Böcker utgivna av Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This book is a systematic and thorough analysis of what post-modernity is and how it emerged. It distinguishes between those who regard post-modernity as a theoretical approach and those who regard it as a culture, and argues that interpreting post-modernity as a culture is more fruitful. It discusses the three factors which led to its emergence, namely liberalism, capitalism, and secularism, highlighting their respective influence in generating the culture of post-modernity within neoliberal societies.The volume provides a lengthy analysis of neoliberal post-modernity in practice, arguing that post-modernism is the cultural condition of neoliberal societies in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Until recently it seemed that neoliberal post-modernity was here to stay, framed by relationship to freedom and time which stressed individual agency but precluded the possibility of historical change at the political level. However, the Great Recession of2008 opened new spaces for agitation and transformation which has resulted in the discordant politics of the last decade. This book will be of interest to scholars working in a number of fields, including economic policy, cultural analysis, political theory, and social critique.

This edited collection examines church-state relations in the European colonies in Africa during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The chapters focus on the period stretching from the most agitated stages of the ¿scramble for Africä during the 1870s and 1880s, to the great wave of independence of African colonies in the 1950s and 60s, and culminates in a discussion of colonial legacies during its aftermath. The Church and the State, although often having conflicting goals and agendas, walked hand-in-hand throughout the entire colonial period, with ¿imperialism of the spirit¿ being inconceivable without the groundwork of Catholic missionaries. Exploring the major domains that determined the course of church-state relations in the colonies, the authors analyse relations between the Holy See and the colonial powers, and between national Catholic authorities and secular authorities, as well as the international order and socio-political developments in the metropoles.They argue that interactions between state and church in Africäs European colonies were contingent upon the complex dynamics of interests that both secular and ecclesiastical entities endeavoured to preserve or promote. With a particular focus on the Belgian and Portuguese colonies in Africa, this book provides useful reading for scholars of European imperial history and ecclesiastical history.

This book deals with one of the most pervasive ways by which people have addressed authority throughout history: petitioning. Based on a Congress held at the Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa (Petitions in the Age of the Atlantic Revolutions), in February of 2019, the book explores traditional practices and institutions, as well as the transformation of petitions as vehicles of popular politics. The ability or the right to petition was also a crucial element for the development and operation of early modern empires, playing a major role on the negotiated patterns of the Atlantic World. This book shows how petitions were used in Europe, America and Africa, by the governors and the governed, by the rich and the poor, by the colonists and the colonised and by the liberal and the reactionary groups. Broken down into three thematic parts, encompassing both in chronological and geographical scope, the book deepens our understanding of petitioning and its relation with ideas of consent and subjecthood, nationality and citizenship, political participation and democracy. This book provides a rare comparative platform for the study of a subject that has been receiving growing interest.

Cranes are enigmatic birds. Only very little is known about the behaviour of these graceful dancers. The renowned naturalist and crane expert Bernhard Wessling takes us on exciting and adventurous expeditions into their hidden world and gets to the bottom of the myths surrounding these birds of happiness. With the help of a specially developed bioacoustic method, Dr. Wessling studied Eurasian, Red-Crowned, Sandhill and Whooping Cranes, all in the wild. He has researched their intelligence, social dynamics and communication and engaged in their protection. Impressively illustrated and lively narrated, this book presents his findings on their individually unique lives and relationships, their ability to adapt and solve problems, and their emotions. His observations allow us to delve deeply into the cranes' way of life and consciousness, often demonstrating the surprising similarities between humans and animals. An amazing work about the spirit of discovery, humility and respect for nature in the tradition of Alexander von Humboldt.Cranes are among the most captivating birds on this planet. Dr. Wessling knows these birds, has accumulated a lifetime of observations on them, and has thought deeply about their abilities. In this book, he seeks to overturn old ideas about how these birds live, communicate, and think. His revelations surprise and delight and shed new light on an ancient avian family. Jennifer Ackerman, author of the New York Times bestseller The Genius of Birds and The Bird WayThe Call of the Cranes is a mesmerizing, vivid, lyrical and revelatory book. It truly is a spectacular book and a treasure! Sy Montgomery, naturalist and author of 31 books (incl. the New York Times bestseller The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness)In this book, Bernhard Wessling shareshis fascinating stories about cranes through patient observations and thoughtful conclusions. George Archibald, Co-Founder of the International Crane Foundation, Senior Conservationist

This book explores histories of droughts and floods in the Indian Ocean World, and their connections to broader global climatic anomalies. It deploys an interdisciplinary approach rooted in the emerging field of climate history to investigate the multifaceted effects of global climatic anomalies on regions affected by the Indian Ocean Monsoon System ¿ regularly conceived of as the macro-region¿s ¿deep structure.¿ Case studies explore how droughts and floods related to anomalous climatic conditions have historically affected states, societies, and ecologies across the Indian Ocean World, including in relation to food security, epidemic diseases, political (in)stability, economic change, infrastructural development, colonialism, capitalism, and scientific knowledge. Tracing longue durée patterns from the twelfth to the early twentieth centuries, this book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of global climatic events and their effects on the IndianOcean World. It highlights essential historical case studies for contextualizing the potential effects of global warming on the macro-region in the present and future.

This book is the first epoch-spanning study on Jewish participation in the Italian women¿s movement, focussing in a transnational perspective on the experience of Italian-Jewish protagonists in Liberal Italy, during the First World War and the Fascist dictatorship until 1945. Drawing on ego-documents, contemporary journals and Jewish community archives, as well as records by the police and public authorities, it examines the tensions within the emancipation process between participation and exclusion. The book argues that the racial laws from 1938 did not represent the sudden end of an idyllic integration, but rather the climax of a long-term development. Social marginalization, the persecution of Jewish rights, and the assault on Jewish lives during fascism are analysed distinctly from the perspective of Jewish women. In spite of their significant influence on the transnational orientation of the Italian women¿s movement, their emancipation as women and Jewsremained incomplete.

This book delves into a critical and comprehensive analysis of Mtukudzi¿s legacy, as an outstanding musician who anchored his music on cultural identity specifically through the artistic manipulation of language. As a cultural worker, his remit extended beyond performance. This raised his stature to the levels of such African music icons as Fela Kuti of Nigeria, Salif Keita of Mali and Miriam Makeba/Hugh Masekela of South Africa, all towering giants in African musical performance. This volume examines how Mtukudzi artistically manipulated language to convey a timeless message of cultural identity, fighting for the respect of rights for women, children and all. It unpacks how Mtukudzi subtly uses language to put across political views that speak truth to power, harnessing Zimbabwean language to articulate and promote the nation¿s cultural heritage and to advocate for societal development and the promotion of rights of vulnerable groups.The chapters in this volume are a mix ofinterdisciplinary Zimbabwean scholars of linguistics, performance studies, religion, history, communication and media studies, unravelling Mtukudzi as a fighter for human rights and justice who subtly critiqued political systems and practices. It concludes that Mtukudzi strove to be a cultural worker who used the power of language through music to contribute towards the rehabilitation of a battered African identity.¿