Originally published in 1986, Coping with Hunger demonstrates that effective agricultural development in resource-poor regions must be based in a respect for the indigenous farmer’s understanding of the environment. Based on participant-observation of rice farming in Sierra Leone, the book challenges the prevailing of attitudes of policy makers in the late 20th Century and restores indigenous culture and local wisdom to their rightful place. After analysing the fate of a number of ‘top-down ‘attempts to improve rice cultivation in Sierra-Leone the author derives an alternative agenda of research and development issues more closely reflecting the resource-poor farmers’ major interests and priorities. As a significant research-based contribution to the widespread general debates about the relevance of social factors in technological change, this book will be of interest to students in social and environmental sciences.

Originally published in 1985, this book argues forcefully and practically for new relationship between science and the small farmer. It advocates scientific research seeking out changes which are already taking place within the smallholder farming sector and building on local initiatives. Drawing on his experience of West Africa, the author demonstrates that many of the most successful innovations in food-crop production during the 20th century have indigenous roots and that there should therefore be less emphasis on ‘teaching’ farmers how to farm and more emphasis on how to foster and support local adaptation and inventiveness. This book will be of interest to students of agriculture, environmental studies and rural development as well as those working with relief and development agencies.

The Philosophy of Religion is one result of the Early Modern Reformation movements, as competing theologies purported truth claims which were equal in strength and different in contents. Renaissance thought, from Humanism through philosophy of nature, contributed to the origin of the modern concepts of God. This book explores the continuity of philosophy of religion from late medieval thinkers through humanists to late Renaissance philosophers, explaining the growth of the tensions between the philosophical and theological views. Covering the work of Renaissance authors, including Lull, Salutati, Raimundus Sabundus, Plethon, Cusanus, Valla, Ficino, Pico, Bruno, SuA!rez, and Campanella, this book offers an important understanding of the current philosophy/religion and faith/reason debates and fills the gap between medieval and early modern philosophy and theology.

The Philosophy of Religion is one result of the Early Modern Reformation movements, as competing theologies purported truth claims which were equal in strength and different in contents. Renaissance thought, from Humanism through philosophy of nature, contributed to the origin of the modern concepts of God. This book explores the continuity of philosophy of religion from late medieval thinkers through humanists to late Renaissance philosophers, explaining the growth of the tensions between the philosophical and theological views. Covering the work of Renaissance authors, including Lull, Salutati, Raimundus Sabundus, Plethon, Cusanus, Valla, Ficino, Pico, Bruno, SuA!rez, and Campanella, this book offers an important understanding of the current philosophy/religion and faith/reason debates and fills the gap between medieval and early modern philosophy and theology.

The Renaissance was a period of great intellectual change and innovation as philosophers rediscovered the philosophy of classical antiquity and passed it on to the modern age. Renaissance philosophy is distinct both from the medieval scholasticism, based on revelation and authority, and from philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries who transformed it into new philosophical systems. Despite the importance of the Renaissance to the development of philosophy over time, it has remained largely understudied by historians of philosophy and professional philosophers. This anthology aims to correct this by providing scholars and students of philosophy with representative translations of the most important philosophers of the Renaissance. Its purpose is to help readers appreciate philosophy in the Renaissance and its importance in the history of philosophy. The anthology includes translations from philosophers from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, and it ranges from works on moral and political philosophy, to metaphysics, epistemology, and natural philosophy, thereby providing historians and students of philosophy with a sense for the nature, breadth, and complexity of philosophy in the Renaissance. Each translation is accompanied by an introduction by a historian of Renaissance philosophy, as well as select secondary sources, in order to encourage further study. This anthology is a companion to Philosophers of the Renaissance, which included essays on the writings of the same group of philosophers of the Renaissance: Raymond Llull, Gemistos Plethon, George of Trebizond, Basil Bessarion, Lorenzo Valla, Nicholas of Cusa, Leon Battista Alberti, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Marsilio Ficino, Pietro Pomponazzi, Niccolò Machiavelli, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Juan Luis Vives, Philipp Melanchthon, Petrus Ramus, Bernardino Telesio, Jacopo Zabarella, Michel de Montaigne, Francesco Patrizi, Giordano Bruno, Francisco Suàrez, Tommaso Campanella.

Spin doctors are seldom out of the news for long. But who really understands what 'spin' is, or what spin doctors do? The media has moved on from a world where press officers carried piles of newspapers to the office each morning, when Twitter was what birds did and mobile phones were the size of bread loaves. Thank goodness Paul Richards is here to explain spin doctoring in a digital world.Essential reading for anyone who wants a career in communications or is intrigued by what keeps the cogs turning behind Parliament, How to Be a Spin Doctor covers all the essential skills, such as:* snagging positive media coverage* creating eye-catching news releases and photo opportunities* avoiding the endless traps set by journalistsPaul Richards challenges the increasingly negative connotations of spin, arguing that it is neither a dishonourable practice nor a new one; it's simply the most practical way to convey information or make a point. The truth of the matter is that the spin doctor's trade secrets can be useful to anyone trying to promote a company, client or cause: to protect reputations, get messages across and win public support. So it's time to start reading and get spinning.

This book argues that development strategies have thus far failed in Western Africa because the many challenges afflicting the area have yet to be explored and understood from the perspective of institutional resources. With a particular focus on three countries on the bend of the Upper West African coast - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - this book offers a theory to account for the nature of these institutional elements, to test deductions against evidence, and finally to propose a reset for rural development policy to make fuller use of local institutional resources. Based on quantitative analysis and eight years of multidisciplinary field research, this volume features several large-scale RCTs in the domain of rural development, local governance, and nature conservation. The authors address one of the biggest topics in agricultural and development economics today: the structural transformation of poor, agrarian economies, and they do so through the important and unique lens of institutions.

This book constitutes thoroughly revised and selected papers from the 11th International Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications, VISIGRAPP 2016, held in Rome, Italy, in February 2016. VISIGRAPP comprises GRAPP, International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications; IVAPP, International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications; and VISAPP, International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications. The 28 thoroughly revised and extended papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 338 submissions. The book also contains one invited talk in full-paper length. The regular papers were organized in topical sections named: computer graphics theory and applications; information visualization theory and applications; and computer vision theory and applications.

Mary Douglas's innovative explanations for styles of human thought and for the dynamics of institutional change have furnished a distinctive and powerful theory of how conflicts are managed, yet her work remains astonishingly poorly appreciated in social science disciplines. This volume introduces Douglas's theories, and outlines the ways in which her work is of continuing importance for the future of the social sciences. Mary Douglas: Understanding Human Thought and Conflict shows how Douglas laid out the agenda for revitalizing social science by reworking Durkheim's legacy for today, and reviews the growing body of research across the social sciences which has used, tested or developed her approach.

This book constitutes thoroughly revised and selected papers from the 10th International Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications, VISIGRAPP 2015, held in Berlin, Germany, in March 2015. VISIGRAPP comprises GRAPP, International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications; IVAPP, International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications; and VISAPP, International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications. The 23 thoroughly revised and extended papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 529 submissions. The book also contains one invited talk in full-paper length. The regular papers were organized in topical sections named: computer graphics theory and applications; information visualization theory and applications; and computer vision theory and applications.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference, VISIGRAPP 2012, the Joint Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications (VISAPP), on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications (GRAPP), and on Information Visualization Theory and Applications (IVAPP), held in Rome, Italy, in February 2012. The 28 revised full papers presented together with one invited paper were carefully reviewed and selected from 483 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on computer graphics theory and applications; information visualization theory and applications; computer vision theory and applications.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference, VISIGRAPP 2011, the Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Theory and Applications (VISAPP), on Imaging Theory and Applications (IMAGAPP), on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications (GRAPP), and on Information Visualization Theory and Applications (IVAPP), held in Vilamoura, Portugal, in March 2011. The 15 revised full papers presented together with one invited paper were carefully reviewed and selected. The papers are organized in topical sections on computer graphics theory and applications; imaging theory and applications; information visualization theory and applications; and computer vision theory and applications.

This handy, concise book covers the life of Mary Douglas, one of the most important anthropologists of the second half of the 20th century. Her work focused on how human groups classify each other, and how they resolve the anomalies that then arise. Classification, she argued, emerges from practices of social life, and is a factor in all deep and intractable human disputes. This biography offers an introduction to how her distinctive approach developed across a long and productive career and how it applies to current pressing issues of social conflict and planetary survival. From the Preface: The influence of Professor Dame Mary Douglas (1921-2007) upon each of the social sciences and many of the disciplines in the humanities is vast. The list of her works is also vast, and this presents a problem of choice for the many readers who want to get a general idea of what she wrote and its significance, but who are somewhat baffled about where to begin. Our book offers a short overview and suggests why her key writings remain significant today.

This handy, concise book covers the life of Mary Douglas, one of the most important anthropologists of the second half of the 20th century. Her work focused on how human groups classify each other, and how they resolve the anomalies that then arise. Classification, she argued, emerges from practices of social life, and is a factor in all deep and intractable human disputes. This biography offers an introduction to how her distinctive approach developed across a long and productive career and how it applies to current pressing issues of social conflict and planetary survival. From the Preface: The influence of Professor Dame Mary Douglas (1921-2007) upon each of the social sciences and many of the disciplines in the humanities is vast. The list of her works is also vast, and this presents a problem of choice for the many readers who want to get a general idea of what she wrote and its significance, but who are somewhat baffled about where to begin. Our book offers a short overview and suggests why her key writings remain significant today.

Examines the war in Sierra Leone as a crisis of modernity. Do small wars in Africa manifest a 'new barbarism'? What appears as random, anarchic violence is no such thing. The terrifying military methods of of Sierra Leone's soldiers may not fir conventional western models of warfare,but they are rational and effective nonetheless. The war must be understood partly as a 'performance', in which techniques of terror compensate for lack of equipment. PAUL RICHARDS is Professor of Technology and Agrarian Development, Wageningen University Published in association with the International African Institute

Mary Douglas's innovative explanations for styles of human thought and for the dynamics of institutional change have furnished a distinctive and powerful theory of how conflicts are managed, yet her work remains astonishingly poorly appreciated in social science disciplines. This volume introduces Douglas's theories, and outlines the ways in which her work is of continuing importance for the future of the social sciences. Mary Douglas: Understanding Human Thought and Conflict shows how Douglas laid out the agenda for revitalizing social science by reworking Durkheim's legacy for today, and reviews the growing body of research across the social sciences which has used, tested or developed her approach.

This book constitutes thoroughly revised and selected papers from the 13th International Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications, VISIGRAPP 2018, held in Funchal-Madeira, Portugal, in January 2018. The 18 thoroughly revised and extended papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 317 submissions. The papers contribute to the understanding of relevant trends of current research on computer graphics; human computer interaction; information visualization; computer vision.

This book constitutes thoroughly revised and selected papers from the 12th International Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications, VISIGRAPP 2017, held in Porto, Portugal, February 27 - March 1, 2017. The 18 thoroughly revised and extended papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 402 submissions. The papers contribute to the understanding of relevant trends of current research on image and video formation, preprocessing, analysis and understanding; motion, tracking and stereo vision; computer graphics and rendering; data visualization and interactive visual data analysis; agent-based human-robot interactions; and user experience.

This book argues that development strategies have thus far failed in Western Africa because the many challenges afflicting the area have yet to be explored and understood from the perspective of institutional resources. With a particular focus on three countries on the bend of the Upper West African coast - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - this book offers a theory to account for the nature of these institutional elements, to test deductions against evidence, and finally to propose a reset for rural development policy to make fuller use of local institutional resources. Based on quantitative analysis and eight years of multidisciplinary field research, this volume features several large-scale RCTs in the domain of rural development, local governance, and nature conservation. The authors address one of the biggest topics in agricultural and development economics today: the structural transformation of poor, agrarian economies, and they do so through the important and unique lens of institutions.

Depression is so common that it has been described as 'the common cold of psychiatry'. It is particularly difficult for Christians - there is often a feeling that Christians 'shouldn't' get depressed, and that it and anxiety are the result of a poor or damaged relationship with God. I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO FEEL LIKE THIS is an empowering and practical response to such common feelings. In the style of a workbook, with constant reference to the Bible, and the example of Jesus, it helps the reader to understand why they feel the way they do, and to draw on God's love and grace to find a path through depression and anxiety. The authors are all Christians, and experienced counsellors and psychiatrists.

Shortlisted for the Fage and Oliver Prize 2018 From December 2013, the largest Ebola outbreak in history swept across West Africa, claiming thousands of lives in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. By the middle of 2014, the international community was gripped by hysteria. Experts grimly predicted that millions would be infected within months, and a huge international control effort was mounted to contain the virus. Yet paradoxically, by this point the disease was already going into decline in Africa itself. So why did outside observers get it so wrong? Paul Richards draws on his extensive first-hand experience in Sierra Leone to argue that the international community's panicky response failed to take account of local expertise and common sense. Crucially, Richards shows that the humanitarian response to the disease was most effective in those areas where it supported these initiatives and that it hampered recovery when it ignored or disregarded local knowledge.