Humanities & Social Sciences

This handbook brings together a collection of seminal research on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and investigates the effectiveness of the 17 goals for achieving transformative change toward sustainable development. As a collection of inter- and transdisciplinary research from around the world, this volume explores the applications, implications, and best practices of the goals at thematic, regional, and national levels, providing specific examples from a diverse range of places, such as Australia, Brazil, China, DRC, India, Italy, the Sahel region of Africa, and the USA, among others. The book serves as a mid-term evaluation of the SDGs, bringing to the fore comprehensive experiences and evidence related to the SDGs, whilst highlighting the interlinkages between the different goals. The handbook is divided into two parts: Part I brings together groundbreaking research to define, identify, and present conceptual frameworks for a sustainable future, whilst Part II focuses on the policies, practices, and implementation of the SDGs. The chapters identify key aspects missing from the 2030 Agenda, such as global power imbalances, cultural diversity, Indigenous rights, and unsustainable levels of consumption; they also critically evaluate the overall delivery and effectiveness of the SDGs whilst outlining potential future directions for the post-SDG 2030 Agenda. This handbook is aimed at a diverse and global audience of academics and students of economics, business studies, political science, and development studies. It will also serve as a valuable reference for leaders in the industry, the public sector, civil society, and international policymakers keen to gain a better understanding of the SDGs.

Literature for Change is a timely and thought-provoking intervention that tackles the critical question of how the study of literary texts in languages other than English, and their production, circulation and reception, contributes to efforts to address today’s most pressing social challenges. Featuring ten case studies across diverse languages and cultures, the book explores the transformative real-world impact that literary research has made on society. Taking hermeneutic and aesthetic approaches, the case studies illustrate the contribution of literary studies to areas as disparate as the museums and heritage sector, the environmental and medical humanities and the digital world. The volume advocates for a plurality of approaches, including creative enquiry with a solid theoretical grounding, and of the connectivity of literary research with disciplines beyond Modern Languages and beyond the academy. At a time when the field of Modern Languages is going through significant transformation, Literature for Change makes a compelling case for the value of the discipline, and reaffirms the relevance of literary texts and the power of stories to shape social, cultural and intellectual life.

A new training concept for teaching at vocational schools was developed, tested and analysed at TU Dresden. The innovative study model combines academic and vocational training. The publication introduces the model, the findings of the accompanying scientific study and recommendations for a practise-oriented teacher training for vocational schools. The cooperative study course brings together traditional studies with professional practice. Students have the option of obtaining a skilled worker certification in this course of study. 71 companies, four education providers and 66 students took part in the model project "Cooperative training for technical teaching" (Kooperative Ausbildung im technischen Lehramt - KAtLA), which was financed by the European Social Fund.

Why is it important for institutions of higher education to have researchers as teachers? This book aims to answer this question by examining the history of the Swedish system of higher education through a special lens: the struggle of educational institutions for the right to make their own doctors. The theme of doctoral training, evolving at the intersection of research and education, reflects broader processes, such as the system’s disintegrating expansion. The Doctor of Philosophy degree was introduced in 1870 at Swedish universities, whose largest faculties thus gained the same status as their higher faculties. However, the universities could not maintain a monopoly on the right to confer this scholarly title. Doctorates were eventually introduced at institutions for professional training – for surgeons, engineers, veterinarians, agronomists, economists, dentists, foresters, pharmacists. In 1969, all different degrees were replaced by a standardized doctorate, and doctoral education became the subject of uniform regulation. Matters became more complex in 1977, when a political reform brought all post-secondary education under the umbrella concept of the university, requiring that training in nursing, teaching, and other fields be research-based. One chapter examines how institutions for fine arts education were transformed by a clash between path-dependent academic norms and institutions whose goals were not scientific. This process led to a new, artistic doctoral degree in 2009, which broke up the uniform regulation, and in 2013 to the recognition of artistic research as a mission in the Higher Education Act. By combining perspectives from science and technology studies, educational history, and other fields, the book sheds new light on an institution that plays a key role in the formation of knowledge bases that are crucial for professions. With a systems perspective that embraces institutions for professional and practical training, it challenges an often overly university-centric historiography of higher education.

This book examines the seismic impact of Brexit on the British political system, assessing its likely long-term effect in terms of a significantly changed political and constitutional landscape. Starting with the 2015 general elections and covering key developments up to ‘Brexit day’, it shows how Brexit ‘transformed’ British politics. The unprecedented turmoil - two snap elections, three Prime Ministers, the biggest ever defeat for the Government in Parliament, an impressive number of rebellions and reshuffles in Cabinet and repeated requests for a second independence referendum in Scotland - as a result of leaving the EU, calls into question what sort of political system the post-Brexit UK will become. Taking Lijphart’s ‘Westminster model’ as its reference, the book assesses the impact of Brexit along three dimensions: elections and parties; executive-legislative relationships, and the relationship between central and devolved administrations. Based on a wealth of empirical material, including original interviews with key policy-makers and civil servants, it focuses on the ‘big picture’ and analytically maps the direction of travel for the UK political system. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of Brexit, British Politics, constitutional, political, and contemporary history, elections and political parties, executive politics, and territorial politics as well as more broadly related practitioners and journalists.

There has been an epochal shift: the possibility of a global climate crisis is now upon us. Pollution, the poison of pesticides, the exhaustion of natural resources, falling water tables, growing social inequalities – these are all problems that can no longer be treated separately. The effects of global warming have a cumulative impact, and it is not a matter of a crisis that will “pass” before everything goes back to “normal.” Our governments are totally incapable of dealing with the situation. Economic warfare obliges them to stick to the goal of irresponsible, even criminal, economic growth, whatever the cost. It is no surprise that people were so struck by the catastrophe in New Orleans. The response of the authorities – to abandon the poor whilst the rich were able to take shelter – is a symbol of the coming barbarism.

Laying the Foundations, which developed out of the British Museum’s ‘Iraq Scheme’ archaeological training programme, covers the core components for putting together and running an archaeological field programme. The focus is on practicality. Individual chapters address background research, the use of remote sensing, approaches to surface collection, excavation methodologies, survey with total (and multi) stations, use of a dumpy level, context classification, on-site recording, databases and registration, environmental protocols, conservation, photography, illustration, post-excavation site curation and report writing. While the manual is oriented to the archaeology of Iraq, the approaches are no less applicable to the Middle East more widely, an aim hugely facilitated by the open-source distribution of translations into Arabic and Kurdish.

This multidisciplinary Open Access book provides nine problem-solving lectures for sustainable development for the planet and prosperity. Those are two of the five keywords for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): people, the planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships, or “the 5Ps”. Each of these lectures is classified into one of the keywords for SDGs and based on law, economics, management, international trade, input–output analysis, or agricultural and urban engineering. Further, each lecture delineates the essence of each discipline when it is practically applied to development studies. This book, Sustainable Development Disciplines for Society, along with its sister volume related to the people, peace and partnerships, will be useful in studying development. Interdisciplinary research is necessary to achieve the SDGs advocated by the United Nations. Hence, it is essential to learn the basics of individual disciplines, as they each offer ample knowledge fostering problem solving through the accumulation of existing research. This and its sister volume are the first comprehensive textbooks summarizing the essence of each necessary discipline to approach development studies from an interdisciplinary perspective. In developing countries, this book will provide access to development research for readers aiming to further develop their own nations. Moreover, in developed countries, this book will provide access to problem-solving research for readers seeking holistic solutions to complex social problems.

The volume ‘Intorno a Boccaccio/Boccaccio e dintorni 2018’ is the outcome of the international seminar held in Certaldo on September 6 and 7, 2018, promoted by the ENGB National Association (Ente Nazionale Giovanni Boccaccio) now at its fifth edition. The seminar is held annually and was born with the intent to giving voice to young scholars, who are invited to present their research, either concluded or current. The volume, alongside contributions on the Decameron, stands out for its attention towards other Latin and vulgar works by Boccaccio (Teseida, Genealogia deorum gentilium, De mulieribus claris, Epistolae) and for two contributions focused on the iconography of Decameron and Teseida.

Representing the most sustained investigation of the aesthetics of Anti-Colonialism in modern Arabic poetry, this book chronicles the evolution of a distinct poetics that sought to maintain the integrity of the qaṣīdah without circumventing its historical moment. It painstakingly analyses a selection of odes by four leading twentieth-century poets, Aḥmad Shawqī, Maʿrūf al-Ruṣāfī, Badr Shākir al-Sayyāb and ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Bayātī. It will be of particular interest to scholars and students of Arabic literature, Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, Postcolonial studies, Comparative literature, and Cultural studies.

Von Quartieren kann und muss Wandel ausgehen, denn hier lässt sich das System Stadt von seiner kleinsten Einheit heraus transformieren. Die Autor*innen nehmen die Bedürfnisse des Menschen zum Ausgangspunkt und fragen danach, wie Wohnen, Freiraum, Bildung, Pflege, Mobilität und Versorgung auf Quartiersebene bestmöglich erfüllt werden können. Das Ergebnis ist eine Planungshilfe für Neubauquartiere bis hin zu Quartieren, die eingeschlafen sind und einen sanften Generationenwechsel benötigen. Ein umfangreiches Repertoire an Instrumenten bietet die Möglichkeit, Angebote und Services den Herausforderungen und Ressourcen im Quartier entsprechend zu koppeln, um eine sozialräumliche Entwicklung in Gang zu setzen.

Karl Marx' (1818-1883) Polemiken gegen das »Genie bürgerlicher Dummheit« Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) sind weithin bekannt. Gegenstand seiner strategischen Attacken war jedoch weniger die Person Bentham selbst, sondern vielmehr die bürgerliche Marktgläubigkeit der Zeit, zu dessen Stammvater er Bentham als »Urphilister« stilisierte. Jenseits seiner Polemik kam Marx aber tatsächlich zu einer ambivalenten Einschätzung von Benthams Utilitarismus. Beim systematischen Vergleich beider Autoren und deren Kritik an anti-demokratischen Zuständen deckt Gregor Ritschel viele gemeinsame Themen und Gedanken auf, die zusammengenommen eine neue, komplementäre Lesart zulassen.

Excavations on the Magdalensberg in Carinthia, Southern Austria brought to light a large number of thinwalled pottery, Feinware, pareti sottili, parois fines, paredes finas. The finds from the 1948-1970 excavations mostly imported drinking vessels from Northern Italy are studied in a typological and chronological order. First a chapter sets the chronological frame offered by reliable dating complexes. To accomplish this, 30 contexts are examined and divided into a 3 period 7 phase system. The short life of the site from 50 BC to 50 AD permits a dating range of less than 20 years for most of the shapes. Typological classification of the roughly 150 shapes present is based on the distinction of 10 different fabric groups. Quantification studies, reflections on provenience, intended use and production techniques round up the research. Two supplement papers of 1998 and 2012 take into account the state of the art. SCHINDLER-KAUDELKA, E., mit Unterstützung von SCHNEIDER, G., Die dünnwandige Gebrauchskeramik vom Magdalensberg 2. – G. PICCOTTINI (Hg), Die Ausgrabungen auf dem Magdalensberg 1980 bis 1986. Magdalensberg-Grabungsbericht 16 (Klagenfurt 1998), 389–427. SCHINDLER-KAUDELKA, E., La ceramica a pareti sottili del Magdalensberg 1975-1998-2011, - Emona between Aquileia and Pannonia, I. Lazar, B. Zupanek Ed., (Piran 2012), 323-366.

Belonging Beyond Borders maps the evolution of cosmopolitanism in Spanish American narrative literature through a generational lens. Drawing on a new theoretical framework that blends intellectual studies and literary history with integrated approaches to Spanish American narrative, this book traces the evolution from aesthetic cosmopolitanism through anti-colonial nationalism to modern political cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitanism in Latin America has historically been associated with colonialism. In the mid-twentieth-century, authors who presented cosmopolitan narratives were harshly criticized by their nationalist peers. However, with the intensification of cultural globalization Spanish American authors have redefined cosmopolitanism, rejecting a worldview that relies on the creation of an other for the definition of the self. Instead, this new generation has both embraced and challenged global citizenship, redefining concepts to address human rights, identity, migration, belonging, and more. Taking the work of Elena Poniatowka, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Jorge Volpi as examples, this book presents innovative scholarship across literary traditions. It shows how Spanish-American authors offer nuanced understandings of national and global affiliations, and identities and untangles the strings of cosmopolitan thought and activism from those of nationalist criticism.

This book attempts to understand the origins and development of religious belief in Iceland and greater Scandinavia through the lenses of five carefully selected Icelandic folktales collected in Iceland during the nineteenth century. Each of these five stories has a story of its own: a historical and cultural context, a literary legacy, influences from beliefs of all kinds (orthodox and heterodox, elite or lay), and modalities (oral or written) by which the story was told. These factors leave an imprint— sometimes discernable, sometimes not— upon the story, and when that imprint is readable, the legacies and influences upon these stories come alive to illuminate a tapestry of cultural memory (that is, a society’s perception of itself, its past, and its prospects for the future) and cultural development that might otherwise be hidden from the reader’s eyes. So much is the aim of this book: to tell the story of five great stories.