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This book explores the rich and varied mystical writings by and about medieval and early modern women across Western Europe. Women had a profound and lasting impact on the development of medieval and early modern spiritual and mystical literature, both through their own writing and as a result of the hagiographical texts that they inspired. Bringing together contributions by both established and emerging scholars, the volume provides a valuable overview of medieval mystical women with a special focus on the Low Countries and Italy, regions that produced a disproportionately high number of female mystics. The figures discussed range from Hildegard of Bingen, Hadewijch, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Marguerite Porete, Angela of Foligno, Julian of Norwich and Beatrice of Nazareth to lesser-known women such as Agnes Blannbekin, Christina of Hane, and Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi. The chapters address topics such as the body, pain, desire, ecstasy, stigmata, annihilation, virtue, visions, the tension between exterior and interior experience, and the nature of mystical union itself.

Through a collection of essays that reflect the complexity of the island's historical past as it operates today, Public History in Ireland delivers a scholarly yet accessible introduction to contemporary topics and debates in Irish public history.Despite the reputation that Ireland, both north and south, has gained as a place of contestation, this is the first book-length study to tackle its diverse and often 'difficult' public histories. Public History in Ireland offers examples drawn from museums, heritage and collections, prime mediators of public historical interpretation, but also from the work of artists and academics. It considers the silences in Ireland's history-telling including those of the recent conflict in Northern Ireland and of the traumatic public discoveries and re-evaluations of the island's institutions of social control. The book's key message is that history is active, making itself felt in ongoing debates about heritage, identity, nationhood, post-conflict society and reparative justice. It shows that Irish public history is freighted and often fraught with jeopardy, but as such it is rich with insight that has relevance far beyond this island's shores.This book is useful for students, scholars, and practitioners working in the fields of public history and the history of Ireland.

This book concentrates on the political economies of Germany and France in the period spanning between the end of World War II and the 1970s, with a subsequent consideration of Italy and Britain as "shadow cases".European postwar accounts have never reconciled the thwarting of widespread aspirations to socialism, and the twin feat of equalitarian growth and institutional stability. This success is precisely due to achieving the reconciliation of democracy and economic management, the yearning for collective control over social and material outcomes that was tragically aborted in the interwar period, and fed 1945 expectations. Germany, in 1948-49, and France, in 1958, carried radical institutional and policy reforms with much more in common than previously realised. Under the recast republics, social groups were steered towards support for modernisation - by the state, not through a mythical settlement. Consensus was built for trade and low inflation as vectors for higher productivity. State capacity was lifted by leadership in ideas, executive branch accountability to voters, and technocratic agencies. British and Italian underperformances reveal the countries' uneasiness with the compact.Once understood, the convergence of productivism and democracy in the European regulatory state provides a new narrative - especially relevant today - of experts taming populists.

Models and modeling have played an increasingly important role in philosophy, going back to the nineteenth century. While philosophical interest in models has been remarkably lively over the last two decades, there are still many underexplored questions. The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Scientific Modeling is an outstanding reference source and guide to this fast-growing area and is the first volume of its kind. Comprised of 40 specially commissioned chapters by an international team of contributors, the Handbook is organized into five clear parts: Historical and General Perspectives Philosophical Accounts of Modeling Methodological Aspects: Model Construction, Evaluation, and Calibration Related Topics Modeling in the Wild. Within these parts, the Handbook covers a diverse range of topics, including historical perspectives on modeling, the relationship between models, theories, representation, idealization, and understanding, and related topics like big data, simulation, and statistical and computational modeling. Different kinds of models are discussed, for example, network models, financial models, and climate and synthetic models.The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Scientific Modeling is essential reading for students and scholars of philosophy of science, formal epistemology, and philosophy of social sciences. It is also a valuable resource for those in related fields such as computer science and information technology.

This book presents a novel examination of Marine Protected Areas within a security context, bridging science, policy and geopolitics, and addressing the often-under-emphasized aspect of environmental justice.The book argues that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are not only a critical tool for protecting marine biodiversity in a changing climate, but they also play an important role at the intersection of geopolitics and environmental justice, and they provide a case study of environmental governance at the science-policy interface. The book takes an interdisciplinary and critical approach and builds on the author's near two decades working in this field. Geopolitically, it explores the ways MPAs provide access to resources in remote areas, becoming footprints for influence far from home for nations with overseas territories. MPAs also raise important issues connected to equity, environmental justice and social justice, including access to resources and participation in environmental decision-making processes, a key aspect for achieving long-term conservation goals. The book also demonstrates how MPAs are a critical lens for understanding how policy makers cope with scientific uncertainty, and the necessity of well-designed and precautionary science advisory processes. While the ecological contribution of MPAs is paramount, social issues and geopolitical considerations are often less obvious in the discourse underpinning MPAs, and the resulting tensions can undermine long-term conservation objectives. By applying the three lenses of geopolitics, environmental justice and science, this book provides key insights to help the international community moving past 2030 and beyond, towards a future of meaningful, equitable, and effective conservation approaches.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of biodiversity conservation, marine studies, political geography, environmental governance, and science-policy studies. It will also be of interest to marine conservation governance professionals and policymakers.

The Creative Writing Compass presents a dynamic navigational instrument for creative writers and those learning to be creative writers, providing a method for developing and advancing knowledge of creative writing. Award-winning novelist Graeme Harper explores the many fluid interactions of the imagination and the physical acts of writing. He includes observations and approaches that can be personalized to assist with writing decisions.This distinctive guide to the practice of creative writing and to its critical understanding is based in the actions of creation and in each individual writer's responses to those actions. The 'compass' refers to the range of outcomes produced in creative writing - from finished works to the experiences creative writers have while writing, as well as to the range of forces, influences and meanings that any writer is likely to encounter along the way.The Creative Writing Compass is a guide to the consideration, progression and completion of creative writing projects, providing ways of thinking about work-in-progress as well as ways of determining and reflecting on end results.

Hearing Islam introduces the global religious tradition of Islam through its rich history of sounds and music.The book explores how the centrality of sonic practices and experiences within Islamic traditions stems largely from the orality of the Qur'an and the importance of recitation, while arguing that sound can provide a productive point of entry to human cultures in general. Its tripartite structure guides the reader through the foundations of Islamic traditions and sounds; theoretical frameworks of orality, listening, and deafness; and some of the major types of sonic practices and genres related to Islam, such as chanting the Islamic poetic tradition, South Asian qawwali, and hip-hop.This cutting-edge textbook is the go-to volume for students of Islam and sound, Islamic studies, religion and sound, and the practice of Islam.

European Union policies are intertwined with all sectors of public administration and governance in the member states, including spatial, urban and regional planning. Legal regulations like the Natura 2000 Directives, funding programmes associated with EU Cohesion Policy or strategies such as the Territorial Agenda 2030 all leave their mark on planning - yet with considerably different effects in Europe's cities and regions.This book serves as a guide to navigate the connection points between EU policies and spatial planning by introducing the logics of EU policymaking and European spatial planning, outlining the most relevant EU policies with relevance for spatial planning and presenting examples from Austria and Finland how EU policies are applied in domestic contexts. By exploring the Europeanisation of spatial planning 'from within', the book acknowledges how differential ideas about what spatial planning is and what role the EU plays therein shape the actualised impacts of EU policies. By providing a comprehensive perspective on the relevance of the European Union for spatial planning, this book is ideal for students, academics and administrators who want to grasp how the EU shapes and affects planning practice in Europe's cities and regions.

Sally Hemings: Given Her Time is an exciting, concise biography which tells the extraordinary tale of Sally Hemings, mother of Thomas Jefferson's enslaved children.Born on the eve of the American Revolution, the war hung over Sally Hemings childhood. As a teenager, she travelled to Paris to witness the beginning of another revolution. There, she entered a painful bargain and became Jefferson's concubine in exchange for her children's freedom. Over thirty-six years she gave birth to seven children, buried three, and raised four, all while hoping their father would make good on his promise.Placing Hemings within the history of American women and slavery, the book acts as an introduction to race, gender, slavery, and freedom in the first fifty years of the American republic. Within this context, Hemings' life demands an honest reckoning with the national foundations of race, gender, bondage, and freedom from the vantage of a woman for whom nothing was created equal and for whom life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness came with great costs. This textbook includes study questions for students to consider, and documents to encourage students to engage with primary source materials.Sally Hemings: Given Her Time is an accessible and lively read for students in Women and Gender Studies, Women's History and African American Studies.

First published in 1955, The British Co-operative Movement presents a comprehensive overview of the cooperative movement in Britain. It discusses important themes like co-operative beginnings; co-operative principles and methods; the retail societies; the 'wholesales'; co-operative co- partnership; the agricultural co-ops.; the co-operative union; the co-operative party; employment; and co-operative education. This is an important historical reference work for scholars of British history and British politics.

First published in 1983, Cybernetics of Art uses the methodology and concepts of cybernetics to explore art and the creative process. Part I surveys the domain that includes both science and the arts, attempting to understand their differing viewpoints- and the basis of conflicts between them. Art is approached as a method of knowledge aimed at knowledge of experience per se (as distinct from knowledge derived through experience).Part II poses the problem of notionally constructing an authorship machine and develops the technical argument by exploring the question of the kind of machine it would need to be. Part III examines the products of such a machine with a view to finding criteria for distinguishing those that might be called art. An extended, non-technical commentary accompanies the text throughout, with the dual aim of comparing the book's technical conclusions with ideas expressed by critiques and practicing artists and assisting readers unfamiliar with the information sciences in following the argument. In a world dominated by artificial intelligence, this interdisciplinary book will be useful for scholars and researchers of cybernetics, art, and humanities and social sciences in general.

This book provides a conceptual toolkit to understand the changing technologies and dynamics of political campaigning in India. Examining political campaigning and party strategies across many Indian states, with special attention to regional politics, histories, cultures, social and technological contexts, the book discusses the potential impacts of campaign strategies on electoral outcomes.Political campaigning reached a tipping point with millions of social media users engaging online with family and friends, political issues, parties and candidates in India's 2019 parliamentary election. Although India's political parties had been working with consultants and professional advertising agencies for decades, by 2019, millions of first-time voters as well as older voters were microtargeted with campaign messaging by parties and their affiliates, including frequent misinformation from unknown sources supporting one party or another.Filling a key gap in political communication research on election campaigns in digital India, the chapters in this book capture how political campaigning is important for the electoral fortunes of political parties in India's diverse regions and states.This book will appeal to students, scholars, and practitioners in political communication, public administration, and political consulting, as well as anyone interested in data-driven political campaigning. It will also be an invaluable reading for those interested in South Asian studies. This book was originally published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.

This book examines a significant part of New Zealand history through a critical analysis of the Muslim community in Christchurch, a neglected but important aspect of the past in this South Pacific nation-state.Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in New Zealand and one of the least understood by the wider public. However, the historic reality demonstrates that the first Muslim settlers arrived within 15 years of the proclamation of the colony and many have been living quietly in this country and contributing to society ever since. Drury elucidates how New Zealand Muslims have proved it possible to integrate into an Anglo-European society whilst retaining an idiosyncratic sense of Islamic communal identity.A useful reference for scholars and educators curious to learn more about Muslims in New Zealand and about the Christchurch Mosque communities before the 2019 shootings.

This book documents the emergence and development of the theory of racial capitalism in apartheid South Africa. It interrogates the specificity of this theory in the South African context and draws lessons for its global applicability.Racism and capitalism have a long history of entanglement. Nowhere is this more evident than in South Africa, where colonial and apartheid regimes used explicit systems of racial hierarchy to shore up profit. It is therefore no surprise that South Africa has represented a key site for thinking about the role that racism plays in shaping state policy, labor markets, patterns of capital accumulation, and working-class struggle. Illuminating these dynamics, this volume develops a distinctive South African tradition of thought about the relationship between racism and capitalism.The South African Tradition of Racial Capitalism contributes to a burgeoning literature on the concept of "racial capitalism," the origins of which many commentators trace back to apartheid South Africa. It pays particular attention to the crucial role of anti-apartheid activists as theorists, whose important insights remain relevant for scholars and activists around the globe. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

First published in 1989, Chronicles of Darkness is about images of Africa seen through the eyes of writers, visitors, residents, and native-born. They range from Joseph Conrad and Olive Schreiner, through Laurens van der Post, Karen Blixen and Evelyn Waugh, to more recent writers like Nadine Gordimer, Andre Brink and J.M. Coetzee.Such writers have frequently been faced with feelings of alienation, marginality, exile, self-consciousness, and egoism. It is only in this sense- that the eyes which see are shadowed and troubled- that Africa is a 'dark continent' and that these writings are 'chronicles of darkness'. In some cases, Africa, even if merely a backdrop painted in crude and garish colors, becomes a way of revealing or admitting something about 'Europe' which might be concealed when a writer performs in a different theatre. This is an interesting read for scholars and researchers of English literature and African studies.

This book analyses questions of platform bias, algorithmic filtering and ranking of Internet speech, and declining perceptions of online freedom.Courts have intervened against biased platforms in important cases, but they have deferred to private sector decisions in many others, particularly in the United States. The First Amendment, human rights law, competition law, section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and an array of state and foreign laws address bad faith conduct by Internet platforms or other commercial actors. Arguing that the problem of platform neutrality is similar to the net neutrality problem, the book discusses the assault on freedom of speech that emerges from public-private partnerships. This volume draws parallels between U.S. constitutional and statutory doctrines relating to shared spaces and the teachings of international human rights bodies relating to the responsibilities of private actors. It also connects the dots between new rights to appeal account or post removals under the Digital Services Act of the European Union and a variety of fair treatment obligations of platforms under American and European competition laws, "public accommodations" laws, and public utilities laws. Discussing artificial intelligence (AI) regulation, the book explores overlaps between European and U.S. efforts to limit algorithmic censorship or "shadow-banning".The volume will be of interest to students and scholars in the field of cyberlaw, the law of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence.

Featuring the latest research by Brazilian-based scholars previously inaccessible to an English-speaking audience, this book is a timely, authoritative, multidisciplinary overview of social policies in Brazil during the Bolsonaro populist presidency. The breadth of policies studied herein provides clues on the political agenda, preferences, and strategies during this tumultuous period in Brazil's history. Divided into four parts, Natália Sátyro and her team of experts begin by explaining the trajectory of the Brazil's political landscape, including the growth of a populist right-wing movement, the economic crisis and the increase in poverty and inequality in Brazil prior, and the threat to democracy brought about by disinformation. Part Two discusses social security, social assistance, conditional cash transfers and healthcare. Part Three analyses the neoliberal strategies to social investment policies, specifically labor, family, and education. In Part 4, the authors turn their attention to non-conventional topics that are not typically included in research on retrenchment, including the environment, indigenous rights and police violence and gun control. Social Policies in Times of Populism and Austerity is unhesitatingly recommended to all those who teach welfare state politics, comparative public policy, development studies, Brazilian politics, and right-wing politics.

The Perfume of Soul from Freud to Lacan seeks to understand the human sense of smell and its marks on our subjectivity from a psychoanalytic perspective.Accessibly written, the book considers whether our understanding of the sense of smell and odours in culture has changed over time, and where we locate olfaction in theories of psychoanalysis. Beginning with the theorisation of the sense of smell in philosophy and medicine, Berjanet Jazani explores what treatment of this sense we can find in the historical and contemporary linguistic and cultural context. Jazani then takes examples from the psychoanalytic clinic as well as cultural references, from cinema to ancient literature, to elaborate the marks of the olfactory experiences on our subjectivity and sexuality. Lacanian theories, clinical anecdotes and autobiographical references are woven together to raise some critical questions about the law of odours as well as the invisible marks of breathing on subjective position, body, and symptom.The Perfume of Soul from Freud to Lacan will be of great interest to psychoanalysts, academics and all readers who are interested in psychoanalysis, philosophy, and culture.

This unique volume presents cutting-edge research on the nature and extent of a wide range of scams, cons, frauds, and deceptive activities, including sextortion, the use of ransomware, phishing, identity theft, Ponzi schemes, online shopping fraud, gift card scams, and health care fraud targeting elderly victims. The contributions to this book raise and attempt to answer several intriguing questions: Why have governments in each global region failed to respond more aggressively to these crimes? What can/should the private sector and social media giants be doing? Can the current responses of both governments and the private sector be linked to the public's ambivalence about how to respond to these forms of offending and victimization? Does a large segment of the public admire individuals who get involved in these activities, in large part due to the positive portrayal of scammers, fraudsters, and con artists in both literature and cinema? Or does the public's view of the harm caused by these scams and cons vary, based on our view of who is victimized (e.g., individuals or corporations) and/or why they were chosen? Will governments - as they have done in the past - attempt to influence the public's views by restricting access to books and movies that focus on the latest scams, cons, and frauds taking place on-line and in-person via book banning and other forms of censuring? And finally, should this discussion of the influence of books and cinema on the public's views of scams, frauds, cons, and deception be broadened to include the government's ongoing attempts to censure a wide range of books and films that may influence the public's view of morality--and more recently, the public's view of our government--due to their content?Timely and thought-provoking, this book will be a key resource for researchers, scholars, and practitioners in criminology and criminal justice, sociology, law, psychology, and social work, while also appealing to interdisciplinary researchers seeking insight into the relationship between positive portrayals of scammers, fraudsters, and con artists in literature and cinema, and the public's perception of individuals who get involved in these activities. It was originally published as a special issue of Victims & Offenders.

This book aspires to establish a dialogue among the studies of sustainable development, global environmental politics, comparative regionalism, and area studies of Eurasia. The chapters in this book reflect deep knowledge of the authors of the main trends in environmental politics at global, international, and national levels before the invasion in Ukraine in 2022. First, the book looks into the role and impact of international organizations such as the European Union (EU), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Arctic Council (AC, ) and Global Forums on Climate Action on post-Communist states, but also the role of nation-states (e.g., Russia, Kazakhstan, and China). Second, the book explores relatively new international organizations, such as the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Eurasian Development Bank, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). How do the EAEU, EDB, and the SCO matter, if at all, in promoting an environmental agenda? How do the EU, EBRD, and the AC advance the environmental agenda across the post-Communist region? This book aspires to answer these questions and to shed more light on the challenges to sustainable development in post-Communist Europe, Central Asia, and Eurasia.With a new foreword and afterword, this book will appeal to students, scholars and researchers of political science, international relations, area-studies as well as practitioners and policymakers working in international organizations and dealing with challenges of sustainable development. The other chapters were originally published as a special issue of Problems of Post-Communism.

This book comprehensively explores the intricate relationship between banking reforms, economic well-being, and poverty reduction across the African continent. Delving into the historical roots of banking reforms, it examines the resilience of banking sectors in key African countries like South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, MENA, and beyond.The findings suggest that much attention should be paid to the design of banking systems and how banks are regulated. This focus on banks differs from many discussions on the topic, which tend to be more concerned with other policy areas such as economic policy, international trade policy and aid. The book's extensive and contemporary overview of banking reforms enables a comparative analysis of regulatory frameworks, supervision practices, and government interventions. It evaluates theoretical frameworks linking banking reforms to bank stability and resilience, drawing on financial intermediation, resource allocation, systemic risk, and financial development concepts. It empirically tests the causal relationships between the Basel II/III capital reforms, bank sector resilience, economic growth, and poverty reduction and identifies and analyses the channels and mechanisms through which banking reforms affect economic welfare and poverty reduction in Africa, such as credit availability, financial efficiency, financial innovation, and financial access.The book offers an insightful exploration into a brighter economic future on the African continent. The findings presented herein offer valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners striving to enhance financial stability, foster economic growth, and alleviate poverty in Africa.

Introduction to Korean as a Second Language introduces the basic linguistic make-up of Korean and provides basic knowledge of second language acquisition and up-to-date research on how Korean is learned by adult second language learners (L2 Korean learners).The book synthesizes the existing research and suggests future directions for this relatively new but rapidly growing field. The book covers topics such as the Korean sound system, word and phrase structures of Korean, and meaning in Korean, making it a great resource for those who want to deepen their understanding of the Korean language. This textbook is ideal for use on Korean linguistics courses, and teaching and learning Korean as a foreign language courses. The book would also be good supplementary material for Korean language classes.

This book looks specifically and in depth, for the first time, at masculinity in cheap, lesbian-themed paperbacks of the two decades after WW2. It challenges established critical assumptions about the readership, and sets the masculinity imagined in these novels against the "masculinity crisis" of the era in which they were written.The key issue of these novels is couplehood as much as sexuality, and the instability of masculinity leads to the instability of the couple. Thompson coins the term "heteroemulative" to describe the struggle that both heterosexual and homosexual couples have in conforming to heteronormativity.As several of these novels have been republished and remain in print, they have taken on a new relevance to issues of sexuality and gender in the twenty-first century, and this study will attract readers within that area of interest. A valuable read for sociologists studying gender roles, and social historians of the cold war period in the United States. It is suitable for readers of all academic levels, from undergraduate, through postgraduate, to scholars and researchers, but also for a general readership.

Starting from the observation of the ubiquity of fan podcasts engaging in media commentary, this book explores three fan podcast genres in which commentary manifests as a structuring form: rewatch and reread podcasts, recap podcasts, and review podcasts.The author conducts a formalist genre analysis of these podcasts, close reading nine case studies to describe how the three genres function and how different fan labour manifests in podcasting. Each case study teases out the themes, style, and formal constellations of the three podcast genres, shows how different fans activate the affordances of podcasting and commentary and reveals the distinct generic functions of the three podcast genres.This book will be of significant interest to scholars and students in podcast studies, fan studies, cultural and literary studies who are interested in fan podcasts, podcast genre analysis and ways of close reading podcasts as texts.

As a formal educational instrument, mentorship has received increasing academic and professional interest over the last several decades. Formal or informal mentorship programs are seen as an innovative means of supporting organizational goals and addressing diversity in executive leadership. Most of the attention has been toward mentorship in a professional context, but mentorship also plays a crucial role in the development of both graduate students and faculty members.This book explores the theoretical and practical insights into the use of mentorships within higher education. The research published here show that mentorship matters because it actively encourages faculty to pay it forward, advancing opportunities for students and faculty, focusing on the development of students, and pushing mentors to consider how mentorship can be used to work in a diverse and changing society. The purpose of this book is to help develop the understanding of mentorship, highlight its importance, and hopefully progress the discussion forward with new actions in the field.This volume will be of interest to teachers, students, and researchers of education, public policy and public administration. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Public Affairs Education.

Doctoral programs provide training and mentorship for engaging in research, but they rarely provide training on how to be effective in the classroom--leading to many graduates obtaining their first faculty position with little to no teaching. These new faculty need a resource to help them navigate such difficult terrain and be successful teachers. This book was crafted with them in mind and is a straightforward guide for the new instructor in a higher education classroom. The book: discusses the latest research about how to be effective in the classroom. covers topics ranging from classroom management, to incorporating case studies, to understanding student evaluations. focuses on learning in the virtual classroom, with chapters dedicated to different course delivery modalities. incorporates effective exercises used in the classroom that are based on evidence showing how the activities promote learning. includes chapters with strategies concerning how instructors can assess their success in the classroom and become better teachers. comes with a new introduction and is supplemented by review questions. Teaching Your First Class is a highly valuable reading for all those engaged in initial teacher education, professional development, and new faculty. The chapters in this book were originally published in the Journal of Public Affairs Education.

India has a long-standing cultural and societal affinity with gold and gold jewellery. Gold metaphorically represents the sacredness, purity and immortality that bind religious beliefs and culture together. Accumulation of gold is associated with material and non-material cultures where the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of the members engaged in production and consumption are bound into a complex relationship. The idea of the book initially originated from the course of research work. It was found that India has the largest unorganised jewellery industry, in terms of manufacturing and consumption unit. Jewellery fabrication in India is not just a profession for the jewellers but it has been a family tradition extending across the generations. Gold jewellery makers (sunnar, swarnakars) are the spine of the jewellery industry. They acquired the skill of making jewellery from the experienced and learned gold smithery (karigars), either from their ancestors who were engaged in this business or from the craftsmen-cum-petty traders. The co-relations of castes, religion, culture, economy and class are intertwined with each other in such a way that made the gold jewellery industry sustainable. Surprisingly, there is an absence of literature on understanding the structural and functional aspects of the gold jewellery industry in India.This book explores the roles of sunars/ swarnakars (goldsmith or jewellery makers), consumers, trade and the policies that bring a change in the gold jewellery industry in India and India's position in the global market scenario. By focusing on their way of life, the book brings unique insights into the social and economic experience of the unorganised gold jewellery sector and the role of consumers in production.

This book investigates the thematic and conceptual dimensions of insidious trauma in contemporary eastern African literatures and cultural productions.The book extends our understanding of trauma beyond people's immediate and conventional experiences of disastrous events and incidents, instead considering how trauma is sustained in the aftermaths, continuing to impact livelihoods, and familial, social, and gender relationships. Drawing on different circumstances and experiences across and between the eastern African region, the book explores how emerging cultural practices involve varying modes of narrating, representing, and thematising insidious trauma. In doing so, the book considers different forms and practices of cultural production, including fashion, social media, film, and literature, in order to uncover how human subjects and cultural artefacts circulate through modalities of social, cultural and political ecologies.Transdisciplinary in scope and showcasing the work of experts from across the region, this book will be an important guide for researchers across literature, media studies, sociology, and trauma studies.

This book presents recent sociological research investigating the intersection of technology, human sexuality, and health. Rapid advances within biomedical, biomechanical, and biodigital domains have prompted scholarly exploration into the ways these technologies are being integrated into, or are reshaping, human sexual and intimate practices and the resulting health implications. Scholarship has also focused on the potential for new technologies to extend the imagined, and real, possibilities for enhancing human sexual experiences. The chapters in this book delve into the interconnected themes of sex, health, bodies, and risk in relation to emerging technologies. They illuminate the intricate interplay between human bodies, sexual practices and technologies, spotlight how novel technologies and human practices collaboratively shape or remodel cultures of sex and intimacy, and critically interrogate the discourses of risk and pleasure that frame our understanding of technology and sex.Researchers within the fields of sociology, technology studies, human sexuality, and health, as well as educators and professionals seeking a comprehensive understanding of how people engage with technologies in their intimate relationships and sex lives, will find this collection engaging and informative. Additionally, individuals interested in the cultural, societal, and ethical implications of emerging technologies in relation to sexual experiences and health will also benefit from the insights presented in this volume. The chapters in this book were originally published in several journals, including Health Sociology Review, Journal of Gender Studies, and Information & Communications Technology Law.

This book seeks to offer a better understanding of the strategic responses to Brexit from ten small European Union (EU) member states: Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia.Inspired in an intersection of different streams of research, it examines the extent and the ways Brexit has impacted these countries, analysing their coping strategies to deal with the challenges raised by such a disruptive development, as well as considering the implications of their reactions to Brexit for patterns of national foreign policy Europeanization. In so doing, this volume enhances the comprehension of smaller EU member states' foreign and security policies, offering a systematic and comparative analysis of how political and diplomatic elites in ten countries positioned themselves domestically and within the EU vis-à-vis the Brexit process. A combination of conceptual insights, valuable empirical accounts and updated knowledge on contemporary issues from such interesting set of case studies provides room for debate on the comparability of the way(s) in which different small countries have approached their Brexit strategies. All these aspects are explored with respect to states that have been relatively neglected and underexplored in the small states literature.This edited volume will be of great value to upper-level students, academics, and researchers interested in European politics, foreign policy and international relations. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Contemporary European Studies.