Böcker utgivna av Springer International Publishing

This book makes a relevant contribution to a Marxist critical explanation of social conflicts, social movements and protests. There is abundant literature on social conflict and social movements from Marxist perspectives. However, rigorous criticism, both theoretical and methodological, is scarce. The objective of this volume is the collection of works developing a critical reflection on the categories of theories about contentious collective action and social movements from a Marxist perspective. In order to better understand these phenomena and go beyond their mere case description, the theory needs to be improved. To that end, the book also promotes the debate between Marxisms and the collective action and new social movements in a renewed way. Here different Marxist arguments consider not only their methodological and ideological bias, but also the specific conceptual contributions of those theories.

Offering a fresh take on a crucial phase of European history, this book explores the years between the 1980s and 1990s when the European Union took shape. Whilst contributing to existing literature on the Maastricht Treaty and European integration at the end of the twentieth century, the book also brings those debates into the twenty-first century and makes connections with longer-term issues. The transformation of the European political climate in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008, and the watershed Brexit vote in 2016, has made it all the more urgent to reconsider the way scholars and opinion-makers have looked at European integration in the past. Drawing from recently released archival documents, the authors analyse European cooperation as part of the broader international history in which it unfolded, taking into account the changes in the Cold War order and the advance of a new phase of globalisation. Comparing and contrasting the debates, objectives and achievementsof the 1980s and 1990s with the current political landscape of the European Union, this book proposes a novel interpretation of the choices that were made during the Maastricht years, and of their longer-term consequences.

This book compares the Victorian British poet Robert Browning and the twentieth-century Ghanaian poet and novelist Kojo Laing¿two writers whose texts frequently foreground multi-scalar transregional cartographies, points of connection and translation, and imaginative kinships between different linguistic and cultural communities. Starting from the numerous and surprising points of connection and resemblance between both authors¿ texts, this book puts pressure on critical practices that would keep writers like Laing and Browning separate, positing instead the importance of paying attention to the transnational, cross-cultural, and cross-temporal imaginative relationships texts themselves generate. By comparing two writers whose texts represent different points of view on a number of shared and congruent contexts, this book seeks an original way of understanding the relationship between texts and (post-) colonial contexts, texts and other texts. Browning¿s and Laing¿s shared tendencyto foreground trans- and post-national cartographies of relation and difference, and their similarly translational aesthetics, both demand a probing of the disciplinary separation between ¿English Literature¿ and ¿Comparative Literature¿, as well as ¿literature¿ and ¿comparison¿, and a fresh awareness of the ways in which literature itself makes comparisons and affiliations. It also involves a version of ¿world literature¿ intent on accentuating the relational worlds (linguistic, imaginative, ethical) that texts themselves generate; a criticism sensitive to the ways in which writers from different times and places can still be seen to overlap.

This book investigates the connection between tightening mobilization constraints and the use of PMSCs in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Drawing on neoclassical realism and institutionalist theory, it conceptualizes democracies' use of private military and security companies (PMSCs) as an attempt to circumvent the tightening constraints on the mobilization of military power. The use of private military contractors is less subjected to parliamentary restrictions and less visible to public opinion than the deployment of soldiers. Rather than cheaper in financial terms, PMSCs are therefore politically cost-effective, as they enable decision-makers to minimize the institutional obstacles on conducting military operations and the electoral costs attached thereto. The need to reduce the ex ante hurdles and the ex post costs of military deployments fills the blind spots of alternative explanations for the use of PMSCs based on effectiveness, ideology, and organizational interests.

This edited collection addresses the need of evaluating innovative or non-traditional academic schemes for understanding their feasibility in extraordinary educational environments. The individual chapters are enriched with robust appraisals of policies and practices linked to academic innovations in higher education during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. The case studies report wide-ranging teaching, learning and academic support practices within online, open, blended and distance learning models. The findings supply two domains of scholarship: evidence-based scenarios through real-world case studies, and a critical evaluation of educational quality through research-informed argument. The evidence gathered from countries, such as Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the UK show empowering and deterring elements of academic innovation amid disruptions. Although this book highlights academic innovations in disruptive situations, they emerge as powerful tools and approaches to be considered in traditional face to face learning.

This book provides and sheds light on insights, challenges, and opportunities to support the development and economic growth of the fashion industries within emerging markets. The fashion industry is growing rapidly in emerging markets; fashion marketers and retailers are increasingly becoming aware of the benefits of this market and are forced to seek their future growth potentials in this part of the world; in addition, marketing strategies, tools and technologies have also evolved. With a growing demand for additional research, information, recommendations and insight from practitioners, entrepreneurs, students, and academics, contributing authors use multiple methods and theories to uncover, analyse, demonstrate, and present the facts in their chapters and provide integrated guideposts for future research. This book is intended to satisfy the needs of stakeholders in the quest for practical insights into fashion marketing in emerging economies, especially in South America, Asia and Africa.It offers timely information on growing areas such as sustainability, digital platforms, supply chain and logistics and provides a good insight for anyone seeking to explore opportunities in emerging market economies. The book offers a much needed resource for students, scholars and practitioners.

This Handbook of Numerical Simulation of In-Flight Icing covers an array of methodologies and technologies on numerical simulation of in-flight icing and its applications. Comprised of contributions from internationally recognized experts from the Americas, Asia, and the EU, this authoritative, self-contained reference includes best practices and specification data spanning the gamut of simulation tools available internationally that can be used to speed up the certification of aircraft and make them safer to fly into known icing. The collection features nine sections concentrating on aircraft, rotorcraft, jet engines, UAVs; ice protection systems, including hot-air, electrothermal, and others; sensors and probes, CFD in the aid of testing, flight simulators, and certification process acceleration methods. Incorporating perspectives from academia, commercial, government R&D, the book is ideal for a range of engineers and scientists concerned with in-flight icing applications.

This book examines in great detail the D-B and IPD methods, while touching on D-B-B and CM project deliveries. In this vein, the discussion regarding IPD is a variation from ASHRAE Technical Committee TC 7.1, Integrated Building Design (IBD), with the focus herein on HVAC-Led IPD Opportunities by consulting engineers and mechanical contractors. This IPD variation is also described later in the book as a 21st-century version of what was 20th-century D-B project delivery although D-B project delivery is still widely used.

This book offers a careful selection of studies in optimization techniques based on artificial intelligence, applied to inverse problems in radiative transfer. In this book, the reader will find an in-depth exploration of heuristic optimization methods, each meticulously described and accompanied by historical context and natural process analogies.From simulated annealing and genetic algorithms to artificial neural networks, ant colony optimization, and particle swarms, this volume presents a wide range of heuristic methods. Additional approaches such as generalized extreme optimization, particle collision, differential evolution, Luus-Jaakola, and firefly algorithms are also discussed, providing a rich repertoire of tools for tackling challenging problems.While the applications showcased primarily focus on radiative transfer, their potential extends to various domains, particularly nonlinear and large-scale problems where traditional deterministic methods fall short. With clear and comprehensive presentations, this book empowers readers to adapt each method to their specific needs. Furthermore, practical examples of classical optimization problems and application suggestions are included to enhance your understanding.This book is suitable to any researcher or practitioner whose interests lie on optimization techniques based in artificial intelligence and bio-inspired algorithms, in fields like Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Computing, and cross-disciplinary areas.

The rapid growth and reliance on cyber systems have permeated our society, government, and military which is demonstrated in this book. The authors discuss how AI-powered cyber systems are designed to protect against cyber threats and ensure the security and reliability of digital systems using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. As AI becomes more integrated into various aspects of our lives, the need for reliable and trustworthy AI systems becomes increasingly important. This book is an introduction to all of the above-mentioned areas in the context of AI Embedded Assurance for Cyber Systems.This book has three themes. First, the AI/ML for digital forensics theme focuses on developing AI and ML powered forensic tools, techniques, software, and hardware. Second, the AI/ML for cyber physical system theme describes that AI/ML plays an enabling role to boost the development of cyber physical systems (CPS), especially in strengthening the security and privacy ofCPS. Third, the AI/ML for cyber analysis theme focuses on using AI/ML to analyze tons of data in a timely manner and identify many complex threat patterns.This book is designed for undergraduates, graduate students in computer science and researchers in an interdisciplinary area of cyber forensics and AI embedded security applications. It is also useful for practitioners who would like to adopt AIs to solve cyber security problems.

This Open Access book examines the link between intercultural competence (IC) and pragmatics by asking frontline modern foreign language teachers in higher education teaching a variety of languages (e.g., Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish) how they conceptualise intercultural competence and which skills, competences and knowledge they consider important in their teaching contexts. The data were collected with an online survey that focused on the relationship between intercultural competence and pragmatics.While international organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) or the Council of Europe (CoE) agree that intercultural competence should play an important role in education, it is not always clear what IC may encompass in specific teaching contexts and subject areas. Examining how modern foreign language teachers in higher education conceptualise intercultural competence and the value they attach as well as the attention they give to various areas of pragmatics in their teaching is highly important, since those language professionals may be the final teachers learners encounter during their formal foreign language education. They are therefore in a unique position to shape modern foreign language learners¿ intercultural and pragmatic awareness, competence and skills.This book will be of interest to language professionals, modern foreign language teachers and teacher trainers, as well as students and scholars of applied linguistics, pragmatics, and language education.

This book is about solar ponds for energy storage from various perspectives, including fundamentals, efficiencies, system designs, local applications and details about what have been done in the world in the field of solar ponds for generating energy and storage it for useful purposes.

This volume contains for the first time in English, Jan Patökäs seminal essay ¿The Phenomenology of Afterlife¿, as well as contributions surrounding and analyzing this text. In his essay, Patöka reflects on our relation to the dead and on how the departure of a loved one affects our continued existence. The premise of Patökäs investigation is that our existence always takes place by and through an originary and reciprocal ¿being for others¿.The contributors in the volume extend the field of inquiry into the wider phenomenological and post-phenomenological discussion of death by being cognizant of how works of literature can broaden our understanding of the care of death, grief, forgiveness and non-reciprocal love. Also included are reflections on issues of philosophical anthropology, community, collective memory, and the ecstatic nature of life ¿ issues that can all be related back to Patökäs initial reflections, but which nonetheless radiate intoa myriad of directions. This volume appeals to students and researchers in the field.

This textbook provides a first introduction to category theory, a powerful framework and tool for understanding mathematical structures. Designed for students with no previous knowledge of the subject, this book offers a gentle approach to mastering its fundamental principles.Unlike traditional category theory books, which can often be overwhelming for beginners, this book has been carefully crafted to offer a clear and concise introduction to the subject. It covers all the essential topics, including categories, functors, natural transformations, duality, equivalence, (co)limits, and adjunctions. Abundant fully-worked examples guide readers in understanding the core concepts, while complete proofs and instructive exercises reinforce comprehension and promote self-study. The author also provides background material and references, making the book suitable for those with a basic understanding of groups, rings, modules, topological spaces, and set theory.Based on the author's course at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the book is perfectly suited for classroom use in a first introductory course in category theory. Its clear and concise style, coupled with its detailed coverage of key concepts, makes it equally suited for self-study.

This volume celebrates the 100th birthday of Professor Chen-Ning Frank Yang (Nobel 1957), one of the giants of modern science and a living legend. Starting with reminiscences of Yang's time at the research centre for theoretical physics at Stonybrook (now named C. N. Yang Institute) by his successor Peter van Nieuwenhuizen, the book is a collection of articles by world-renowned mathematicians and theoretical physicists. This emphasizes the Dialogue Between Physics and Mathematics that has been a central theme of Professor Yang's contributions to contemporary science. Fittingly, the contributions to this volume range from experimental physics to pure mathematics, via mathematical physics. On the physics side, the contributions are from Sir Anthony Leggett (Nobel 2003), Jian-Wei Pan (Willis E. Lamb Award 2018), Alexander Polyakov (Breakthrough Prize 2013), Gerard 't Hooft (Nobel 1999), Frank Wilczek (Nobel 2004), Qikun Xue (Fritz London Prize 2020), and Zhongxian Zhao (Bernd T. Matthias Prize 2015), covering an array of topics from superconductivity to the foundations of quantum mechanics. In mathematical physics there are contributions by Sir Roger Penrose (Nobel 2022) and Edward Witten (Fields Medal 1990) on quantum twistors and quantum field theory, respectively. On the mathematics side, the contributions by Vladimir Drinfeld (Fields Medal 1990), Louis Kauffman (Wiener Gold Medal 2014), and Yuri Manin (Cantor Medal 2002) offer novel ideas from knot theory to arithmetic geometry.Inspired by the original ideas of C. N. Yang, this unique collection of papers b masters of physics and mathematics provides, at the highest level, contemporary research directions for graduate students and experts alike.

This book sheds light on young New Zealander¿s social realities and lived experiences of their digital and sexual lives through an understanding of how they think about and engage with porn. Drawing on qualitative empirical data from interviews with 106 young New Zealanders, each chapter examines young people¿s creation of informal norms through an investigation of the broader issues associated with their engagement with porn, namely consent, gender, pleasure and ¿empowerment.¿ Following this, the book gives voice to young New Zealander¿s perceptions of the value of the sexuality education they receive. Finally, this text argues toward a co-constructed intersectional sexuality education.