and economic decline. The author concentrates on the global nature of capitalism as the context for the development of national capitalism, and on the relationship between internal and external factors. A long-term view of British politics enables him to demonstrate that competing popular explanations of Britain's crisis and the rise of Thatcherism in response to it, are in fact interconnected. The long decline of Britain originating in the 19th century, the inherent weakness of the post-1945 settlement, and the critical events of 1970s, acquire their fullest meaning when seen as different 'layers' of one and the same historical process. Henk Overbeek takes the story of Britain's decline through to Margaret Thatcher's tenth anniversary in office. His book will be invaluable to scholars and students of economics, politics, and history. it offers a clear perspective on the problems of national decline within a global context, and on Britain's position in Europe and in the wider world.

Emerging in the late 1970s, the Amsterdam School's (AS) most distinctive contribution to international political economy was the systematic incorporation of the Marxian concept of capital fractions into the study of international politics. Contending that politics in advanced capitalist countries takes place in a fundamentally transnationalized space in which the distinction between 'domestic' and 'international' has blurred, it shows how in this space, politics is structured by competing comprehensive concepts of control. Presenting a concise and instructive introduction to the origins, development and significance of this distinct approach, this book provides a unique overview of the School's contemporary significance for the field. Offering a new generation of critical scholars the opportunity to become acquainted at first hand with some of the contributions that have shaped the work of the AS, the contributions present critical commentaries, discussing the merits and shortcomings of the AS from a variety of perspectives, and undertake a (self-) critical evaluation of the current place and value of the AS framework in the broader landscape of approaches to the study of contemporary capitalism. Written for scholars and students alike, it will be of interest to those working in international political economy, international relations and political science, political sociology, European studies and branches of academic economics such as regulation theory and institutional economics.

This book explores the links between European integration and globalisation, and examines the potential for social transformation in the context of the global economic crisis and the resulting EU reforms. Divided into three parts, this book offers both empirical and theoretical analyses of social integration, supranationality and global competition. Drawing on Critical Political Economy research, Neo-Gramscian, Open Marxist, Regulationist and Post-structuralist scholars subject a wide range of European flagship policies in matters of competition, trade and security to critical scrutiny and relate them to global political economy dynamics. Contributors examine the ways in which current global economic turbulence has affected the European Union, its membership and its adjacent areas, and determine the potential for economic and political transformation in light of the global economic crisis and Europe's 2020 Strategy. In the emerging multi-polar world, in which the EU and the US are expected to share global policymaking with new powers, this book argues for a revised conceptualisation of European integration and its relationship with globalisation. Globalisation and European Integration will be of interest to students, scholars and researchers of globalisation, political economy, international relations, and European Union politics.

This ambitious volume explores the politics of recent changes in corporate governance regulation and the transnational forces driving the process. Corporate governance has in the 1990s become a catchphrase of the global business community. The Enron collapse and other recent corporate scandals, as well as growing worries in Europe about the rise of Anglo-Saxon finance, have made issues of corporate governance the subject of political controversies and of public debate. The contributors argue that the regulation of corporate governance is an inherently political affair. Given the context of the deepening globalization of the corporate world, it is also increasingly a transnational phenomenon. In terms of the content of regulation the book shows an increasing reliance on the application of market mechanisms and a tendency for corporations themselves to become commodities. The emerging new mode of regulation is characterized by increasing informalization and by forms of private regulation. These changes in content and mode are driven by transnational actors, first of all the owners of internationally mobile financial capital and their functionaries such as coordination service firms, as well as by key public international agencies such as the European Commission. The Transnational Politics of Corporate Governance Regulation will be of interest to students and researchers of international political economy, politics, economics and corporate governance.

Focuses on the emergence of employment policy as a political issue and examines unemployment in Europe in the context of globalisation, the implementation of European Monetary Union and the Eastern enlargement of the EU. This title combines theoretical chapters with case-studies of Britain, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Central Europe.

This ambitious volume explores the politics of recent changes in corporate governance regulation and the transnational forces driving the process.

Corporate governance has in the 1990s become a catchphrase of the global business community. The Enron collapse and other recent corporate scandals, as well as growing worries in Europe about the rise of Anglo-Saxon finance, have made issues of corporate governance the subject of political controversies and of public debate.

The contributors argue that the regulation of corporate governance is an inherently political affair. Given the context of the deepening globalization of the corporate world, it is also increasingly a transnational phenomenon. In terms of the content of regulation the book shows an increasing reliance on the application of market mechanisms and a tendency for corporations themselves to become commodities. The emerging new mode of regulation is characterized by increasing informalization and by forms of private regulation. These changes in content and mode are driven by transnational actors, first of all the owners of internationally mobile financial capital and their functionaries such as coordination service firms, as well as by key public international agencies such as the European Commission.

The Transnational Politics of Corporate Governance Regulation will be of interest to students and researchers of international political economy, politics, economics and corporate governance.

This edited collection examines unemployment in Europe in the context of globalisation, the implementation of European Monetary Union and the Eastern enlargement of the EU. It combines theoretical chapters with detailed case-studies of Britain, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Central Europe.

In the wake of the outbreak of the global crisis in 2008, many observers expected the state to assume command over a faltering neoliberal finance-led model of capitalism. We now know that this expectation was by and large mistaken. There is indeed an ongoing re-calibration of the state-capital relations, but in many instances the state has become more actively and more deeply involved in extending the reach of markets rather than in constraining markets in the interests of an equitable response to the crisis. This volume offers both theoretical perspectives and empirical studies by a selection of leading Critical International Political Economy scholars on the question how and to what extent we are witnessing a return of the state and a transition towards a new phase of global capitalism. The chapters cover a wide array of topics: from the rise of China and other emerging economies of the Global South, the role of state-owned enterprises such as Sovereign Wealth Funds and National Oil Companies and global environmental politics, to the role of labour in Europe and US grand strategy / foreign policy making in the post-Cold War period. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.

Since the late 1970s, the spread of Neo-liberalism and the failure of socialist economies and systems in Eastern Europe have resulted in a practically unchallenged hegemony of international capital across the globe. Neo-liberalism is now the dominant ideology, legitimizing the privatisation of state-controlled economies and the substitution of the market for social provision and basic welfare.
In Restructuring Hegemony in the Global Political Economy the authors argue that this process began with the defeat of the New International Economic Order, the Euro-Communist ascendency in Western Europe, the overthrow of the Allende government in Chile, and culminated in the collapse of practical socialism. They assert that the victory of neo-liberalism is now so complete that its radical features have come to be accepted as the new normality.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203411862

This book explores the links between European integration and globalisation, and examines the potential for social transformation in the context of the global economic crisis and the resulting EU reforms. Divided into three parts, this book offers both empirical and theoretical analyses of social integration, supranationality and global competition. Drawing on Critical Political Economy research, Neo-Gramscian, Open Marxist, Regulationist and Post-structuralist scholars subject a wide range of European flagship policies in matters of competition, trade and security to critical scrutiny and relate them to global political economy dynamics. Contributors examine the ways in which current global economic turbulence has affected the European Union, its membership and its adjacent areas, and determine the potential for economic and political transformation in light of the global economic crisis and Europe's 2020 Strategy. In the emerging multi-polar world, in which the EU and the US are expected to share global policymaking with new powers, this book argues for a revised conceptualisation of European integration and its relationship with globalisation. Globalisation and European Integration will be of interest to students, scholars and researchers of globalisation, political economy, international relations, and European Union politics.

In the wake of the outbreak of the global crisis in 2008, many observers expected the state to assume command over a faltering neoliberal finance-led model of capitalism. We now know that this expectation was by and large mistaken. There is indeed an ongoing re-calibration of the state-capital relations, but in many instances the state has become more actively and more deeply involved in extending the reach of markets rather than in constraining markets in the interests of an equitable response to the crisis. This volume offers both theoretical perspectives and empirical studies by a selection of leading Critical International Political Economy scholars on the question how and to what extent we are witnessing a return of the state and a transition towards a new phase of global capitalism. The chapters cover a wide array of topics: from the rise of China and other emerging economies of the Global South, the role of state-owned enterprises such as Sovereign Wealth Funds and National Oil Companies and global environmental politics, to the role of labour in Europe and US grand strategy / foreign policy making in the post-Cold War period. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.

With selected readings ranging from the mercantilists of the 16th and 17th centuries to contemporary 20th century authors, Free Trade versus Protectionism addresses one of the oldest controversies in economic science - the fundamental opposition of these two doctrines. It is the first book ever to trace this debate over more than three centuries. Overbeek presents arguments advanced by advocates of free trade and protectionism alike, creating a useful tool for scrutinizing the standpoints of both schools. The book consists of seven parts, beginning with mercantilism and its critics. Subsequent sections examine the free traders and protectionists of the nineteenth century, the evolution of the debate between 1900 and 1940, and the discussion of free trade versus protectionism during the latter half of the twentieth century. At the beginning of each section, the editor's survey of the period under review places the material in proper context; the selections themselves are then preceded by the editor's introduction, which contains a brief biography of the author and an explanation of the author's views. Free Trade versus Protectionism will prove a useful source book for professors and students of the history of economic thought, international economics, international politics, and international business.

This proceedings presents recent practical applications of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. It contains the proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Practical Applications of Computational Biology & Bioinformatics held at University of Salamanca, Spain, at June 3rd-5th, 2015. The International Conference on Practical Applications of Computational Biology & Bioinformatics (PACBB) is an annual international meeting dedicated to emerging and challenging applied research in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Biological and biomedical research are increasingly driven by experimental techniques that challenge our ability to analyse, process and extract meaningful knowledge from the underlying data. The impressive capabilities of next generation sequencing technologies, together with novel and ever evolving distinct types of omics data technologies, have put an increasingly complex set of challenges for the growing fields of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. The analysis of the datasets produced and their integration call for new algorithms and approaches from fields such as Databases, Statistics, Data Mining, Machine Learning, Optimization, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. Clearly, Biology is more and more a science of information requiring tools from the computational sciences.

After my appointment as head of the Orthopaedic Department in the Surgical Clinic of the Wilhel- mina Gasthuis in Amsterdam, January 1953, I have had the privilege of a close and daily co-operation with my second-incharge M. J. Kingma. Amongst other problems, reconstructive surgery with the aid of bone-grafting captured the interest of both of us. In vol. XII, fasc. 3 (1960) of the Archivum of calf bone preserved by refrigeration was Chirurgicum Neerlandicum Kingma wrote: 'The use introduced into surgery in the Netherlands by Meiss in 1951. After the appearance of Meiss' reports on his favourable results, many other surgeons wished to employ this method and in order to cope with the numerous requests for material, a national bone transplantation service for calf bone was in- stituted in 1952 under the patronage of the Netherlands Red Cross with Kingma as its medical direc- tor'. In 1953 we considered homogenous graft to provide a better 'biological intermedium' than calf bone graft. Consequently we developed a bone-bank for homogenous grafts in our department from that date. After 18 years of experience we have been able to demonstrate clinically and radiologically that in some cases a 'biological fixation' can be maintained with the homogenous graft during the recon- struction by 'graduated' function. Kingma controlled the results and arranged the data.

This book adheres to the vision that in the future compelling user experiences will be key differentiating benefits of products and services. It is the first book to combine academic and business viewpoints on measuring user experiences for product development. The book gathers authors from different backgrounds. This is a mosaic of their work, and that of Philips Research, in the assessment of user experience, covering the full range from academic research to commercial propositions.

Emerging in the late 1970s, the Amsterdam School's (AS) most distinctive contribution to international political economy was the systematic incorporation of the Marxian concept of capital fractions into the study of international politics. Contending that politics in advanced capitalist countries takes place in a fundamentally transnationalized space in which the distinction between 'domestic' and 'international' has blurred, it shows how in this space, politics is structured by competing comprehensive concepts of control. Presenting a concise and instructive introduction to the origins, development and significance of this distinct approach, this book provides a unique overview of the School's contemporary significance for the field. Offering a new generation of critical scholars the opportunity to become acquainted at first hand with some of the contributions that have shaped the work of the AS, the contributions present critical commentaries, discussing the merits and shortcomings of the AS from a variety of perspectives, and undertake a (self-) critical evaluation of the current place and value of the AS framework in the broader landscape of approaches to the study of contemporary capitalism. Written for scholars and students alike, it will be of interest to those working in international political economy, international relations and political science, political sociology, European studies and branches of academic economics such as regulation theory and institutional economics.

This book reflects the move in Human Computer Interaction studies from standard usability concerns towards a wider set of problems to do with fun, enjoyment, aesthetics and the experience of use. Traditionally HCI has been concerned with work and task based applications but as digital technologies proliferate in the home fun becomes an important issue. There is an established body of knowledge and a range of techniques and methods for making products and interfaces usable, but far less is known about how to make them enjoyable. Perhaps in the future there will be a body of knowledge and a set of techniques for assessing the pleasure of interaction that will be as thorough as those that currently assess usability. This book is a first step towards that. It brings together a range of researchers from academia and industry to provide answers. Contributors include Alan Dix, Jacob Nielsen and Mary Beth Rosson as well as a number of other researchers from academia and industry.