Humanities & Social Sciences

This open access book shows how governments can motivate companies to make a positive impact on society and why this is necessary in light of today’s pressing social, economic and environmental challenges and transitions. It shows obstacles companies face in conducting socially responsible business. Focusing on government-business relations in the Netherlands, the book also exposes key policy bottlenecks: the tendency of the Dutch government to hold on to the status quo and shield incumbent firms through tax breaks and lax enforcement. There is a real risk of policies that pamper business: it hampers companies that offer societal innovations for instance for health, education or the labour market. We also show how policies can better capitalise on the innovative qualities of entrepreneurship. Effective government policy makes it worthwhile for companies to alter their business model so that their products, services and production processes benefit society. Our recommendations address the role of government, consumers, financiers and companies themselves. While this work focuses on the Netherlands, it tackles questions that countries face worldwide on how to minimise harmful business conduct and maximise good business solutions. This makes the book broadly relevant to policy makers, business leaders and researchers grappling with the impact of business on society today.

2012 wurde das Netzwerk Landeskunde Nord gegründet, dessen Ziel es ist, Forschung und Lehre zur Landeskunde des Deutschen als Fremdsprache, insbesondere in den nordischen und den baltischen Ländern voranzutreiben. Die Publikation knüpft an die bereits erschienenen Bände Landeskunde Nord, Perspektive Nord und Spektrum Nord an und bietet weitere Beiträge zur wissenschaftlichen Theoriebildung in Verbindung mit unterrichtspraktischen Reflexionen und Projektvorstellungen. Dabei werden u.a. Brücken zwischen den verschiedenen Ebenen der Bildungssysteme geschlagen. Die Beiträge nehmen international geführte Fachdiskussionen u.a. zu Erinnerungsorten, Linguistic Landscapes und zum kreativen Schreiben auf und haben auch deshalb über die nordischen und baltischen Länder hinaus Bedeutung.

Die einzelnen Studien dieser Open Access-Monographie (zu Werken u.a. von A. Andersch, Th. Bernhard, H. Böll, M. Frisch, G. Grass, H. Risse, A. Schmidt, O.F. Walter und G. Wohmann) geben in der Summe einen Überblick über die Variabilität, mit der das Verfahren narrativer Unzuverlässigkeit in der deutschsprachigen Literatur der Nachkriegszeit von 1945 bis 1969 realisiert wurde. Auf diese Weise werden nicht nur die verfahrenstechnischen Möglichkeiten in systematischer Hinsicht ausgeleuchtet, sondern auch die narrativen Abdrücke vermessen, mit denen das Verfahren diese literaturgeschichtliche Phase geprägt hat. Zur Verdeutlichung des literaturhistorischen Zusammenhangs schließt die Untersuchung einzelne Werke von Autoren der älteren Generation (Th. Mann, H. Broch, R. Neumann und A. Seghers) ein und endet mit einem Ausblick auf das unzuverlässige Erzählen in der DDR-Literatur.

This open access book provides an analytical and critical outlook, by leading scholars, of the impact of various trends in the quality of collaboration and resulting safety outcomes that arise from the evolution of traditional integrated production within a single firm into a complex web of partnerships and supply chains. In the face of increasing fragmentation within industrial production and the associated rise in the complexity of inter-organizational communication and transaction,this book analyses causal factors such as cost pressures, globalization of demand, increasingly flexible resource allocation and work organization, changes in legal liability and the possibilities afforded by information technology. Various case studies focus on the effects of crossing boundaries between organizations, between different trades and professions and between countries, assessing the effect of variations in regulatory structures and national cultures. Furthermore, they illustrate the wide range of organizational forms to be found in high-hazard industries today and the impact, potential or real, of the variety of forms of partnership on safety and well-being at work. The contributors assess the effect of out-sourcing and of various forms of partnership and governance on safety at work and how they can be made to support the prevention of major accident hazards.

Pynchon's Sound of Music is dedicated to cataloging, exploring, and interpreting the manifold manifestations of music in Thomas Pynchon's work. An original mix of close and distant readings, this monograph em-ploys a variety of disciplines—from literary studies and musicology to philosophy, media theory, and his-tory—to explain Pynchon through music and music through Pynchon. Encyclopedic and eclectic—though never exhaustive—in its approach, Pynchon's Sound of Music discusses the author's use of instruments such as the kazoo, the harmonica, or the saxophone and embarks on close readings of the most salient and musicologically tantalizing passages. Zooming out to a bird's eye view, all his historical musical references and allusions are put into perspective to trace the trends and tendencies in the development of the oeuvre's interest in music. A treasure trove for fans and an invaluable source for future scholarship, this book includes the Pynchon Playlist, a 900+ item catalog of all musical references, and an exhaustive index of more than 700 appear-ances of musical instruments.

Within the plenitude of Pauline studies, Contested body: Metaphors of dominion in Romans 5–8 provides a cohesive scholarly investigation into metaphors of dominion employed by Paul. This book advances the understanding that the body is the specific space where forces vie in Romans 5-8.

Given the rising criticisms of and growing doubts about globalisation, this timely edited volume looks at globalisation and its economic impact on eight countries in Asia and the Pacific region, namely Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, the United States (US), and Vietnam. The eight selected countries are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and yet the economies of these member countries have benefited differently from globalisation. This book summarises findings from existing academic literature in a coherent framework and reviews them critically to provide a balanced analysis. It also identifies the mechanisms through which globalisation impacts economies and explains how understanding of such mechanisms can be useful for formulating policies, which would benefit from globalisation while achieving inclusive economic growth in the context of rising nationalism and protectionism. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/10.4324/9781003138501, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Sustainable Energy Pathways to Net Zero addresses realistic pathways between now and 2050 to reach net zero: a steady state concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It discusses solar and wind energy, hydrogen, energy storage, and electric vehicles, all of which are becoming an increasingly cost-efficient part of these pathways. Hydrogen, the price of electricity, the integration of different sources of electricity into the electrical grid, and the electric vehicle charging networks are crucial in balancing supply and demand. This book describes how these different energy factors fit together. It emphasizes the fact that the intersection of these technologies is where the most profound advances can occur. Features: Emphasizes the importance of demand management for electricity and reducing cost. Explains the economics of reaching net zero emissions and the role of innovation and public policies, among others. Discusses the cost and efficiency of solar and wind power, electric vehicles, and storage technologies, and describes the benefits of battery swapping. Focuses on the role of integration of different sources of electricity into the electrical grid as an important part of the pathway. Recommends research and development on electrochemical processes to remove carbon from the ocean. Written in a simple language for a general audience and understandable for a global market. Is Open Access to encourage global use. This book is a great resource for government and industry professionals involved in energy production and management, as well as academics and students in science and engineering interested in the pathways to sustainable development. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

The book consists of a selection of papers presented at the Asia-Pacific Research Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities. It contains essays on current legal issues in law and justice, and their role and transformation in a globalizing world. Topics covered include human rights, criminal law, good governance, democracy, foreign investment, and regional integration. The conference focused on Asia and the Pacific, two regions where law has taken an important position in creating and shaping the regional integrations, new legal institutions, and norms. This reconfirms the idea that the legal system is extremely important in the global world. This book provides new insights and new horizons on how law and justice took part in globalizing human interaction, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

In der heutigen Gesellschaft lässt sich ein wachsendes Interesse am Lebensende, am Sterben und am Tod beobachten. Erfahrungen mit unheilbaren Krankheiten und mit der professionellen Begleitung des Lebensendes durch Palliative Care werden zunehmend in den Medien besprochen und rücken ins Blickfeld der Öffentlichkeit wie auch verschiedener Forschungsrichtungen. Die Texte dieses Sammelbandes verschränken bisher getrennte Fachperspektiven auf das Thema zu einem innovativen, interdisziplinären Zugang.

GEOTECHNICAL ASPECTS OF UNDERGROUND CONSTRUCTION IN SOFT GROUND comprises a collection of 68 contributions, including 55 technical papers, 6 General Reports, 5 Keynotes, 1 Fujita Lecture, and 1 Bright Spark Lecture presented at the 11th International Symposium on Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Construction in Soft Ground (IS-Macau 2024), held in Macao SAR, China, on June 14-17, 2024. The symposium is the latest in a series that began in New Delhi in 1994 and was followed by symposia in London (1996), Tokyo (1999), Toulouse (2002), Amsterdam (2005), Shanghai (2008), Rome (2011), Seoul (2014), Sao Paulo (2017), and Cambridge (2022). This symposium was organized by the University of Macau, Civil Engineering Laboratory of Macau, and the Macau Association for Geotechnical Engineering under the auspices of TC204 of ISSMGE. The book includes contributions from more than 15 countries on the research, design, and construction of underground works in soft ground. The theme of IS-Macau 2024 is “Tunnelling and Underground Construction for Smart Cities”. The contributions cover the following topics: Basic properties and soil improvement in soft ground Constitutive and Numerical Modelling Innovative analysis and design in tunneling and underground construction Smart monitoring and visualization technologies for tunneling and underground construction Sustainability and resilience of underground infrastructure Field case studies Similar to previous editions, GEOTECHNICAL ASPECTS OF UNDERGROUND CONSTRUCTION IN SOFT GROUND serves as an invaluable resource offering insights into the contemporary methods of analyzing, designing, and executing tunnels and deep excavations within soft ground environments, crucial for the advancement of smart cities. The book is particularly aimed at academics and professionals interested in geotechnical and underground engineering.

This open access book presents the proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Advances in Construction Machinery and Vehicle Engineering (ICACMVE 2024), highlighting the latest advancements and innovative practices in the field. Focusing on the challenges in mechanical design, control systems, and smart manufacturing, the selected papers cover a range of topics including innovative design strategies, intelligent systems and autonomous technologies, electrification and sustainable development, and reliability monitoring. By showcasing cutting-edge research and real-world applications, this volume aims to serve as a vital resource for students, researchers, and professionals in mechanical engineering, encouraging ongoing advancements that enhance efficiency, safety, and sustainability in construction machinery and vehicle engineering.

Policymakers around the world often aim to learn from ordinary people through participatory institutions like consultations, petitions, complaint mechanisms, townhalls, constituent communications, crowdsourcing platforms, participatory budgeting, and citizen assemblies. But when faced with large volumes of complex information inputs, they can struggle with information overload challenges that leave them unable to learn meaningful and actionable information outputs. This book develops and illustrates a new framework for understanding the different types of information that policymakers can learn from ordinary people, the complexity of that information, and the different ways in which it can be processed into meaningful policy knowledge. This framework highlights crucial differences in how information is solicited and processed, and to whom that processing is delegated, that shape policymakers’ abilities to learn specific and novel information like new problems, new ideas, or new perspectives. While simple information is more straightforward to solicit and process, achieving the potential benefits of learning from ordinary people often requires complex information instead. This complex information must be solicited in open-ended ways and subsequently processed by filtering, rather than aggregating, public inputs and ensuring adequate roles for domain-specific knowledge to recognize novel values. This framework also helps better understand the potential risks of inaccuracy or bias in participatory institutions, and the potential applications of new technologies like artificial intelligence as well as their limits. This book illustrates these with examples drawn from around the world and from diverse forms of public participation in policymaking.

The present volume is a multidisciplinary collection of research articles exploring language use, language contact and multilingualism in the history of Turku, the first town in Finland, founded around the turn of the fourteenth century. Consisting of an introduction by the editors and nine case studies in the fields of linguistics, history, archeology, and literary and cultural studies, the volume participates in a wider discussion on multilingual communities while offering a closer look into linguistic encounters in Turku and its immediate vicinity. The volume covers the period from the Middle Ages (c. 1100–1500) to the latter half of the twentieth century. The case studies illustrate the wide array of languages, linguistic varieties and registers that the inhabitants and travellers used in their daily lives, the specific contexts in which certain languages were used, and the effects of these linguistic encounters at personal, social or institutional levels.

This publication deals with a biblical theology of prayer based on the New Testament. It forms the second of a two-volume publication on a biblical theology of prayer, dealing with the concept of prayer in the Old and New Testament, respectively. This New Testament volume begins with an introduction on prayer and worship in early Jewish tradition, followed by eleven chapters dealing with New Testament corpora. It concludes with a final chapter synthesising the findings of the respective investigations of the Old and New Testament corpora to provide a summative theological perspective of the development of the concept of prayer through scripture. Prayer forms a major and continuous theme throughout the biblical text. Prayer was an integral part of the religious existence of God’s people in both the Old and New Testament. It underwent its greatest developments during, after and as a result of the Exile and was deepened and transformed in the New Testament. In both the Old and the New Testament, God is the sole ‘addressee’ of his people’s prayer. This conviction continued into the New Testament, but was broadened with Trinitarian elements of worship, adoration and intercession. A biblical theological investigation is chosen as methodology. Since all the biblical books form part of one canonical text, the assumption is that the various theologies about prayer being displayed in these books can be synthesised into a developing meta-theology about prayer. As the Old and New Testament form part of the canonical text, the results about prayer in the Old Testament can be brought into play with the results about prayer in the New Testament. This eventually leads toward an overarching biblical theology of prayer.