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Making Caribbean Dance: Continuity and Creativity in Island Cultures
by Susanna SloatExplore the vibrant and varied dance traditions of the Caribbean islandsCaribbean dance is a broad category that can include everything from nightclubs to sacred ritual. Making Caribbean Dance connects the dance of the islands with their rich multicultural histories and complex identities. Delving deep into the many forms of ritual, social, carnival, staged, experimental, and performance dance, the book explores some of the most mysterious and beloved, as well as rare and little-known, dance traditions of the region.From the evolution of Indian dance in Trinidad to the barely known rituals of los misterios in the Dominican Republic, this volume looks closely at the vibrant and varied movement vocabulary of the islands. With distinctive and highly illuminating chapters on such topics as experimental dance makers in Puerto Rico, the government's use of dance in shaping national identity in Barbados, the role of calypso and soca in linking Anglophone islands, and the invented dances of dance-hall kings and queens of Jamaica, this volume is an evocative and enlightening exploration of some of the world’s most dynamic dance cultures.
Smart Cities and Japan's Energy Transition: Past, Present, and Future (Routledge Explorations in Energy Studies)
by Maciej M. Sokołowski Fumio ShimpoThis book offers a complex and problem-based analysis of the past, present, and future of smart cities in Japan’s energy transition.With 92% of Japanese living in urban areas and a goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Japan’s energy future will depend largely on how its cities can become smarter, greener, and more resilient. To reach these ambitions, a collective effort is required, with actions coming from Tokyo to Kumamoto, from Yokohama to Sapporo, and throughout dozens of smaller and bigger Japanese urban structures. This book addresses the key issues that have emerged or may emerge in various Japanese cities that are pursuing smart energy initiatives. The authors examine several issues, including international cooperation, heating decarbonisation, foreign direct investments, city planning, housing policies, and technology-related risks in the context of Japan’s energy transition.Drawing on case studies from different regions of Japan and sectors of Japanese economy significant for reaching carbon neutrality, this book will be a valuable resource for all interested in energy transition, climate action, and smart cities, where Japan and Japanese smart cities serve as excellent benchmarks.
The Routledge Handbook of Sexuality in East Central Europe
by Agnieszka Kościańska Anita Kurimay Kateřina Lišková Hadley Z. RenkinThis handbook provides an overview of scholarly research on sexuality in East Central Europe for both students and academics, focusing on the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, from the late nineteenth century to the present.The collection is organized into eight sections covering major areas of research including non-normative sexualities; family, marriage, and kinship; race/ethnicity and nationalism; birth, health, and reproduction; religion; sex, work, and mobility; violence; and sex education. The chapters highlight the breadth and depth of current scholarship on the region, past and present. The contributions present cutting-edge research treating each of the East Central European countries on its own terms and contextualizing sexual meanings, practices, and dynamics in relation to the specific ways they have been shaped, experienced, represented, and contested in the lives of people across these territories. In doing so, the book underscores the differences in the region’s trajectories of sexuality and sexual politics from those of not only the West but also Russia/USSR and (former) Yugoslavia across the long twentieth century.Written by a multidisciplinary team of international experts, The Routledge Handbook of Sexuality in East Central Europe is an ideal resource for scholars of European history, gender studies, anthropology, and sociology.
Women, Wars and Public Policies: From Hostile Shores to Storming Seas
by null Ayanna YonemuraWomen, Wars and Public Policies shatters the boundaries of conventional antiracism, offering an examination of white supremacy’s persistence through the lens of humanity’s most pressing challenges. The author tackles migration, war, national security, terrorism, nationalism, and patriarchy, exposing institutionalized oppressions across continents and centuries. Defying identity politics, this book demonstrates the pervasiveness of Western culture and the need to radically address dominant narratives.The author presents three interrelated case studies. They are Eleanor Roosevelt’s advocacy for Japanese Americans and African Americans; connections between Roosevelt’s politics and those of U.S. President Donald Trump including how Trump weaponized masculinity, laying the groundwork for decimating refugee and asylum policies; and Germany’s culture of remembrance and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s approach to the so‑called migrant crisis.Transcending racial, national, and disciplinary boundaries with an intersectional framework, Women, Wars and Public Policies exposes parallels between historical injustices and contemporary actions, forcing a re‑examination of national narratives and institutionalized multiculturalism. As migration debates and white supremacy continue to drive politics, this work provides globally significant insights into gender and race, demanding that we confront our shared histories and futures.
Law for Social Workers: Understanding to Praxis
by null Sanjoy RoyThis book examines the intersection of legal and social work in India and beyond. It explores the complex reality of laws related to socially disadvantaged groups and how social workers and practitioners navigate it at the ground level.This volume comprehensively analyses how social workers implement strategies and processes effectively through legal frameworks for their clientele. With a blend of theory and hands-on advice, it will enable students to gain a deeper and critical understanding of their roles in making a positive impact in the lives of individuals and communities through legal support. It shifts focus from normative legal concepts and systems to action-oriented roles in the contexts of individuals, families, communities, and organizations. From circumnavigating legal frameworks to implementing effective social work processes and strategies, this book serves as an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to make a positive impact in terms of empowering their community.This book will be useful to students, researchers, educators, and practitioners of social work, sociology, human rights, public policy, and administration. It will also be an invaluable resource for professionals, including those working for the government or NGOs.
State Governance and Public Finance Theory: A Chinese Perspective (China Perspectives)
by Ma Jun Gao PeiyongThis book explores the fundamental theories, methodologies, and innovative directions of public finance research, focusing on its relationship with and role in state governance.Public finance is the foundation and an important pillar of state governance. The two mutually reinforce each other at the macro level and in broader contexts, necessitating the reconstruction of a public finance discipline system that meets the needs of Chinese society. This book addresses key theoretical issues in public finance, with its main discussions covering: the need, feasibility, and direction of innovation in fundamental theory research approaches a multidisciplinary perspective the history, progress, and future of public finance in China the development of the discipline and teaching approaches research trends quantitative research methods; and practical issues related to tax system reform. The title will be a valuable reference for researchers and students in the fields of public economics, public finance, Chinese fiscal policy and tax system.
A Comprehensive Guide to Managing Municipal Infrastructure Assets
by null Soliman Abusamra null Ayman H. El HakeaComprehensive and practical, this book provides an essential resource for educators, researchers, students, and those in public agencies and consultancies who are directly responsible for managing municipal infrastructure such as roads, water, and sewer pipes. The book is thorough in the integration of procedures that establish a cost-effective intervention plan using the latest technologies and management processes. It examines all the aspects of developing an optimal asset management plan for collocated municipal assets. It presents the evolution of asset management from data requirements to investment planning and priority programming of rehabilitation and maintenance. It offers a coordinated approach to effectively manage municipal infrastructure and offers integrated solutions that aid decision-makers in taking informed decisions on (1) when to maintain each asset, (2) which corridors shall be prioritized, and (3) what is the best intervention to undertake for each asset. It also offers a compelling vision of how infrastructure and cities will evolve by 2050, shaped by advancements in digital technology, transportation, governance, sustainability, resilience, and climate change. It provides invaluable insights for practitioners,emphasizing how today’s decisions and investments will directly influence the future of urban environments.Features: Presents the most current methodologies and practical applications of managing collocated municipal infrastructure. Includes case studies and practical examples for each step, as well as an extensive list of references for each asset class. Examines novel approaches for reduced lifecycle costs, enhanced conditions, improved level of service, reduced risk, increased maintenance effectiveness, and reduced service disruptions. Explores the future of urban infrastructure in 2050, helping practitioners envision tomorrow’s cities and make informed investment decisions in today’s infrastructure.
Authoritarian Consolidation in Times of Crisis: Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro
by John Polga-Hecimovich and Raul Sanchez-UrribarriBringing together experts from across the social sciences, this volume examines the consolidation of authoritarianism in Venezuela under the government of Nicolás Maduro. Taking a comparative perspective, it explains how authoritarians can remain ensconced in power amidst profound economic crisis, widespread social discontent, low approval ratings, and international policies aimed at their removal. Moreover, it seeks to understand the mechanisms and dynamics with which Maduro has consolidated an authoritarian regime in Venezuela. To this end, the editors differentiate the concept of authoritarian consolidation from the more studied processes of democratic erosion and democratic backsliding.The book’s contributors explore in detail the country’s process of autocratization under Maduro at the national and international levels, identifying and explaining the role of diverse actors and institutions in Venezuela’s political regime, and their respective contributions to safeguarding and stabilizing the Maduro administration. By offering a systematic examination of the mechanisms by which regime change was fostered under Maduro’s rule, this volume directly engages with scholarly research on regime transitions and democratic collapse; democratic breakdown and the consolidation of authoritarian rule; and comparative institutional work on Venezuelan politics. The book is relevant to scholars and students of Venezuela, as well as anyone interested in the pressing question of regime crisis survival and authoritarian consolidation.
Visualising War across the Ancient Mediterranean: Interplay between Conflict Narratives in different Media and Genres
by Alice König and Nicolas WiaterThis volume offers novel readings of ancient conflict narratives from around the ancient Mediterranean and explores their impact on later habits of understanding and representing war, with an innovative methodological focus on narrative interplay and visualisation.The chapters provide an in-depth analysis of the ways in which interactions between a wide array of conflict narratives – including written texts, art, sculpture and drawings – result in culturally specific ways of visualising war, especially battle. The volume covers a large range of genres from a variety of ancient cultures, including Greek, Roman, Persian, Jewish and Christian, and its innovative focus on interplay offers fresh insights into how modes of visualising war compare across time and space, as well as across different kinds of text. Covering material from the third millennium bce to the present, it also sheds new light on how different ways of visualising conflict have evolved over the centuries and continue to inform habits of visualising war today. A detailed methodological introduction lays the foundation for future studies of conflict narratives, and the volume’s envoi sets the agenda for new research on visualising peace.Visualising War across the Ancient Mediterranean appeals to students and scholars working across a range of disciplines, including Classics and ancient Mediterranean studies, war studies, narratology and intertextuality studies.
Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers Revisited: Paradoxes in Multilingual Professionals' Identity Development (Routledge Research in Language Education)
by null Xuan ZhengDrawing on ethnographical evidence, this book examines the complexity of the controversial construct “Non-Native English-Speaking Teacher” (NNEST) and the newly proposed “translingual/translanguaging teacher” in re-scripting their identities.Zheng examines the process of international graduate students’ learning to become composition teachers and English professionals in the United States. The book addresses the danger of either constructing fixed boundaries or dissolving them and helps readers to understand the duality of fixity and fluidity in identity development. Zheng advocates for open dialogue between different ideologies in approaching language diversity in schools with the same aim of social justice.This volume will attract academic readers from a range of disciplines and in different contexts: trainers of international teaching assistants, composition/second language writing scholars, and present or future professionals in TESOL/second/foreign language teaching.
Translation in the Performing Arts: Embodiment, Materiality, and Inclusion (Routledge Advances in Translation and Interpreting Studies)
by Enza De FrancisciThis innovative collection showcases the interconnectedness of translation and the performing arts, drawing on examples spanning languages, eras, and modes of performance to argue for the importance of re-envisioning translation beyond writing.Featuring contributions from established and emerging scholars, the volume builds on recent epistemological shifts from a genre-based view of translation toward a material-based approach interested in how performance and embodiment shape translation. Chapters highlight the ways in which, in the nexus of translation and performing arts, we can situate the cross-cultural encounters and transnational exchanges that underpin translation beyond the ideology of print, and help us to better understand the international circulation of performative works. The volume covers a wide range of embodied practices from immersive theatre and intercultural opera to dance and sign language performance, while also incorporating key perspectives from interviews with active practitioners. Taken together, the collection makes the case for a more nuanced understanding of translation, one which accounts for the relationships between translation and the myriad forms of performance that permeate daily life.This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars in translation studies, visual culture, theatre translation, performing arts, literary studies, media studies, and reception studies.
Transformative Feminist Mobilization in the Arab Region: A Decade of Activism (Innovations in International Affairs)
by null Tania N. Haddad null Lina Abou-Habib null Tracy SakrTransformative Feminist Mobilization in the Arab Region aims to identify how intersectional feminist civil society groups in selected countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)/ Southwest Asia and North Africa SWANA region advocate for change and how they interact with governments and the strategies, tools, and skills they utilize. It assesses their identification of success and failure, the factors in their advocacy campaigns, and their relationship with governments.The book addresses a gap in knowledge production on how civic engagement and social mobilization can promote accountable governance in fragile and transition contexts. The following questions are raised concerning the advocacy strategies of feminist civil society in the Arab world: To what extent are the strategies employed by intersectional feminists capable of influencing the public policy process? How can we determine the success or failure of these strategies in achieving better civic engagement and in gaining popular support for feminists’ advocacy goals? What type of dynamics is developed between the government and these feminist movements? What is the role of research in supporting a feminist form of civic engagement and new feminist social movements to build effective strategies toward more accountable governance? To answer these questions, this book analyzes feminist advocacy campaigns in the region from 2011 to the present day. Thematic case studies cover two countries each, while the broader geographical outreach of the selected campaign is also considered.Transformative Feminist Mobilization in the Arab Region will appeal to scholars and researchers studying the dynamics behind the growing role of civil society in the Arab region. It will interest those studying feminism, political science, social movements, and the MENA/ SWANA region more generally.
On the Margins of Realism: Tracing Alternative Aesthetics in a Century of Chinese Cinema
by null Ting LuoRealism has been endowed with a certain orthodox status as the aesthetic counterpart of China’s modernization, and studies of Chinese film history have largely accepted a master narrative of realism as the guiding aesthetic of mainland Chinese cinema. This book argues, however, that alternative aesthetics to realism have always existed in Chinese cinema throughout its history, from the early silent era to the new century.The alternative aesthetics are closely linked to the indigenous Chinese ontology of cinema, namely, shadowplay (yingxi 影戲). The author presents an alternative account through a close examination of four distinct visual, narrative, and stylistic devices or themes that recur in different periods of Chinese film history: the dream representation, the doubling of characters, the device of self-reflexivity, and the allegorical construction of space. By considering specific films and scenes as problematic sites where history, politics, and aesthetics collide, this book also seeks to elucidate the relationship between cinema and the multifaceted experiences of Chinese modernity with respect to subjectivity, ideology, identity, and nationality.This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Chinese cinemas, realism, and modernism.
Art, Aesthetics and International Justice
by null Marina AksenovaThis book demonstrates that art is implicit in the process of administration of international justice. The diverse nature of recent global threats as well as an overwhelming pull towards isolationism and nationalism challenge the dominant deterrence paradigm of international governance created in the aftermath of the Second World War. An alternative model is to focus on cooperation, and not deterrence, as a guiding operational principle.This volume focuses on the theoretical component linking justice with aesthetics as well as on the practical manifestation of such connection evident, inter alia, in the rhetoric of international courts, their architectural design and their commemorative practices expressed by the practice of symbolic reparations adopted by some of the courts. The underlying premise of the book is that international justice requires new vocabulary and new approaches, which can be derived from the study of aesthetics. It is held that exploring the aesthetical dimension of international justice contributes to the discussion on the foundations of its authority and the grounds for compliance with it. The work engages deeply with the theory of aesthetics developed by Immanuel Kant and Abhinavagupta, a Kashmiri critic, philosopher and scholar writing in the early eleventh century.The book will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of Legal Philosophy, International Criminal Justice and International Law and International Relations.
The Greek Language after Antiquity: Advances and Challenges in Historical Linguistics (British School at Athens - Modern Greek and Byzantine Studies)
by David Holton Io ManolessouThe Greek Language after Antiquity offers an in-depth look at the diachrony of the Greek language, focusing on a period relatively neglected by modern scholarship: the more than 1,000 years between the end of Antiquity and the early modern period. These studies, written by experts in the field, target different levels of analysis (phonology, morphology, semantics, lexicon, dialectology, sociolinguistics), combining substantial primary data with various theoretical approaches.It begins with a radical proposal for a different approach to the historical linguistics of Greek, focused on the process of language diversification, as opposed to the traditional genetic approach to dialect emergence. Other topics include register variation in Byzantine literature, crucial for understanding the subsequent evolution of a written standard; morphological variation in conjunction with problems of textual transmission in medieval and early modern vernacular texts, with special focus on the notion of “philology”; evidence for language contact in the Late Medieval period; and the use of graphemic evidence, i.e. spelling, to detect changes in pronunciation over a long time span. Two chapters examine issues of word formation: one presents a new research project on diachronic derivational morphology; the other examines compound formation in the Cretan dialect. The final chapter examines theoretical and methodological issues in studying the historical semantics of Greek.This book is essential reading for researchers in Greek historical linguistics and especially useful for students, teachers and researchers in Classics, Byzantine studies and general linguistics, with important connections to the historical linguistics and text-critical studies of other languages, particularly Romance and Turkish.
Big Data and Electric Mobility
by Quan Zhou Haoran ZhangThis book details how to assess electric mobility characteristics within electric vehicles, discussing energy management methods, automated systems, and the enormous potential of data resources mined from software, navigation systems, and connectivity.Big Data and Electric Mobility presents methods to mine data specifically for electric vehicles, to comprehend their performance and to present opportunities to develop data-driven technological advancements. Including contributions from experts across the world, the book will look at topics such as human mobile behavior, battery charging and health, powertrain simulation, energy management, and multiphysics-constrained optimal charging.The book will be key reading for researchers and engineers in the fields of automotive engineering, electrical engineering, and data mining.
Digital Humanities in Medieval and Early Modern Spanish Texts: Current Perspectives and Approaches (Digital Research in the Arts and Humanities)
by González Zalacain, Roberto J. Gael VaamondeThis volume fills a gap in the literature on digital humanities (DH) in the Hispanic context by gathering a heterogeneous group of specialists who, from different standpoints in the humanities, explore Spanish texts as the object of study, DH as the work methodology, and Medieval and Early Modern Times as the historical framework.The volume gathers authors from Spain and other countries who work at the intersections of the DH and the areas of history, philology, literature, or linguistics, to explore some of the diverse DH projects working on Spanish texts from this period, and their wider implications. Taking historical sources as the starting point, contributions to this volume include topics such as historical corpus design, TEI-based digital edition, 3D modelling, database architecture, or automatic text annotation. For readers interested in the subject, the book provides a stimulating discussion with in-depth and concrete analyses of the interrelationships between the different contributions.This volume will be of great interest to medievalists and early modern researchers, whether involved in linguistic, historical, or literary studies, demonstrating the advantages of considering digital tools and computational methods in their academic work. In addition, it will also appeal to postgraduate students in the field of DH.
Perceiving Plato's Concern (China Perspectives)
by null Keping WangThis book mainly delves into the practical moral poetics in Plato's late masterpiece, the Laws, and applies a comparative approach to Plato's philosophizing and the Chinese way of thinking in the domains of art-making, cultivating a good life, and music-poetry education.Plato's main concern is psychic and correct education as the foundation of character building, coupled with the development of ideal guardians or perfect citizens. Such education requires a suitable use of allegories, myths, and poems, because it involves not only youngsters but also non-philosophers. Saturated with poetic wisdom, it enhances philosophical learning and human becoming in effect and sheds light on how to live a worthwhile life in praxis.What is discussed herein will interest students and scholars of ancient Greek philosophy, classical studies, art theory, Chinese thought and poetry education, among others.
The Green Belt, Housing Crises and Planning Systems (Routledge Research in Planning and Urban Design)
by null Charles Edward GoodeThis book evaluates the effectiveness of the Green Belt planning policy in England. It is one of the most well-known strategies internationally, with similar growth restraint policies having been adopted in a diverse range of cities around the world, such as Portland, Medellin and Bangkok. Despite this, it is often argued that Green Belts contribute to wider inequitable outcomes in society.Focusing on the Green Belt in England, the book critically analyses the extent to which these policies and planning systems contribute to housing crises and examines how far they need to be reformed. With the central role of community engagement in many of the debates about housing crises, the book investigates the characteristics of popular and campaigner opposition to housebuilding alongside investigating the power relations and politics of planning systems. This timely research taps into important current policy debates in the UK surrounding urban nature, green infrastructure, and building on the ‘grey belt’.The book is therefore of relevance and benefit to policymakers and politicians, to academics and students internationally from a range of fields interested in housing, community engagement, green infrastructure, strategic planning, power and politics, and conservation.
Philosophy through Film
by null Amy KarofskyThis fifth edition of Philosophy through Film uses recently released, well-received movies to explore answers to classic questions in philosophy in an approachable yet philosophically rigorous manner. Author Amy Karofsky uses two films in each chapter to examine one long-standing philosophical question and assess some of the best solutions to it that have been offered. The chosen movies are not mere “add-ons” to an otherwise straightforward introductory text; instead, they are fully integrated into the discussion of the issues and the various positions. Each chapter also includes discussion questions, an annotated list of films related to the chapter topic, and two or three historically significant primary sources (which are collected together at the end of the book).Changes to the fifth edition include: The replacement of older movies with four new focus films: Anatomy of a Fall, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Get Out, and The Time Traveler’s Wife. The addition of new primary readings from Roderick Chisholm, Jerry Fodor, Baron d’Holbach, and Susan Wolf. Important new sections added to Chapter 1 on Truth (“The Identity Theory of Truth”) and Chapter 5 on Artificial Intelligence (“The I in AI”). A major overhaul of Chapter 6 on free will, determinism, and moral responsibility. Updated notes throughout. The films examined in depth are: Ad Astra; Anatomy of a Fall; Arrival; Beautiful Boy; Crimes and Misdemeanors; Divergent; Equilibrium, Everywhere Everything All at Once; Ex Machina; Get Out; Gone Baby Gone; Her; Inception; Edge of Tomorrow; The Matrix; Memento; A Serious Man; Silence; The Time Traveler’s Wife.For a collection of Story Lines of the Discussed Films by Elapsed Time, visit: www.routledge.com/9781032544595
Nationalism and Globalization in Turkish Football: Voices from Fan Culture (Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society)
by null John Konuk BlasingTelling an important story about the development of modern Turkey, this fascinating book examines the place of football in Turkish society and the relationship between Turkish sport, nationalism, and globalization.Drawing on original ethnographic research with Turkish football fans, as well as players and coaches, the book argues that Turkish sport, particularly football, has played an important role in Turkish modernity, offering another way to mark Turkish national identity. At the same time, as football has become part and parcel of the global culture industry, the inclusive aspect of Turkish sport is threatened by the trend to commodification and mediatization, as football has become less of a national project and more of a global project increasingly intertwined with the global economy.Blending history, sociology, political science, and cultural analysis, this book is important reading for anybody with an interest in football, fandom, nationalism, modernity, Middle Eastern or European studies, or the relationship between sport and wider society.
Leadership and Leadership Development: Critical Perspectives and Contemporary Approaches (Routledge Studies in Leadership and Leadership Development)
by Christian HarrisonLeadership as a practice, and the development of leaders, has evolved significantly in recent decades, influenced by rapid changes in the business landscape, technology, social norms, and global challenges. The unprecedented disruptions brought about by crises, the increased awareness around diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the rise of new organisational models have all necessitated a rethinking of traditional leadership frameworks. At the same time, the focus on leadership development has shifted, with a greater emphasis on developing skills that foster adaptability, inclusivity, sustainability and resilience.In response to these shifts, this book provides a critical examination of leadership and leadership development, offering new insights and contemporary approaches that reflect the changing needs of organisations and societies. With contributions from leading scholars and practitioners across diverse fields, the 12 chapters in this edited volume present a rich blend of theoretical, empirical, and reflective research. It provides fresh perspectives on leadership development by exploring themes such as diversity and inclusion, sustainability, innovation and resilience.
Homesickness around the Mediterranean, 1492–1923 (Routledge Studies in Cultural History)
by José Alberto Rodrigues da Silva Tavim João Teles e CunhaThis volume analyzes how people of diverse cultural and religious backgrounds living around the “Middle Sea” perceived, felt, and described homesickness, using a multidisciplinary approach which brings new perspectives to known phenomena and their evolving meanings.The sixteen chapters in this book span the fields of history, literary and cultural studies, and musicology to explore and revisit old and new subjects including diasporas, renegades, expatriates, travelogues, testaments, inquisitorial processes, songbooks, movies, and photos. Together, they provide a comprehensive picture of homesickness across states, cultures, religions, and people, furthering understanding of how individuals, communities, and nations created and expressed images, ideas, and emotions on this subject. Though centered around the Mediterranean, this volume also studies the impact of homesickness in a larger geography touched by the Iberian empires.This important contribution to the history of emotions offers studies on subjects seldom available in the English-speaking world and will appeal to undergraduates, postgraduates, scholars, and non-specialists alike.
Disability and Impairment in Early China: Other Bodies (Needham Research Institute Series)
by Avital H. RomThis book is the first collection of scholarly works fully dedicated to exploring disability and impairment in early Chinese history.Early Chinese understandings of disability are effectively revealed through investigations of a wide range of aspects, such as terminological, legal, political, and etiological. The volume explores how early Chinese disability was socially negotiated as a means for creating enabled and at times empowered identities. It shows how oppression and empowerment, when viewed through the prism of such negotiations of identity, were not mutually exclusive. Through such examinations, the volume demonstrates how an approach sensitive to both the separability and the interconnectedness of disability and impairment enables a more nuanced understanding of Chinese disability history specifically, and Chinese notions of embodiment more generally.Bringing together international academics to examine a plethora of topics relating to disability and bodily impairment in early Chinese history, with an eye on their socio-political implications, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Chinese History, History of Medicine, and Disability Studies.
Challenging the Research Complex: Education, External Influence, and Disrupting Dependence in Africa (Critical Global Citizenship Education)
by null Joel SamoffStarting with an overview of the intersection of local and global dynamics in education in Africa, this book focuses critical attention on education research and the problematic research process.Education held extraordinary promise at Africa’s independence. Rapid expansion in access and imaginative innovations followed, but progress proved difficult to sustain. As frustration displaced optimism, recourse to foreign aid became common. Education in Africa—critical to national development—combines high expectations and enthusiasm with distress and dependence. Local and global agendas intersect. External influence is internalized. Research is consequential, especially in reinforcing the conservative charter of most education systems in Africa, more concerned with reproducing the national political economy than changing it. Notwithstanding disciplinary border crossers, methodological orthodoxy is blinding. Social engineering remains more important than social justice. Scholarship about Africa is only rarely by Africa. Scholars study poverty and miss impoverishment.This book unpacks those relationships, exploring the narrow gaze of education research and its problematic character. Examining the research complex—interconnected institutions with distributed authority acting in concert—requires attention to how knowledge is generated, where, and to whose benefit. On this important and exciting terrain—Africa, education, research—readers will find this an accessible and stimulating analysis.