Humanities & Social Sciences

In Ways of Following, Katve-Kaisa Kontturi offers rare, intimate access to artists’ studios and exhibitions, where art processes thrive in their material-relational becoming. The book argues for an ethical and affirmative mode of engaging with contemporary art that replaces critical distance with sensuous and transformative proximity. From writing-with to dancing and breathing, from conversations to modelling, it maps ways of following that make the moving materiality of art intensively felt. Drawing on long-term engagements with selected contemporary artists and their art-in-process, Kontturi expands the concept and practice of collaboration from human interactions to working with, and between, materials. With this shift, Ways of Following radically rethinks such core tenets of art theory as intention, artistic influences and the autonomy of art, bringing new urgency to the work of art and its political capacity to propose new ways of being and thinking.

This volume contains papers presented in part at a symposium held in May 2012 at Göttingen University, to honour Professor Joachim Reitner for his numerous contributions to the fields of geobiology, geology, and palaeontology. Our present volume reflects the breadth of Reitner’s interests and accomplishement with tributes and research or review papers by his students, former students, collaborators, and friends. The symposium was held in conjunction with Joachim Reitner’s 60th birthday.

Let's try to imagine a world where scientific illiteracy is the exception rather than the rule. That is a world of subjects who are, in the vast majority, informed and aware of the main ongoing scientific debates, and who are capable of critically and independently thinking about them. A world in which everyone could dispose of the resources to develop a thoughtful opinion on cloning techniques, genetically modified organisms, new anti-cancer therapies or even on the origin of life on Earth and the final destiny of the universe. If this world were possible, what would it look like? The scepticism about the feasibility of such a scenario is justified, however it is equally undeniable that during the twentieth century there have been such profound transformations in the relationship between science and public opinion as to make the question at least legitimate and worthy of an answer.

This book looks at questions of intellectual property rights (IPR) -- historically, culturally, and politically -- and their relationship to law and the state. Arguing that the idea that intellectual property is another kind of property right (that is, that IP is a thing to be owned) exists in parallel with the idea that intellectual property is the consequence of a cultural process, Andrews discusses intellectual property rights within the context of cultural studies, treating them as an object through which intersecting cultural and political issues can be understood.

Based on a series of themes and case studies, this book aims to illustrate the impact of sports policies and practices on individuals and their identities, and to analyze the potential solutions offered by International human rights law (IHRL) for these infringements. It bridges the gap between IHRL and sports studies, and will be useful to scholars in both fields, especially those unfamiliar with each other’s work. Furthermore, by investigating the context of sport and its governance, this collection offers a series of valuable insights, enabling the development of an interpretation of ‘law in context’ for legal scholars in the field of human rights. As the governance and regulation of sport are seen as illustrations of other forms of normativity, this book also contributes to the conversation about the transnational dimension of law and legal orders. In this respect, it illustrates that normative autonomy in the field of sport, associated with the idea of lex sportiva, tends to be relative regarding IHRL. The sporting environment is not disconnected from major contemporary social issues: it constitutes a public space in which injustices can be denounced, but also the theater in which prejudices are perpetuated against various parties, such as athletes or workers. IHRL commonly addresses attacks on individual dignity and social justice issues by guaranteeing rights to individuals and offering them protection mechanisms. In this context, can IHRL solve the problems encountered in the sporting environment? This is the question that animates this volume. This is an open access book.

In 2013, China's planned "New Silk Road" initiative began, the implementation of which has directly transformed many places in Asia and Africa, as well as in China itself. In some cases, urgently needed infrastructure was created, such as Niger's hospital in Niamey or the National Library of El Salvador. At the same time, however, entire areas were created, such as the free trade zone in Khorghos, Kazakhstan, with controversial effects on the local population and the environment. Based on research at the Politecnico di Torino, this publication examines the "Belt and Road Initiative" from an architectural and urbanistic perspective. Thematically organized, 20 selected buildings are documented. All projects are presented with specially created maps, plans, and photographs.

Ageismus hat weitreichende Auswirkungen. Durch den erstmaligen Transfer und die Anwendung von Konzepten aus der feministischen Medizinethik eröffnet Elisabeth Langmann neue Perspektiven auf das Phänomen und ermöglicht ein tiefgreifendes Verständnis von Ageismus mit seinen vielfältigen Formen und Implikationen auf Gesundheit und Selbstbestimmung. Mit einer kritischen Analyse der Problematik zeigt sie außerdem Wege zu einer gerechteren Gesundheitsversorgung auf und gibt wertvolle Einsichten für alle, die sich mit den Chancen und Herausforderungen des Alterns im Kontext von Gesundheit beschäftigen.

Im Kontext der Klimakatastrophe befinden wir uns als Akteur*innen in einem komplexen Netzwerk unterschiedlicher menschlicher, tierlicher, pflanzlicher und weiterer Entitäten. Die Akteur-Netzwerk-Theorie von Bruno Latour bietet eine diversifizierende Perspektive auf vegetabile Lebewesen: Mehr-als-menschliche Entitäten bringen uns dazu, Dinge zu tun. Dabei variiert der Grad der Abhängigkeit in Mensch-Pflanzen-Beziehungen. Die Beiträger*innen wagen eine Neuperspektivierung, begegnen diesem Verhältnis kritisch und fragen: Was ist vegetabile agency und welche Formen sind zu beobachten? Wann, wo und wie werden sie dargestellt? Und welche Hierarchien werden dabei konstruiert?

This book addresses the reception of Islamic visual culture by the northern Iberian kingdoms, by systematically comparing works of art from both sides and fleshing out their historical context. This study includes figurative and iconographic motifs, architectural forms, and even the spolia from constructions and Arabic inscriptions that were embedded in Christian buildings. The Islamic visual culture of al-Andalus was often transformed as it was recreated by Christian hands, bringing to the fore various nuances in the relationship between the two religious communities. Artistic transfer was conditioned by social coexistence between Christians and Muslims—both in the caliphate al-Andalus and in the northern realms—and military conflict. To approach the different ways in which Andalusi visual culture was received in the northern kingdoms, while embracing the vast diversity of case studies available, this book is divided into three thematic sections: Reinterpretation, Appropriation, and Artistic Transfers. This book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, visual culture, and medieval studies.

Autobiographisches Erzählen wird üblicherweise als ein Akt der Vergegenwärtigung von Vergangenheit oder der Selbstkonstitution beschrieben. Der vorliegende Band bringt eine weitere Perspektive mit ins Spiel, indem er Dimensionen der Vermittlung lebensgeschichtlicher Erfahrungen ins Zentrum rückt. Aus verschiedenen Disziplinen werden Ansätze und Gedanken rezipiert und zusammengeführt, die zeigen, mit welchen Mitteln ein Erzähler auf die Vorstellungen der Zuhörer Einfluss nehmen kann. Neben formalen, strukturellen und kompositorischen Aspekten geht es dabei auch um rhetorische Mittel und den Einsatz von Metaphern beim Brückenschlag zu vergangenen Wirklichkeiten.

The climate catastrophe and transgression of planetary boundaries, together with the erosion of democracy and rise of oligarchy, have intensified demands for critical reflection on capitalism. This edited collection responds to these demands, featuring contributions from scholars across the social sciences disciplines and geographical contexts. The book explores ways to rethink and retheorise capitalism through theoretical, conceptual, and empirical contributions. Some contributions propose ways to reform capitalism, some emphasise the need to examine it as part of diverse more-than-capitalist economic arrangements, while others invite us to reflect on what might come after capitalism. Embracing a pluralist approach, the book reflects the dynamism of capitalism and presents diverse theoretical approaches and methodologies. Retheorising, on the pages of this book, takes the form of reconceptualising, reimagining, representing, as well as repairing. From text-based analyses to visual collaging and pottery making, the chapters engage with capitalism in multifaceted ways and invite readers to also reflect on how we sense and experience socioeconomic formations through scholarly endeavours. Through its pluralist approach, the book urges readers to explore and trouble the multifaceted workings of capitalism and engage with the possibilities for its transformation or transgression.

Games as global and connected phenomena have been examined in the rising scholarly field of game studies, but relatively little has been published on the history of games and gaming in China. Weiqi (a.k.a. Go), one of the world’s oldest board games, originated in China; a variety of Chinese card, dice, board, sport, and performance games have been developed over the millennia; and China is quickly becoming a major player in the contemporary digital game industry. In exploring games and practices of play across social and historical contexts, this volume examines representations of gender, class, materiality, and imaginations of the nation in Chinese and Sinophone contexts, while addressing ways in which games inhabit, represent, disrupt, or transform cultural and social practices. Both analog and computer games are represented in analyses that draw connections between the traditional and the modern and between local or regional and higher-order economic, cultural, and political structures. Among the topics explored are rock carvings of board games, weiqi cultures, scholars’ and courtesans’ games, gambling, games based on literature, video-game politics, and appropriation of Chinese culture in video games. The open access publication of this book was made possible by a grant from the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation.

Pectin is an industrial product of certain fruit peels that contain it, such as citrus fruits, apples, pears, grapes, plums, beets, sunflowers, and so on. It is the traditional gelling agent for jams and jellies, but its applications extend to fruit products for food, dairy, dessert, soft drink, pharmaceutical, and other industries. This book discusses pectin production, pectin biotechnology, and pectin applications. Chapters cover such topics as the production of pectin from citrus, fungal pectinases in food technology, pharmaceutical applications of pectin, and more.

Die liberale Demokratie steht weltweit unter Druck. Sie wird durch antiliberale Bewegungen und Parteien ebenso herausgefordert wie durch autoritäre Regimes. Der Liberalismus als parteiübergreifende Strömung ist in die Defensive geraten und wird oft mit Marktradikalismus, sozialer Kälte und ökologischer Ignoranz assoziiert. Die namhaften Beiträger*innen zeigen, dass der Liberalismus als Denkrichtung nicht tot ist. Sie stellen in ihren Essays Ideen und Ansätze für neue liberale Konzepte zur Bewältigung der großen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit vor: vom Klimawandel über Globalisierung und digitaler Revolution bis hin zu transnationaler Migration und zur zunehmenden Systemkonkurrenz zwischen Demokratien und autoritären Regimen.

This book examines the contributions of Latin American revolutionary thinkers to the field of education, particularly the approaches of Peruvian José Carlos Mariátegui (1894-1930) and Bolivian René Zavaleta Mercado (1937-1984), engaging them in dialogue to reflect on the political and educational challenges of the present. As Fabián and Lucía argue, these revolutionaries were thinkers who complemented each other in their efforts to articulate anti-colonial struggles as well as anti-imperialist and socialist struggles. Our authors, however, were not content to limit the dialogue at that level. Like the thinkers they studied and their shared political and theoretical references, they understand that the production of ideas must serve the advancement of the practices of popular movements and organizations, "central actors in the processes of profound change in social reality." Therefore, in preparing this book, they decided to broaden the dialogue, incorporating into the same circle educational practices that had Mariátegui and Zavaleta as sources of inspiration and active reference: the "Schools of Study and Work in Coeducation" in Huayopampa, Peru, and the "Ayllu School" of Warisata, Bolivia, which developed between 1940 and 1970 and between 1931 and 1940, respectively. In this new layer of dialogue, in addition to making these experiences known, they sought to capture in them elements necessary for the historical construction of a pedagogy with a socialist perspective.