Regional / International studies Books

Book SynopsisWhy could not the Second World War catalyse science in India as it did in the West? This is one of the central questions of this volume on the British policy towards science and technology in India. Its focus is on education, research, innovation and organisation of science in such sectors as industry, agriculture, public health and transport and communications. In the process the author comes across revealing developments where science played a crucial role: an Anglo-American tussle for dominance in the region, the clash between capitalism and socialism, and the entry of neo-colonialism triggering Cold War in Asia. Many faces of humanity and science are on view --- British scientists concerned about India’s development, and Indian scientists planning for national reconstruction. Of interest to all those aiming for a better understanding of the impact of science, war and international influences on the socio-economic progress in India - or other erstwhile colonies.Table of ContentsPreface Abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Background: Science and Empire 3. Science for War 4. The Sciences in the Doldrums 5. Science for Reconstruction 6. Towards Organizing Science 7. Conclusions Appendices Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor all Muslims the Qurʾan is the word of God. In the first centuries of Islam, however, many individuals and groups, and some Shiʿis, believed that the generally accepted text of the Qurʾan is corrupt. The Shiʿis asserted that redactors had altered or deleted among other things all passages that supported the rights of ʿAli and his successors or that condemned his enemies. One of the fullest lists of these alleged changes and of other variant readings is to be found in the work of al-Sayyārī (3rd/9th century), which is indeed among the earliest Shiʿi books to have survived. In many cases the alternative readings that al-Sayyārī presents substantially contribute to our understanding of early Shiʿi doctrine and of the early and numerous debates about the Qurʾan in general.Trade Review“The introduction of Revelation and Falsification is to be commended for the vast research and diversity of the sources consulted therein. It especially provides a good historical survey of the study of the Qurʿan by Western scholars. […] In the notes the authors have shown their full command and outstanding expertise on Shiʿa and Sunni sources of tafsir (exegesis) together with their meticulous research. […] All in all, Revelation and Falsification is a valuable contribution to the study of the Qurʿan and to creating a deeper understanding of the Shiʿa creed.” Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour, in Journal of Shiʿa Islamic Studies, Spring 2010, Vol. III, No. 2. “This is a formidable work, erudite as much as it is meticulous. Moreover, it is a real advancement in knowledge for it is a critical edition of a rare and early work of Shiite religious literature. […] …what matters is the quality of the edition – with its critical apparatus and the indexes – that will become an exemplar for critical editions in the field for years to come.” Walid A. Saleh, in The Muslim World Book Review, 30:3, 2010. "Magistralement éditée par E. Kohlberg […] et M.A. Amir-Moezzi […], imprimée avec tous les soins qu’une grande maison d’édition peut apporter, cette édition critique du Kitȃb al-qirȃʾȃt […] représente une importante contribution à la connaissance des controverses entre shȋʿites et sunnites à l’époque médiévale." J. Dean in Revue D’Histoire et de Philosophie Religieuses 2011, 91.1, p. 104. “This work […] is of remarkable quality. The critical edition is extremely well cared for. […] such a work is not simply useful but indeed necessary for any person who is interested in Qurʾānic exegesis.” Michel Lagarde in Islamochristiana 37 (2011), p.327-328.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Africa Yearbook covers major domestic political developments, the foreign policy and socio-economic trends in sub-Sahara Africa – all related to developments in one calendar year. The Yearbook contains articles on all sub-Saharan states, each of the four sub-regions (West, Central, Eastern, Southern Africa) focusing on major cross-border developments and sub-regional organizations as well as one article on continental developments and one on European-African relations. While the articles have thorough academic quality, the Yearbook is mainly oriented to the requirements of a large range of target groups: students, politicians, diplomats, administrators, journalists, teachers, practitioners in the field of development aid as well as business people.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOvercoming Passion examines the passion for race in contemporary Malaysia. Broadly the essays look at the disjunction between the falsity of race as a scientific category and the entrenched belief that race determines one's rightful identity. They probe the ways in which individual minds and institutions of power fail or refuse to recognise and act in accordance with the knowledge that race exists only insofar as its existence is sustained by the believer's belief in it. The contributors draw from a burgeoning but under-examined archive of Malaysia-related social texts, ranging from media and technological discourse, popular culture and literary production to historical writings, produced originally in English, Malay and Mandarin Chinese.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Overcoming Passions for Race and Community - David C.L. Lim A Case of Mistaken Identities? Retelling Malaysia's National Story - Suvendrini K. Perera The Rejected Imagination in the Poetry of Fang Ang, Fu Chengde and Chen Qianghua - Gabriel Wu From Fragmented Identities to Post-Identity: Lin Xingqian's Poetics of Diaspora - Tee Kim Tong "Why aren't you a Muslim"? Pride and Prejudice through Gunawan Mahmood's Teen Fiction - David C.L. Lim Looking through the Corridor: Malaysia and the MSC - Susan Leong The Ideological Fantasy of British Malaya: A Postcolonial Reading of Swettenham, Clifford and Burgess - Daniel P.S. Goh Globalisation and Bangsa Malaysia Discourse in Racial Crisis - Mohan Ambikaipaker "Your memories are our memories": Remembering Culture as Race in Malaysia and K.S. Maniam's Between Lives - David C.L. Lim A Passion for Other Lovers: Rewriting the "Other" in Ooi Yang-May's Fictionalisation of Multiethnic Malaysia - Tamara S. Wagner About the Editor and Contributors

Read more less

Book SynopsisShardza Tashi Gyeltsen (1859-1934) is one of the most important luminaries of the Bon tradition of Tibet and certainly the most striking recent master of the teachings of the Great Perfection. Throughout his life, he applied the principles of the Great Perfection in numerous isolated retreats and perfected both spiritual realization and scholarly erudition. His works have nowadays become immensely important references for the modern Bon tradition, even if, for some lineage holders of this Tibetan school, he is best associated with the movement known as "New Bon". This widely diffused view, however, is wrong as is clearly shown by the analysis of Shardza Rinpoche's Collected Works in the present volume.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe annual is a venue of publication for sociological studies of Chinese societies and the Chinese all over the world. The main focus is on social transformations in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the mainland, Singapore and Chinese overseas.Table of ContentsFrom the Editor Authors’ Biographies SPECIAL FOCUS: CHINESE CAPITALISMS Guest Editor: Chu Yin-wah Introduction: From Destitute to Xiao Kang (Well-Being), Maybe Da Guo (Great Nation): Explorations of Chinese Capitalisms and Capitalist Actions - Chu Yin-wah Emerging Chinese Capitalism and its Theoretical and Global Significance - Nan Lin The “Spirit” of Capitalism in China: Contemporary Meanings of Weber’s Thought - Ku Chung-hwa Taiwan’s Industrialization: The Rise of a Demand-Responsive Economy - Gary G. Hamilton and Kao Cheng-shu Tai-Shang: A Different Kind of Ethnic Chinese Business in Southeast Asia - Michael Hsiao Hsin-Huang, Kung I-Chung and Wang Hong-zen Entrepreneurship and Risk: The Becoming of the Koo Business Dynasty - Ho Tsai-man C. and Sun Wenbin Articles Family Resources and Educational Stratification: The Case of Hong Kong, 1981-2001 - Wu Xiaogang The Transnational Linkages of Chinese in Toronto - Eric Fong, Cao Xingshan, and Chen Wenhong Rediscovering Chinese Society in the Socialist Era: Using the Past to Serve the Present - Jonathan Unger Book Reviews

Read more less

Book SynopsisSouth Korea-related refereed articles in Korea Yearbook 2008 focus on the domestic political scene, relations with Japan, policy towards the North, higher education reform, and new Korean cinema. Additional articles deal with the recovery of the remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean War, economic reform in North Korea, and inter-Korean economic cooperation.Trade Review"A chronology of events, split into sections on South Korea, North Korea, and inter-Korean relations, opens the volume. This is followed by a core set of chapters: two offer detailed explorations of politics and economy in, first, South Korea, then North Korea; next comes an account of inter-Korean relations, then an account of foreign relations. In these, this reader’s enthusiasm is at times tested, but the reliability of the accounts is not in question, and the Yearbook’s real value, and the reason it will stay on library shelves for many years to come, is precisely these opening 72 pages, since, put together over a number of years, they build into a detailed historical account." Keith Howard, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 72, 3 (October 2009) "Possibly 'the scoop' in this particular collection is the paper by C Kenneth Quinones entitled 'The US-DPRK 1994 Agreed Framework and the US Army's Return to North Korea'. How many general Koreanists knew that US military personnel have worked alongside DPRK soldiers in recovering the remains of nearly 500 US soldiers killed in the Korean war?'" Philip Gowman, Book Reviews, Books on Business & Economy, Books on DPRK, Books on Film, Books on Politics, History Books, Other Books (14 March, 2009)Table of ContentsPreface Chronology of Events in the Korean Peninsula 2007 Survey articles: Patrick Köllner: “South Korea: Domestic Politics and Economy 2007-2008” Rüdiger Frank: “North Korea: Domestic Politics and Economy 2007-2008” James E. Hoare: “Relations between the two Koreas 2007-2008” James E. Hoare: “Foreign Relations of the two Koreas 2007-2008” Refereed articles: Young-mi Kim: “Fission, Fusion, Reform and Failure in South Korean Politics: Roh Moohyun’s Administration” John Swenson-Wright: “Assassination, Abduction and Normalization: Historical Mythologies and Misrepresentation in Post-war South Korea-Japan Relations” Alon Levkowitz: “The Disparity Between South Korea’s Engagement and Security Policies towards North Korea: The Realist-Liberal Pendulum” Peter Mayer: “Higher Education Reform in South Korea: Success Tempered by Challenges” Mark Morris: “The New Korean Cinema Looks Back to Kwangju: The Old Garden and May 18” C. Kenneth Quinones: “The US-DPRK 1994 Agreed Framework and the US Army’s Return to North Korea” Patrick McEachern: “Benchmarks of Economic Reform in North Korea” Kyung Tae Lee and Hyung-Gon Jeong: “Trends and Prospects of Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation”

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is based on a study of the pecularities of one of the earliest Qurʾanic manuscripts preserved (the codex Parisino-petropolitanus, 7th century); it provides an analysis of the conditions of the written transmission of the Qurʾan and reconsiders the constitution of the canonical version. Ce livre, qui étudie les particularités d'un des plus anciens manuscrits coraniques conservés (le codex Parisino-petropolitanus, 7e siècle), analyse les conditions de la transmission écrite du Coran et reconsidère la façon dont s'est constituée la version canonique.Trade Review“François Déroche […] ouvre la voie à une compréhension plus fine avec cette étude, première de son genre, appuyée sur un document signicatif, des premiers temps de l’islam et de l’évolution du Coran au cours de cette période.” Alexandra Ath. Photopoulou, Journal of Oriental and African Studies, 2010-2. "In this important work, François Déroche undertakes a masterly analysis - careful, meticulous, and exhaustive - of what he calls the Codex Parisino-petropolitanus [...] In this pathbreaking work, Déroche has set the bar very high", David S. Powers, Islamic Law and Society Volume 18, No. 2, 2011. “… a most significant advance in the study of early Qurʾanic manuscripts, which, though obviously crucial for the historiography of early Islam, remains so far an under-researched field.” Emmanuelle Stefanidis, in Speculum. A Journal of Medieval Studies 86.3 (2011), 740-741. doi:10.1017/S0038713411001709

Read more less

Book SynopsisC.J. Edmonds published articles in orientalist journals and co-authored with Taufiq Wahby A Kurdish-English dictionary (Oxford, 1966). He published his memoirs of Iraq, Kurds, Turks, and Arabs : politics, travel and research in North-Eastern Iraq, 1919-1925 (London - New York, 1957), but his Persian memoirs remained unpublished. It tells how, after studying oriental languages in Cambridge, he became Consular Officer in Bushire, participated in British campaigns in Mesopotamia during First World War. As a Political Officer in Luristan Edmonds was in charge of the oil fields’ security and was sent to Northern Persia after the war, a direct witness of the Jangal upheaval and the 1921 coup d’Etat.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis groundbreaking book by the eminent Peking University professor Hong Zicheng covers the literary scene in China during the 1949-1999 period, primarily focusing on fiction, poetry, drama, and prose writing. Reprinted sixteen times since its publication in the PRC in 1999, it is now available in English translation at last. A History of Contemporary Chinese Literature is a unique and much needed accomplishment in contemporary literary studies.Trade Review“There is no doubt that this volume, along with the Humanities in China Library series it inaugurates, should serve as a model for further translations of influential Chinese-language scholarship in years to come.” - Rossella Ferrari, SOAS, University of London (China Quarterly) "Hong (Peking Univ.) offers an excellent, dual-purpose book: it serves as both a textbook and a comprehensive history of Chinese literature from the 1940s to 1996...Highly recommended." - Choice "...[A History of Contemporary Chinese Literature's] significance is the scope of its overview of mainland Chinese fiction, poetry, prose, and aspects of theater through the mid-1990s in their documented institutional and critical context... Hong's history is well documented, with annotated citations of both criticisms from the time the works were published and from more recent scholars of the contemporary period, especially Huang Ziping and Zhu Zhai. There is welcome attention to a range of valuable topics, from institutional structures, biographical notes, translations of foreign literature and other texts available through the restricted "internal distribution" (neibu) system of publication, unofficial, underground texts of the Cultural Revolution era, and so forth... [Translator] Michael M. Day's translation greatly enhances the value of Hong's book as a reference text by adding [added] a bibliography, glossary, and index and [shifted] Hong's endnotes to footnotes. [This text is] a solid and comprehensive survey that will stand as an important reference and source for new scholarship... [and] could provide a centerpiece for an engaging and productive course on the field." - Edward Gunn, Cornell University (MCLC Resource Center Publication (Copyright September 2008))

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1917, in Khartoum, Dr. J.B. Christopherson experimentally treated seventy bilharzia patients with injections of antimony tartrate, an early chemotherapy. His was the first successful treatment. Antimony had never been tried on bilharzia patients before, or so he believed. This biography examines the turbulent life of this medical pioneer, his fight for priority and his struggle for professional survival amid the politics of exclusion in General Wingate's Sudan. His was a career full of paradoxes: acclaimed for intercepting a smallpox outbreak, building a hospital and satellite clinics, he battled accusations and removal as director of the Medical Department. From the Boer War, two decades in Sudan, his capture and release in Serbia to his time in France in WW1, controversy seldom left him.Trade Review'The British Empire provided a wonderful outlet for those wishing for a life of adventure, danger and professional satisfaction. Many of them also seemed prone to engage in vicious disputes. That the career of Jack Christopherson, best known for his discovery of the first cure for bilharzia (schistosomiasis), could be described as a battlefield-like turbulence enabled the author to tell a rollicking tale of human foibles as well as a piece of serious medical history.’ Prof. John Farley, author of Bilharzia. A History of Imperial Tropical Medicine. ‘The ambiguous reputation of a family hero drove Ann Crichton-Harris to investigate a scientific discovery in early twentieth-century Sudan. Springing from intelligent curiosity, this elegantly written book relies on archival material, official reports, medical texts, and family letters. It features one man’s struggle against a debilitating disease and his conflict with jealous detractors. Sensitive to the problems of colonialism, she has recreated the ideas and aspirations that fed priority disputes in a time of medical optimism.’ Jacalyn Duffin, Hannah Professor of the History of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada Tom Koch, PhD Bioethicist, Toronto, Ont. in The Canadian Medical Association Journal: Christopherson’s niece, Toronto writer Ann Crichton-Harris, spent eight years in an attempt to understand why the pride of her family, “the kindly old uncle” was so thorough ignored by his contemporaries and by history. To her credit, Poison in Small Measure: Dr Christopherson and the Cure for Bilharzia is not an attempt to bring delayed fame to a deceased family member; rather it aims to provide an understanding of the relation between science and personality in the world of scientific fame and recognition. “Christopherson was in Sudan for the better part of 18 years,” Crichton-Harris writes, “and during that time three major personal conflicts interfered with his career path.” Ann Crichton-Harris. Poison in Small Measure: Dr. Christopherson and the Cure for Bilharzia. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill. 2009. xx + 428 pp. Ill. $99.00 (978-90-04-17541-9). 'In this delightful book, Ann Crichton-Harris, an independent scholar based in Toronto, chronicles her eight-year journey to reconstruct the life and work of her great-uncle, John B. Christopherson, a nearly forgotten pioneer in the treatment of bilharzias. Along the way, the reader enters into a complex world of petty careerism, colonial rivalries, bald-faced racism, humanitarian concern, and dedication to duty. Those nostalgic for the British Empire will find much to enjoy in this book. It recreates the contradictions of empire with its rigid rules and protocol, intolerance and dogged heroism. The author shares her love for research: we learn of her interviews over tea and fruitcake, the search (sometimes in vain) for memoirs, and the detective-like sorting through clues in private letters, memorabilia, dusty volumes of published articles, and archives. The reader who suspects or fears that this book is another paean to a notable family member learns otherwise before the book even begins. Yusuf Fadl Hasan, a professor of history at the University of Khartoum, in a brief foreword, quotes Christopherson's words: "The Mohammedan Religion has never done anything in the World except engender a selfish peace of mind to the individual and a total disregard for other peoples' feelings. It breeds wars for nations by its intolerance. It has never invented anything, nor am I aware that any Mohammedan has initiated peaceful work of any kind at any time. It is the opposite to the Christian religion of Charity, Peace, diligence and Usefulness" (p. x). Hasan then praises Crichton-Harris for her response to this view: "Christopherson's knowledge of history let him down with respect to both the Muslim's achievements in mathematics, ophthalmology and optics, and to the infamous work of his fellow Christians—the Inquisition and the Crusades for a start. It is almost certain that he had many Muslim friends and acquaintances among his assistant medical men, yet he thought nothing of writing in such a manner" (p. 313). Yet Christopherson later complained that "[a] native officer never does an ounce of work that he is not made to do" and "the native women are so indolent and ignorant that it is hopeless at present to try and train them as nurses" (p. 369). He was finally able to hire two British nurses, who did not disappoint him. The author, however, insists that Christopherson, like his contemporaries, believed that he was on a mission to make Sudan a better place for its people and that he had considerable regard for his native colleagues. Crichton-Harris documents Christopherson's great discovery at the outset of her book. In 1917, in the men's ward of Khartoum Civil Hospital, he found that injecting tartar emetic (antimony), already used as a treatment for leishmaniasis, into the vein of a bilharzia patient killed the eggs of the bilharzia helminth. He then spent many years researching the correct dosage of tartar emetic since it was a poison that could kill the patient. He published his results in a series of articles but did not receive the recognition that he expected. He was nominated for a Nobel Prize in 1922, did not receive it, and, according to the author, sank from history's view. Apparently he clashed with key personalities such as Andrew Balfour, director of the Wellcome Laboratory in Khartoum, and Major P. R Phipps, private secretary of Sudan's governor-general, Sir Reginald Wingate. Still, personality conflicts happen in all walks of life, and it is not quite clear why Christopherson's led to his sinking into historical oblivion. Perhaps he lacked the all-important patron who would broadcast his achievements at every opportunity. The book is loaded with details of mundane daily life, family squabbles, and likes and dislikes that stray far from the overall theme of the book. All kinds of relatives and their activities crowd the book. But it is fun to read. It is empirical narrative history at its best and will interest specialists in the history of tropical medicine, bilharzia, and Sudan and Britain in the imperial age. The author has successfully restored her great-uncle to his rather conflicted place in the history of tropical medicine (itself a problematic term) and in 2001 had the satisfaction of witnessing the Sudanese authorities at Khartoum Civil Hospital unveil a plaque in his honor'. Nancy Gallagher University of California, Santa Barbara,/i> 154 Book Reviews Bull, Hist. Med., 2011, 85Table of ContentsCONTENTS Foreword ............................................................................................. ix Acknowledgments .............................................................................. xi Abbreviations ..................................................................................... xv List of Illustrations ............................................................................ xvii Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 Chapter One Worms and Dead Eggs in the Long Hot Summer ........................................................................................... 31 Chapter Two Three Generations of Christophersons: Tanner to Clergyman to Physician ............................................ 49 Chapter Three The Boer War Experience: The Imperial Yeomanry Hospital—A Palace in the Desert ........................... 67 Chapter Four Sudan 1902–3: Smallpox Delivers Both Fear and Opportunity ............................................................................ 97 Chapter Five 1904 and the Appointment Blunder ................... 119 Chapter Six The Wellcome Laboratory on the Nile and a Relapsing Fever Dispute. A Storm in a Teacup? Some of What Really Happened is Revealed Only in 1923 ................... 141 Chapter Seven Christopherson’s Diffi cult Years: Surviving Disaster; 1908–1911 ...................................................................... 171 Chapter Eight 1912 Marriage and the Decision to Remain in Sudan .......................................................................................... 203 Chapter Nine With the Red Cross in Serbia, and Rudolph Slatin’s Role as ‘Fairy Godfather’ ................................................ 215 Chapter Ten France 1917. The Commission on Medical Establishments ............................................................................... 239 Chapter Eleven The ‘Aha’ Moment and Consequences .......... 269 Chapter Twelve On the Practice of Medicine, Sudan 1902–1919 ....................................................................................... 301 Chapter Thirteen Life aft er Sudan—The Varied Life of a London Consultant ....................................................................... 323 Chapter Fourteen Heavensgate, Gloucestershire ...................... 349 Chapter Fift een Looking Back from the Twenty-First Century ........................................................................................... 365 Appendix A An Analysis of J.B. Christopherson’s Dosing Method ............................................................................................ 391 Appendix B Published Papers and Letters by J.B. Christopherson ....................................................................... 397 Appendix C Chronology ............................................................... 404 Select Bibliography ............................................................................ 409 Index .................................................................................................... 415

Read more less

Book SynopsisMaking ingenious use of a wide variety of sources, and old as well as modern technical resources, Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman here set a new standard for an histoire totale for a coherently well-defined cultural region in China.At the same time it deals in-depth with the ongoing negotiation of modernity in Chinese village rituals. Over the past thirty years, local popular religion has been revived and re-invented in the villages of the irrigated alluvial plain of Putian, Fujian, China. Volume 1 provides a historical introduction to the formation of 153 regional ritual alliances made up of 724 villages. Early popular cults, Ming lineages, Qing multi-village alliances, late Qing spirit-medium associations, 20th century state attacks on local religion, and the role of Overseas Chinese and local communities in rebuilding the temple networks are discussed. Volume 2 surveys the current population, lineages, temples, gods, and annual rituals of these villages. Maps of each ritual alliance, the distribution of major cults and lineages, are included. Find information about a film related to the book here.Trade Review"...the overall impression is that this is the product of awe-inspiring labours, and that it provides the raw material for a host of dissertations and books...Together [HO4 22, HO4 23 V.1, and HO4 23 V.2] make the persuasive case that without due consideration to religious life as a vehicle for communal organization and sociality and as a resource for individual and communal self-expression and identity, our analysis both of historical and of contemporary China remains needlessly impoverished." Michael Szonyi, Harvard University, Pacific Affairs: Vol. 85, No. 1 - March 2012 "Dean, Zheng, and their team are still at work, and these volumes represent only the most thoroughly mapped of a series of Putian monographs that are increasingly essential for students of Chinese religion, local history, state and local relations, and emigration during late imperial China and up to the present." Donald Sutton, Carnegie Mellon University, The Journal of Asian Studies, Volume 70/1, February 2011

Read more less

Book SynopsisMaking ingenious use of a wide variety of sources, and old as well as modern technical resources, Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman here set a new standard for an histoire totale for a coherently well-defined cultural region in China. At the same time it deals in-depth with the ongoing negotiation of modernity in Chinese village rituals. Over the past thirty years, local popular religion has been revived and re-invented in the villages of the irrigated alluvial plain of Putian, Fujian, China. Volume 1 provides a historical introduction to the formation of 153 regional ritual alliances made up of 724 villages. Early popular cults, Ming lineages, Qing multi-village alliances, late Qing spirit-medium associations, 20th century state attacks on local religion, and the role of Overseas Chinese and local communities in rebuilding the temple networks are discussed. Volume 2 surveys the current population, lineages, temples, gods, and annual rituals of these villages. Maps of each ritual alliance, the distribution of major cults and lineages, are included. Find information about a film related to the book here.Trade Review"...the overall impression is that this is the product of awe-inspiring labours, and that it provides the raw material for a host of dissertations and books...Together [HO4 22, HO4 23 V.1, and HO4 23 V.2] make the persuasive case that without due consideration to religious life as a vehicle for communal organization and sociality and as a resource for individual and communal self-expression and identity, our analysis both of historical and of contemporary China remains needlessly impoverished." Michael Szonyi, Harvard University, Pacific Affairs: Vol. 85, No. 1 - March 2012 "Dean, Zheng, and their team are still at work, and these volumes represent only the most thoroughly mapped of a series of Putian monographs that are increasingly essential for students of Chinese religion, local history, state and local relations, and emigration during late imperial China and up to the present." Donald Sutton, Carnegie Mellon University, The Journal of Asian Studies, Volume 70/1, February 2011 'Ritual Alliances est l'un des livres les plus fascinants et importants parus depuis une décennie, dans le domaine des religions chinoises sans aucun doute, et peut-être des sciences sociales du religieux dans leur ensemble.(...) La masse des données, déjà digérées, systématisées, modélisées, forme le deuxième volume de Ritual Alliances : mille soixante pages décrivant chaque village (quels temples, quels cultes, quels rituels, quels réseaux). Il y a là une source d'informations systématiques qui servira aux chercheurs, occidentaux et chinois, pendant longtemps, mais aussi un modèle méthodologique pour quiconque songe sérieusement à étudier une société locale dans une civilisation à écriture.(...) Mais le plus beau est la façon dont ces données sont synthétisées en une histoire, formant le volume 1. Dans un récit de trois cent trente neuf pages, dense mais clair, Dean raconte l'invention d'une société sur un parcours de dix siècles. (...) On ne peut sans doute pas demander au non-spécialiste de la société chinoise de lire de très près le tome 2, mais on ne peut qu'encourager très vivement l'ensemble des chercheurs en sciences sociales des religions à lire le tome 1 ; ils y trouveront tous un immense profit.' Vincent Goossaert, Bibliographical Bulletin des Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book describes major aspects of Japanese foreign policy from WWII to the present. Bilateral relations with the US, China, Korea, Southeast Asia, Russia, Europe and the Middle East as well as multilateral diplomacy are analysed. Written by a former diplomat who was deeply involved in major issues of postwar Japanese foreign policy, it provides fascinating insider views on policy making in Tokyo. The book explains how and why Japan is developing a more proactive foreign policy and highlights vital policy issues which it is facing at the turn of the century. It is written with exceptional clarity and is accessible and friendly to any reader who is interested in modern Japan.Trade Review'…a product of the living memory of one of the reputable diplomatic families in Japan…this is one of the most comprehensive studies of Japan's foreign policy since 1945…Highly recommended.' M. Itoh, Choice, 2005. 'This book stands out amongst the crop of textbooks on Japanese foreign policy that have been available to date, because of its authoritative, insider voice. Here we not only learn what happened in postwar Japan’s foreign policy, but what the thinking was behind these decisions. This is an invaluable element that brings the reader inside the policy-making rooms of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself. In the process, Japan’s world view and its own self-image are concurrently revealed, in fascinating and unexpected ways. This book destroys stereotypes, and vastly improves the quality of our understanding of Japan as an international player. We are spoiled by the wisdom and experience of not just one, but three major forces in the shaping of Japan’s international existence: Mr Togo’s own formidable experience, plus the seminal contributions of his father and grandfather, who was instrumental in the closing phases of World War II. All of this makes this book indispensable to those who wish to truly understand Japan in her own terms, and through her own eyes. Rikki Kersten, Professor Modern Japan Studies (Leiden University).

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Africa Yearbook is a reliable source of reference covering major domestic political developments, the foreign policy and socio-economic trends of all sub-Saharan states – all related to developments in one calendar year. The print version of the Africa Yearbook now gives access to the Africa Yearbook online, with all material since 2004. Every copy of the print has a personal code for free access to Africa Yearbook online.Trade Review"An overview noted for its preciseness, comprehensivness, ......which makes it a sought after reference source by students, politicians, diplomats, administrators, journalists, teachers..." (African Research and Documentation 112, 2010)

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe present work supplements the original volume of The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (AMT), both its glossary of technical terms and bibliography. It includes new entries of technical terms, additional definitions of, and/or citations for, the entries already found in AMT, and recent publications on various aspects of Arabic manuscript studies.Trade Review“…an indispensable research, library, and archival companion for students and researchers that are interested in bibliomancy, calligraphy, specifically Arabic, Qur’anic manuscripts, penmanship, bookbinding, papermaking, decoration, and the tools associated with all these crafts. Praise for this monumental effort is essentially superfluous and no library or centre which is concerned with the Islamic manuscript and book tradition should be without the set. Academics and researchers would also find the books as indispensable companions.” Amidu Olalekan Sanni, JOAS, 2010

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Encyclopedia of Religious and Philosophical Writings in Late Antiquity offers easily accessible introductions to the content and historical setting of the main writings of Greco-Roman paganism, early Judaism, and formative Christianity from the period of Alexander the Great to Mohammed. Examining over seven hundred ancient texts, the Encyclopedia provides for each document details of authorship and provenance, a statement of the text’s content and place within its religious tradition, a listing of editions and commentaries, and a bibliography of the pertinent scholarly literature. The Encyclopedia of Religious and Philosophical Writings in Late Antiquity is an unparalleled resource both for general readers and for scholars of ancient religion and philosophy. Originally published in hardcover.Trade Review"...a worthwile addition to a the reference collection of research libraries, and a useful complement to other encyclopedias of late antiquity. Recommended. Upper level undergraduates through faculty/resarchers; general readers." – J. Schott, in: Choice, July 2008 "The treatments of each text are centrist, succint and balanced. ...the strength of the volume arises from the broad spectrum of texts brought together, which outstrips the specialized knowledge of any single scholar. ... a helpful volume..." – Paul Foster, in: Expository Times, June 2008 "...a useful reference tool... The treatment of the works that are included is usually of high quality." – Christoph Stenschke, in: Religion and Theology 16 (2009)Table of ContentsPreface List of Contributors Abbreviations Dictionary A-Z Index of Ancient Authors

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Africa Yearbook has won the ASA 2012 Conover-Porter Book Award! The Africa Yearbook covers major domestic political developments, the foreign policy and socio-economic trends in sub-Sahara Africa – all related to developments in one calendar year. The Yearbook contains articles on all sub-Saharan states, each of the four sub-regions (West, Central, Eastern, Southern Africa) focusing on major cross-border developments and sub-regional organizations as well as one article on continental developments and one on African-European relations. While the articles have thorough academic quality, the Yearbook is mainly oriented to the requirements of a large range of target groups: students, politicians, diplomats, administrators, journalists, teachers, practitioners in the field of development aid as well as business people.Trade Review"For what this series sets out to achieve – to record the critical challenges affecting African nations which consistently place them at the bottom of the HDI rankings – there is no better handbook available." – Thembisa Waetjen, in: Transformation 83 (2013) "The articles are vivid, interesting, full of information, erudite. Africa is shown to us in all its colourful contradictions, a continent of hope and despair, of war – torn misery and perspectives, of huge investment and of massive corruption, of violence and repression but also of youthful reactions. The Yearbook includes an introduction about sub – Saharan Africa (written by the editors) and two articles, one about the United Nations and Africa and one about African – European relations. Charts with factual overviews are also included, although more analytical charts with facts and maps of the countries in question would be welcome. All in all, the Yearbook is an extremely useful tool for anyone interested in Africa but also an extremely interesting, full in details, book." – Sotirios S. Livas, in: Journal of Oriental and African Studies 22 (2013)

Read more less

Book SynopsisColombijn examines the social changes in Indonesian cities during the process of decolonization. That process had major repercussions for urban society. These social changes are studied from the angle of urban space in general, and the provision of housing in particular. This provides fresh insight into how people experienced decolonization. Published in cooperation with the Netherlands Institute of War Documentation (NIOD). Originally published with imprint KITLV (ISBN 9789067182911).

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality, Denise Aigle presents the Mongol empire as a moment of contact between political ideologies, religions, cultures and languages, and, in terms of reciprocal representations, between the Far East, the Muslim East, and the Latin West. The first part is devoted to “The memoria of the Mongols in historical and literary sources” in which she examines how the Mongol rulers were perceived by the peoples with whom they were in contact. In “Shamanism and Islam” she studies the perception of shamanism by Muslim authors and their attempts to integrate Genghis Khan and his successors into an Islamic framework. The last sections deal with geopolitical questions involving the Ilkhans, the Mamluks, and the Latin West. Genghis Khan’s successors claimed the protection of “Eternal Heaven” to justify their conquests even after their Islamization.Trade Review"The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality, by Denise Aigle, provides a welcome contribution to scholarship concerning cross-cultural interaction and the Mongol Empire.[…] Aigle’s collection of essays highlights the fact that the evolution of myths and the manipulation of information concerning the Mongol Empire have their own unique history. It is one that is worthy of thorough consideration, in order to better understand the complex geopolitical struggles that characterized this period in Eurasian history." – Donna Hamil, in: Terrae Incognitae 48/2 (September 2016) "D. Aigle livre une méthode rigoureuse de critique textuelle, qui repose sur la prise en compte des différentes strates et stratégies d'écriture. Les apports de l'ouvrage dépassent donc largement le cadre des études mongoles pur offrir à l'historien médiéviste un cadre méthodologique et conceptuel, pour tenter de démêler le mythe de la réalité ce qui en fait un livre de référence." – Anne Troadec, in: Oriente Moderno 96 (2016) "In this collection of articles, some new and some updated, Aigle’s research reaches a much wider audience and deservedly so. Perhaps France’s leading scholar on the Mongol Empire, she examines the intellectual frontier between the Mongols and the Islamic world and Western Christendom in terms of political ideology, religion, and culture and explores how the ideas that so often existed between myth and reality shaped understanding between the parties. The work is arranged thematically, allowing Aigle to discuss how this intellectual frontier changed over time and demonstrating the metamorphosis of the intellectual frontier between the Mongols in the Middle East and their neighbors. [...]. In this much-needed work, Aigle simultaneously studies the mind-set of the Mongols and other societies while establishing that none was tied to a stagnant and unchanging perspective. A superior display of scholarship.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." – T. M. May, in: Choice, July 2015 “In The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality: Studies in Anthropological History, Denise Aigle takes the problem of how we know what we know about the Mongols seriously, and endeavours to highlight the complex layers of interpretation of the past and transmission of historical writing about the Mongol Empire….The book stands as a major contribution to our understanding of the production of knowledge about the Mongols, and a reminder that historical sources are produced by individuals who seek to render the past and present understandable in terms that are culturally familiar.“ Patrick Wing, in Bulletin critique des Annales islamologiques (31), 2016 "This is an unexpected and refreshing historical study of the Mongol Empire by a scholarly commenator whose analysis is worthy of attention." George Lane in: BSOAS (2016)Table of ContentsContents List of illustrations List of maps List of dynastic tables Acknowledgments Notes on transliteration List of abbreviations Introduction THE MEMORIA OF THE MONGOLS IN HISTORICAL AND LITERARY SOURCES Chapter One. Mythico-legendary figures and history between East and West Chapter Two. The Mongols and the legend of Prester John Chapter Three. The historiographical works of Barhebreaus on the Mongol period Chapter Four. The historical taqwīm in Muslim East SHAMANISM AND ISLAM Chapter Five. Shamanism and Islam in Central Asia. Two antinomic religious universes? Chapter Six. The transformation of a myth of origins, Genghis Khan and Timur Chapter Seven. Mongol law versus Islamic law. Myth and reality CONQUERING THE WORLD PROTECTED BY THE TENGGERI Chapter Eight. From ‘non-negociation’ to an abortive alliance. Thoughts on the diplomatic exchanges between the Mongols and the Latin West Chapter Nine. Hülegü’s letters to the last Ayyubid ruler of Syria. The construction of a model MAMLUKS AND ILKHANS. THE QUEST OF LEGITIMACY Chapter Ten. Legitimizing a regicide monarch. Baybars and the Ilkhans Chapter Eleven. The written and the spoken word. Baybars and the caliphal investiture ceremonies in Cairo Chapter Twelve. The Ghazan Khan’s invasion of Syria. Polemics on his conversion to Islam and the Christian troops in his army Chapter Thirteen. A religious response to Ghazan Khan’s invasion of Syria. The three ‘anti-Mongol’ fatwās of Ibn Taymiyya Epilogue. The Mongol empire after Genghis Khan Maps Genealogical Tables Bibliography Index Illustrations

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book charts the development of Islamic ships and boats in the Western Indian Ocean from the seventh to the early sixteenth century with reference to earlier periods. It utilizes mainly Classical and Medieval Arabic literary sources with iconographical evidence and archaeological finds. The interdependence of various trading activities in the region resulted in a cross fertilization, not only of goods but also of ideas and culture which gave an underlying cohesion to the Arabian, Persian and Indian maritime peoples. This study has led to a re-evaluation of that maritime culture, showing that it was predominantly Persian and Indian, with Chinese influence, throughout the Islamic period until the coming of the Portuguese, as reflected in nautical terminology and technology.Trade ReviewHonorary Mention for Best Book published in 2007 on a Canadian nautical subject from the Canadian Nautical Research Society. Awarded Honourable Mention by The Keith Matthews Prize in 2008 Highly Commended for the Keith Muckelroy Memorial Award 2009, Nautical Archaeology Society. "Für Interessierte am arabischen Schiffbau mit Sicherheit eine willkommene Bereicherung, liegt doch mit dieser Studie eine Publikation vor, die nicht nur schiffbautechnische, sondern auch geo-politische Aspekte umfassend und facettenreich darstellt." – Thomas Feige, in: Das Logbuch 44.4 (2008) "Rarely do books come along that make such a demontrable contribution to the field of maritime history as Dionisius Agius's Classic Ships of Islam, a work that effectively re-lays the foundation for the study of Muslim shipping in the western Indian Ocean." – Lincoln Paine, in: The Northern Mariner / Le Marin du Nord, XVIII.2 (2008), 120-122 "As a reviewer seeking to do full justice to this complex work one would almost have to match Agius word-for-word, so rich is the study in its assessment of sources, the arguments of other scholars, and its overall sweeping contribution to the much-neglected field." – Kenneth McPherson, in: Nautical Archeology 38.1 (2009), 180-182 "The book [...] advances our understanding of Islamic material culture as well as social and economic history and offers a fascinating journey into the past, to borrow Agius' heading of Chapter One of his book." – Yaacov Lev, in: Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 38 (2011), 391-395

Read more less

Book SynopsisAll aspects of the ancient site of Ras Shamra (Ugarit) are treated in this compendium: discovery, decipherment of script, interpretation of literary, diplomatic and legal texts, as well as analysis of languages, history, religion and iconography. Cyrus Gordon called its archives 'the foremost literary discovery of the twentieth century' and they have undoubtedly revolutionized our knowledge of the background to Greek, Phoenician and Israelite culture.Trade Review'...diesen wertvollen Band, der für die weitere Beschäftigung mit Ugarit und seiner Welt unerläßlich sein dürfte.’ F. Zeeb, UF, 1998. 'Nummehr liegt ein veritables “Handbook of Ugaritic Studies” vor, welches den Namen eines Handbuchs wirklich verdient, da es eine verläßliche und erschöpfende Übersicht zum stand der Ugarit-Forschungen gewährt.’ Herbert Niehr, Journal of Semitic Studies. 2001.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Africa Yearbook covers major domestic political developments, the foreign policy and socio-economic trends in sub-Sahara Africa – all related to developments in one calendar year. The Yearbook contains articles on all sub-Saharan states, each of the four sub-regions (West, Central, Eastern, Southern Africa) focusing on major cross-border developments and sub-regional organizations as well as one article on continental developments and one on African-European relations. While the articles have thorough academic quality, the Yearbook is mainly oriented to the requirements of a large range of target groups: students, politicians, diplomats, administrators, journalists, teachers, practitioners in the field of development aid as well as business people.Table of ContentsPreface List of Abbreviations Factual Overview List of Authors  Part 1 Sub-Saharan Africa  Jon Abbink, Victor Adetula, Andreas Mehler and Henning Melber Part 2 African-European Relations  Christine Hackenesch and Niels Keijzer Part 3 West Africa  Victor Adetula Benin  Alexander Stroh Burkina Faso  Daniel Eizenga Cabo Verde  Gerhard Seibert Côte d’Ivoire  Jesper Bjarnesen The Gambia  Alice Bellagamba Ghana  Jennifer C. Boylan Guinea  Anita Schroven Guinea-Bissau  Christoph Kohl Liberia  Franzisca Zanker Mali  Bruce Whitehouse Mauritania  Helena Olsson and Claes Olsson Niger  Klaas van Walraven Nigeria  Heinrich Bergstresser Senegal  Mamadou Bodian Sierra Leone  Krijn Peters Togo  Dirk Kohnert Part 4 Central Africa  Andreas Mehler Cameroon  Fanny Pigeaud Central African Republic  Andreas Mehler Chad  Ketil Fred Hansen Congo  Brett L. Carter Democratic Republic of the Congo  Janosch Kullenberg Equatorial Guinea  Joseph N. Mangarella Gabon  Douglas Yates São Tomé and Príncipe  Gerhard Seibert Part 5 Eastern Africa  Jon Abbink Burundi  Tomas van Acker Comoros  Simon Massey Djibouti  Nicole Hirt Eritrea  Nicole Hirt Ethiopia  Jon Abbink Kenya  Nanjala Nyabola Rwanda  Yolande Bouka Seychelles  Anthoni van Nieuwkerk and Jon Abbink Somalia  Jon Abbink South Sudan  Daniel Large Sudan  Jean-Nicolas Bach and Clément Deshayes Tanzania  Kurt Hirschler and Rolf Hofmeier Uganda  Volker Weyel Part 6 Southern Africa  Henning Melber Angola  Jon Schubert Botswana  David Sebudubudu Lesotho  Roger Southall Madagascar  Richard R. Marcus Malawi  George Dzimbiri and Lewis Dzimbiri Mauritius  Tor Sellström Mozambique  Joseph Hanlon Namibia  Henning Melber South Africa  Sanusha Naidu Swaziland  Marisha Ramdeen Zambia  Edalina Rodrigues Sanches Zimbabwe  Amin Y. Kamete

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis encyclopedic work on Islam comprises English translations of all canonical ḥadīths, complete with their respective chains of transmission (isnāds). By conflating the variant versions of the same ḥadīth, the repetitiveness of its literature has been kept wherever possible to a minimum. The latest methods of isnād analysis, described in the general introduction, have been employed in an attempt to identify the person(s) responsible for each ḥadīth. The book is organized in the alphabetical order of those persons. These are the so-called ‘common links’. Each of them is listed with the tradition(s) for the wording of which he can be held accountable, or with which he can at least be associated.Trade Review"I admire the precision and the clearness of this work, which enables the reader to easily find his way in the enormous corpus of material' (Manfred Ullmann) “This work is the product of the author's lifelong dedication to the study of the hadith literature and to making this material more accessible. Juynboll has brought together a vast number of traditions, presented them in English translation, and provided much useful information regarding each. Summing Up: Highly recommended. (M. Schwartz, Boston University) Choice ReviewTable of ContentsPreface List of technical abbreviations List of (shortened) bibliographical references General Introduction An alphabetical list of persons with whom canonical traditions may be associated Appendix: List of abdāl unearthed mainly from the rijāl lexicons Index List of Qurʾānic passages

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the humanities, the term ‘diaspora’ recently emerged as a promising and powerful heuristic concept. It challenged traditional ways of thinking and invited reconsiderations of theoretical assumptions about the unfolding of cross-cultural and multi-ethnic societies, about power relations, frontiers and boundaries, about cultural transmission, communication and translation. The present collection of essays by renowned writers and scholars addresses these issues and helps to ground the ongoing debate about the African diaspora in a more solid theoretical framework. Part I is dedicated to a general discussion of the concept of African diaspora, its origins and historical development. Part II examines the complex cultural dimensions of African diasporas in relation to significant sites and figures, including the modes and modalities of creative expression from the perspective of both artists/writers and their audiences; finally, Part III focusses on the resources (collections and archives) and iconographies that are available today. As most authors argue, the African diaspora should not be seen merely as a historical phenomenon, but also as an idea or ideology and an object of representation. By exploring this new ground, the essays assembled here provide important new insights for scholars in American and African-American Studies, Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies, and African Studies. The collection is rounded off by an annotated listing of black autobiographies.Trade Review"Highly recommended" - in: Choice (December 2005), p. 460 "One can only hope for more critical work along the same lines." - in: ZAA, LIII. Jahrgang, Heft 4 (4. Vierteljahr, 2005)Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION Geneviève FABRE/Klaus BENESCH: The Concept of African Diaspora(s): A Critical Reassessment THINKING DIASPORAS Brent HAYES EDWARDS: The Uses of ‘Diaspora’ David PALUMBO-LIU: Against Race: Yes, But At What Cost? Michel FEITH: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s Signifying Monkey: A Diasporic Critical Myth DIASPORIC HISTORICAL SITES Sylvia FREY: Cultural Migrations: A Time-&-Space Outline of Black Atlantic Protestantism Sujaya DHANVANTARI: French Revolutionary Song in the Haitian Revolution 1789-1804 Winston JAMES: From John Brown Russwurm to George Padmore: The Anglophone Caribbean Diaspora and Pan-African Projects LITERARY WRITINGS OF DIASPORA Carla L. PETERSON: Modernity and Historical Consciousness in the “New Negro” Novel at the Nadir (1892-1903) Klaus BENESCH: Notes from Underground: William Demby’s The Catacombs and the Diasporic Roots of African-American Modernism Kathie BIRAT: The Conundrum of Home: The Diasporic Imagination in The Nature of Blood by Caryl Phillips Seth MOGLEN: Modernism in the Black Diaspora: Langston Hughes and the “broken cubes of Picasso” VISUAL ART AND PERFORMANCE Amy KIRSCHKE: Du Bois, The Crisis and Images of Africa and the Diaspora Iris SCHMEISSER: “Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands”: Ethiopianism, Egyptomania, and the Arts of the Harlem Renaissance Judith BETTELHEIM: Carnaval of Los Congos in Portobelo, Panama: Feathered Men and Queens POSTSCRIPT Tom FEELINGS: The Middle Passage: A Visual Narrative APPENDIX Phyllis B. BISCHOF : The Power and Place of Black Diasporan Autobiography : An Annotated Bibliography of Autobiographies

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book presents the work of Polish and American philosophers about Poland’s transition from Communist domination to democracy. Among their topics are nationalism, liberalism, law and justice, academic freedom, religion, fascism, and anti-Semitism. Beyond their insights into the ongoing situation in Poland, these essays have broader implications, inspiring reflection on dealing with needed social changes.Table of ContentsForeword Leszek KOCZANOWICZ and Beth J. SINGER: Preface PART 1 Democracy and National Identity ONE Leszek KOCZANOWICZ: In the Name of the Nation … In the Name of the Market. What Was Our Revolution For? TWO Shannon KINCAID: Democracy, Ideology, and Nationalism: Democratic Reconstruction and Post-Totalitarian Eastern Europe PART 2 Religion, Moral Values, and the Overthrow of Totalitarianism THREE Dariusz ALEKSANDROWICZ: Post-Communist Transition and Catholicism in Poland FOUR Mariusz TUROWSKI: Religion and Politics in Poland: Political Discourse, Toleration, and Neutrality PART 3 Liberalism and Democracy FIVE Tom ROCKMORE: After Marxism: Democratic Liberalism and Hegelian Recognition SIX Andrzej SZAHAJ: Communitarian Critique of Liberalism and the Problem of Democracy and Pluralism in Poland PART 4 Democracy and Public Reason SEVEN David M. RASMUSSEN: Public Reason and Higher Law: Reflections on John Rawls and the Idea of Public Reason EIGHT Frederic R. KELLOGG: Justification and Public Reason in a Democracy PART 5 Participatory Democracy and Social Justice NINE Justyna MIKLASZEWSKA: Public Choice Theory and the Post-Totalitarian State TEN John RYDER: Academic Freedom and a Democratic Society PART 6 The Electronic Media and Democracy ELEVEN Anthony J. GRAYBOSCH: Democracy, the Media, and the Post-Totalitarian Experience TWELVE Marek HETMAŃSKI: Internet and Electronic Democracy PART 7 Procedural Transformation THIRTEEN Andrzej Maciej KANIOWSKI: Detotalitarization and the Ambiguity of Moral Codes FOURTEEN Radosław SOJAK: Politics of Exclusion and the Lustration Debate PART 8 American Philosophical Conceptions: Implications for Democratization FIFTEEN Richard P. MULLIN: Josiah Royce’s Philosophy of Loyalty as a Basis for Democratic Ethics SIXTEEN Sandra B. ROSENTHAL and Rogene A. BUCHHOLZ: Pragmatism as a Political Philosophy for Emerging Democracies SEVENTEEN Judith M. GREEN: Guiding Post-Totalitarian Economic Democratization through Deweyan Radical Pragmatism About the Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisCrossing borders – both physically and imaginatively – is part of our ‘nomadic’ postmodern identity, but transcultural and transnational exchanges have also played a major role in the centuries-long processes of hybridisation that helped to fashion the vast geographic, political and imaginative container of diversity we call Europe. This volume gathers together the work of scholars from several European countries in an attempt to encourage a collective reflection upon historical – and often ‘mythical’ – locations and landscapes, as well as upon the thresholds and faultlines that unite or separate them. The issues the volume tackles are delicate and complex, for the encounter of differences engenders both curiosity and suspicion and there is no easy way to create a new synthesis while respecting and promoting diversity. However, since Europe is inevitably a cultural and political entity ‘in the making’, Europeans should embrace the ‘great narrative’ of a ‘utopian project’, uniting their efforts to work towards a civilisation that is grounded on plurality and openness.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Maurizio ASCARI and Adriana CORRADO: Introduction 1. The Grand Tour and the Mediterranean Manfred PFISTER: Travelling in the Traces of…Italian Spaces and the Traces of the Other Edward CHANEY: Egypt in England and America: The Cultural Memorials of Religion, Royalty and Revolution Marino NIOLA: The Invention of the Mediterranean Alvio PATIERNO: Vesuvius for Everyone in 19th Century France Paola PAUMGARDHEN: Goethe and Von Archenholz in Naples in 1787: Views of the City between Myth and Reality Adriana CORRADO: Glances at Naples, Centre of Campania Felix: First Step towards a Complex Cultural Theme 2. Water and Cultural Memory David SKILTON: Water and Memory David SKILTON: Ruin and the Loss of Empire: From Venice and New Zealand to the Thames Eleonora FEDERICI: Rose Macaulay’s Fabled Shore: Driving through Cities and Landscapes Franca Zanelli QUARANTINI: Water, Mourning and the Quest for Origin in Irène Némirovsky’s Works Olga BINCZYK: The Modern Voyage: In Search of Identity in the Light of Selected Works of English Writers of the 1930s 3. Literature and Cityscapes Monica SPIRIDON: The City of Texts Susan BASSNETT: Seismic Aftershocks: Responses to the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 Katia PIZZI: Sites of Exchange and Topographies of Memory at the Northeastern Borders of Italy Monica SPIRIDON: Memories of a Post-Metropolis: “Torre e Tasso” across the Atlantic Peter VASSALLO: Valletta (meta)fictionalised historiographically in Thomas Pynchon’s V 4. Borders and Conflicts Maurizio ASCARI: Borders, Frontiers and Boundaries Maurizio ASCARI: Shifting Borders: The Lure of Italy and the Orient in the Writings of 18th and 19th Century British travellers Graham DAWSON: The ‘Ulster’-Irish Border, Protestant Imaginative Geography and Cultural Memory in the Irish Troubles Jola ŠKULJ: Cultural Spaces in Border Territories Paola VILLANI: The Redemption of the Siren Dianna PICKENS: Captive Naples Adriana CORRADO: Concluding Remarks Notes on Contributors

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume will be of interest to scholars examining the relationship between culture and identity, concepts of individual and group agency in multicultural settings, and the effect that our globalising world has on regional cultural systems and local communities. From Conflict to Recognition: Moving Multiculturalism Forward grew out of research presented at the 3rd Global Conference of Multiculturalism, Conflict and Belonging held by Inter-Disciplinary.net at Mansfield College, Oxford University in September 2009. The conference provided a platform for researchers from diverse regions of the world and a variety of fields to present their work and engage each other on the major cultural transformations and epistemological shifts occurring in the current global paradigm. A unique aspect of the volume is its dialogic structure: each author refers to the work of other authors in the book; thus forming threads through-out the work, which link what are often perceived as unrelated issues. The volume is comprised of thirteen chapters divided into four thematic sections: Rights, Culture and Recognition; Complex Stories of Identity Formation; The Interweaving of Self and Other – Being and Belonging; and Crossing Boundaries and the Language of the Aesthetic.Table of ContentsMichael Kearney: Introduction Rights, Culture and Recognition Giorgio Bertolotti: Identity, Recognition and Conflict Omid Hejazi: Two Liberal Theories of Minority Rights: Universal or Particular? Puja Kapai: The Doctrine of Substantive Equality and the Democratisation of Diversity Complex Stories of Identity Formation Michael Kearney and Setsuko Adachi: Mapping Hybrid Identities: A Matrixing Model for Transculturality Elmé Vivier: Construction of Identity in the Philosophy of Hannah Arendt Caroline Duvieusart-Déry: Reification in the Census? Multiculturalist Policies and Identity Markers in 36 Democracies Janyne Sattler: Belonging to the World: Cosmopolitanism as a Remedy against Strangeness The Interweaving of Self and Other: Being and Belonging Paul Prinsloo: Being an African: Some Queer Remarks from the Margins Na’ama Sheffi and Amir Har-Gil: Entangled in Memory: Six Variations on the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict Meghna Haldar: ‘Dirt’: A Social Mirror Crossing Boundaries and the Language of the Aesthetic Katherine Wilson: The Space of Salsa: Theory and Implications of a Global Dance Phenomenon Tina Rahimy: The Potentiality of the Faceless: A Minor Reflection of Philosophy and Cinema Stephanie-Alice Baker: Social Tragedy: Zidane’s Role in France’s Tragic Epic Index Notes on Contributors

Read more less