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The Rise of Authoritarianism in the Western Balkans (New Perspectives on South-East Europe)
by Florian BieberThis book explores the stagnation of democracy in the Western Balkans over the last decade. The author maps regional features of rising authoritarianism that mirror larger global trends and, in doing so, outlines the core mechanisms of authoritarian rule in the Balkans, with a particular focus on Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. These mechanisms include the creation of constant crises, the use of external powers to balance outside influences, as well as state capture. The authoritarian patterns exist alongside formal democratic institutions, resulting in competitive authoritarian regimes that use social polarization to retain power. As the countries of the Western Balkans aspire, at least formally, to join the European Union, authoritarianism is often informal.
Migration, Borders and Citizenship: Between Policy and Public Spheres (Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship)
by Maurizio Ambrosini Manlio Cinalli David JacobsonThis edited collection goes beyond the limited definition of borders as simply dividing lines across states, to uncover another, yet related, type of division: one that separates policies and institutions from public debate and contestation. Bringing together expertise from established and emerging academics, it examines the fluid and varied borderscape across policy and the public domains. The chapters encompass a wide range of analyses that covers local, national and transnational frameworks, policies and private actors. In doing so, Migration, Borders and Citizenship reveals the tensions between border control and state economic interests; legal frameworks designed to contain criminality and solidarity movements; international conventions, national constitutions and local migration governance; and democratic and exclusive constructions of citizenship. This novel approach to the politics of borders will appeal to sociologists, political scientists and geographers working in the fields of migration, citizenship, urban geography and human rights; in addition to students and scholars of security studies and international relations.
Children and Peace: From Research to Action (Peace Psychology Book Series)
by Nikola Balvin Daniel J. ChristieThis open access book brings together discourse on children and peace from the 15th International Symposium on the Contributions of Psychology to Peace, covering issues pertinent to children and peace and approaches to making their world safer, fairer and more sustainable. The book is divided into nine sections that examine traditional themes (social construction and deconstruction of diversity, intergenerational transitions and memories of war, and multiculturalism), as well as contemporary issues such as Europe’s “migration crisis”, radicalization and violent extremism, and violence in families, schools and communities. Chapters contextualize each issue within specific social ecological frameworks in order to reflect on the multiplicity of influences that affect different outcomes and to discuss how the findings can be applied in different contexts. The volume also provides solutions and hope through its focus on youth empowerment and peacebuilding programs for children and families. This forward-thinking volume offers a multitude of views, approaches, and strategies for research and activism drawn from peace psychology scholars and United Nations researchers and practitioners.This book's multi-layered emphasis on context, structural determinants of peace and conflict, and use of research for action towards social cohesion for children and youth has not been brought together in other peace psychology literature to the same extent. Children and Peace: From Research to Action will be a useful resource for peace psychology academics and students, as well as social and developmental psychology academics and students, peace and development practitioners and activists, policy makers who need to make decisions about the matters covered in the book, child rights advocates and members of multilateral organizations such as the UN.
Sustainability, Emerging Technologies, and Pan-Africanism
by Thierno Thiam Gilbert RochonThis book examines the historical antecedents of Pan-Africanism as a driving force of African Unity, carefully studying its major contributors, current institutional status, and potential future growth. It analyzes the facilitative role of emerging technologies, such as high performance computing, telecommunications, and satellite remote sensing in enabling African sustainable development. Finally, the authors discuss possible ways that the vision of Pan-Africanism can be used today in Africa’s efforts towards unity and sustainable development.
Brexit: Causes and Consequences
by Rudolf G. AdamThis book offers a comprehensive political assessment of Brexit. Based on a historical review of the role of the United Kingdom in the European Union, the author, a former diplomat at the German embassy in London, presents well-founded insights into arguments in favor and against the Brexit deal and the status quo of the Brexit negotiations. Furthermore, the book discusses the consequences of Brexit – for the UK and the rest of the EU, for security in Europe, and for the transatlantic relationship, as well as for global trade relations and the competitiveness of Europe and the UK.
Challenging European Citizenship: Ideas and Realities in Contrast (Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics)
by Agustín José Menéndez Espen D. OlsenThis book provides a critique of the way in which European citizenship is imagined and practiced. Setting their analysis in its full historical context, the authors challenge preconceived ideas about European citizenship on the basis of a detailed reconstruction of political, social and economic practice. In particular, they show the extent to which the elimination of formal internal borders within Europe has come hand in glove with the emergence of new socio-economic boundaries and the hardening of external borders. The book concludes with a number of concrete proposals to forge a genuinely post-national form of membership.
China’s Globalization and the Belt and Road Initiative (Politics and Development of Contemporary China)
by Jean A. BerlieThis book explains the importance of globalization and the Belt and Road Initiative, which is one of the essential projects of President Xi Jinping, and where China fits on the global arena. Additionally, the contributors cover such important topics as China’s maritime traffic, infrastructure along the modern Silk Road, the South China Sea, and China’s relationship with Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, Hong Kong, and Macao. This edited volume will interest scholars, researchers, and students in the fields of Asian studies, globalization, political science, and Chinese politics.
Breastfeeding in Rural Niger: Lessons from Child Healthcare Promotion (Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development #12)
by Naoko HoriiThis book investigates the most effective behavior change communication (BCC) strategies to reach socio-economically vulnerable mothers to promote early initiation of breastfeeding after birth in rural Niger. It thereby goes beyond conventional research frameworks by looking into multifaceted indicators including socio-economic and demographic status of mothers, environmental health, family and community based social network and typology of field activities. The book analyses demographic indicators by using field based pragmatic perspectives to scrutinise what the numbers tell in the local context. It also analyses a unique dataset of non-health related indicators such as income poverty to measure socio-economic vulnerability of mothers, involvement of and interactions with other family and community actors in child healthcare in addition to conventional socio-economic, demographic and health seeking behavioural indicators. The book draws policy and strategy recommendations based on the thorough analysis of each risk and protective factor for breastfeeding after birth to redirect technical and financial investment towards its most effective use for the optimal coverage of populations deprived from access to basic health and social services. As such this book is a very valuable read to researchers, public health and nutrition experts and decision makers in child health.
Reactionary Nationalists, Fascists and Dictatorships in the Twentieth Century: Against Democracy (Palgrave Studies in Political History)
by Ismael Saz Zira Box Toni Morant Julián SanzThis book provides a comparative study of fascisms and reactionary nationalisms. It presents these as transnational political cultures and examines the dictatorships and regimes in which these cultures played significant roles. The book is organised into three main sections, focusing on nationalists, fascists and dictatorships in turn. The chapters range across French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German experiences, and include a broader overview of the political cultures in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Latin America. The chapters consider the identities, organizations and evolution of the various cultures and specific political movements, alongside the intersections between these movements and how they adapted to changing contexts. By doing so, the book offers a global view of fascisms and reactionary nationalisms, and promotes debate around these political cultures.
Reframing the Vernacular: Politics, Semiotics, and Representation
by Gusti Ayu Made Suartika Julie NicholsThe aim of this book is to reflect on ''vernacularity'' and culture. It concentrates on two major domains: first it attempts to reframe our understanding of vernacularity by addressing the subject in the context of globalisation, cross-disciplinarity, and development, and second, it discusses the phenomenon of how vernacularity has been treated, used, employed, manipulated, practiced, maintained, learned, reconstructed, preserved and conserved, at the level of individual and community experience. Scholars from a wide variety of knowledge fields have participated in enriching and engaging discussions, as to how both domains can be addressed. To expedite these aims, this book adopts the theme "Reframing the Vernacular: Politics, Semiotics, and Representation",organised around the following major sub-themes: • Transformation in the vernacular built environment • Vernacular architecture and representation • The meaning of home • Symbolic intervention and interpretation of vernacularity • The semiotics of place • The politics of ethnicity and settlement • Global tourism and its impacts on vernacular settlement • Vernacular built form and aesthetics • Technology and construction in vernacular built forms • Vernacular language - writing and oral traditions
Philosophy and Child Poverty: Reflections on the Ethics and Politics of Poor Children and their Families (Philosophy and Poverty #1)
by Gottfried Schweiger Nicolás BrandoThis book offers a broad and diverse reflection of the ways in which child poverty could be conceptualised, and the ways in which it is intertwined with childhood as a specific social condition. Furthermore, the responsibilities towards children and the possible mechanisms required for dealing with this condition will be analysed and clarified. This is the first volume on philosophy and child poverty. Despite the increasing number of publications on poverty, the particular phenomenon of poverty during childhood has not received much philosophical attention. This is surprising, given the severity and depth of child poverty around the globe. This volume brings together various philosophical approaches and how they understand and tackle child poverty. This is an important addition to the philosophical literature, which is also of wider interest to scholars working in the social sciences and with an interest in child poverty.
Mapping the Risk of Flood, Mass Movement and Local Subsidence: A New Proposal for Major Cities (SpringerBriefs in Earth Sciences)
by Juan Carlos Mora ChaparroThis book proposes a methodology for the identification of flooding in urban areas, by the denomination of 1) urban hydrographic basin; and 2) polygon of flood risk. This work will enable readers to elaborate a preventive program in Latin America and analogous regions. The authorities could use it as a basis to create urban planning strategies or preventive programs to reduce or eliminate the flooding hazard. The growth of an urban area implies that the natural terrain is covered by an asphalt folder, which results in an Urban Hydrographic Basin where rainwater drains down its streets filtering through sewers towards rainwater drains or wastewater. Initially, the drainages are calculated according to the population in a specific urban area, however, the population growth causes the growth of the urban area, where the old drainages and new roads are linked, causing their saturation and chaos. More water runs down the streets and is accumulated in the lower areas, causing flooding.
European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2019 (European Yearbook of International Economic Law #10)
by Markus Krajewski Jörg Philipp Terhechte Marc Bungenberg Andreas R. Ziegler Christian J. TamsVolume 10 of the EYIEL focusses on the relationship between transnational labour law and international economic law on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). As one of the oldest UN Agencies, the ILO has achieved considerable progress with respect to labour rights and conditions. The contributions to EYIEL Volume 10 assess these achievements in light of current and future challenges. The ILO’s core instruments and legal documents are analysed and similarly the impact labour standards have on trade and investment agreements. In its regional section, EYIEL 10 addresses recent developments in the US and the EU, including the US’ trade policy strategy towards China as well as the reform of the NAFTA. In its part on institutions, EYIEL 10 focusses inter alia on the role of the rule of law in relation to current practices of the International Monetary Fund and of the WTO’s Appellate Body as an international court. Furthermore, it provides an overview of current cases before the WTO. Finally, the volume entails a section with review essays on recently published books in the field of international economic law and international investment law.
White People and Black Lives Matter: Ignorance, Empathy, and Justice
by Johanna C. LuttrellThis book interrogates white responses to black-led movements for racial justice. It is a philosophical self-reflection on the ways in which ‘white’ reactions to Black Lives Matter stand in the way of the movement’s important work. It probes reactions which often prevent white people from according to black activists the full range of human emotion and expression, including joy, anger, mourning, and political action. Johanna C. Luttrell encourages different conceptions of empathy and impartiality specific to social movements for racial justice, and addresses objections to identity politics.
From the Iowa Caucuses to the White House: Understanding Donald Trump’s 2016 Electoral Victory in Iowa (Palgrave Studies in US Elections)
by Andrew D. GreenDonald Trump won a significant victory in Iowa in 2016. Although Iowa was carried by Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Trump won the popular vote in 93 of its 99 counties, 32 of which were carried by Obama in 2012. What explains this significant victory, in which a third of Iowa’s counties were flipped? Through a mixed-methods approach, this volume demonstrates that Trump’s electoral victory was shaped by three key factors: firstly, the electorate’s desire for “change” in Washington, D.C.; secondly, Trump’s successful appeals to both the Republican base and white, working-class voters who had previously supported Barack Obama; and thirdly, Iowa’s conservative ideological tendency regarding immigration and race. While contributing to emerging literature on the 2016 presidential elections, this book also serves to aid educators with a published resource on Iowa's electoral politics.
European Water Law and Hydropolitics: An Inquiry into the Resilience of Transboundary Water Governance in the European Union (Water Governance - Concepts, Methods, and Practice)
by Gábor BaranyaiThis book provides the first comprehensive assessment of the various issues faced by countries in the European Union, where progressing climate change and urbanization pose significant cooperative challenges in a large number of river basins. Conducting a thorough analysis of the intricate web of EU water governance, it reveals that the hydropolitical stability of the European Union is already at risk. Further, given the structural nature of the shortcomings in EU water policy—e.g. the rigidity of the EU’s founding treaties or the institutional complacency of the European Commission—the book argues that these risks are likely to turn into sources of prolonged conflict, unless EU decision-making bodies take steps to address the new hydrological realities early on.
Dissidents in Communist Central Europe: Human Rights and the Emergence of New Transnational Actors (Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements)
by Kacper SzuleckiThis monograph traces the history of the dissident as a transnational phenomenon, exploring Soviet dissidents in Communist Central Europe from the mid-1960s until 1989. It argues that our understanding of the transnational activist would not be what it is today without the input of Central European oppositionists and ties the term to the global emergence and evolution of human rights. The book examines how we define dissidents and explores the association of political resistance to authoritarian regimes, as well as the impact of domestic and international recognition of the dissident figure. Turning to literature to analyse the meaning and impact of the dissident label, the book also incorporates interviews and primary accounts from former activists. Combining a unique theoretical approach with new empirical material, this book will appeal to students and scholars of contemporary history, politics and culture in Central Europe.
Maritime Security in East and West Africa: A Tale of Two Regions
by Dirk SiebelsThis book examines the nexus between maritime security and the ‘blue economy’ in sub-Saharan Africa. In recent years, maritime security issues have received increasing attention, but academic and policy-related discussions are largely limited to counter-piracy operations and, to a smaller extent, problems related to illegal fishing. This project offers an essential addition to the current academic and political discourse, combining a broad range of statistics with primary research and findings from more than 40 interviews with key stakeholders. It provides a unique analysis, recognizing that maritime security is not an end in itself but rather linked to economic and immaterial benefits of a more secure environment at sea.
The Conceptualization of Guardianship in Iranian Intellectual History: Reading Ibn ʿArabī’s Theory of Wilāya in the Shīʿa World (Palgrave Series in Islamic Theology, Law, and History)
by Leila ChamankhahThis book is a study of the concept of wilāya and its developments among Shīʿī scholars from the eighteenth to twentieth century. Leila Chamankhah addresses a number of issues by delving into the conceptualizations of wilāya through the examination and interpretation of key texts. She focuses on the influence of ibn ʿArabī’s mysticism, with regard to the conception of wilāya, on his Shīʿa successors and expositors in later centuries. She also discusses the development and transformation of the conception of wilāya over two hundred years, from the esoteric school of Shaykhīsm to the politicization of wilāya in the theory of wilāyat al-faqīh.
Insect Conservation and Australia’s Grasslands
by Tim R. NewAustralia’s varied grasslands have suffered massive losses and changes since European settlement, and those changes continue under increasingly intensive human pressures for development and agricultural production. The values of native grasslands for conservation of endemic native biodiversity, both flora and fauna, have led to strong interests in the protection of remaining fragments, especially near urban centres, and documentation of the insects and other inhabitants of grasslands spanning tropical to cool temperate parts of the country. Attention to conservation of grassland insects in Australia is relatively recent, but it is increasingly apparent that grasslands harbour many localised and ecologically specialised endemic species. Their conservation necessarily advances from very incomplete documentation, and draws heavily on lessons from the far better-documented grasslands elsewhere, most notably in the northern hemisphere, and undertaken over far longer periods. From those cases, and the extensive background to grassland management to harmonise conservation with production and amenity values through honing use of processes such as grazing, mowing and fire, the needs and priorities for Australia can become clearer, together with needs for grassland restoration at a variety of scales. This book is a broad overview of conservation needs of grassland insects in Australia, drawing on the background provided elsewhere in the world on the responses to disturbances, and the ecological importance, of some key insect groups (notably Orthoptera, Hemiptera and Lepidoptera) to suggest how insect conservation in native, pastoral and urban grasslands may be advanced. The substantial references given for each chapter facilitate entry for non-entomologist grassland managers and stewards to appreciate the diversity and importance of Australia’s grassland insects, their vulnerabilities to changes, and the possibilities for conserving them and the wider ecological roles in which they participate.
Political Mobilizations and Democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa (Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development)
by Wolfgang StuppertThis book explores why democratization processes in Sub-Saharan Africa have made so little progress despite more than two decades of multi-party politics on the subcontinent. By applying multiple linear regression analyses to a new data set on multi-party elections in Sub-Saharan Africa, the study investigates the relationship between political mobilizations and electoral competitiveness. It finds that the more societal groups engage in political mobilizations, such as protests and strikes, the more competitive elections become. Based on these results, the author argues for a change in the policies of international democracy assistance programs. The study’s findings suggest that efforts to promote democracy would likely be more successful if international donors focused their support on organizations that have active constituencies and are willing to use their mobilization capacity to address ruling elites with political or socio-economic grievances.
The Palgrave Handbook of Applied Ethics and the Criminal Law
by Larry Alexander Kimberly Kessler FerzanThis handbook consists of essays on contemporary issues in criminal law and their theoretical underpinnings. Some of the essays deal with the relationship between morality and criminalization. Others deal with criminalization in the context of specific crimes such as fraud, blackmail, and revenge pornography. The contributors also address questions of responsible agency such as the effects of addiction or insanity, and some deal with punishment, its mode and severity, and the justness of the state’s imposition of it. These chapters are authored by some of the most distinguished scholars in the fields of applied ethics, criminal law, and jurisprudence.
Africa on the Move: Migration, Translocal Livelihoods and Rural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (Springer Geography)
by Malte Steinbrink Hannah NiedenführThis book discusses migration and space-spanning social network relationships as normal realities of life in African societies. It offers an overview of the research landscape and introduces an agency-centered theoretical model that provides a conceptual framework for translocality. The authors Malte Steinbrink and Hannah Niedenführ plead for a translocal approach to social transformation, showing how the translocality of livelihoods is shaping the lives of half a billion people on the continent and impacting local conditions. Using an action-oriented approach, the book analyzes the effects of translocal livelihoods on diverse aspects of economic, environmental and social change in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. The study thus makes an innovative contribution not only to migration research and development studies but also to the discussion around the policy and practice of development cooperation and planning. It is time to rethink development in light of translocal realities. The book appeals to scholars and researchers in geography, sociology, policy-making and planning, development studies, migration research and rural development.
Islamism, Crisis and Democratization: Implications of the World Values Survey for the Muslim World (Perspectives on Development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region)
by Hussein Solomon Arno TauschThis book systematically assesses the value systems of active Muslims around the globe. Based on a multivariate analysis of recent World Values Survey data, it sheds new light on Muslim opinions and values in countries such as Indonesia, Iran, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey. Due to a lack of democratic traditions, sluggish economic growth, escalating religiously motivated violence, and dissatisfaction with ruling elites in many Muslim countries, the authors identify a crisis and return to conservative values in the Muslim world, including anti-Semitism, religious and sexual intolerance, and views on democracy and secularism, business and economic matters. Based on these observations, they offer recommendations for policymakers and civil societies in Muslim countries on how to move towards tolerance, greater democratization and more rapid economic growth.
The Nation/State Fantasy: A Psychoanalytical Genealogy of Nationalism (Palgrave Studies In International Relations Ser.)
by Moran M. MandelbaumThis book explores the origins of nationalism and the ideal of nation/state congruency since early-modern European thought, their transformation over time and endurance in contemporary political thought and IR theory. The author deploys a Lacanian-psychoanalytical reading of nationalism and the nation/state that goes beyond methodological nationalism and state-centrism critiques. He offers a genealogical inquiry into the emergence of the nation/state congruency ideal, thus exposing and problematising the practices that render nationalism and the ideal of the nation/state necessary. Offering a new way to read the ontology and epistemology of the nation/state, this work will be of interest to students and scholars of nations and nationalism, political thought, critical international relations and critical security studies.