Humanities & Social Sciences

"Based on the premise that the project of Western Modernity is a structuring element of our societies, Racism and Racial Surveillance explores in detail its legacies of coloniality and racialization that interfere in a subtle and perverse way in the current social, cultural and political systems. Guided by an interdisciplinary methodology, the various contributions privilege historical contexts of colonial formation and offer a thorough and intersectional analysis on the specters of coloniality in the upsurge of racism, surveillance, and criminalization, as well as the presence of the phantom of the race in spaces of knowledge production such as that of artistic field, forensic genetics and criminal identification. Drawing on multi case studies the book then proffers key concepts and historical background that will be of interest to researchers, students and professionals in a broad range of areas of social sciences and humanities research, including fields such as criminology and policing, science and technology studies, arts studies, literary studies, race and ethnic studies and, finally, memory studies."

This is an open access book. In this third edition of Engineering Haptic Devices the software part was rewritten from scratch and now includes even more details on tactile and texture interaction modalities. The kinematics section was improved to extend beyond a pure knowledge explanation to a comprehensive guideline on how to actually do and implement haptic kinematic functions. The control section was reworked incorporating some hands-on experience on control implementation on haptic systems. The system, actuator and sensor design chapters were updated to allow easier access to the content. This book is written for students and engineers faced with the development of a task-specific haptic system. Now 14 years after its first edition, it is still a reference for the basics of haptic interaction and existing haptic systems and methods as well as an excellent source of information for technical questions arising in the design process of systems and components. Following a system engineering approach, it is divided into two parts with Part I containing background and reference information as a knowledge basis. Typical application areas of haptic systems and a thorough analysis of haptics as an interaction modality are introduced. The role of users in the design of haptic systems is discussed and relevant design and development stages are outlined. Part II presents all related challenges in the design of haptic systems including general system architecture and control structures, kinematics, actuator principles and all types of sensors you may encounter doing haptic device development. Beside these hardware and mechanical topics, further chapters examine state-of-the-art interfaces to operate the devices, and hardware and software development to push haptic systems to their limits.

Zahlen und Statistiken sind omnipräsent. Sie prägen die Berichterstattung über soziale, politische und wirtschaftliche Vorgänge und beeinflussen das alltägliche Denken über Gesellschaften und das soziale Zusammenleben. Ihnen kommt dabei häufig ein fast selbstverständlicher faktischer Status zu, eine Objektivität, welche sie gegenüber anderen Aussagen und Zugängen als quasi natürlich überlegen erscheinen lässt. Andreas Schaudauer nimmt sich diesem besonderen Status an und hinterfragt seine Entstehung und Legitimation. Darauf aufbauend geht er der Frage nach, inwiefern sich dieser Status aufrechterhalten lässt bzw. wie er sich verändert, wenn sein Entstehen offengelegt ist.

Die Initiative der ›Europäischen Kulturhauptstadt‹ soll dazu beitragen, interkulturelle Prozesse auf städtischer, nationaler und europäischer Ebene zu reflektieren und zu fördern. Mit diesem Anspruch gehen jedoch zahlreiche gesellschaftliche, räumliche, kulturelle und ästhetische Probleme einher, die nicht immer befriedigend zu lösen sind. Der daraus entstehenden Gemengelage von Europa und Regionalität, Identität und Pluralität, Kommerz und Kunst widmet sich dieser Sammelband aus einer interdisziplinären Perspektive. Er vergleicht erstmals exemplarisch die Kulturhauptstadtjahre in Luxemburg und der Großregion (2007), im Ruhrgebiet (2010) und in Istanbul (2010) und stellt dabei Interkulturalität als raum- und kulturübergreifendes Phänomen kontrastiv ins Zentrum der Analysen.

On the occasion of the centenary of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), leading science historians from around the world offered insights on the changing roles of the institution in international affairs from its foundation in 1922 to the present. The case studies presented in this volume show the multitude of functions that IUPAP had and how these were related to the changing international political contexts. Highlighting how often scientific agendas and political imperatives were entangled in the activities of IUPAP, the book analyzes the work of the union as exercises of scientific diplomacy, thus contributing to the current debate on the use of science and technology in international relations. The book is divided in three parts. The first discusses the interwar period demonstrating how the exclusion of communities of the central powers from international scientific institutions imposed by victorious allied countries made IUPAP ineffective until the end of World War II. The second part analyzes the changing roles assumed by IUPAP starting from its complete renovation after World War II. Case studies covering the role of IUPAP in physics education, in metrology, in joint commissions with other unions, and in defining the complex relations between pure and applied physics provide examples of IUPAP’s impact on the world of science. Part III squarely addresses the science diplomacy aspects of IUPAP during the Cold War highlighting how important was the participation in IUPAP to further diplomatic goals and explaining the origin of the pursuit of the free circulation of scientists as the activity that characterized the main function of international unions during the Cold War.

Der Briefwechsel mit Wilhelm Wolfsohn (1820-1865) ist das früheste zusammenhängende Briefkonvolut Theodor Fontanes (1819-1898). Er gilt als eine wichtige Quelle für die Bewertung von Fontanes politischem, beruflichem und literarischem Orientierungsprozess. Der Briefwechsel wird hier erstmals wissenschaftlich auf der Grundlage der handschriftlichen Quellen ediert. Während Fontanes Biographie als gut erschlossen gelten kann, weiß man vergleichsweise wenig über den Publizisten, Schriftsteller und Übersetzer Wilhelm Wolfsohn, der eine wichtige Rolle für die Vermittlung russischer Literatur in Deutschland spielte und einer der bedeutendsten Förderer des jungen Fontane war. Auch blieb der kulturelle Spannungsbogen, den es zwischen dem Apothekersohn aus der preußischen Provinz und dem russisch-galizischen Juden aus dem expandierenden Odessa der Gründerjahre gegeben haben muss, weitgehend unbeachtet. Über den bildungsgeschichtlichen und kulturellen Hintergrund Wolfsohns, seine Tätigkeit als Übersetzer, Publizist, Herausgeber und Dramatiker sowie die interkulturellen Aspekte seiner Beziehung zu Fontane und ihre Bedeutung für die Fontane-Biographik informiert eine Sammlung von Aufsätzen im zweiten Teil des Bandes.

This open access book aims to promote ecological and emotional research and education for sustainability by cultivating values and behaviours consistent with how nature makes us feel connected and nurtured. Built upon the intersection of ecological literacy and socio-emotional learning, grounded in sustainability and relational thinking, the research developed in the book covers a wide range of themes connected to the Agenda 2030.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. The Browne report advocates, in effect, the privatisation of higher education in England. With the proposed removal of the current cap on student fees and the removal of state funding from most undergraduate degree programmes, universities are set for a period of major reorganisation not seen since the higher education reforms in the 1960s. This book brings together some of the leading figures in Higher Education in the UK to set out what they see as the role of the university in public life. The book argues for a more balanced understanding of the value of universities than that outlined in the Browne Report. It advocates that they should not purely be seen in terms of their contribution to economic growth and the human capital of individuals but also in terms of their contribution to the public. This book responds to the key debates that the Browne review and Government statements have sparked, with essays on the cultural significance of the university, the role of the government in funding research, inequality in higher education, the role of quangos in public life and the place of social science research. It is a timely, important and considered exploration of the role of the universities in the UK and a reminder of what we should value and protect in our higher education system.

How do nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) create the spaces in which they act, despite all the odds against them? How do NGOs seem to meet the requirements of the moment, often being in the right place at the right time? Why is the sum of NGO activity frequently greater than the parts? These questions cannot be answered simply by looking at NGOs’ organizational attributes or outcomes. To truly grasp the power of NGOs it is necessary to examine how they relate to each other, as well as with states, intergovernmental organizations, businesses, and other actors. This volume argues for more detailed attention to the forms and processes of interactions between NGOs, and a broader conceptualization of NGO–NGO relationships to better understand their power and agency in global politics. It develops core conceptual building blocks—NGOing, a typology of social interactions, and a typology of relational power and its effects—and explores them in empirical studies of NGOs on a range of topics, including legal environmental conflicts, humanitarian assistance, counterterrorism, climate politics, and social and economic rights. The volume makes three main contributions to the literature on NGOs and global politics: it expands the understanding of NGOing; promotes synthetic knowledge about the power of NGO interactions and their effects; and opens up new perspectives on processes of global governing.

In comparison with other regions in the Sinitic world, a rather small number of medical texts has been preserved in Vietnam. Reasons given are unfavorable local conditions, such as the warm and humid climate, and destruction through prolonged periods of warfare. Also, and in contrast to Ming-Qing dynasty China or Edo Japan, Vietnam lacked a commercial, urban printing industry until the 1920s. Pre–twentieth-century Vietnamese medical manuscripts are consequently rare. Published medical texts are even more so. It’s only thanks to the Đồng Nhân Pagoda in Bắc Ninh Province that Lê Hữu Trác’s (1720?–1791) Understandings of Hải Thượng’s Medical Lineage (1770–1786), the most celebrated text of Sino-Vietnamese medicine, has been preserved in printed form, almost in its entirety.1 One of the prefaces to this text, written by abbot Thích Thanh Cao (?–1896), is translated below

This book examines narratives of individual religious transformation in Western European literature and culture. Religious individuals, themes, experiences and communities are widely represented in diverse literature and culture, including literary texts and visual arts and media. Taking the subject of religious transformation as an angle from which to study constructions of religion, gender and race, this book reveals through various case studies what authors, documentary makers, film makers and playwrights consider to be important (possible) shifts between the old and the new, continuities and discontinuities, and the formation of the self. The chapters demonstrate how individual religious transformations are understood to be shaped by various intersections of difference, and point at the need to consider gender as always related to and co-constructing religion and race. This transdisciplinary and intimate study provides a fresh lens through which to examine pressing questions regarding the place and future of religion, gender and race in contemporary Western Europe.

"What does it mean when a hit that knocks an American football player unconscious is cheered by spectators? What are the consequences of such violence for the participants of this sport and for the entertainment culture in which it exists? This book brings together scholars and sport commentators to examine the relationship between American football, violence and the larger relations of power within contemporary society. From high school and college to the NFL, Football, Culture, and Power analyses the social, political and cultural imprint of America’s national pastime. The NFL’s participation in and production of hegemonic masculinity, alongside its practices of racism, sexism, heterosexism and ableism, provokes us to think deeply about the historical and contemporary systems of violence we are invested in and entertained by. This social scientific analysis of American football considers both the positive and negative power of the game, generating discussion and calling for accountability. It is fascinating reading for all students and scholars of sports studies with an interest in American football and the wider social impact of sport."

This book provides an extensive and comparative account of all welfare reforms that occurred during the last three decades in Continental European countries. It reveals unexpected important structural reforms, to be understood as the culmination of a long reform trajectory, analyzed in detail with the tools of comparative historical institutionalism. With these reforms, Bismarckian welfare systems have lost their encompassing capacities, have partially turned to employment-friendliness and weakened the strongest elements of their male breadwinner bias. "This volume is the definitive work on the politics of reform in Bismarckian welfare regimes. It is essential reading for any scholar interested in welfare reform - or indeed, in institutional and policy change more generally." (Kathleen Thelen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ) "The contributors to the volume are all recognized experts on their field and provide strictly comparable analyses in their chapters, making this volume a gold mine for comparative welfare state scholars. Palier's volume is certain to be a benchmark study for the foreseeable future." (John D. Stephens, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) "This volume, representing the best available scholarship in comparative socio-economic research, provides important and highly policy-relevant insights. A must-read." (Fritz Scharpf, Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies)

Jesuits have been in Africa since the founding of their order, yet their history there remains poorly researched. Although scholars have begun to focus on specific regions such as Congo, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe, a comprehensive picture of the entire Jesuit experience on the continent has hitherto been lacking. In a condensed yet accessible way, Jesuits in Africa fills that lacuna. Narrating the story century by century from the time of St. Ignatius of Loyola (c.1491–1556), founder of the Jesuits, to that of Pedro Arrupe (1907–91, in office 1965–83), twenty-eighth superior general of the Society, this book makes Jesuit history in Africa available to a general readership while offering scholars a broad view in which specialized topics can be conceived and deepened.

"Forms of Emotion analyses how drama, theatre and contemporary performance present emotion and its human and nonhuman diversity. This book explores the emotions, emotional feelings, mood, and affect, which make up a spectrum of ‘emotion’, to illuminate theatrical knowledge and practice and reflect the distinctions and debates in philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, and other disciplines. This study asserts that specific forms of emotion are intentionally unified in drama, theatre, and performance to convey meaning, counteract separation and subversively champion emotional freedom. The book progressively shows that the dramatic and theatrical representation of the nonhuman reveals how human dominance is offset by emotional connection with birds, animals, and the natural environment. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers interested in the emotions and affect in dramatic literature, theatre studies, performance studies, psychology, and philosophy as well as artists working with emotionally expressive performance."