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Discerning the Powers in Post-Colonial Africa and Asia: A Treatise on Christian Statecraft
by Pak Nung WongQualifying post-Westphalian sovereign statehood as a ‘power’ as argued for in Hendrik Berkhoff’s political theology, this book addresses the decades-long theological-spiritual debate between Christian realism and Christian pacifism in U.S. foreign policy and global Christian circles. It approaches the debate by delving into the pacifist Anabaptist political theology and delineates empirically how sovereign statehood in post-colonial Africa and Asia has fallen into the hands of the devil Satan, as a ‘fallen power’ in the Foucaultian terms of power structures, techniques and episteme. While the book offers intervention schemes and options, it holds that Christian statecraft remains the source of hope to effectively address a number of serious global issues. By extension, the book is thus an invitation to ignite debates on the suitability of Christian statecraft and the nexus between spirituality and world politics, making it especially interesting for scholars and students in the fields of International Politics, Politics of Asian and African States, Post-colonial Studies and Political Theology.
Islamic Perspectives on Science and Technology: Selected Conference Papers
by Mohammad Hashim Kamali Osman Bakar Daud Abdul-Fattah Batchelor Rugayah HashimThis book presents 25 selected papers from the International Conference on “Developing Synergies between Islam & Science and Technology for Mankind’s Benefit” held at the International Institute for Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, in October 2014. The papers cover a broad range of issues reflecting the main conference themes: Cosmology and the Universe, Philosophy of Science and the Emergence of Biological Systems, Principles and Applications of Tawhidic Science, Medical Applications of Tawhidic Science and Bioethics, and the History and Teaching of Science from an Islamic Perspective. Highlighting the relationships between the Islamic religious worldview and the physical sciences, the book challenges secularist paradigms on the study of Science and Technology. Integrating metaphysical perspectives of Science, topics include Islamic approaches to S&T such as an Islamic epistemology of the philosophy of science, a new quantum theory, environmental care, avoiding wasteful consumption using Islamic teachings, and emotional-blasting psychological therapy. Eminent contributing scholars include Osman Bakar, Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Mehdi Golshani, Mohd. Kamal Hassan, Adi Setia and Malik Badri. The book is essential reading for a broad group of academics and practitioners, from Islamic scholars and social scientists to (physical) scientists and engineers.
Introduction to Takaful: Theory and Practice
by Adnan Malik Karim UllahThis book provides a comprehensive account of the theory and practice of takaful, which is an Islamic alternative to insurance. The concepts are explained using real-life case studies, calculations, and exhibits to aid in reader learning and reflection. Takaful, both as an academic subject and as well as practice, is growing particularly in the world leading financial and learning hubs such as in the UK and the USA and countries with large Muslim populations in Asia, Africa, and Middle East.
Sounding Bodies Sounding Worlds: An Exploration of Embodiments in Sound (Palgrave Studies in Sound)
by Mickey ValleeWhat makes a body of sound appear as an aesthetic object as well as a method for knowledge? In Sounding Bodies Sounding Worlds, Mickey Vallee argues that we must impose our sonic imagination onto the non-sonic, and embrace how we sound to ourselves, sound with our animal companions, and sound in very earth itself. From the invention of the laryngoscope to the role of the spectrogram, from the call of the bird to the tumble of a rockslide, from the deep listening of environmental immersion to the computational listening of bioacoustics research, Vallee offers a wide range of cases to convincingly argue that all life shares in a continuous, embodied and ethical vibration.
Shakespeare and Protestant Poetics
by Jason GleckmanThis book explores the impact of the sixteenth-century Reformation on the plays of William Shakespeare. Taking three fundamental Protestant concerns of the era – (double) predestination, conversion, and free will – it demonstrates how Protestant theologians, in England and elsewhere, re-imagined these longstanding Christian concepts from a specifically Protestant perspective. Shakespeare utilizes these insights to generate his distinctive view of human nature and the relationship between humans and God. Through in-depth readings of the Shakespeare comedies ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, and ‘Twelfth Night’, the romance ‘A Winter’s Tale’, and the tragedies of ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Hamlet’, this book examines the results of almost a century of Protestant thought upon literary art.
Buddhist-Muslim Relations in a Theravada World
by Iselin Frydenlund Michael JerrysonThis book is the first to critically analyze Buddhist-Muslim relations in Theravada Buddhist majority states in South and Southeast Asia. Asia is home to the largest population of Buddhists and Muslims. In recent years, this interfaith communal living has incurred conflicts, such as the ethnic-religious conflicts in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Experts from around the world collaborate to provide a comprehensive look into religious pluralism and religious violence. The book is divided into two sections. The first section provides historical background to the three countries with the largest Buddhist-Muslim relations. The second section has chapters that focus on specific encounters between Buddhists and Muslims, which includes anti-Buddhist sentiments in Bangladesh, the role of gender in Muslim-Buddhist relations and the rise of anti-Muslim and anti-Rohingya sentiments in Myanmar. By exploring historical fluctuations over time—paying particular attention to how state-formations condition Muslim-Buddhist entanglements—the book shows the processual and relational aspects of religious identity constructions and Buddhist-Muslim interactions in Theravada Buddhist majority states.
Temporary and Child Marriages in Iran and Afghanistan: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Issues
by S. Behnaz HosseiniThis book discusses the popularity of temporary and child marriages in Iran and Afghanistan and explores their historical background and the reasons why they still persist today. Further, it offers readers insights into the emotional and psychological violence that the women who have been subjected to these practices experience. The respective contributions address the persistence of these traditions, their ramifications for the wellbeing of women and the development of societies and human relations. Taken together, they offer an excellent academic tool for students, academics and researchers studying the anthropology and sociology of kinship, and family in the Middle East.
Women in Tourism in Asian Muslim Countries (Perspectives on Asian Tourism)
by Nataša Slak Valek Hamed AlmuhrziThis book focuses on women in tourism in Muslim countries, specifically where a woman can be seen as a tourism consumer, or a woman producing tourism. This book discusses the role of women in the Muslim world and founds that socio-culturally Islam has a greater impact on women than men. The process of identity construction and the religious values of women have also been extensively researched. But little is known about the role of Muslim women in the tourism industry and this book addresses these themes in the Asian context. This book explores these ideas as defined key categories; Muslim women from Asia travelling to a non-Muslim country, non-Muslim women travelling to Asian Muslim countries, and Women working in the tourism field in Muslim countries. This book highlights Asian countries as holding a complex mixture of cultures and identities. As Muslim communities are central in many Asian countries the tourism experience is different mainly because of cultural norms and religion. Ultimately, this book examines whether and how these complexities enrich both women and tourism industry within Asian context.
Enhancing Halal Sustainability: Selected Papers from the 4th International Halal Conference 2019
by Nur Nafhatun Md Shariff Najahudin Lateh Nur Farhani Zarmani Zety Sharizat Hamidi Zeiad Amjad Abdulrazzak Aghwan Norliza Binti Dato Haji Mahalle Hakimah Haji Yaacob Tomizawa HisaoThe global halal industry is likely to grow to between three and four trillion US dollars in the next five years, from the current estimated two trillion, backed by a continued demand from both Muslims and non-Muslims for halal products. Realising the importance of the halal industry to the global community, the Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies (ACIS), the Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia (UiTM) and Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University (UNISSA) Brunei have organised the 4th International Halal Conference (INHAC) 2019 under the theme “Enhancing Halal Sustainability'. This book contains selected papers presented at INHAC 2019. It addresses halal-related issues that are applicable to various industries and explores a variety of contemporary and emerging issues. It covers aspects of halal food safety, related services such as tourism and hospitality, the halal industry - including aspects of business ethics, policies and practices, quality assurance, compliance and Shariah governance Issues, as well as halal research and educational development. Highlighting findings from both scientific and social research studies, it enhances the discussion on the halal industry (both in Malaysia and internationally), and serves as an invitation to engage in more advanced research on the global halal industry.
Islamic Law in Malaysia: The Challenges of Implementation
by Adnan Trakic Hanifah Haydar Ali TajuddinThis book examines the challenges of the implementation of Islamic law in Malaysia. Malaysia is a pertinent jurisdiction to explore such challenges given its global focus, colonial history and institutions, and the intersection of the Shari’ah and secularism/multiculturalism. The resultant implementation challenges are underpinned by three factors that make Malaysia an important jurisdiction for those interested in understanding the place of Islamic law in the global context. First, Malaysia is often considered as a model Islamic country. Islamic law is a source of law in Malaysia. The Islamic law legal system in Malaysia operates in parallel with a common law legal system. The two systems of law generally are in harmony with one another. Nevertheless, occasional cross-jurisdictional issues do arise, and when they do, the Malaysian judiciary has been quite efficient in solving them. The Malaysian experience in maintaining such harmony between the two legal systems provides lessons for a number of countries facing such challenges. Second, Malaysia has a developed Shari’ah court system that interprets and applies Islamic law predominantly based on the Shafi’i school of thought. While, for the most part, the approach has been successful, there have been times when the implementation of the law has raised concerns as to the compatibility of Islamic law with modern principles of human rights and common law-based values. Third, there have been cases where Islamic law implementation in Malaysia has gained global attention due to the potential for wider international implications. To do justice to this complex area, the book calls on scholars and practitioners who have the necessary expertise in Islamic law and its implementation. As such, this book provides lessons and direction for other countries that operate a dual system of secular and Islamic laws.
The Making of the Global Yijing in the Modern World: Cross-cultural Interpretations and Interactions (Chinese Culture #4)
by Benjamin Wai-ming NgThis book represents an ambitious effort to bring leading Yijing scholars together to examine the globalisation and localisation of the 'Book of Changes' from cross-cultural and comparative perspectives. It focuses on how the Yijing has been used to support ideologies, converted into knowledge, and assimilated into global cultures in the modern period, transported from the Sinosphere to British, American and French cultural traditions, travelling from East Asia to Europe and the United States. The book provides conceptualised narratives and cross-cultural analyses of the global popularisation and local assimilation of the Yijing, highlighting the transformation and application of the Yijing in different cultural traditions, and demonstrating how it acquired different meanings and took on different roles in the context of a global setting. In presenting a novel contribution to understandings of the multifaceted nature of the Yijing, this book is essential reading for scholars and students interested in the 'Classic of Changes'. It is also a useful reference for those studying Chinese culture, Asian philosophy, East Asian studies, and translation studies.
Muslims in Telangana: A Discourse on Equity, Development, and Security (Dynamics of Asian Development)
by G. Sudhir M. A. Bari Amir Ullah Khan Abdul ShabanThis book analyses the state of development of Muslims at the regional level. It explains the linkages between the findings of global, national, and state-level studies with regard to the current status of Muslims and broadens understanding of Muslims and their participation in virtually all major sectors, including the economy, housing, demography, health, migration, state policy, and affirmative action. The book presents the challenges faced by the community and reflects upon the socio-economic and educational conditions of Muslims in Telangana State. It presents a comparative analysis of mortality data, maternal health, delivery care, and child immunization, as well as reproductive health aspects and children’s nutritional status. It shares valuable insights into the impacts of emigration and internal migration on health among local Muslims and presents a detailed analysis of data from the Census of India, NSSO, and Commission of Inquiry on Socio-Economic and Educational Status of Muslims regarding the social, economic, and demographic situation of Muslims in Telangana, as well as their opportunities for development under the newly formed state government. The book would be of great interest to scholars and researchers in development economics, sociology, politics, history, cultural studies, minority studies, Islamic studies, and policy studies, as well as policymakers, civil society activists, and those working in media and journalism.
Proselytizing and the Limits of Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Asia (ARI - Springer Asia Series #4)
by Juliana Finucane R. Michael FeenerThis volume brings together a range of critical studies that explore diverse ways in which processes of globalization pose new challenges and offer new opportunities for religious groups to propagate their beliefs in contemporary Asian contexts. Proselytizing tests the limits of religious pluralism, as it is a practice that exists on the border of tolerance and intolerance. The practice of proselytizing presupposes not only that people are freely-choosing agents and that religion itself is an issue of individual preference. At the same time, however, it also raises fraught questions about belonging to particular communities and heightens the moral stakes in involved in such choices. In many contemporary Asian societies, questions about the limits of acceptable proselytic behavior have taken on added urgency in the current era of globalization. Recognizing this, the studies brought together here serve to develop our understandings of current developments as it critically explores the complex ways in which contemporary contexts of religious pluralism in Asia both enable, and are threatened by, projects of proselytization.
Perspectives on Traditional Settlements and Communities: Home, Form and Culture in Indonesia
by Bagoes WiryomartonoThis book covers the relationship between societies and their culture in the context of traditional settlement in Indonesia. The focus of the study is on the search for meanings of local concepts. This study reveals and analyzes the concepts concerning home and their sociocultural strategies for maintaining a sense of community and identity. In this study, identifying local concepts becomes the hallmark and the hub of analyses that explore, verify and establish relations between ideas and phenomena. Based on these relations, this study attempts to capture the reality of the local world that upholds and sustains the communities’ values, norms and principles for what they may call a homeland. The book is organized into two parts. Part I describes a cross-regional habitation in Indonesia, while Part II presents four ethnic regions of Indonesia - Sa’dan Toraja, Bali, Naga and Minangkabau. Their unique traditions, customs, beliefs and attitudes serve to provide diversity in terms of their backgrounds and lifestyles, though they share the challenge of sustaining their sense of home in the face of modernity as characterized by changes and developments toward a technologically industrialized society. The central research questions are - What is development in terms of culture and environmental sustainability? How do these communities respond to modernity?
Queer Thriving in Catholic Education: Going Beyond the Pastoral Paradigm for LGBTQ+ Inclusion
by Sean Whittle Seán HenryThis book provides readers with the opportunity to go beyond anecdote and supposition in order to get a fuller grasp of research around Catholic education and LGBTQ+ matters. This is an edited collection of chapters which explores LGBTQ+ matters in relation to Catholic education. Although the field of Catholic Education Studies has grown exponentially over the past two decades, little if any attention has been published specifically about the place of LGBTQ+ students (and teachers) in the context of Catholic education. This edited book presents the various strands of research about Catholic education and LGBTQ+ inclusion. More specifically, this edited book of chapters addresses a number of broader themes including:• Is it possible for Catholic education to sit in harmony with the concerns of LGBTQ+ inclusive education?• What does it mean to ‘queer’ education at all? How does this sit in relation to Catholic perspectives on the purpose of Catholic education?• When it comes to LGBTQ+ issues in relation to Catholic education, what is the research agenda?• How might Catholic schools move beyond a ‘pastoral accommodation’ approach to LGBTQ+ students?• What does the evidence from research in Catholic schools indicate? Are they places of inclusion, hospitality, and welcome for LGBTQ+ young people?
Islamic Social Finance: Law And Practice In Malaysia (Islamic Business And Finance Ser.)
by Sherin Kunhibava Aishath Muneeza Maryam Binti Khalid Zakariya Mustapha Thong Ming Sen
A Contemporary Turkish Prison Diary: Reflections on the Writings of Said Nursi and Aleksander Solzhenitsyn
by Ismail AlbayrakThis book explores the religious experiences of two notable figures who endured severe trials under authoritarian regimes: Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (1877–1960) within the Islamic tradition, and Aleksander Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) within the Russian Orthodox Christian tradition. Against the tumultuous backdrop of the twentieth century’s spiritual, social, political, and intellectual upheavals, both Nursi and Solzhenitsyn grappled with immense hardships because of their beliefs. Despite immense tribulations, both individuals demonstrated unwavering faith and resilience in the face of adversity, continuing their scholarly and literary activities. The current study centers on the dichotomy of spiritual confinement and expansiveness, illustrating how people can experience spiritual distress even without physical restraints. It explores the historical and conceptual aspects of imprisonment within Christian and Muslim perspectives, explores the reasons for Nursi and Solzhenitsyn's incarceration, examines their coping mechanisms in the face of hardship, and underscores the role of faith and spirituality. The author integrates personal experiences, particularly his own incarceration during the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish staged coup attempt, within the context of the narratives of Nursi and Solzhenitsyn. The book addresses court proceedings, release, departure from Turkey, and resettlement in Australia. Throughout, the author draws parallels between their own observations and those of Nursi and Solzhenitsyn, contributing to the broader discourse on individual spirituality and collective consciousness. The book offers insights into spiritual resilience in the face of adversity, utilizing the lives of these figures to illuminate shared human experiences. A unique collation of personal narration and scholarly reflection, it is relevant to academics and students in history, political science, sociology, Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, and to social scientists researchingthe phenomenon of exile and prison in different countries across the world. It also speaks to the work of activists and policymakers in human rights.
Mao Zedong and Contemporary China: Exploring the World Where Truth Falls from the Heavens
by Katsuji NakaganeWhat did Mao Zedong bring to China? Mao Zedong, a rare leader who is still regarded as a great hero on the Chinese continent, despite the large number of victims caused by the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. He called himself "Qin Shi Huang （First Emperor of Qin）plus Marx". It can be said that he is an entity that combines the power of the emperor and the authority of Marx into one person. This book analyzes the features of Mao Zedong’s thought and philosophy, his understanding of Marxism and class struggle, in particular, his peculiar attitude toward intellectuals, his actions leading to the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, which he initiated and involved the entire nation, as well as the analysis of the mechanisms that caused such catastrophes and tragedies. Finally, through these analyses, this book attempts to evaluate Mao Zedong with diverse personalities and his behavior, positive and negative, whether in political, social, economic, or philosophical areas.
Chinese Mental Health Scale Translation (New Frontiers in Translation Studies)
by Meng Ji Yi ShanThis open access book illustrates the key steps and procedures of developing mental health scales into linguistically and culturally appropriate translations. Through illustrative case studies, we demonstrate that traditional forward and backward translation have significant methodological limitations when applied in mental health scale translation, such as linguistic and cultural inaccessibility and inaccuracy in the clinic. Our book will stimulate more academic debates and further systematic research into the significant, interdisciplinary area of mental health translation, which has been underexplored in Translation Studies.
The Delta of Chinese Management: Guanxi, Rule of Law and the Middle Way
by Jane Jian ZhangThis book explores the differential mode of people management in the Chinese context. Based on years of ethnographic research, this book illustrates how and why the guanxihu phenomena exist across different organisations and thus, the guanxi-hu could break the ‘organisational laws’ (e.g. structure and system; rules and regulations; policies and procedures). By focusing on personnel practices within organisations, the book provides an outlook for keeping indigenous management with Chinese characteristics. Most importantly, this book offers significant insights into how to ‘manage people’ in the private and public sectors within the Chinese cultural and institutional environment. The delta of Chinese management will appeal not only to academics and researchers who have an interest in management and Chinese studies, but also to expatriates and practitioners who are engaged in doing business and managing people with/in China.
A Corpus-assisted Multimodal Analysis to Policy Addresses of Macao SAR Government: Two Decades of Change in Macao (Corpora and Intercultural Studies #11)
by Michelle Lam Sut IThis book introduces an integrated framework with corpus-assisted approach to deal with large set of data of discourse with multimodal factors to investigate how policy addresses (the government reports of Macao SAR) as a discourse type function in the social changes of Macao SAR through discussing the social factors to the production and consumption of policy addresses. The book explores research models or methodology in dealing with the contemporary topics in translation studies with a detailed presentation of the application of an analytical framework which marries corpus-assisted analysis, discourse analysis from socio-cultural perspective and multimodality with translation studies. Withal, the book is with the chapters to review the development of the social approach to discourse analysis and to introduce the stories of Macao with the summary of the development of this special region, in academic field, political and cultural fields.
A Philosophy of Ambient Sound: Materiality, Technology, Art and the Sonic Environment (Palgrave Studies in Sound)
by Ulrik SchmidtThis book presents the first book-length study of ambient sound as a key issue in sound studies and sonic philosophy. Taking a broad, media-philosophical approach, it explores ambient sound as a basic dimension of the sonic environment, sonic technologies, sonic arts and the material staging of listening.Through analyses of key concepts such as surroundability, mediatization, immanence, synthetization and continuous variation, the book elucidates how ambient aspects of sound influence our conceptions of what sound is and how it affects us by exposing sound’s relation to basic categories such as space, time, environment, medium and materiality. It also illuminates how the strategic production of ambient sound constitutes a leading aesthetic paradigm that has been a decisive factor in the shaping of the modern sonic environment – from key developments in experimental and popular music, sound art and cinematic sound design to the architectural-technological construction of listening spaces in concert halls and theaters and in current streaming infrastructures, digital surround sound and the everyday aesthetics of headphone listening.
China and the West: A Pragmatic Confucian’s View
by Yao YangThis is an authored volume of Dr. Yao's “big-picture” writings on China and the West, translated by David Ownby. Those writings are selected from his writings as a public intellectual, reflecting his thought on China’s path of modernization and the effort to rebuild a political philosophy based on Confucianism, his interpretation of China’s political system and his prescriptions to improve it. A moderate, yet influential scholar, Yao's work has had great influence on Chinese social and economic policymakers; his project of renewing China's traditional value system is an important position, as Chinese reforms begin to focus on equity and inclusion. In an engaging, at times personal, and thoughtful volume, Dr. Yao's vision of a gentler Chinese society will interest Sinologists, political scientists, and journalists.
Religious and Spiritual Practices in India: A Positive Psychological Perspective
by Kamlesh Singh Gaurav SaxenaThis book explores the positive psychological aspects of religion and spirituality in the Indian context. It discusses the concepts and practices of Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, and Sikhism and their impact on overall well-being. As the global enthusiasm for Indian spirituality grows, this book brings together scholars to share their perspectives and reflections on various religious aspects. The chapters offer readers a psychological "capsule" of mental health, well-being, compassion, kindness, character strength, mind-body relationship, and mindfulness, providing practical strategies for a better quality of life.Furthermore, this book offers insights into the different perspectives of happiness and well-being measured across diverse demographics. It also provides a qualitative conceptualization of happiness among older people, reflections on positive aging, and highlights the facilitators and inhibitors of happiness. With its comprehensive coverage and multidisciplinary approach, this book serves as a valuable reference for postgraduate and doctoral students of Psychology, as well as a treasure trove in the libraries for researchers and faculties associated with spiritual psychology, positive psychology, religious studies, comparative literature, mental health professionals, academicians, and anyone interested in allied health fields.
Jesuits and Asian Goods in the Iberian Empires, 1580–1700 (Palgrave Studies in Comparative Global History)
by Pedro Omar Svriz-WuchererThis book analyzes the exchange relations between the colonies of the Iberian Empires, starting from two cities ports, Buenos Aires and Macau in the period 1580-1700. Agents, who were not professional traders such as the members of the Society of Jesus, and the circulation and consumption of Asian goods in the local populations of Buenos Aires and Macau, were analyzed. Both cases of study will show us how these non-state agents- the Jesuits- build their own networks and exchange channels to Chinese goods distribution (i.e silk, porcelain, musk, amber and others) between Asia and Latin American. This book intends to break with the local scheme of Jesuit studies in order to combine the local scale with analysis of inter-regional processes on a continental scale, from a comparative perspective.