Search results for ""bloomsbury publishing""

Malaysia and Brunei both apply a complex hybrid body of positive law to their Malay Muslim majorities. This volume traces the development of a unique 'Anglo-Malay madhhab' in these states, initially by colonial and latterly by successor states. In Malaysia and Brunei, shari'ah has been filtered through Anglo-common law state institutions, creating a hybrid 'Anglo-Muslim' mixture of legal doctrines. This system of jurisprudence makes only very limited reference to the classical shari'ah but draws heavily on the secular English common law and its legal traditions, procedures and principles. In post-colonial times, this system has not been accepted without resistance and this volume considers the impact of colonial and successor states on the development of legal institutions and systems of Malaysia and Brunei.

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What is the place of young people in society today? This book presents a searching and comprehensive picture of youth, demonstrating both its diversity and singularity, and helping to dispel many of the myths, discriminations, stigmas and prejudices attached to this segment of society. Drawing on a vast empirical research exercise including over 8000 interviews and 40 focus groups in eight metropolitan areas of Brazil, this book explores the most important aspects of young people's social participation and the resulting challenges for public policy. With clear resonance beyond Brazil, this research is designed to inform youth policy strategies in the developing and developed world.

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Ingmar Bergman was the last and arguably the greatest of the old-style European auteurs and his influence across all areas of contemporary cinema has continued to be considerable since his death in July 2007. Drawing on interviews with collaborators and original research, this book puts Bergman's career into the context of his life and offers a new and revealing portrait of this great filmmaker. Geoffrey Macnab explores the often painfully autobiographical nature of his work, while also looking in detail at Bergman as a craftsman. He considers Bergman's working relationship with his actors (especially the actresses he helped make into international stars), his passion for theatre, literature and classical music and his obsession with death and cruelty. The book traces his traumatic childhood, asking how his experiences growing up as the son of a strict Lutheran pastor fed into his later writing and filmmaking. It also looks at his political life, chronicling his teenage flirtation with Nazism, his bitter spat in the mid-70s with the Swedish authorities over his tax affairs and his often vexed relationship with his fellow Swedes. Geoffrey Macnab also considers how Bergman's work was financed and distributed, his relationship with US agents and how close he came to working in Hollywood. 'When I was 10 years old I received my first rattling film projector with its chimney and lamp which went round and round and round. I found it both mystifying and fascinating' - Ingmar Bergman.

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Why did Israel shift from a state based on pioneering egalitarianism and 'making the desert bloom' to one which is chiefly known for its military prowess? "The Triumph of Military Zionism" examines Israel's shift to the right at the hands of Menachem Begin, the supposed 'disciple' of Vladimir Jabotinsky. Shindler's book uses original research to challenge the conventional wisdom that Begin was the natural heir to Jabotinsky. He demonstrates through hitherto unpublished sources how Israel drifted away from Jabotinsky's ideas towards a maximalist Zionism because Begin's very selective interpretation of his mentor's words did not reflect Jabotinsky's intentions. This invaluable addition to the study of Israel's political history will appeal to both Middle Eastern and military historians.

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Keith Kyle was 'the epitome of the intellectual journalist' and the foremost historian of the Suez War. In this, his posthumously published autobiography, he takes the reader on a spectacular and exhilarating journey through the political history of the later 20th century, to the heart of world-shaking international crises where great events, people and places come to life. The clarity, expertise, enthusiasm and essential modesty with which he wrote gave his international audience the vital feeling of involvement and being there. Here was a reporter - and he claimed to be no more - of rare skill, intelligence, humanity and true moral purpose. Keith Kyle's extraordinary career took him from history at Oxford with A.J.P. Taylor, military service in India and Burma (ending as 'an unlikely infantry captain'), to the BBC World Service. He was recruited for The Economist by Geoffrey Crowther to act as Political and Parliamentary Correspondent in Washington, where he was at the epicentre of world politics. He was in Washington when the Suez crisis broke - the subject of his major history, Suez: Britain's End of Empire in the Middle East, which has defined the subject to the present. Keith Kyle's radio and television journalism brought him into countless British homes as BBC Talks Producer but he also held political ambitions which saw him contesting - unsuccessfully - St Albans and Braintree for Labour and Northampton South for the SDP/Alliance. In Keith Kyle's last years his life evolved from his years of vivid reporting of world politics, to scholarly research and writing at the John F Kennedy Institute of Politics at Harvard; St Antony's College, Oxford; the RIIA at Chatham House; and, the University of Ulster, where he was Visiting Professor of History.

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Unplanned Development offers a fascinating and fresh view into the realities of development planning. While to the outsider most development projects present themselves as thoroughly planned endeavours informed by structure, direction and intent, Jonathan Rigg exposes the truth of development experience that chance, serendipity, turbulence and the unexpected define development around the world. Based on rich empirical sources from South-East Asia, Unplanned Development sustains a unique general argument in making the case for chance and turbulence in development. Identifying chance as a leading factor in all development planning, the book contributes to a better way of dealing with the unexpected and asks vital questions on the underlying paradoxes of development practice.

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In The Delusions of Economics, Gilbert Rist presents a radical critique of neoclassical economics from a social and historical perspective. Rather than enter into existing debates between different orthodoxies, Rist instead explores the circumstances that prevailed when economics was 'invented', and the resultant biases that helped forge the construction of economics as a 'science'. In doing so, Rist demonstrates how these various presuppositions are either obsolete or just plain wrong, and that traditional economics is largely based on irrational convictions that are difficult to debunk due to their 'religious' nature. As a result, we are prevented from properly understanding the world around us and dealing with the financial, environmental, and climatic crises that lie ahead. Provocative and original, this essential book provides incontrovertible proof that the construction of a new economic paradigm - pluralistic, ecologically compatible, grounded in reality - has now become a necessity.

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Debates over social movements have suffered from a predominate focus on North America and western Europe, often neglecting the significance of collective action in the global South. Citizenship and Social Movements seeks to partially redress this imbalance with case studies from Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, South Africa and Nigeria. This volume points to the complex relationships that influence mobilization and social movements in the South, suggesting that previous theories have underplayed the influence of state power and elite dominance in the government and in NGOs. As the contributors to this book clearly show, understanding the role of the state in relation to social movements is critical to determining when collective action can fulfil the promise of bringing the rights of the marginalized to the fore.

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How does citizen activism win changes in national policy? Which factors help to make myriad efforts by diverse actors add up to reform? What is needed to overcome setbacks, and to consolidate the smaller victories? These questions need answers. Aid agencies have invested heavily in supporting civil society organizations as change agents in fledgling and established democracies alike. Evidence gathered by donors, NGOs and academics demonstrates how advocacy and campaigning can reconfigure power relations and transform governance structures at the local and global levels. In the rush to go global or stay local, however, the national policy sphere was recently neglected. Today, there is growing recognition of the key role of champions of change inside national governments, and the potential of their engagement with citizen activists outside. These advances demand a better understanding of how national and local actors can combine approaches to simultaneously work the levers of change, and how their successes relate to actors and institutions at the international level. This book brings together eight studies of successful cases of citizen activism for national policy changes in South Africa, Morocco, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Turkey, India and the Philippines. They detail the dynamics and strategies that have led to the introduction, change or effective implementation of policies responding to a range of rights deficits. Drawing on influential social science theory about how political and social change occurs, the book brings new empirical insights to bear on it, both challenging and enriching current understandings.

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In an increasingly integrated, globalised world with new cross-border threats to health, widening disparities in both health and access to health care, and an unacceptable level of human suffering and premature mortality in developing countries, civil society actors are asking, why is so little progress being made by global health actors? Like its critically acclaimed predecessor, the second edition of Global Health Watch covers a comprehensive range of topics, including access to medicines, mental health, water and sanitation, nutrition, and war and conflict. Unlike other reports on global health, it also draws attention to the politics of global health and the policies and actions of key actors. Global Health Watch 2 includes chapters on the United States foreign assistance programme, the Gates Foundation, the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,Tuberculosis and Malaria. Global Health Watch 2 is not only an educational resource for health professionals and activists, it also makes clear the need for global health advocates to engage in lobbying many key actors to do better and to do more, whilst resisting those that do harm.

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With very few exceptions, industrial development has been central to the process of structural transformation which characterises economic development. Industrial Development for the 21st century examines the new challenges and opportunities arising from globalization, technological change and new international trade rules. The first part focuses on key sectors with potential for developing countries, focussing on two key themes. First, traditional points of entry for late industrializers - like textiles and clothing - have become even more intensely competitive than ever before, requiring more innovative adaptive strategies for success. Second, countries now recognize that manufacturing does not exhaust the opportunities for producing high value-added goods and services for international markets. Knowledge intensity is increasing across all spheres of economic activity, including agriculture and services, which can offer promising development paths for some developing countries. The final section addresses social and environmental aspects of industrial development. Labour-intensive, but not necessarily other patterns of industrial development can be highly effective in poverty reduction though further industrial progress may be less labour-intensive. A range of policies can promote industrial energy and materials efficiency, often with positive impacts on firms' financial performance as well as the environment. Promoting materials recycling and reuse is an effective, if indirect means of conserving resources. Finally, the growth of multinational interest in corporate social responsibility is traced, with consideration given to both the barriers and opportunities this can pose for developing country enterprises linked to global supply chains.

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The Hindi film industry, among the most prolific in the world, has delighted audiences for decades with its colourful, exquisite and sometimes startling costumes. But are costumes more than just a source of pleasure? This book, the first in-depth exploration of Hindi film costume, contends that they are a unique source of knowledge about issues ranging from Indian taste and fashion to questions of identity, gender and work. Anthropological and film studies approaches combine to analyze costume as the outcome of production processes and as a cinematic device for conveying meaning. Chapters lead from the places where costume is planned and executed to explorations of characterization, the actor body, spectacles of fashion, to the imagining of historical or fantasy worlds through dress, to the power of stardom to launch clothing styles into the public domain. As well as charting the course of film costume as it parallels important trends in cultural history, the book considers the future of Hindi film costume, in the context of new strains of filmmaking that stress unvarnished realism. Fashioning Bollywood will appeal to students and scholars of Indian culture, anthropology and fashion, as well as anyone who has seen and enjoyed Hindi films.

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Gilles Deleuze published two radical books on film: Cinema 1: The Movement-Image and Cinema 2: The Time-Image. Engaging with a wide range of film styles, histories and theories, Deleuze's writings treat film as a new form of philosophy. This ciné-philosophy offers a startling new way of understanding the complexities of the moving image, its technical concerns and constraints as well as its psychological and political outcomes.Deleuze and Cinema presents a step-by-step guide to the key concepts behind Deleuze's revolutionary theory of the cinema. Exploring ideas through key directors and genres, Deleuze's method is illustrated with examples drawn from American, British, continental European, Russian and Asian cinema.Deleuze and Cinema provides the first introductory guide to Deleuze's radical methodology for screen analysis. It will be invaluable for students and teachers of Film, Media and Philosophy.

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This is a new introduction to Kierkegaard, guiding the student through the key concepts of his work by examining the overall development of his ideas. Soren Kierkegaard was one of the most important European philosophers of the nineteenth-century, the founder of existentialism whose work had a profound influence on some of the greatest minds of the last two centuries. Clearly and thematically structured, covering all Kierkegaard's key ideas and major works, "Starting with Kierkegaard" leads the reader through a thorough overview of the development of his thought, resulting in a more complete understanding of the roots of his philosophical concerns. Offering coverage of the full range of Kierkegaard's philosophy, the book examines the historical and phliosophical context of his ideas and how these shaped the key themes of his work. Crucially the book introduces the major thinkers and events that proved influential in the development of Kierkegaard's work, including Schelling, Pascal and his early education in theology. This is the ideal introduction for anyone coming to the work of this hugely important thinker for the first time. Continuum's "Starting With..." series offers clear, concise and accessible introductions to the key thinkers in philosophy. The books explore and illuminate the roots of each philosopher's work and ideas, leading readers to a thorough understanding of the key influences and philosophical foundations from which his or her thought developed. Ideal for first-year students starting out in philosophy, the series will serve as the ideal companion to study of this fascinating subject.

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This title introduces students to the life, work and ideas of Gottfried Leibniz, taking the reader new to the subject through the key themes of his writings. Gottfried Leibniz was one of the most important and influential philosophers of the seventeenth century and, alongside Descartes and Spinoza, one of the three great Rationalist thinkers. Covering all the key concepts of his work, "Starting with Leibniz" provides an accessible introduction to the ideas of this hugely significant thinker. Thematically structured, the book leads the reader through a thorough overview of the development of Leibniz's thought, resulting in a more thorough understanding of the roots of his philosophical concerns. Offering coverage of the full range of Leibniz's ideas, the book explores his work on substance, mind, body, matter, the existence of God, dynamics and the philosophy of science. Crucially the book introduces the major influences on Leibniz's thought, including Aristotle, Plato, Descartes and Spinoza. This is the ideal introduction for anyone coming to the work of this hugely important thinker for the first time.

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This handbook is rich with practical advice on engaging and inspiring learners, and teachers, in geography lessons. Containing everything a new or improving geography teacher could wish to know, this book provides step-by-step guidance on creating outstanding learning opportunities that prepare students for life, as well as for success in their examinations. Award-winning author and former head of geography Brin Best brings a wealth of experience and a unique blend of rigour and practicality to the subject, presenting fresh, exciting and creative ideas on how to get the most from your geography lessons. The book contains advice on everything from planning schemes of work and lessons, making the most of opportunities for learning outside the classroom and available ICT to cross-curricular links, thinking skills and examples of best practice. With reflective questions and activities, scores of lesson stimuli and a host of useful links, this book is an essential addition to every geography teacher's toolkit. Each title in the Handbooks series is a comprehensive guide to preparing to teach, teaching with confidence and making the most of assessment in secondary schools. Each handbook contains practical advice for teachers, from working with Teaching Assistants to guidance on continued professional development, as well as plenty of strategies for making lessons stimulating, cross-curricular and fun!

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This book provides an exciting and stimulating introduction to some of the central questions in philosophy.Why should we be good? How do we know what is true? What is it all about? "The Good, the True and the Beautiful" asks crucial questions about who we are and what makes life worthwhile. Michael Boylan offers an accessible and stimulating introduction to philosophy, exploring issues to do with ethics, knowledge and aesthetics and how they relate to our everyday lives. He proposes a highly original understanding of the good, the true and the beautiful that seeks to answer many of the questions that have traditionally occupied philosophers. Using thought experiments to engage the reader in 'doing' philosophy, Boylan explores what it means to be good, true and beautiful in today's world. Get your ticket now for a fascinating journey of self-discovery.

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This is a practical and topical guide designed to help teachers and support staff in schools to maximise the benefits of coaching for learning. Personalised learning is now widely regarded as a realistic and effective response to the diverse and fast-changing nature of life and work in the 21st century. Coaching has emerged as the key tool in personalised learning - and has been widely adopted as a strategy for enhancing life and improving work effectiveness in both schools and businesses. Jacquie Turnbull, an acknowledged expert in coaching, shows how coaching can transform the learning process in schools. Accessibly written and packed with real-life examples and practical exercises, this the definitive guide to coaching for teachers everywhere.

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This is the essential guide to child development for all childcare professionals working in a home-based setting. Written in Allison Lee's characteristically approachable style, she provides case studies and activities that make this wholly engaging for the reader. Allison Lee provides useful information for childminders and nannies on: Development through the ages; providing play and other learning experiences; physical development and well-being; personal, social and emotional development; communication and language development; cognitive development; factors which affect child development; working with disabled children and their families; promoting children's rights; working in partnership with parents. The contents are linked to the Diploma in Home-Based Childcare, particularly to Unit 2: Childcare and Child Development (0-16) in the Home-based Setting. This guide is a must have for all trainees in home-based childcare.

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Part of the exciting new "So You Want to Be..." series written by professionals for professionals, this book offers a no-nonsense approach to school leadership.This is a no-nonsense guide to school management and leadership. Shaun Morgan covers everything teachers need to know about being an effective school leader, from managing heavy workloads and inspiring confidence, right through to communicating vision and delivering the goods. Accessibly and engagingly written, packed with real-life examples, this book will prove essential reading for ambitious managers and leaders in school everywhere.

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Paul Virilio puts art back where it matters - at the centre of politics. Art used to be an engagement between artist and materials. But in our new media world art has changed, its very materials have changed and have become technologized. This change reflects a broader social shift. Speed and politics - what Virilio defined as the key characteristics of the twentieth century - have been transformed in the twenty-first century to speed and mass culture. And the defining characteristic of mass culture today is panic. This induced panic relies on a new, all-seeing technology. And the first casualty of this is the human response. What we are losing is the very human 'art of seeing', one individual's engagement with another or with an event, be that political or artistic. What we are losing is our sense of the aesthetic. Where art used to talk of the aesthetics of disappearance, it must now confront the disappearance of the aesthetic.

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Why are some films regarded as classics, worthy of entry into the canon of film history? Which sorts of films make the cut and why? Movie Greats questions how cinema is ranked and, in doing so, uncovers a history of critical conflict, with different aesthetic positions battling for dominance. The films examined range across the history of cinema: The Battleship Potemkin, The 39 Steps, Modern Times, Citizen Kane, It's a Wonderful Life, Black Narcissus, The Night of the Hunter, Lawrence of Arabia, 8 1/2, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Godfather, Raging Bull, The Piano and Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Each chapter opens with a brief summary of the film's plot and goes on to discuss the historical context, the key individuals who made the film, and initial and subsequent popular and critical responses. Students studying the history of film, canon formation or film aesthetics will find this book relevant, provocative and absorbing.

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Contemporary Crafts explores craft practices in both North America and Britain, revealing an astonishingly rich and diverse picture of artisanal work today. The book ranges across both urban and rural crafts and analyses how the country/city dichotomy creates differing approaches, practices and objects. Analysed in the context of their environment and its localised history, crafted objects are shown to embody or critique particular urban/rural myths and traditions. Covering both traditional and cutting-edge crafts from the small-scale domestic to large outdoor works, Contemporary Crafts demonstrates how craftspeople today are responding to the changing creative contexts of culture and history.

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Bitter, brownish and sticky, opium - the sap of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum - has been cultivated from the earliest of times. Known to the Greeks as opos or opion, as afiun in Persian and Arabic, and Fu-yung in Chinese, it is a substance that is at once both a palliative and a poison. Its exotic origins, its literary associations and the properties that were frequently, if erroneously, attributed to it have ensured the continuing air of mystery that has long surrounded it. In 'Opium', Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy reveals the fascinating history of this powerful and addictive drug and its long association with civilisation down the centuries. He explores the changing fortunes of the modern day trade in illicit opium, especially in the remote and inaccessible regions of Asia known as the Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent, the major opium-producing areas of the world today. He reveals how, when and why illicit opium production emerged, what sustains it, and why a century of global measures has failed to eradicate it. The result is a compelling account of our continuing fascination with a narcotic as old as humanity itself and a powerful insight into the complexities and difficulties of the politics and economics of the poppy in Asia and the world today.

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Our understanding of medieval Central and Eastern Europe is being revitalized by new directions in cultural history. Careful and detailed portraits of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century life in the region shed new light on the city, the court, the school and university, the economy, and prevailing ideas, and expand our vision of the interplay between religion, politics, music and memory. Gorecki and Van Deusen present the region in its intimate relationship with other regions of Europe: the commercial, intellectual, and social networks that naturally connect Poland and its neighbours to centres in Italy, France and Germany, as well as the broad areas of contact, cultural sharing, and similarity of patterns.This book thus contributes to the problem of 'Europe' - as a region and as a construct. Offering us nothing less than a new cultural history of the region, "Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages" will be invaluable for scholars working on the cultural, economic and social history of Central and Eastern Europe.

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Within three decades of the end of the Second World War, the once mighty British Empire had been dismantled leaving only a few residual spots of red on the world map. This was the age of de-colonisation and Independence. "Trespassers Forgiven" offers a personal glimpse into the history of British Honduras (Belize) at this crucial period in British history.C.H. Godden examines the long road Belize travelled to eventual independence in 1981 after more than a century as a British colony. He demonstrates the very real difficulties the new government faced and how the country's progression to independence was considerably delayed by Guatemala's territorial claim and the many international complications and obstacles that followed in its wake.Drawing on the author's personal experiences at the Colonial Office in the region at this decisive time, "Trespassers Forgiven" illuminates the colony's unique history and draws attention to the neglected and almost forgotten story of Britain's involvement in Central America. It includes penetrating personal reflections and recollections which serve as both an important resource for historians of the British Empire and of the Caribbean as well as an enthralling memoir for the general reader.

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Albert Einstein once remarked that behind all observable things lay something quite unknowable. And the motivation for his own work in physics stemmed from something as apparently innocuous as his father first showing him a compass when he was a boy. Yet, the wonder and inspiration of that moment, which he never forgot, led ultimately to his own stupendous scientific breakthroughs.This book explores that special territory perceived by Einstein: where the unknown takes over from everything that is understandable, familiar, explicable. And, that interface between known and unknown is of the very greatest importance: it lies at the heart of the human quest to take knowledge beyond the boundaries of the known. It is what scientists do when they undertake their research, from the trajectories of comets to the replication of cells. But it is also what religious people do when they start to explore their relationship with what they perceive as the divine. Their mutual effort to 'know the unknowable' is a profoundly important way in which human beings explore the limits of themselves, as well as of the universe.Bringing together distinguished contributors, both scientists and theologians (including Rowan Williams the current Archbishop of Canterbury), to explore the implications of what such an invitation means in practice, this groundbreaking book explores important topics like cosmological absence, negativity in Christian mysticism, and the 'hiddenness' of God in Buddhism.

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From the early Attaturk years, Turkish radio broadcasting was seen as a great hope for sealing the national identity of the new Turkish Republic. Since the inaugural broadcast in 1927 the national elite designed radio broadcasting to represent the 'voice of a nation'. Here Meltem Ahiska reveals how radio broadcasting actually showed Turkey's uncertainty over its position in relation to Europe. While the national elite wanted to build their own Turkish identity, at the same time they desired recognition from Europe that Turkey was now a Westernized modern country. Ahiska shows how these tensions played out over the radio in the conflicting depictions and discrepancies between the national elite and 'the people', 'cosmopolitan' Istanbul and 'national' Ankara and men and women (especially in Radio drama). Through radio broadcasting we can see how Occidentalism dictated the Turkish Republic's early history and shaped how modern Turkey saw itself.

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In November 2007, Channel 4 will be twenty-five years old. Today, such TV events as the 'Big Brother/Jade Goody Affair' have put the channel itself at the centre of public debate. Yet during its foundation years on British screens, Channel 4 was seen as more controversial and dangerous than this. Published for Channel 4's 25th anniversary, this book explores the channel's most important foundation period, under its inspirational first Chief Executive, Jeremy Isaacs. Charged by Parliament to be innovative, experimental, and educational, the new channel had to attract audiences and make a space for new voices. Did it fulfill its brief? It also assesses the legacy of the channel and asks: has it changed the nature of British television, and has the enfant terrible grown up, or is it still a youthful rebel?Dorothy Hobson had unique access to Channel 4 and the team involved in developing it, the ITV companies and fledgling independent producers over its foundation years. Accessibly written, her book uses the words and stories of those involved, and vividly reviews the new channel's successes, problems, adversities, as well as audiences' and press responses to television's new baby and its programmes.

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The protests unleashed by Iran's disputed presidential election in June 2009 brought the Islamic Republic's vigorous cyber culture to the world's attention. Iran has an estimated 700,000 bloggers, and new media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were thought to have played a key role in spreading news of the protests. The internet is often celebrated as an agent of social change in countries like Iran, but most literature on the subject has struggled to grasp what this new phenomenon actually means. How is it different from print culture[unk] Is it really a new public sphere[unk] Will the Iranian blogosphere create a culture of dissidence, which eventually overpowers the Islamist regime[unk] In this groundbreaking work, the authors give a flavour of contemporary internet culture in Iran and analyse how this new form of communication is affecting the social and political life of the country. Although they warn against stereotyping bloggers as dissidents, they argue that the internet is changing things in ways which neither the government nor the democracy movement could have anticipated. "Blogistan" offers both a new reading of Iranian politics and a new conceptual framework for understanding the politics of the internet, with implications for the wider Middle East, China and beyond.

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In a spontaneously wide-ranging conversation one winter evening in Japan, sociologist of religion Bryan Wilson and Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda recognized the importance of explaining and learning about their respective worldviews. "Human Values in a Changing World" is the record of their further exchanges on how they see the religious response to the human condition. Their contrasting approaches - one, as an academic, and the other, as a lay Buddhist - allow for a constructive critique of preconceptions otherwise unexamined in their own cultural contexts."There is an intimate connection between faith and the fruits of commitment," Wilson says at one point. To which Ikeda responds that while the benefits of faith to momentary happiness are perhaps not the core value of a religion, they can inspire and lead people to become aware of that core value or fundamental truth. The two men's observations on the origins of religious sensibilities move from the spiritual and the moral to the politics of private and public life. Although published some years ago, "Human Values in a Changing World" addresses topics and issues which are of perennial importance to human flourishing, including: sexual morality, the limits of tolerance and religious freedom, the future of the family, the belief in an afterlife, and the idea of sin.

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Although best known as an eminent classical archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans was also passionately interested in the history of Albania. An authority on ancient Illyria, his sophisticated sense of the region's ancient roots infused his understanding of the complex culture and politics of the Balkans in the 19th century and combined to make him an authoritative and entertaining guide to this important subject. In "Albanian Letters", Evans not only explores the implications of the key political events of this period (for example, the formation of the Albanian League in 1878) but also paints a vivid picture of the country's complex social and cultural make-up. In the late 19th century, the questions of nationalism and national identity were a major preoccupation for Albanians."Albanian Letters" looks at how Albanians' views of their homeland were affected by developments taking place at the time, including increasing awareness of ethnic differences, population migration and changes to its distinctive culture and tradition. "Albanian Letters" offers a vivid snapshot of a nation at a critical period in its development.

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What does it mean to call Western society 'secular'? What is 'secularism'? And how should we understand the concept of 'secularism' in international relations, particularly the clash between radical Islam and the West? The Latin term from which the word 'secular' is derived - 'saeculum' - means 'generation' or 'age', and came to mean that which belongs to this life, to the here and now, in this world. It is widely used as a shorthand for the ideology which shapes contemporary society without reference to the divine.However, according to Graeme Smith, 'secularism' represents a great deal more. He offers a radical reappraisal of the notion of secularism and its history, beginning with the Greeks and proceeding to modernity and the contemporary period. The assumption that the West is becoming increasingly secular is often unquestioned. By contrast, Dr Smith discerns a different kind of society: one informed by a historical legacy which makes sense only when it is appreciated that it is religious. Secularism was born of Christianity. Daringly - and very originally - Smith argues that it is impossible to understand the idea of the secular without appreciating that, at root, it is Christian. "A Short History of Secularism" will fundamentally reshape discussions of western culture, religion and politics. It will have strong appeal to students of religion, political philosophy, and the history of ideas.

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In post-Franco Spain, a re-shaping of notions of the masculine has been under way for some time. The authors of "Live Flesh" demonstrate how contemporary Spanish films, during this modern period, have contributed to this process. They do so by visualizing the ways in which Spanish men have been abandoning old self images and adopting new ones, and they explain and explore the complexity and diversity of these fresh cinematic creations of masculine identities. The book's point of focus is Spanish films of the democratic period, both popular and auteur, made by directors of national and international prominence, such as Pedro Almodovar, Alejandro Amenabar, Bigas Luna or Julio Medem, as well as films featuring acclaimed actors who have contributed to the construction of contemporary ideas of the masculine in their country, including Antonio Banderas and Javier Bardem. Using a fresh theoretical framework, embracing queer and feminist theory and concepts of nation, race and class, each chapter examines key films that represent the male body, highlighting notable elements - young, muscular, homosexual, (dis)abled, foreign and so on - and goes on to focus on recent case studies from the early 1990s to the present. An increasingly transnational Spanish cinema is a most promising field in which to explore questions of how male bodies are represented - and mediated - in film. "Live Flesh" more than fulfils this promise and goes further, to reveal how these representations have intervened in the Spanish cultural imagination.

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This is the book that exposes the workings of Iranian politics today. The authors penetrate the labyrinth of political relationships and family networks that is the Iranian ruling class, and reveal the forces which brought hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. They argue that the power base behind Ahmadinejad represents a kind of Iranian version of American neoconservativism. The Iranian neocons, like their Washington counterparts, have come in from the cold. Politicians and clerics exiled from influence under the reformist President Khatami have seized their chance to get back in to power, and to push an uncompromising foreign policy agenda.Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Mahjoob Zweiri show how Ahmadinejad's surprise victory in the 2005 elections was just one facet of this group's strategy for regaining influence. In an analysis which has major implications for Western policymakers, the authors examine the group's agenda on issues like Iraq, Israel and nuclear enrichment, and assess how likely it is that they will be able to implement it. "Iran and the Rise of its Neoconservatives" is the essential guide to the politics of this turbulent nation, whose importance to world security has never been more keenly felt.

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Since the late 1950s John Rex has been at the forefront of British sociology and in particular the sociology of 'race' and ethnicity. His research and books have spawned debate and discussion in the fields of social and political theory, housing studies, education and the experiences of Muslim minorities. This volume charts the nature, direction and significance of John Rex's work in the fields of urban sociology, ethnic relations and multicultural studies. As well as identifying important and persistent points of controversy the book also reveals much common ground and the potential for a multi-faceted approach to the theorisation of 'race' and ethnicity. "Immigration and Race Relations" includes contributions from eminent thinkers from the perspectives of sociology, social anthropology, education, philosophy, political science and cultural studies.

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Throughout World War II, the United States played a pivotal role in the development of British maritime aviation. Even before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm pilots were being trained in the United States under a scheme set up by the United States Navy as part of the Lend-Lease agreement. For many young British aviation cadets, the journey across the Atlantic and America was eye-opening. Men found themselves caught up with issues such as segregation in the American South, of which they had no experience and little understanding. Drawing on extensive interviews and correspondence with former cadets, together with archival research, Guinn and Bennett document the endeavours of American Navy pilots who taught over 16,000 British aviation cadets how to fly and fight. They comprehensively examine the details and impact of the scheme from a military, diplomatic, educational and cultural perspective.

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One of the greatest contributions to the art of French cinema, Henri-Georges Clouzot's "Le Corbeau" (1943) tells the story of a small town inundated by letters from an anonymous sender operating under the curious name of 'Le Corbeau' - the raven. An enigmatic exploration of assumptions about gender, sexuality and authority, it is also a riveting mystery film whose key remains the question: who is the Corbeau? Seen by some as the ultimate collaborationist film and by others as a brilliant meditation on complicity and evil, "Le Corbeau" is situated by Mayne as a product of the French Occupation and as the emblematic film of French World War II cinema, and she illuminates the ways in which it has transcended its time. The French film industry survived and flourished under German rule and Mayne discusses the domination of the industry by Continental Films, the Nazi-owned film company for which Clouzot worked. She asks, crucially, how such a film came to be made, evoking as it does the intense paranoia of an era in which anonymous letters denouncing friends and neighbours were encouraged by the German occupier. Yet, she also pays attention to the complex cinematic ways in which the film conjures up this paranoid climate, compelling the viewer into a world rife with sexuality, intrigue, suspicion and shadows.

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Jacques Becker's "Casque d'Or" is now recognized as a major classic of French cinema. Set in the Paris of the Belle Epoque, this tragic love affair between a gangster's moll and a carpenter has been hailed as Becker's greatest film and star Simone Signoret's most mythic role. Sarah Leahy examines "Casque d'Or" from a multitude of angles, including the film's costumes and setting, camerawork and editing, its narrative structure and cinematic style and the role of its stars. She also follows the vagaries of its reception: the film was received coolly by critics and public alike in its own country upon its release in 1952, yet it was loved in Britain and Italy. Leahy traces its trajectory from box office flop to its recognition as Becker's masterpiece. "Casque d'Or" is a paradoxical film - a melodrama which is noted for its authenticity and a costume film that shuns the spectacular - and this accessible guide explores these contradictions whilst also addressing the film's unique take on both genre and gender. Placing "Casque d'Or" in relation to other popular films of the 1950s and to the political context of the post-war era, Leahy provides insights into the cultural influences on the film's meanings and style. She also examines its place in the director's own oeuvre, revealing the ways in which Becker drew on French cinematic heritage - from Renoir to Carne-Prevert - to offer a unique perspective on the past within a film that remains absolutely of its time.

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Crime movies inhabit dark and desperate worlds, yet they account for many of Hollywood's most triumphant successes. In full acknowledgement of this achievement, "Crime Wave" offers an authoritative and informative, stimulating and entertaining guide to the crime movie phenomenon, from its early days to the present, charting its history and celebrating the people who have given it a special and enduring place in cinema goers' affections. Chapters focus on landmark Hollywood films - from 1931's "The Public Enemy", through "The Maltese Falcon", "Point Blank", "Dirty Harry", "The Godfather" trilogy and "Goodfellas", to "LA Confidential" and "Oceans 11" - telling their stories and on the way discussing many more crime movies, both major and lesser known. "Crime Wave" represents and investigates gangster and heist movies, blaxploitation and noir, murder mysteries, vehicles for vigilante or buddy cops, even a gangster love story. It features biographies and filmographies detailing the key participants and background details of the film's making, locations and sets. It also explores each film's sources and influences, its impact on the crime genre and current fashion, including spin-offs, copies and sequels. It examines the films' themes, style and box office fortunes. Detailed cast list information is provided for each of the main featured films. Written with passion, for those who love this cinema, "Crime Wave" is the perfect partner in crime.

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"The L Word" captured international attention when it first appeared on American screens in January 2004. The groundbreaking primetime drama from Showtime is about a group of lesbian and bisexual friends living and loving in Los Angeles, and challenges traditional notions of relationships, queer life styles, gender identities, race and ethnicity and sex and sexuality. "Reading the L Word" is the first book about this television phenomenon. With an introduction by Sarah Warn, the founder of premier lesbian entertainment website, AfterEllen.com, and a foreword by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, the collection brings together leading academics, feminist critics, scholars and award-winning journalists to discuss "The L Word". There is also a complete episode guide, as well as a series of interviews with the actors Erin Daniels, Katherine Moennig, and the writer, Guinevere Turner. Analytical, often humorous and sometimes provocative, "Reading the L Word" uncovers what makes this show both so compelling and groundbreaking.

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This book talks about a British Prime Minister urging a sceptical public to war in the Middle East, and a project, both desperate and ambitious, to radically change the political landscape of the Arab world. With Tony Blair and George Bush's authority ever more threatened by the blowback from their venture in the Middle East, the Suez Crisis of 1956, which brought down a government and changed the pattern of world politics for ever, has taken on a new relevance. The similarities with contemporary Iraq leap out, as do the differences. Fifty years after Antony Eden's fateful decision to take on the Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, veteran Guardian journalist Martin Woollacott retraces the legacy of this dramatic foreign policy blunder. Bringing to life the personalities and moods of the post-war scene, he shows how Suez changed the Middle East, Britain, and the world.

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How should Jews respond to an age of militant Zionism and resurgent anti-Semitism? Is insisting on a separate sense of identity anachronistic and dangerous, or is it the only way of preserving the Jewish cultural heritage? Rabbi David Goldberg, one of today's most respected and outspoken Jewish leaders, grapples with the dilemmas of contemporary Jewishness with characteristic candour, and sketches the emerging faultlines in the Jewish sense of identity. He offers up a completely fresh reading of Jewish history, arguing that the narrative of relentless woe and suffering popularised by nineteenth-century writers, such as George Eliot was based on a highly selective reading of the past. Goldberg retraces the history of the Jews, and rejects the mythology of eternal victimhood. Instead, he focuses on the survival strategies that have been pursued throughout the centuries. He contrasts the pragmatic flexibility of the Jewish Diaspora with the military assertiveness of modern Israel. With wit, insight and compassion he highlights the growing gulf between Israeli and Diaspora Jewishness. Following G.B. Shaw's quip about Britain and America, Goldberg argues that Israeli and Diaspora Jews are in danger of becoming divided by a common heritage. This book will stimulate, engage and provoke readers of all beliefs and cultures.

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The 'war on terror' tends to circumscribe crucial developments in the Islamic world within a narrow definition of 'Islamic terrorism'. This partial and incomplete perspective fails to comprehend the links between today's scenario and the Iranian revolution of 1979 - a revolution fought in the name of God and spearheaded by religious scholars. It is vital to examine the relationship between religious and revolutionary ideologies and the revolutionary potentials of Islamic teachings.In a penetrating new study, Najibullha Lafraie examines how revolutionary ideologies function, and applies these insights to the Quran and its interpreters in the vanguard of the Iranian revolution. By unpacking these discourses, Lafraie develops and refines the concept of a 'Quranic' revolutionary ideology. "The Ideology of the Islamic Revolution" delineates the different ways in which the Quran was used to mobilise action in 1979, and in so doing provides a context for understanding today's Islamist movements.

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"'Black Narcissus", now heralded as a masterpiece, is a landmark film in the influential canon of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. With the centenary of Powell's birth in 2005 this timely book - the first dedicated exclusively to the film - draws on archival documents, original set drawings and stills to demonstrate its remarkable achievements, both as a production and as a vehicle for ideas. Looking at the film's enduring images of both place and gender, Sarah Street also examines "Black Narcissus" as a masterly technical accomplishment - with cinematographer Jack Cardiff's experiments in Technicolor just one of its many advances - as well as a meditation on the end of empire. Looking too at the film's controversial reception by international critics and censors, and its subsequent impact on experimental filmmakers, Street explores issues of technique, style, performance and interpretation to reveal the continued relevance of "Black Narcissus" today.

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Owen Pearson presents a complete account of the 20th century in Albania, from its breakaway from the Ottoman Empire in 1908 to the Kosova War in 1999. He chronicles the monarchy of King Zog and the wartime period where Albania became a battleground for the Greek, Italian and German armies, and much more.

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Embark on an extraordinary journey through the British countryside, leading to mysterious sites, ancient wonders and legendary landscapes to uncover 50 of the most intriguing walks in Britain.Discover the Green Chapel of Arthurian legend deep in the Staffordshire moorlands. Take a magical stroll through the fairytale forest of Wistman''s Woods on Dartmoor. Marvel at the surreal rock formations of Brimham Rocks in Yorkshire, or spot the Hogwarts Express crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands.With each walk ranging from two to eight miles in length and featuring beautiful photography, helpful directions and useful information, this book guarantees captivating experiences for walkers of all abilities, whether you''re a casual stroller or seasoned hiker.Short Walks to Curious Places is your key to unlocking the secrets of the British countryside. With every step, you''ll uncover the stories that shaped these extraordinary l

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The Great British Dig brings history and archaeology closer to home than ever before. Each week a team of archaeologists (led by presenter Hugh Dennis) descend on streets and gardens the length and breadth of the country to discover the treasures we have been living right on top of without realising. In this official tie-in book, on-screen expert Dr Chloë Duckworth digs deeper into the sites the show visited, as well as giving practical tips and advice for anyone who wants to have a go themselves. Uncovering a lost world of human stories just a few shovelfuls beneath our feet, Chloë explores the team’s techniques in fascinating detail, offering new insights and explanations about the discoveries made. As well as revealing the actual frontier of the Roman Empire in Britain, the Tudor palace of an Elizabethan spymaster, a revolutionary Victorian prison, a Second World War military base, and a prehistoric village under a school playing field, Chloë includes lots of information for anyone wanting to give it a go themselves. The book is packed with features, tip boxes and practical advice about digging in your own back garden, researching your local area for clues about what might have been there centuries ago, and dating things you may find. Highly illustrated, the book includes images never seen on screen, as well as archive photos and illustrations that bring history to life, and identification guides to bones, pottery, tools, coins and other things you might come across yourself. Foreword by Hugh Dennis, presenter of The Great British Dig.

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