Open Access Books

The first translation into any language of the only anthology of "High Tang" poetry actually compiled during that period, long renowned as the golden age of Chinese poetry. This anthology, of 230 poems in various forms by twenty-four different poets, was completed in 753 and provides a rare and therefore uniquely valuable contemporary view of what one well-informed reader considered the best verse of the age.

Economic development in mainland China during the first two decades of Communist control provides a typical example for the difficult task to transform a vast underdeveloped agrarian economy into a modern industrial one. In the first half of this period, a series of massive transformations of social and economic institutions was accompanied by a drafted industrialization program; the result was an impressive speed-up in economic growth. The second decade witnessed an economic crisis (1960–62) and a political upheaval (1966–68). These disruptions marred the economic performance over the period as a whole. Consequently, the long-term growth rate appears to have been only moderate. The Economy of Communist China reviews selected aspects of the economy. After examining the development strategy, it analyzes the quantitative trends and the structural changes. The book goes on to analyze the key factors contributing to the earlier growth and the elements responsible for the later disruption and finally assesses the impact of the Cultural Revolution on the Chinese economy and the prospects of the current Third Five-Year Plan. The text includes a bibliography of selected materials on Chinese economic development.

The essay aims to answer a simple but very relevant question: how could be possible that the constitutionalists who gave the most important contribution in the theoretical building of Italian constitutional democracy were the same who, only a few years before, wrote about the fascist constitutional order with sincere interest (and sometimes with real appreciation)? Political opportunism? No. The answer lies in the paths of their constitutional interpretations that reveal the existence of a real doctrinal fracture in the Italian constitutionalist culture of late Thirties, created by a new generation of jurists.

Die Frage nach dem Wesen des Denkens gehört nicht nur zum Bestand der klassischen philosophischen Fragestellungen, sondern stellt auch ein wiederkehrendes Thema in aktuellen Diskussionen dar. Dieses Überblickswerk versammelt differenzierte Darstellungen des Denkens aus einer systematisch-historischen Perspektive. Die Beiträge untersuchen die Verhältnisse von Denken und Sprechen, Denken und Handeln, Denken und Wahrnehmen, Denken und Fühlen und beleuchten so die zentralen Aspekte des Begriffs »Denken« in vielfältiger Weise.

Animal fibres from South American camelids and other fibre or wool bearing species provide important products for use by the human population. The contemporary context includes the competition with petrocarbon-based artificial fibres and concern about excessive persistence of these in the natural environment. Animal fibres present highly valuable characteristics for sustainable production and processing as they are both natural and renewable. On the other hand, their use is recognised to depend on availability of appropriate quality and quantity, the production of which is underpinned by a range of sciences and processes which support development to meet market requirements. This collection of papers combines international experience from South and North America, China and Europe. The focus lies on domestic South American camelids (alpacas, llamas) and also includes research on sheep and goats. It considers latest advances in sustainable development under climate change, breeding and genetics, reproduction and pathology, nutrition, meat and fibre production and fibre metrology. Publication of this book is supported by the Animal Fibre Working Group of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP). ‘Advances in Fibre Production Science in South American Camelids and other Fibre Animals’ addresses issues of importance to scientists and animal breeders, textile processors and manufacturers, specialised governmental policy makers and students studying veterinary, animal and applied biological sciences.

Since the beginning of the economic crisis of 2008, Spain, like other southern European countries, has witnessed a mass departure of mostly young people looking for opportunities abroad. Leaving Spain is based on 58 autobiographical narrative interviews with recent Spanish migrants who went to the UK and Germany, and sometimes returned. By presenting a combination of in-depth case studies and comparative analyses, the author demonstrates the potential of biographical research and narrative analysis in studying contemporary Europe, including its overlapping crises. The scope of the sociological study is not limited to examining how those who left Spain experienced single phases of their migration. Instead, it focuses on the significance of migration projects in the context of their life histories and how they make sense of these experiences in retrospect. This book will not only be of great interest to social scientists and students in different disciplines and interdisciplinary studies such as sociology, anthropology, human geography, European studies, education, and social work, but also to professionals, European and national policy makers, and those interested in learning more about migrants’ experiences, perspectives, and (often invisible) contributions.

Jewish Religion After Theology ponders one of the most intriguing shifts in modern Jewish thought: from a metaphysical and theological standpoint toward a new manner of philosophizing based primarily on practice. Different chapters study this great shift and its various manifestations. The central figure of this new examination is Isaiah Leibowitz, whose thoughts encapsulate more than any other Jewish thinker this stance of religion without metaphysics. Sagi explores corresponding issues such as observance, the possibility of pluralism, the meaning of penance without messianic suppositions, and pragmatic coping with theodicy after the Holocaust, presenting the different possibilities within this great alteration in Jewish thought.

Comprise definition of 1500 terms. Innovation from A to Z presents a glossary, including: Terms, older terms whose meanings have changed, acronyms, synonyms, famous names, selected abbreviations, and cross-references. A highly interdisciplinary approach incorporating strategy and entrepreneurship with technology and engineering sciences, economics, marketing, organizational behavior and theory. Ideal for engineers, managers, sales people and economists. Innovation Technology from A to Z Glossary of terms, including acronyms, synonyms, abbreviations, cross-references 1500 terms supplemented by figures and tables that clearly demonstrate the state-of-the-art in Innovation Technology

Drawing on different disciplinary and historiographic traditions, the volume offers a series of summaries and thematic insights, functional to contextualising the peculiar case of the episcopate of Bobbio, founded in 1014 in the Piacenza Apennines as a development of the famous monastery of San Colombano. The considerable documentary source available thanks to the recent reorganization of the diocesan archives, which made it possible to illustrate the cathedral library as well, required an overall presentation and specific attention to the constitutive acts of the new institution. The deepening of the historical context, within which the subsequent diocesan story unfolds, was conducted in relationship with the monastery and with a selection of the nearby cities. The analysis of the settlement dynamics of the Bobbian center and of the structural developments of the church and of the episcopal complex are counterpointed by both in-depth analyses aimed at the organization of the territory, captured in its civil, religious, welfare articulations, and treatments of cultural and liturgical components that animate this Church.

New Sensory Approaches to the Past assembles a series of research projects investigating cultural environments through the lens of the senses. The book presents the latest approaches to sensory archaeology and heritage research that aim to understand the lived experience of past inhabitants. Interdisciplinary case studies carry out investigations in three different registers: personal and embodied, teamwork and collective responses to the historical environment, and digital reconstruction. An international cast of contributors includes archaeologists, architects, sociolinguists, military experts, cultural studies scholars and acoustics specialists, with research sites spanning Palaeolithic rock art to a 1960s North American fairground. Descriptions and analyses of sensory in-situ investigations offer methodological transparency with the visual analysis that is common in archaeology and heritage assessments is placed alongside ethnographic techniques, landscape survey, sound recording, preservation advocacy work and various forms of digital reconstruction. This interdisciplinary approach harmonizes research terminologies across fields, fostering a comprehensive understanding of sensory-based studies and the methods used to carry them out. The book revitalizes familiar concepts with new insights and provides a platform to examine and resolve interdisciplinary ambiguities, making it an invaluable resource for advancing sensory research.

Digital platforms are more than devices, algorithms and websites. They organise societies through the leadership of platform capitalists and their allies in political institutions. We know that this leadership, or hegemony, fosters exploitation and inequalities. We also know that a politics of resistance is emerging among platform workers and communities around the digital commons. Less known is how the left has been changing to have a say in digital politics. And what do left-wing parties think and do about platform societies? The Left and Digital Politics answers these questions by developing an updated Gramscian critical theory of (counter-)hegemony in platform societies and a comparative analysis of the ideologies and practices of key European left-wing parties. The book provides a map of left-wing ideas and practices on digital politics, a compass to point out how some left-wing parties perform as barriers or allies of radical change, and an analytical toolkit to open new routes towards platform socialism. “Transforming Gramsci’s project of the Modern Prince into a Digital Princess*+ may not happen overnight, but Guglielmo’s book provides great inspiration. It advances concepts in networked revolution and informs strategies for wars of position and movement for a socialist future. The author holds the left to account in its search for a better digital politics, by challenging us to unearth patterns of agency of the digital platform ‘subaltern’. I recommend The Left and Digital Politics whole-heartedly to all those fighting for digital justice, and beyond.” – Professor Phoebe Moore, University of Essex “This book sets a new standard for understanding the thorny relationship between the left and digital politics today. Combining innovative theory with detailed empirical studies, Guglielmo sets out to understand how left-wing political projects have made use of digital technologies, both practically and ideologically. In so doing, he sets out new pathways towards platform socialism in an era of neoliberal rule, exhaustively mapping out the contemporary terrain and lines of potential alliance and conflict.” – Dr Alex Williams, University of East Anglia

Christian Stettler attempts a new way of interpreting the hymns in Col 1:15–20. Starting from its Judeo-Christian backdrop he analyses the form of the text against the background of the Psalm literature found in the Old Testament and early Jewish writings and interprets the text against the background of Old Testament and early Jewish traditions. Christian Stettler shows the development of the whole complexes of traditions which are responsible for the Colossian hymn. It becomes evident that Col 1:15–20 – an implicit christological midrash – is a concise and organic entity which can be interpreted without assuming additions to an original text. In early Jewish Wisdom theology most of the traditions which stand behind the hymn are already connected, but only the life, death and resurrection of Jesus made the formulation of the present hymn possible.

Nuclear Physics, Heavy Ions, Hadrons; History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics; Particle Acceleration and Detection, Beam Physics; History of Science

This volume provides the basis for contemporary privacy and social media research and informs global as well as local initiatives to address issues related to social media privacy through research, policymaking, and education. Renowned scholars in the fields of communication, psychology, philosophy, informatics, and law look back on the last decade of privacy research and project how the topic will develop in the next decade. The text begins with an overview of key scholarship in online privacy, expands to focus on influential factors shaping privacy perceptions and behaviors – such as culture, gender, and trust – and continues with specific examinations of concerns around vulnerable populations such as children and older adults. It then looks at how privacy is managed and the implications of interacting with artificial intelligence, concluding by discussing feasible solutions to some of the more pressing questions surrounding online privacy. This handbook will be a valuable resource for advanced students, scholars, and policymakers in the fields of communication studies, digital media studies, psychology, and computer science.

Shibusa – Extracting Beauty celebrates a number of artistic endeavours: music, painting and the skill of making in general with particular reflection upon Japanese aesthetics. Composer, Monty Adkins and visual artist, Pip Dickens (through a Leverhulme Trust Award collaboration) investigate commonality and difference between the visual arts and music exploring aspects of rhythm, pattern, colour and vibration as well as outlining processes utilised to evolve new works within these practices. The hand-cut paper Katagami stencil: a beautiful utilitarian object once used to apply decoration on to Japanese kimonos, is used as a poignant symbol – the ‘hand-made machine’ - by Adkins and Dickens both within the production of paintings and sound compositions and as a thematic link throughout the book. The book reviews examples of a number of contemporary artists and craftspeople and their individual approaches to ‘making things well’. It explores the balance between hand skills and technology within a work’s production with particular reference to Richard Sennett’s review of material culture in The Craftsman. Shibusa – Extracting Beauty includes contributing essays by arts writer, Roy Exley, who examines convergence and crossover within the arts and an in-depth history, and review, of the kimono making industry by Kyoto designer, Makoto Mori.