Humanities & Social Sciences

Das Buch untersucht heroische Autoritäts- und Subjektivierungsentwürfe und stellt ihre Charakteristika in theoretischen Reflexionen und anhand von Fallbeispielen vor.Held:innen sind Autoritätsfiguren. Man folgt ihnen, bewundert sie und ahmt sie nach. Sie dienen als Modelle der Selbstbeschreibung, Selbstformung und Handlungsorientierung und wirken in diesem Sinne subjektivierend. Das Verhältnis von Gefolgschaft und Heldenfigur wird nicht, jedenfalls nicht nur, durch die Kraft eines überzeugenden Arguments, sondern die Strahlkraft einer exzeptionellen Gestalt bestimmt – also durch die Logik der Personalisierung. Das Buch untersucht, wie heroische Autoritäts- und Subjektivierungsentwürfe in soziologischen, philosophischen und kulturwissenschaftlichen Theorieentwürfen problematisiert werden. Anhand von vier Dimensionen (Opferbereitschaft, Vorbildhaftigkeit, Wirksamkeit und Polarisierung) werden allgemeine Merkmale heroischer Subjektanrufungen vorgestellt. Neben theoretischen Reflexionen beleuchtet das Buch zudem in disziplinären Vertiefungen, wie sich heroische Autoritätsbeziehungen und Subjektpositionen im gesellschaftlichen und politischen Feld formieren und medial inszeniert werden. Dabei werden auch transnationale Aspekte betrachtet und außereuropäische Gesellschaften, wie China und die USA, einbezogen.

In Forms of Life, Andreas Gailus argues that the neglect of aesthetics in most contemporary theories of biopolitics has resulted in an overly restricted conception of life. He insists we need a more flexible notion of life: one attuned to the interplay and conflict between its many dimensions and forms. Forms of Life develops such a notion through the meticulous study of works by Kant, Goethe, Kleist, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Benn, Musil, and others. Gailus shows that the modern conception of "life" as a generative, organizing force internal to living beings emerged in the last decades of the eighteenth century in biological thought. At the core of this vitalist strand of thought, Gailus maintains, lies a persistent emphasis on the dynamics of formation and deformation, and thus on an intrinsically aesthetic dimension of life. Forms of Life brings this older discourse into critical conversation with contemporary discussions of biopolitics and vitalism, while also developing a rich conception of life that highlights, rather than suppresses, its protean character. Gailus demonstrates that life unfolds in the open-ended interweaving of the myriad forms and modalities of biological, ethical, political, psychical, aesthetic, and biographical systems.

This is the first book exploring Europe’s engagement with the Indo-Pacific region. Its novel comparative perspective favours a “bird’s eye view” of Europe’s unfolding Indo-Pacific pivot and nuances the many priorities and mechanisms that are involved in this process. The volume provides a wide-scoped account of Europe’s policies on the Indo-Pacific, comprising both the EU and Europe’s major, middle, and minor powers. It also offers a careful assessment of the resulting implications, including trends, commonalities and differences, advantages and risks, and consequences for cross-regional cooperation. Endorsed by experts from universities, think tanks, and international institutions, this book is meant for academics, policymakers, and diplomats, as well as journalists and students interested in Europe’s growing focus on the Indo-Pacific.

First published in Japan in 1983, this book is now a classic in modern Japanese literary studies. Covering an astonishing range of texts from the Meiji period (1868–1912), it presents sophisticated analyses of the ways that experiments in literary language produced multiple new—and sometimes revolutionary—forms of sensibility and subjectivity. Along the way, Kamei Hideo carries on an extended debate with Western theorists such as Saussure, Bakhtin, and Lotman, as well as with such contemporary Japanese critics as Karatani Kojin and Noguchi Takehiko. Transformations of Sensibility deliberately challenges conventional wisdom about the rise of modern literature in Japan and offers highly original close readings of works by such writers as Futabatei Shimei, Tsubouchi Shoyo, Higuchi Ichiyo, and Izumi Kyoka, as well as writers previously ignored by most scholars. It also provides a new critical theorization of the relationship between language and sensibility, one that links the specificity of Meiji literature to broader concerns that transcend the field of Japanese literary studies. Available in English translation for the first time, it includes a new preface by the author and an introduction by the translation editor that explain the theoretical and historical contexts in which the work first appeared.

The book explores India’s role as a normative power, with solid credentials based on a long history of thalassic experience of states of South India. It examines how India has been interpreting international law and rules for the exploitation of living and non-living resources in her way. The book presents an analysis of India’s activities in four key areas of maritime governance and a description of its roles in the Indian Ocean Region. It highlights India as a maritime security and sustainable maritime development model alternative to the Chinese. The volume also showcases a holistic, interdisciplinary picture of India’s maritime policy and thoroughly explains its historical and semiotic background. Further, it discusses India’s endeavours as a new version of the ASEAN+ cooperation model combined with the US hub and spoke system adapted to new time and place conditions. Researchers interested in India, the Indian Ocean, and maritime affairs in general would find the book informative and systematising knowledge about maritime governance in the Indian Ocean Region. The book will be useful to students, researchers, and teachers from the departments of international relations, political science, economics, public policy and administration, and defence studies. It will especially be a useful read for diplomats, policy analysts, think tank members, and those interested in international law of the sea and maritime research centres. It also offers practical insights for those interested in Indian foreign policy, the Indian Ocean Region, and maritime governance in general and scholars researching the role of states in international relations, the instruments of foreign policies of emerging powers in the Global South, and the maritime strategies of developing countries.

This book is about one work: the sculpture I don’t need you anymore, I’m into Carl Andre now (2010/2017) by Ann Cathrin November Høibo. Since completing her studies in 2010, Høibo has become a key figure in contemporary art in Norway. Textiles, in the form of found garments and hand-woven tapestries, are central to her work. With a starting point in a feminist perspective, this book explores the position of textiles as both a material and a tradition in visual art today, as well as how Høibo’s art often evades categorization: In the work in question, the textiles are combined with plastic, metal and a framed collage, such that the result is more a sculpture than a work of textile art. Material and materiality have long been neglected topics in art history, but here, the method is to follow the materials. By examining the various materials from which the sculpture is composed, layers of meaning are revealed. Through the choice of materials, a dialogue arises with Navajo blankets and with artists such as Hannah Ryggen, Else Marie Jakobsen, Carl Andre and Joseph Beuys. In the organization of the materials, the artist references art movements such as minimalism and conceptual art. By delving into this one work, the author shows how a conceptual approach can be effectively combined with a strong sense of materials. On a more general level, the book is also an investigation of how one can write about contemporary artworks that defy established categories.

What resources underpin the development of a territory? What does territorial management of resources mean? What specific characteristics and opportunities does territorial organization offer for agricultural production, regulation of sectors, and services? How are territorial public policies conceived and applied? But also, what are the limits of the territorial approach? How does a territorial approach refashion the frameworks of intervention for development? How do we implement and reinvent mechanisms to provide support, build skills, and promote production and good governance? How do we mobilize information systems, apprehend territorial dynamics, and encourage decentralized planning? Using a wide diversity of case studies, the book explores how actors, scales and scopes of intervention interact in the development of rural spaces in the countries of the Global South, both at the local level and in the global perspective of the objectives of sustainable development. The book brings together the experiences and views of more than 150 researchers and experts from CIRAD, AFD and their partners. It is aimed at researchers, engineers, professionals in the countries of the Global South, as well as students and the wider public.

The Angkorian World explores the history of Southeast Asia’s largest ancient state from the first to mid-second millennium CE. Chapters by leading scholars combine evidence from archaeology, texts, and the natural sciences to introduce the Angkorian state, describe its structure, and explain its persistence over more than six centuries. Comprehensive and accessible, this book will be an indispensable resource for anyone studying premodern Asia. The volume’s first of six sections provides historical and environmental contexts and discusses data sources and the nature of knowledge production. The next three sections examine the anthropogenic landscapes of Angkor (agrarian, urban, and hydraulic), the state institutions that shaped the Angkorian state, and the economic foundations on which Angkor operated. Part V explores Angkorian ideologies and realities, from religion and nation to identity. The volume’s last part reviews political and aesthetic Angkorian legacies in an effort to explain why the idea of Angkor remains central to its Cambodian descendants. Maps, graphics, and photographs guide readers through the content of each chapter. Chapters in this volume synthesise more than a century of work at Angkor and in the regions it influenced. The Angkorian World will satisfy students, researchers, academics, and the knowledgeable layperson who seeks to understand how this great Angkorian Empire arose and functioned in the premodern world.

Die Studie untersucht die Entstehung des modernen Markenkonzepts. Sie setzt ein mit der Verunsicherung der kommerziellen Transaktionen im Rahmen expandierender Kommunikations- und Transportsysteme um 1840. In der Folge entsteht ein flexibles Bezeichnungsformat, das sich an die Medienumgebung anpasst, in Verwaltungsroutinen einspielt und im internationalen Recht verankert wird. Diese Entwicklung wird von Brühwiler am Beispiel der französischen »marques de fabrique et de commerce« untersucht und anhand von Konflikten im Handel und in der Industrie, von politischen und juristischen Kontroversen sowie der Registrierungspraxis empirisch rekonstruiert. Seit dem ausgehenden 19. Jahrhundert eigneten sich Marken nicht mehr zur Identifizierung von Waren. Stattdessen richtete sich ihre Medienlogik nach dem Erfordernis der Unterscheidung von Angeboten am Markt von Grund auf neu aus. Die kommerzielle Kommunikation wurde so vom Verweis auf spezifische Qualitäten und Herkünfte der Ware entlastet. Der Wandel von der Identifizierung zur Unterscheidung konnte jedoch nicht kurzerhand dekretiert werden. Er vollzog sich vielmehr im Zusammenspiel kleiner Verschiebungen: in den Bestimmungen des Rechts, in der Orientierung der Akteure und in der administrativen Fixierung. Die in diesem Buch entwickelte Geschichte erschließt so die Karriere moderner Verlegenheiten im Umgang mit Marken und verweist die theoretischen Verkürzungen des Gegenstands auf eine medienhistorische Dynamik.

La palatalizzazione delle occlusive velari latine è uno dei tratti distintivi delle varietà retoromanze grigionesi (Canton Grigioni, Svizzera). Questo volume offre la prima analisi su ampia scala degli esiti palatali nella regione, dimostrando come attualmente coesistano per questi suoni tre diverse pronunce, la cui distribuzione permette di proporre una nuova ipotesi sullo sviluppo in diacronia di tale fenomeno. Dopo un'introduzione al tema, la parte centrale del volume è dedicata al confronto sistematico dei dati attuali (raccolti sul campo in 18 varietà romance) con quelli disponibili in bibliografia per le fasi precedenti, mentre la terza parte presenta un'analisi acustica sperimentale e propone alcune considerazioni innovative sui mutamenti fonetici in corso. Quest'opera è rivolta in particolar modo a specialisti del settore (romanisti, linguisti, dialettologi).

The fire brigade was the first to dispatch emergency teams to the disaster area and provide assistance day and night, thanks to its omnipresence and versatility. This meant that local, voluntary firefighters were probably among the first rescue workers to fall victim. This contribution thrusts the fire brigade as a rescue service during the flood into the spotlight. This shows both the initial and the subsequent assistance provided by local fire brigades and additional units from outside the disaster area. Research has shown that the role played by the Dutch fire service – not to mention the Italian fire brigade –was massive and hugely significant, especially considering they worked under very dire circumstances and with limited resources.

How does the interplay of form and time shape Goethe’s dramatic, lyrical and narrative texts? This volume provides answers to this question. Johann Wolfgang Goethe transcends the understanding of form prevalent in his time. In his scholarly and literary works, he takes established forms, transforms them and modernises them. The authors examine how the interplay of form and time shapes dramatic, lyrical and narrative texts. The backdrop to this is a new formalism, which no longer conceives of form as the opposite of content, but rather as the possibility of content, idea, function or freedom. Whilst form and time have already received considerable attention, the interplay of form and genre has been less extensively researched. Although literary forms are almost always identified with generic forms, the theoretical premises for this still require clarification. It is at this point, if not before, that Goethe comes into play. The points of connection for the relationship between form and genre are numerous. They range from the ‘natural forms of poetry’ to the long list of genres that Goethe employs.

Through a cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary approach, this introductory textbook focuses on critical issues of development, environment, and cultural conflicts facing most area of the non-Western world. Areas covered include China, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Taste usually occupies the bottom of the sensorial hierarchy, as the quintessentially hedonistic sense, too close to the animal, the elemental and the corporeal, and for this reason disciplined and moralised. At the same time, taste is indissolubly tied to knowledge. To taste is to discriminate, emit judgement, enter an unstable domain of synaesthetic normativity where the certainty of metaphysical categories begins to crumble. This second title in the ‘Law and the Senses’ series explores law using taste as a conceptual and ontological category able to unsettle legal certainties, and a promising tool whereby to investigate the materiality of law’s relation to the world. For what else is law’s reduction of the world into legal categories, if not law’s ingesting the world by tasting it, and emitting moral and legal judgements accordingly? Through various topics including coffee, wine, craft cider and Japanese knotweed, this volume explores the normativities that shape the way taste is felt and categorised, within and beyond subjective, phenomenological and human dimensions. The result is an original interdisciplinary volume – complete with seven speculative ‘recipes’ – dedicated to a rarely explored intersection, with contributions from artists, legal academics, philosophers, anthropologists and sociologists.

Wie kann der Öffentlichkeit ein digitaler Zugang zu Sammlungen visuellen Kulturerbes ermöglicht werden? Diese Frage beschäftigt viele Museen, Archive und Bibliotheken, allerdings fehlen entsprechende Erhebungen, die bei der Umsetzung helfen könnten. Im Auftrag der Stiftung für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte (SKKG) in Winterthur widmet sich Sonja Gasser dieser Leerstelle und analysiert in einer Umfrage die Anforderungen zur digitalen Repräsentation von Sammlungen. Die Ergebnisse bieten Museen und anderen Kulturinstitutionen Orientierung und Inspiration - beispielsweise bei der Entwicklung oder Erweiterung eines digitalen Angebots und der Abstimmung digitaler Sammlungen auf die Bedürfnisse der Nutzenden.