Humanities & Social Sciences

This volume analyses water management in pre-1500 Middle Eastern cities. Managing access to fresh water for large numbers of people has always been great challenge. Nevertheless, premodern societies of the Middle East and North Africa were rather successful in providing water to city dwellers, pilgrims and travellers in and around large and highly populated cities such as Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, Samarra, Basra, and Medina. The contributions to this volume delve into the question of how this was accomplished by examining the intersection between social institutions and the physical reality of water use. These studies analyse the identity and interactions between many different players and stakeholders in water management in cities. Who was responsible for the building, management and maintenance of different elements in premodern waters systems? Who had access to that water? The volume focuses on the sometimes fraught relationships between forces from “above”—central authorities, formal institutions and elites—and forces from “below”— more informal practices within local communities. This volume maps a wide variety of physical infrastructures related to water management to be found in densely populated or travelled areas. At the same time, it explores the multitude of social institutions which mediated the distribution of water to medieval urban and rural populaces. Thus, water management provides a microcosm for the wider mechanisms and evolutions of premodern urban governance and its interactions with rural hinterlands. By bringing together a wide range of scholars working on different aspects of these issues, in different contexts and at different times, this volume makes an important new contribution to our understanding of how water was distributed, regulated, and used by urban populations in premodern societies.

Japan's China Policy understands Japan's foreign policy in terms of power - one of the most central concepts of political analysis. It contributes a fresh understanding to the subject by developing relational power as an analytical framework and by applying it to significant issues in Japan's China policy: the negotiations for a bilateral investment protection treaty and the disputed Pinnacle (Senkaku/Diaoyu) Islands. Hagström demonstrates that Japan exerted power over China in such divergent empirical settings for the most part by using civilian instruments positively, defensively and through non-action. Given that Japan's foreign policy is often portrayed rather enigmatically in terms of power, the unique contribution of Japan's China Policy is to demonstrate how to analyze power aspects of Japan's foreign policy in a more coherent fashion. This revealing approach to Japan's foreign policy will be of huge interest to anyone studying Japanese politics, foreign policy or international relations.

Proteins are macromolecules composed of amino acids that are essential for a large number of biological metabolic processes. Proteins are also used in technical applications, for example to catalyze reactions. The objective of this work is to provide an indication of filterability early in the process development. A filtration cell for a centrifuge developed in this work makes it possible to characterize filtration on a small scale.

De 1974 à 2014, l’Afrique intertropicale a connu une croissance inédite des effectifs des herbivores domestiques. Les effectifs bovins ont été multipliés par plus de 2, ceux des petits ruminants par plus de 3. Aujourd’hui, la région regroupe environ 20 % des bovins et des ovins, 33 % des caprins et 81 % des dromadaires élevés sur la planète. Soit un cheptel de près de 900 millions de têtes. L’ouvrage est axé sur la dynamique des élevages des ruminants et des équidés en Afrique intertropicale. Il décrit les différents systèmes d’élevage rencontrés en zones aride et subhumide et les ressources alimentaires disponibles ; il aborde les impacts locaux et globaux des élevages des herbivores sur l’environnement. Le rôle socio-économique majeur des activités autour des animaux et de leurs produits, et la demande croissante en viande et lait des consommateurs sont soulignés. Une organisation efficace des filières bétail-viande est rapportée, alors que des contraintes à la mise en place d’une industrie laitière persistent. Pour de nombreuses familles vivant proches du seuil de pauvreté, l’élevage est un facteur de réduction de la vulnérabilité. Divers services qui permettraient un développement durable des élevages sont décrits. Cependant, les modes de financements et les suivis des impacts socio-économiques et environnementaux devront évoluer.

Der Band widmet sich dem Potential kreativen Ausdrucks, das die Auseinandersetzung mit städtischer Architektur mittels zeitgenössischer (digitaler) Technologien bietet, und dem gesellschaftlichen Kontext neoliberaler Bereicherungsökonomie und Stadtpolitik, der dieses Potential aufgrund der kommerzialisierten Präsentation von Architektur zu unterminieren droht. Neben wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzungen werden ästhetische Interventionen im Medium der Fotografie, Malerei und Musik vollzogen.; The volume is dedicated to the potential of creative expression offered by the engagement with urban architecture by means of contemporary (digital) technologies, and to the social context of neoliberal enrichment economics and urban politics that threatens to undermine this potential due to the commercialized presentation of architecture. In addition to scientific discussions, aesthetic interventions are carried out in the medium of photography, painting and music.

This paper surveys Ruth Marcus’ many contributions to modal logic and its interpretation, starting with her pioneer work on quantified modal logic and ending with the controversies concerning the origin of the idea of rigid reference and other basic ideas in the so-called “New theory of reference.” Her contributions are discussed with close attention to who gave credit to whom.

Annette Michelson's contribution to art and film criticism over the last three decades is unparalleled. This volume honors Michelson's unique legacy with original essays by some of the many scolars that have been influenced by her work. Some continue her efforts to develop theoretical frameworks for understanding modernist art, while others practice her form of interdisciplinary crtiticism in relation to avant-garde and modernist art works and artists. Still others investigate and evaluate Michelson's work itself. All in some way pay homage to het extraordinary contribution and demonstrate its continued centrality to the field of art and film criticism.

No region in the world has been more hostile to democracy, more dominated by military and security institutions, or weaker on economic development and inclusive governance than the Middle East. Why have Arab states been so oppressively strong in some areas but so devastatingly weak in others? How do those patterns affect politics, economics, and society across the region? The state stands at the center of the analysis of politics in the Middle East, but has rarely been the primary focus of systematic theoretical analysis. Making Sense of the Arab State brings together top scholars from diverse theoretical orientations to address some of the most critically important questions facing the region today. The authors grapple with enduring questions such as the uneven development of state capacity, the failures of developmentalism and governance, the centrality of regime security and survival concerns, the excesses of surveillance and control, and the increasing personalization of power. Making Sense of the Arab State will be a must-read for scholars of the Middle East and of comparative politics more broadly.

The Iberian chivalric romance has long been thought of as an archaic, masculine genre and its popularity as an aberration in European literary history. Chivalry, Reading, and Women’s Culture in Early Modern Spain contests this view, arguing that the surprisingly egalitarian gender politics of Spain’s most famous romance of chivalry has guaranteed it a long afterlife. Amadís de Gaula had a notorious appeal for female audiences, and the early modern authors who borrowed from it varied in their reactions to its large cast of literate female characters. Don Quixote and other works that situate women as readers carry the influence of Amadís forward into the modern novel. When early modern authors read chivalric romance, they also read gender, harnessing the female characters of the source text to a variety of political and aesthetic purposes.

Framed against Timothy Clark’s comments on the potency of ecocriticism, in this contribution I first zoom in on how cultural critique according to Rosemarie Buikema can contribute to discussions on matters of common concern. I then sketch two lines of argument that emerge from her work: firstly, the way in which art and culture can break through societal silences and, secondly, the importance of history and the past for cultural production in the present. Both issues are important where it concerns climate change and the Anthropocene. They lead to the essential question when thinking about ecocriticism: not ‘where goes cultural critique’ (the ‘quo vadis’ question), but what kind of critique is necessary?

This book offers a comprehensive treatment of research on mutual intelligibility between closely related languages and its linguistic and extra-linguistic determinants. It synthesizes existing research and reflects on new theoretical and practical directions for intelligibility research

This dissertation deals with the recording of interrogations in Swiss criminal proceedings. First, the current legal framework and practice is presented. In doing so, various shortcomings of the written record and a lack of correction mechanisms are identified. After an in-depth examination of the compatibility of the current legal situation and practice with higher-ranking law, the conclusion is drawn that there is a right to audiovisual recording of interrogations. Based on this, existing legal remedies for enforcing the right to audiovisual recording of interrogations are presented. Finally, proposals for the implementation of a recording obligation are made.

La producción intelectual de Josefina Plá abarca numerosas disciplinas, de las cuales el teatro, en su dimensión escénica y literaria, ha quedado ensombrecido por su obra poética y narrativa. Este libro reconstruye su labor teatral como crítica, historiadora, directora, docente y dramaturga desde su arraigo en Paraguay tras la guerra civil española. Tal investigación permite plantear que el espíritu renovador de Plá puede entenderse como un motor para la desconfiguración insular de Paraguay, espacio asociado tradicionalmente al tópico insular. Así, mientras el país guaraní saltaba a la escena internacional con narradores que escribían desde el exilio como Gabriel Casaccia y Augusto Roa Bastos, algunos intelectuales insiliados, como Plá, contribuyeron a cuartear el hermetismo cultural impuesto por el stronismo. Entre otros logros, se destaca el papel de Plá al frente de la Escuela Municipal de Arte Escénico y su influencia en la constitución del teatro paraguayo independiente. Por otra parte, la recuperación y análisis de veintitrés obras teatrales inéditas construyen el corpus dramático más completo que existe de Josefina Plá hasta el momento y revelan a una dramaturga excepcional, que se movió en el campo de la expresión libre adaptándose a las tendencias estéticas más contemporáneas. El valor de esta autora nace del lugar simbólico desde el que lee el mundo, como española exiliada republicana e insiliada paraguaya. Su poliédrica propuesta intelectual, entendida como un diálogo transnacional entre España y Paraguay, invita, por lo tanto, a derribar mitos, revisar cánones y reescribir una historia cultural compartida. "La canaria Josefina Plá, poeta, ensayista, narradora, autora dramática, pedagoga teatral y directora de escena, fue una figura clave en la vida cultural, literaria y escénica del Paraguay. Sin embargo, su trayectoria vital y artística es prácticamente desconocida en España. Este libro monográfico de Yasmina Yousfi López reconstruye con rigor documental y claridad expositiva la obra de creación y de crítica de esta mujer injustamente olvidada que contribuyó decisivamente a la renovación de la escena paraguaya." —Manuel Aznar Soler, Catedrático emérito de literatura española contemporánea de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona "A partir de la recuperación de más de una veintena de obras inéditas y de la compilación de críticas y noticias publicadas a lo largo de medio siglo, este libro constituye la primera investigación orgánica sobre la labor teatral de Josefina Plá en Paraguay: tanto su dramaturgia como su praxis teatral son exhaustivamente analizadas con el fin de recuperar a una mujer fundamental para entender el exilio de 1939. Además, pone en valor el teatro paraguayo en el marco de la literatura latinoamericana." —Diego Santos Sánchez, Profesor del Departamento de Literaturas Hispánicas y Bibliografía de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid

"The anthology “Kulturen verbinden – Connecting Cultures – Сближая культуры” celebrates the 50th anniversary of Slavonic studies at the Leopold-Franzens University Innsbruck. The individual contributions examine in different ways interrelations and mutual influences of languages, literatures, and cultures. The topics range from the early Middle Ages to the present and cover the East, South and West Slavonic regions as well as contact phenomena in Western countries. On the whole, this volume demonstrates that it is the essential achievement of a philological discipline such as Slavonic studies to bring cultures into communication with each other and to explore cultural interconnections. Der Sammelband Kulturen verbinden – Connecting Cultures – Сближая культуры verdankt sein Zustandekommen dem 50-jährigen Bestehen der Slawistik an der Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck. Die einzelnen Beiträge untersuchen in unterschiedlicher Weise, wie Sprachen, Literaturen und Kulturen mit einander in Verbindung stehen und sich wechselseitig beeinflussen. Die behandelten Themen reichen vom frühen Mittelalter bis in die Gegenwart, wobei der ost-, süd- und westslawische Raum ebenso erfasst wird wie Kontaktphänomene in westlichen Ländern. Insgesamt unterstreichen die Autorinnen und Autoren, dass die wesentliche Leistung einer philologischen Disziplin wie der Slawistik darin besteht, Kulturen miteinander ins Gespräch zu bringen und kulturelle Verflechtungen zu erforschen."

Agroecology stems from the intelligence of territories; it is a contextualised process of active and participatory cultural, scientific, technological and social elaboration. It can provide a founding humus for eco-territorialism in very tangible terms: identifying alternatives to the current agri-food system, triggering strong change dynamics for ecosystem care, consolidating sustainable practices at different scales, from the cultivated field to the organic district – actions necessary to address the current climate, socio-economic, ecological, global health emergencies; as well as affirming ethical principles of individual and social responsibility, concerning the ways of relating to, respecting and caring for both the weak segments of human population, and the natural resources water, land, air, biodiversity. Agroecological approach, strongly systemic, can therefore contribute to the elaboration of sustainability policies aimed at regenerating of territories and landscapes.