Open Access Books

This book analyses and reveals evidence of changing patterns and processes of democratic or autocratic direction at subnational levels (provinces and cities) along with their relationship to those at central level. With Poland as a case study, the book examines the interrelationship between national and lower territorial levels and identifies and explains reasons for emerging democratic deficit. It argues that decentralisation processes constitute an opportunity for subnational authorities to become more democratic but also more autocratic, as they may enhance the divergence in democracy levels between different territorial tiers of governance. This book is of key interest to students and scholars of democratisation studies, local and regional politics, Central and East European politics, local government and policymaking.

Who and what is a ‘male writer’? While ‘writing women’ are almost a genre in their own right, represented in popular and scholarly anthologies, ‘male’ writing, which has probably shaped ideas of masculinity more than any other cultural practice, rarely receives historiographical attention. This observation is the starting point for the volume’s reflections on historiographical perspective: Where and how have men written about themselves and about the self in the other? In a series of essays, the volume explores men’s self-documentation and autobiographical writing in relation to gender.

Was ist die Aufgabe von Kulturdolmetscher*innen? Sollen Sprach- und Integrationsmittler*innen neben dem Dolmetschen auch Soziale Arbeit leisten? In Qualifizierungsveranstaltungen für Sprach-, Kultur- und Integrationsmittler*innen müssen insbesondere migrantische Teilnehmende weitreichende Aufgaben übernehmen und dabei professionell handeln, während die Tätigkeiten selbst unter prekären Bedingungen stattfinden – so wird z.B. die Etablierung im Ehrenamt mit Bezug auf Hilfe und Integration legitimiert. Fenna La Gro zeigt, warum die Kulturmittlung zwischen Dolmetschen und Sozialer Arbeit Gefahr läuft, rassistische Ungleichheit und Diskriminierung zu reproduzieren, statt ihr entgegenzuwirken.

The emerging development of genetic enhancement technologies has recently become the focus of a public and philosophical debate between proponents and opponents of a liberal eugenics – that is, the use of these technologies without any overall direction or governmental control. Inspired by Foucault’s, Agamben’s and Esposito’s writings about biopower and biopolitics, the author sees both positions as equally problematic, as both presuppose the existence of a stable, autonomous subject capable of making decisions concerning the future of human nature, while in the age of genetic technology the nature of this subjectivity shall be less an origin than an effect of such decisions. Bringing together a biopolitical critique of the way this controversial issue has been dealt with in liberal moral and political philosophy with a philosophical analysis of the nature of and the relation between life, politics, and technology, the author sets out to outline the contours of a more responsible engagement with genetic technologies based on the idea that technology is an intrinsic condition of humanity.

This book discusses disciplinary struggles in education from three perspectives. The chapters in the first section analyse the disciplinary character of educational practice and institutions. The second section focuses on justification of educational knowledge in transmission between theory and practice. The contributions of the third section problematise the aims and functions of educational practice and theory, which are critical for understanding the implications of disciplinary struggles in education for the future. Although the chapters focus on certain historical periods, forms and contexts of education, they provide insights, which are useful and relevant for a wider discussion in the eclectic and diverse theories and practices of education.

Die nachträgliche Kolorierung des schwarzweißen Materials war in der Stummfilmepoche eine verbreitete Praxis. Die Filme wurden hand- oder schablonenkoloriert, viragiert und getont. Die häufig ostentativ ausgestellte Materialität der aufgetragenen Farbe stand in einem Spannungsverhältnis zum fotografischen Bild und bewirkte eine spezifische Dynamik zwischen dem Eindruck von Flächigkeit und Plastizität. Kolorierungen kamen in Serpentinentanzfilmen, den ornamentalen Motiven der Féerien, in Trickfilmen oder Moderevuen besonders zur Geltung. In dieser Hinsicht weisen die applikativen Farbtechniken des Films viele Parallelen zu anderen farbigen Bildmedien der Epoche auf (wie Gebrauchsgrafik oder Modeillustration). Zudem zeigt der kolorierte Film seine Nähe zur industrialisierten Ästhetik, vornehmlich zur visuellen Form kommerzieller Farbpaletten. In dieser Studie wird die farbige Fläche des kolorierten Films im Kontext einer intermedialen Geschichte des Ästhetischen untersucht. Farbe als Attraktion, ostentative Materialität und Element medialer Selbstreflexion der Kunst tritt aus dieser Perspektive als eine Sinnfigur der chromatischen Moderne und der populären visuellen Kultur des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts hervor.

This open access book provides both a broad perspective and a focused examination of cow care as a subject of widespread ethical concern in India, and increasingly in other parts of the world. In the face of what has persisted as a highly charged political issue over cow protection in India, intellectual space must be made to bring the wealth of Indian traditional ethical discourse to bear on the realities of current human-animal relationships, particularly those of humans with cows. Dharma, yoga, and bhakti paradigms serve as starting points for bringing Hindu—particularly Vaishnava Hindu—animal ethics into conversation with contemporary Western animal ethics. The author argues that a culture of bhakti—the inclusive, empathetic practice of spirituality centered in Krishna as the beloved cowherd of Vraja—can complement recently developed ethics-of-care thinking to create a solid basis for sustaining all kinds of cow care communities. ; Offers a focused insight into a key aspect of Hindu religious practice Integrates primary research and tertiary sources to give a multifaceted understanding of the intricacies of cow care practice Challenges conventional Western thought on cow care and its worldwide implications for animal ethics

Cyberspace has become the ultimate frontier and central issue of international conflict, geopolitical competition, and security. Emerging threats and technologies continuously challenge the prospect of an open, secure, and free cyberspace. Additionally, the rising influence of technology on society and culture increasingly pushes international diplomacy to establish responsible state behavior in cyberspace and internet governance against the backdrop of fragmentation and polarization. In this context, novel normative practices and actors are emerging both inside and outside the conventional sites of international diplomacy and global governance. In this open access title, Fabio Cristiano and Bibi van den Berg explore the hybridity and conflict inherent to these recent processes of remodulation of the global politics of cybersecurity by analyzing emerging normative practices, threats and technologies, and actors. Through this comprehensive analysis, this edited volume ultimately sheds light on the problematic technical logic of emergence that informs the global politics of cybersecurity and delineates novel normative paths for cyberspace moving forward. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Leiden University

Pluripotency is a prerequisite for the subsequent coordinated differentiation of embryonic stem cells into all tissues of the body. This book describes recent advances in our understanding of pluripotency and the hormonal regulation of embryonic stem cell differentiation into tissue types derived from the ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm.

The discussions on an ethics of literature and a specifically aesthetic form of justice make it clear: the question of the aesthetic and ethical valuation and evaluation of literature has recently moved back into the centre of interest in the humanities and cultural studies. This volume brings together contributions on the themes of crime/punishment, penance/mercy or virtue/reward.

After analysing the different meanings of the term «value» and the passage from juridical positivism to «the right of values» (described in its essential characteristics), the essay points out the constitutional principles of labour in the Italian Constitution and in the European legal sources. The evolution of the legislation enacted in the last few years (mainly since the last decade of the twentieth century) shows that Labour Law has been functionalized to reaching economic targets, creating a «tyranny of values», according to Carl Schmitt’s theory. However, the supremacy of economic values which has influenced the legislation is in contrast with the principles of Labour protection established in the Constitution, in the European legal sources and in the Charts of fundamental rights. Such principles, in the light of the rules of interpretation of these legal texts, impose different legal disciplines. They are also based on the interpretations of the Constitutional Court which define labour as a fundamental right of man and require a «personalistic» rather than a «mercantile» vision of Labour Law protection. Also the European legal sources protect labour to a similar extent to the Italian Constitution, with specific reference to the European Social Chart. However if, as expressed by some decisions of the Court of Justice, we should sustain that the law of the European Union does not express the same «idea of work» as our Constitution, this situation would not justify the prevalence of the economic dimension of labour. In fact, the Italian Constitutional Court has recently stated that the principles established by the European legislation must be «harmonized and balanced» with those contained in the Constitution, in order to ensure «the highest protection of rights at a systemic level» (judgement no. 269/2017). Such harmonization does not allow economic values to prevail over some es- sential labour characteristics (such as dignity, freedom of expression, safety, equal conditions of labour and remuneration, etc.) with which the human personality is formed.

"Finland-Swedish writer Monika Fagerholm is one of the most important contemporary Nordic authors. Her experimental, puzzling and daring novels, such as Underbara kvinnor vid vatten (1994) and Den amerikanska flickan (2004), have attracted much critical attention. She has won several literary awards, including the Nordic prize from the Swedish Academy in 2016; her works have travelled across national and cultural borders as they have now been translated in USA, Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia. Fagerholm’s wild and visionary depictions of girlhood have long had an impact on the Nordic literary landscape; currently, she has many literary followers among young female writers and readers in Finland and Sweden. Novel Districts. Critical Readings of Monika Fagerholm is the first major study of Fagerholm’s works. In this edited volume, literary scholars explore the central themes and features that permeate Fagerholm’s works and introduce novel ways to understand and interpret her writings. The book begins with an introduction to her life, letters and the minority literature context of her writing and briefly describes the scholarship on Fagerholm’s works. After that, Finnish and Swedish scholars and experts on Fagerholm scrutinize her oeuvre in the light of up-to-date literary theory. The insights, theories and concepts of gender, feminist and girlhood studies as well as narratology, poststructuralism, posthumanism and reception studies are tested in close readings of Fagerholm’s works published between 1990 and 2012. Thus, the volume enhances and deepens the understanding of Fagerholm’s fiction and invites the attention of readers not yet familiar with her work. The articles demonstrate the multitude of ways in which literary and cultural conventions can be innovatively re-employed within 20th and 21th century literature to reveal new perspectives on contemporary Finnish and Nordic literature and ongoing cultural and social developments."

Race and Human Diversity is an introduction to the study of human diversity in both its biological and cultural dimensions. Robert L. Anemone examines the biological basis of human difference and how humans have biologically and culturally adapted to life in different environments. The book discusses the history of the race concept, evolutionary theory, human genetics, and the connections between racial classifications and racism. It invites students to question the existence of race as biology, but to recognize race as a social construction with significant implications for the lived experience of individuals and populations. This second edition has been thoroughly revised, with new material on human genetic diversity, developmental plasticity and epigenetics. There is additional coverage of the history of eugenics; race in US history, citizenship and migration; affirmative action; and white privilege and the burden of race. Fully accessible for undergraduate students with no prior knowledge of genetics or statistics, this is a key text for any student taking an introductory class on race or human diversity.

Il contributo propone una sintesi sui lavori di lettura archeologica degli elevati nel castello di San Lucido (noto come castello Ruffo, sulla costa tirrenica calabrese, in provincia di Cosenza), un sito fino ad oggi inaccessibile, e sostanzialmente sconosciuto per quello che concerne gli aspetti archeologici e architettonici. Il castello (insieme al borgo e al relativo approdo) che insiste nell’areale dell’antica Clampetia (dapprima città brettia, poi conquistata dai Romani), compare nelle fonti medievali a partire dalla seconda metà dell’XI secolo, al tempo della conquista normanna, e per molti secoli costituisce un importante polo feudale dell’alto Tirreno Calabrese, strategico punto di controllo della viabilità terrestre e marittima. Il lavoro, condotto dallo scrivente in collaborazione con la SABAP CS, consiste nella lettura stratigrafica degli elevati coadiuvata dalle più recenti metodologie di rilevamento tridimensionale, ed ha permesso, tra gli altri risultati, di individuare la prima fase dell’incastellamento normanno caratterizzata dalla presenza della torre quadrangolare (donjon) sullo sperone meridionale della rupe.

Uganda's broadcast media landscape has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years. While the public broadcaster remains the dominant national player - in terms of reach - in both radio and television, commercial broadcasters have introduced a substantial level of diversity in the industry. Public broadcasting faces serious competition from the numerous private and independent broadcasters, especially in and around the capital Kampala and major urban centres. In fact, the private/commercial sector clearly dominates the industry in most respects, notably productivity and profitability. The public broadcaster, which enjoys wider geographical coverage, faces the challenge of trying to fulfill a broad mandate with little funding. This makes it difficult for UBC to compete with the more nimble operators in the commercial/private sector. Overall, there appears to be a healthy degree of pluralism and diversity in terms of ownership.