Humanities & Social Sciences

The territorialist approach and the demands for environmental protection – for self-sustainable local development – are the basis of two original and highly topical works by Alberto Magnaghi: the book he wrote with Franco Sala (2013) and the article he wrote with Monica Bolognesi (2020), both dedicated to renewable energy communities.

This open access book explores the interplay between individual and collective procreative interests against the background of cutting-edge developments in reproductive science. Reproductive technologies have made possible a range of novel practices that challenge some of our most fundamental assumptions about parenthood and the family. Gametes have been collected from dying or deceased individuals to enable their spouses or parents to create children. Children have undergone invasive fertility preservation interventions at their parents’ request. Mothers have donated their wombs to their daughters. Meanwhile, new scientific discoveries in epigenetics and microbiomics are reshaping our understanding of biological connections. The Ethics of Human Reproduction and the Family brings together philosophers and social scientists to examine these challenges. Contributors explore, among others, the ethics of posthumous reproduction, uterus transplantation, intrafamilial adoption, conflicts between women’s interests and state policies, and the implications of postgenomic science for genetic and social kinship. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation .

The Routledge Handbook of Heritage and the Law sheds light on the relationship between the two fields and analyses how the law shapes heritage and heritage practice in both expected and unexpected ways. Including contributions from 41 authors working across a range of jurisdictions, the volume analyses the law as a transnational phenomenon and uses international and comparative legal methodologies to distil lessons for broad application. Demonstrating that the law is fundamentally a language of power and contestation, the Handbook shows how this impacts our views of heritage. It also shows that, to understand the ways in which the law impacts key aspects of heritage practice, it is important to tap into the possibilities of heritage as points of convergence of identity, struggles over resources, and the distribution of power. Framing heritage as a driver for legal engagement rather than a passive regulatory object, the book first reviews the legal fields or mechanisms that can shape action in the heritage field, then questions how these enable authority and give power to those who seize heritage, and finally envisions how the discussion between heritage and the law can lay new grounds in both those fields. Lifting the mists that often render the law opaque in heritage studies, the Handbook showcases the law as a medium through which the culture and the power of heritage are expressed and might be shared. The Routledge Handbook of Heritage and the Law presents a view of the law that is aimed at those who wish to reflect on how law has changed, or could change, what heritage is and how it can support social, cultural, local, or other development. It will be of interest to scholars, students, policymakers, and practitioners working in the areas of museum studies, heritage studies, and urban studies, as well as in cultural intervention and planning. Chapter 8 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license

Based on the structured analysis of selected North American novels, this work examines global cities as a literary phenomenon (»DiverCity«). By analyzing Dionne Brand's Toronto, »What We All Long For« (2005), Chang-rae Lee's New York, »Native Speaker« (1995), and Karen Tei Yamashita's Los Angeles, »Tropic of Orange« (1997), Melanie U. Pooch provides the connecting link for exploring the triad of globalization and its effects, global cities as cultural nodal points, and cultural diversity in a globalizing age as a literary phenomenon. Thus, she contributes to a global, interdisciplinary, and multi-perspectival understanding of literature, culture, and society.

This book challenges critical approaches that argue for Giacomo Leopardi’s and Samuel Beckett’s pessimism and nihilism. Such approaches stem from the quotation of Leopardi in Beckett’s monograph Proust, as part of a discussion about the removal of desire. Nonetheless, in contrast to ataraxia as a form of ablation of desire, the desire of and for the Other is here presented as central in the two authors’ oeuvres. Desire in Leopardi and Beckett is read as lying at the cusp between the theories of Jacques Lacan and Emmanuel Levinas, a desire that splits as much as it moulds the subject when called to address the Other (inspiring what Levinas terms ‘infinity’ as opposed to ‘totality,’ an infinity pitted against the nothingness crucial to pessimist and nihilist readings).

In the context of the thirtieth anniversary of the Center for Historical Research of Latin America (CIHAL) at Jaume I University in Castellón, the First Latin American World Congress of Historical Sciences was organized, highlighting the importance of Latin American historical studies worldwide. The book you now hold is a product of this congress, underscoring the significance of Latin American and Latin Americanist historical sciences. We believe the question remains as to what contributions generations of Latin American and Latin Americanist historians can make to our discipline and to society at large. Therefore, we remain convinced of the relevance of studying Latin American history for historiography, theory, and historical methodology. We also believe that interpreting the past is an indispensable tool in current and future debates, both about Latin America itself and about its relationship with other regions of the world. Therefore, this volume presents seven central points of Latin American history for discussion, such as: the uses of history: national, racial and ethnic identities; environmental, climate history and ecological resistance; revolutions, political conflicts and transitions; circulation of knowledge, historiography and methods of historical teaching; constitutionalism, modernization and legal/political thought; and social history and migrations.

The current special issue examines the development of an emerging global governance on migration and the spaces, roles, strategies and alliancemaking of a composite transnational civil society engaged in issues of rights and the protection of migrants and their families. This question is connected with how different actors – the United Nations, international organizations, governments and a wide variety of civil society organizations and regional and global trade unions – perceive the root causes of migration, global inequality and options for sustainable development. The contributions included in the special issue interrogate from different perspectives the positionality and capacity of civil society to influence the Global Forum for Migration and Development. They examine the opportunities and challenges faced by civil society in its endeavor to promote a rights-based approach within international and intergovernmental fora engaged in setting up a global compact for the management of migration and in other global policy spaces.

Drawing from empirically grounded studies, the volume Situated Mixedness sheds light on the state of migration-related “intimate diversity”, that is, the simultaneous formation and existence of various configurations of conjugal mixedness. It examines this phenomenon in Belgium, a country in the European Union with a long history of immigration and where an important percentage of registered marriages are international. Through the optic of “situated mixedness”, the volume pays attention to the (dis-)connections between intimate diversity and its surrounding environment. Bringing together mutually reinforcing or often contradicting emic and etic perspectives, it illuminates how specific context/s (socio-legal, cultural, temporal, etc.) not only can influence, stem from, or trigger a social phenomenon but also remain standstill without a particular impact on individual’s lived experiences. It brings out in subtle ways the agency and subjectivities of individuals, nuancing thereby common-held views on socially Othered couples. Focusing on the intimate sphere of individuals’ life at the crossroads of anthropology and sociology, the volume contributes fresh insights not only to the study of migration and intermarriage but also to the literature on super- and hyper-diversity. It will be of interest to scholars, students, and social actors working on family-related migration, state policies, and social cohesion.

The purpose of this book is to introduce researchers and practitioners to recent advances and applications of Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). Random sampling is the key of the MCS technique. The 11 chapters of this book collectively illustrates how such a sampling technique is exploited to solve difficult problems or analyze complex systems in various engineering and science domains. Issues related to the use of MCS including goodness-of-fit, uncertainty evaluation, variance reduction, optimization, and statistical estimation are discussed and examples of solutions are given. Novel applications of MCS are demonstrated in financial systems modeling, estimation of transition behavior of organic molecules, chemical reaction, particle diffusion, kinetic simulation of biophysics and biological data, and healthcare practices. To enlarge the accessibility of this book, both field-specific background materials and field-specific usages of MCS are introduced in most chapters. The aim of this book is to unify knowledge of MCS from different fields to facilitate research and new applications of MCS.

In the past decades, children of immigrants have drawn increased attention not only in press and media, but also in a number of academic fields, among them sociology, history, or ethnology. Surprisingly, literary and cultural studies have been somewhat more reluctant to approach the topic. While there is work on individual authors or, at the very most, particular ethnic groups, comparative approaches are rare. This monograph aims to amend this. It provides an extensive discussion of US-American literature about children of immigrants, comparing different authors, different ethnic groups and different literary and historical contexts.

Social media and chats are not 'clouds' disconnected from reality: they are concrete spaces of interpersonal relationships where words, even virtual ones, can become very powerful tools of oppression. In fact, living on social media implies continuous exposure to the gaze and words of others. And, therefore, also to sexist comments, insults and an often unaware participation in virtual dysfunctional dynamics. For this reason, care is necessary, an education in reflexivity, respect and listening. The book proposes a pedagogical device to prevent and combat hate speech, describing the impacts it produces on the existential dynamics of victims. And a pedagogical-didactic trajectory that reveals its most insidious virtual forms, making this phenomenon recognizable especially to younger people. The volume proposes a new way to reverse the hateful flow of hate speech: the alternative narrative that is intertwined with an educational model that starts from human rights to reach their protection. The HRE (Human Rights Education) hybrid teaching device designed by the author intends to support the training of teachers, educators and training professionals in the acquisition of digital citizenship skills from an 'active learning' perspective.

Standpoint Autotheory encompasses a multitude of manifestations of radically self-reflexive research attitudes. It traces research based artistic practices through twelve contributions that propose a performative integration of the personal within the production of theory and explore the entanglements of subjectivity with criticality aimed at social transformation by questioning dominant epistemologies. The positions assembled in the book are permeated by different modes of thinking and practice such as autoethnography, practices of the self, auto-historia teoría, standpoint theories, strong objectivity and situated knowledge, self-authority, narrativity and storytelling, radical positioning, performative philosophy, autofiction, thinking-feeling, and other methods that, through the interrogation of embodied experiences, illuminate the connections between the personal and the political, as well as the individual and the communal.

Fluid Balance, Hydration, and Athletic Performance presents a comprehensive review of aspects relating to body fluid balance, rehydration, sport, and physical exercise. The content is scientifically supported, practical, and suitably written for a range of audiences, including academics (professors and students) and sports and health professionals (coaches, physical educators, nutritionists, and physicians), as well as athletes and individuals involved in physical activities. Compared to other books previously published in this area, this book does not limit body hydration issues to the average or elite adult athlete. Rather, it addresses aspects relevant to a range of individuals of different ages (adolescents and master athletes) competing in various sports. In recognition of the growing number of individuals with specific medical conditions who have been exercising more and even participating in competitive sports, separate chapters on prevalent diseases or medical conditions associated with risks of body fluid homeostasis also are presented. To achieve such a complete and qualified publication, the book is written by top experts and professionals experienced in their respective research areas. It presents the basics of fluid balance and provides updates on controversial fluid intake-related issues such as hyponatremia, optimal recovery, intermittent sports, and perceptual responses.

To better understand the ancient Nabataean capital of Petra, it is important to consider its rural surroundings as well. The city's unfavorable geostrategic location makes this already clear: Situated in a deep valley and flanked by high mountain ranges, Petra's urban development was only possible through a well-structured organization of its surrounding landscape. This study presents a first comprehensive archaeological and culture-historical characterization of the Petraean hinterland and researches overall strategies of the spatial organization of the city's rural environs. Based on an extensive set of archaeological survey data from the Petra region, this study explores a variety of archaeological site types and features diachronically. While the main chronological focus is clearly set on the Nabataean and Roman periods, it also considers the preceding Iron Age and Hellenistic periods, as well as the subsequent Byzantine period. The aim is to examine rural settlement patterns and subsistence strategies, aspects of rural water management, the extensive infrastructural network, the funerary and religious landscape, the military disposition, as well as the industrial potential of rural Petra. Following a unique landscape archaeological approach, this study provides a differentiated analysis of the various archaeological sites and features for a broad, regional understanding of the Petraean hinterland and offers new insights into the socio-political and administrative, military, economic and infrastructural development of Terra Petraea through time. Um die antike Nabatäerhauptstadt, Petra, besser verstehen zu können, muss man auch das Umland der Stadt in Betracht ziehen. Allein die geostrategisch ungünstige Lage Petras macht dies schon deutlich: In einem tiefen Tal gelegen und umgeben von steilen Gebirgsketten, war die Entwicklung der Stadt nur durch eine gut funktionierende Organisation der umliegenden Landschaft möglich. Diese Arbeit untersucht diesen Aspekt näher und legt eine erste, umfassende archäologische und kulturhistorische Charakterisierung des Umlandes von Petra vor und erforscht allgemeine Strategien zur räumlichen Organisation des peträischen Hinterlandes. Sie stützt sich dabei auf extensive archäologische Surveydaten aus der Petra-Region und untersucht eine Vielzahl von archäologischen Fundstellen und Gattungen diachron. Der chronologische Schwerpunkt liegt eindeutig auf der nabatäischen und römischen Periode. Es werden aber auch die vorangehende eisenzeitliche und hellenistische Periode sowie die nachfolgende byzantinische Zeit berücksichtigt. Ziel ist es, ländliche Siedlungsmuster und Subsistenzstrategien, Aspekte des ländlichen Wassermanagements, das infrastrukturelle Netzwerk, die funeräre und religiöse Landschaft, die militärische Disposition sowie das industrielle Potential des peträischen Umlandes zu untersuchen. Mit einem bisher einzigartigen landschaftsarchäologischen Ansatz, bietet diese Arbeit eine differenzierte Analyse der archäologischen Daten, um ein breites Verständnis der räumlichen Organisation des peträischen Hinterlandes zu ermäglichen. Es sollen dabei neue Erkenntnisse in die sozio-politische und administrative, militärische, wirtschaftliche und infrastrukturelle Entwicklung der Terra Petraea im Laufe der Zeit geboten werden.

Why has breastfeeding re-asserted itself over the last twenty years, and why are the government, the scientific and medical communities, and so many mothers so invested in the idea? In Is Breast Best? Joan B. Wolf challenges the widespread belief that breastfeeding is medically superior to bottle-feeding. Despite the fact that breastfeeding has become the ultimate expression of maternal dedication, Wolf writes, the conviction that breastfeeding provides babies unique health benefits and that formula feeding is a risky substitute is unsubstantiated by the evidence. In accessible prose, Wolf argues that a public obsession with health and what she calls “total motherhood” has made breastfeeding a cause célèbre, and that public discussions of breastfeeding say more about infatuation with personal responsibility and perfect mothering in America than they do about the concrete benefits of the breast. Parsing the rhetoric of expert advice, including the recent National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign, and rigorously questioning the scientific evidence, Is Breast Best? uncovers a path by which a mother can feel informed and confident about how best to feed her thriving infant—whether flourishing by breast or by bottle.