Humanities & Social Sciences

What power does civil society (still) have? The contributions in this anthology deal with questions about the power of civil society and its transformation from an interdisciplinary perspective. They focus on socio-political areas in which the tensions between authoritarian attacks on democratic gender relations, neoliberal diversity policies and emancipatory movements are particularly evident and are constantly being renegotiated.

Islam is often seen as a religious tradition in which hell does not play a particularly prominent role. This volume challenges this hackneyed view. Locating Hell in Islamic Traditions is the first book-length analytic study of the Muslim hell. It maps out a broad spectrum of Islamic attitudes toward hell, from the Quranic vision(s) of hell to the pious cultivation of the fear of the afterlife, theological speculations, metaphorical and psychological understandings, and the modern transformations of hell. Contributors: Frederick Colby, Daniel de Smet, Christiane Gruber, Jon Hoover, Mohammad Hassan Khalil, Christian Lange, Christopher Melchert, Simon O’Meara, Samuela Pagani, Tommaso Tesei, Roberto Tottoli, Wim Raven, and Richard van Leeuwen.

SARS, avian flu, Ebola, Mers-Cov... Over the past few decades, infectious diseases have come under increasing scrutiny from scientists, risk managers, the media and the public. Why do infectious diseases keep emerging? And what are the challenges this situation poses? In five chapters, specialists from different scientific fields analyze the ecological, social, institutional and political dynamics associated with emerging infectious diseases. More than a multi-disciplinary overview, this book shows how concepts, scientific results and action plans of international and governmental agencies are constructed and respond to each other. In clear, accessible language, the book explores the continuities but also the reorganizations produced by the notion of emerging infectious disease, both in collective activity and in our relationship with the biological world. It also shows the challenges, but also the opportunities, seized by the players confronted with them. This book, with a preface by Frédéric Keck (anthropologist), includes contributions by Claude Gilbert and Nathalie Brender (political scientists), François Roger (veterinary epidemiologist) and Patrick Zylberman (health historian).

This open access State-of-the-Art Survey describes and documents the developments and results of the Once-Only Principle Project (TOOP). The Once-Only Principle (OOP) is part of the seven underlying principles of the eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020. It aims to make the government more effective and to reduce administrative burdens by asking citizens and companies to provide certain standard information to the public authorities only once. The project was horizontal and policy-driven with the aim of showing that the implementation of OOP in a cross-border and cross-sector setting is feasible. The book summarizes the results of the project from policy, organizational, architectural, and technical points of view.

Most people regard the arts as free. This publication demonstrates that Asian art and architecture are created in contexts of extreme dependence. They depend on the climate, resources, social and religious traditions and patrons. Despite these asymmetrical dependencies, artists have found freedoms for self-expression. This creative dialogue is explored in 13 chapters on material culture from India, Nepal, Tibet, the Silk Routes and China.

Diseases & disorders

This open access book presents a variety of perspectives on the concept of freedom of religion in different European countries against the background of the European Convention on Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and other international treaties. In most European societies today, religion and questions about religion are increasing in relevance and importance. This development can be explained in several ways, for example by continuous demographic changes and new societal standards and values. As a consequence, the debate on the interpretation and scope of the right to freedom of religion has intensified in politics, media and, of course, law. The right to freedom of religion is complex and varies within different legal contexts at the international, European and national levels. This has resulted in a right that is ambiguous and sometimes difficult for individuals to claim and for states to assert. This book contains contributions from leading legal scholars working in these fields in Sweden, the Nordic countries and wider Europe. 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 Swedish Studies Network.

In the central centuries of the Modern Age, Latin was the official language of the Church of Rome, but from the analysis of papal edicts and decrees, it emerges that Vernacular was preferred as common language. While opposing the Lutheran doctrine, which favoured to the use of vernacular both in the Scriptures and in the liturgy, and keeping the knowledge of the mysteries of the faith only for those able to understand Latin, Italian bishops and inquisitors used vernacular to transmit papal edicts and conciliar decrees. What topics required complete understanding? Was there loyalty to the originals, or were the margins of interpretation exploited to contain the repressive hold imposed by the post-Tridentine papacy?

Education; Information Technology

Klimaschutz und Ressourceneffizienz gehen häufig Hand in Hand. Mit Spiel und Spaß ressourceneffizientes Handeln fördern – das ist die Devise der Planspiele rund um das Thema Energie- und Materialeffizienz, die in diesem Buch vorgestellt werden. Die Planspiele schließen eine Lücke im betrieblichen Weiterbildungsangebot und bilden ein niederschwelliges Angebot, mit dem ressourceneffizientes Denken und Handeln spielerisch in Unternehmen eingeführt werden kann. Unternehmen aller Art können gleich auf mehrere Arten von den in den Spielen vermittelten Kenntnissen und Methoden profitieren: Durch Ressourceneffizienz-Maßnahmen werden sowohl deutliche Kosteneinsparungen erzielt als auch ein Beitrag zum Klimaschutz durch die Minderung von Treibhausgasemissionen geleistet. Dies wirkt sich nicht zuletzt positiv auf die Wettbewerbs- und die Innovationsfähigkeit aus. Darüber hinaus werden die Mitarbeiter intern mit einem attraktiven und kurzweiligen Schulungsangebot weiterqualifiziert. Die Interaktion im Spiel involviert die Mitarbeiter aktiv und motiviert sie, ihr Wissen produktiv einzubringen. Das Ergebnis sind neue Ideen für noch mehr Effizienz im Unternehmen und gleichzeitig für mehr Klimaschutz. In diesem Open Access-Buch werden sowohl das fachliche Hintergrundwissen für die in den Spielen vermittelten Methoden beschrieben als auch konkrete Anleitungen zur Durchführung der Spiele gegeben.

A popular fascination with fame and stardom has existed in Western culture since the late eighteenth century; a fascination that, in the twenty‑first century, reaches into almost every facet of public life. The pervasive nature of stardom in modern society demands study from the perspectives of a range of distinct but thematically connected disciplines. The exploration of intersections between broader considerations of stardom and the discourses of popular music studies is the genesis for this volume. The chapters collected here demonstrate the variety of work currently being undertaken in stardom studies by scholars in Australia. The contributions range from biographical considerations of the stars of popular music, contributions to critical discourses of stardom in the industry more broadly, and the various ways in which the use of astronomical metaphors, in both cultural commentary and academic discourse, demonstrate notions of stardom firmly embedded in popular music thought. Not only do these chapters represent a range of perspectives on popular music, stars and stardom, they provide eloquent and innovative contributions to the developing discourse on stardom in popular music.

“These farmers have been working this land for generations. But they have no papers. So the government may clear this land for a project. People fear they will be chased away.” Such stories can be heard every day in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They demonstrate the insecurity of rural smallholders who are threatened with eviction without proper compensation. The ‘project’ may be large-scale agriculture, industry, bio fuels, forest conservation, urban sprawl, or transnational land-grabbing by countries insecure in food and energy resources. Can such peasants be empowered with ‘papers’? Five legal experts who believe in adaptation to local conditions share their experiences and work with local people, take their needs seriously, respect their ways of managing land, make good use of the legal system and opt for simple but robust registration systems.

What is ‘good’ healthcare? Can we define and deliver it, or will we simply make things better for some people and worse for others? Bringing together the fields of philosophy and healthcare quality, this open access book provides a much-needed framework for understanding and navigating the conceptual and ethical issues at the heart of healthcare improvement. Acknowledging the complexity in attempts to raise the quality of healthcare, including from different cultural and intellectual perspectives to ever-increasing costs, this book reveals the contribution philosophy can make to the provision of quality healthcare. In four clear parts, it uncovers the ethical commitments already embedded in health services and connects them with philosophical literature to present an original and practically useful approach to answering questions about what is better and why. Throughout, the authors advocate ‘pragmatic pluralism’, emphasizing compassion, social justice and practical wisdom alongside techniques, measures and outcomes, and maintain that healthcare demands a reflective, context sensitive approach which is cautious about the universality of claims and the scalability of improvement interventions. This accessible text effortlessly combines theory and practice with a wide range of real-world case studies, including urban poverty screening in US primary care and initiatives introduced in the UK to help underpin anti-racist practice. Across public policy, bioethics, healthcare management, social sciences and beyond, it is a must-read for students, scholars and practitioners alike. 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 Wellcome Trust.

In South Africa, work-integrated learning (WIL) excursions are crucial in preparing university students for the world of work. As higher education institutions (HEIs) evolve to promote equity and inclusivity, these excursions are continuously refined to enhance student learning outcomes. This scholarly book explores how WIL excursions support self-directed learning (SDL) and foster skills essential for the 21st century, such as active learning, intercultural sensitivity, and epistemological access. A key focus is on the 2023 WIL excursions at North-West University (NWU), which align with South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030 and the University Capacity Development Grant’s (UCDG) goal of equipping graduates to address contemporary societal challenges. The book examines first-year excursions across three faculties – Education, Health Sciences, and Law – using both virtual and in-person experiences to develop intercultural citizenship, communication, and a sense of belonging. Through research-based insights, the chapters highlight how these excursions were designed and implemented to help students recognise personal biases, deepen cultural awareness, and take responsibility for their own learning. Additionally, the book underscores how students were encouraged to identify their learning needs and access resources that promote ongoing self-directed growth. By linking WIL to SDL, the book provides novel perspectives on fostering inclusivity and preparing students for their academic journeys, professional careers, and contributions to a more socially just world.

Deze studie maakt deel uit van het onderzoek naar ‘Innovatiecentra vve’. Voor vve - voor- en vroegschoolse educatie - komen kinderen in aanmerking die risico lopen op een onderwijsach-terstand. De innovatiecentra vve zijn te beschouwen als proeftuinen waar de kinderopvang in samenwerking met de gemeente gedurende drie jaar experimenteert met een innovatieve maat-regel om het vve-aanbod te verbeteren. Een jury heeft vijf innovatiecentra geselecteerd voor deel-name aan dit programma, in Amsterdam, Leiden, Dordrecht, Den Haag en Heerlen. Naar deze vijf innovatiecentra is onderzoek uitgevoerd door onderzoekers van het Kohnstamm Instituut, KBA Nijmegen en Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. De centrale onderzoeksvraag is of de innovatieve maatregelen effect hebben en de kwaliteit van de vve verhogen.