Books

This ground breaking volume offers a range of alternative approaches to political science, highlighting problems too rarely confronted by “mainstream” political scientists. Ranging from Gunfighter Sagas to the changing faces of an imaginary Mars, the innovative chapters introduce whole new ways of rethinking politics, stirring up the all too conventional ways of the discipline.

The landscape of European migration has changed considerably over the past decades, in particular after the fall of the iron curtain and again after the EU enlargement to the east. The author researches the phenomenon of highly qualified migration using the example of migration between the Czech Republic and Germany. The book reveals diverse strategies migrants use to respond to the possible de-valuation of their qualification, e.g. by making use of their language skills, starting new studies or using transnational knowledge.

Anna Guhlich investigates the role of migration within the biographies, the shifts of social positions, as well as the ways migrants negotiate their skills, qualification and knowledge across the borders. Based on biographical narrative interviews, she investigates the migration pathways and the processes of social mobility. The study investigates the influence developments within the Czech society have on migration decisions and transnational spaces as well as o

This book is dedicated to the role of work organizations when it comes to the realization of an active fatherhood. Firstly, it deals with barriers for active fatherhood and its correlating mechanisms of inequality: Which aspects of discrimination and social closure do fathers face today if they assert a claim for active fatherhood, and with what kind of barriers are they confronted? Secondly, capabilities of fathers are addressed: Which is their possible scope of action, and which factors lead to differences in capabilities at the workplace? Finally, the book analyzes the meaning of organizational rationalities, and the effects of policies and programs on change and organizational learning with respect to fatherhood.

Giorgione remains the central figure in the scientific discussion dealing with Venetian painting of the age, and accordingly the amount of literature on him is exuberant. The state of scientific discussion which harks back well into the 19th century, proves to be very heterogeneous, a selection of statements proves to be inapt as to serve as a basis for a further critical discussion. The outcome of all this is a general dissent, caused by the poor state of sources and the comparatively small number of secured works. In consequence, we are confronted with a constant struggle of attributions, increasing and decreasing in number, and a host of dates, often contradictory.

The authors in this volume explore the interconnected issues of intergenerational trauma and traumatic memory in societies with a history of collective violence across the globe. Each chapter’s discussion offers a critical reflection on historical trauma and its repercussions, and how memory can be used as a basis for dialogue and transformation. The perspectives include, among others: the healing journey of three generations of a family of Holocaust survivors and their dialogue with third generation German students over time; traumatic memories of the British concentration camps in South Africa; reparations and reconciliation in the context of the historical trauma of Aboriginal Australians; and the use of the arts as a strategy of dialogue and transformation.

Far from integration into the Israeli incorporation regime, Palestinians inside the state are today placed in a paradoxical situation where, as Arab citizens of a Jewish state, they are both inside and outside, host and guest, citizen and stateless. Through the paradigm of stateless citizenship, Shourideh C. Molavi examines the dynamics of exclusion of Palestinian citizens and analytically frames the mechanisms through which their statelessness is maintained. With this she centres our analytical gaze on the paradox that it is through the actual provision of Israeli citizenship that Palestinians are deemed stateless. Molavi critically engages with the liberal variant of Zionist thought, and deconstructs discourse around minority rights and liberal citizenship in the context of Israel’s racialized ideological and political makeup.

The British scholar John Burton-Page contributed numerous formative articles on Indian Islamic architecture for the Encyclopaedia of Islam over a period of 25 years. Assembled here for the first time, these offer an insightful overview of the subject, ranging from the earliest mosques and tombs erected by the Delhi sultans in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, to the great monuments of the Mughal emperors dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. The articles cover the principal forms of Indian Islamic architecture — mosques, tombs, minarets, forts, gateways and water structures — as well as the most important sites and their monuments. Unsurpassed for their compression of information, these succinct articles serve as the best possible introduction to the subject, indispensible for both students and travellers. The articles are supplemented by a portfolio of photographs especially selected for the volume, as well as a glossary and up to date bibliography.

This is the first scholarly study in which the production, trade and political effects of opium and its derivatives are shown over many centuries, and in many countries (China, India, Indonesia, Japan, all Southeast Asian countries and some in Europe and the Americas). Starting in the 16th century, slavery and opium became the two means with which the bodies and souls of men and women in the tropics were exploited in western imperialism and colonialism. The first waned with the abolition movement in the 19th century, but opium production and trade continued to spread, with the associated serious social and political effects. Around 1670 the Dutch introduced opium as a cash crop for mass production and distribution in India and Indonesia. China became the main target in the 19th century, and only succeeded in getting rid of the opium problem around 1950. Then it had already been transformed from an “Eastern” into a “Western” problem.

The present manuscript is meant as volume I of a series of books comprising four volumes in total. Except for Hüttinger´s barely sufficient survey, its object, an overall presentation of Venetian painting from the early beginnings till the 18th and 19th centuries, has almost been neglected by German scholars up to this day. The same may be said about Italian investigations, the more so as the book-series Pittura nell Veneto (edited in several volumes) strongly resembles a corpus opus: It does comprise the most important facts (e.g.the biographies of the artists) and provides a fine collection of pictures as well as a presentation of the momentary status of research, making every effort to completeness, but purely artistic, developmental, iconographic, style-genetic and coloring problems are examined in a rather rudimentary manner and, moreover, organised in a way which cannot easily be followed by the reader. When overlooking the numerous single publications by Italian authors, one will realize that they share an almost incomprehensible timidity of analysing the paintings thoroughly. Such an attempt, however, must be considered the only proper way to get to the root of both development and peculiarity of Venetian painting, so well characterized by Hetzer´s term “ornamental”. Comparative work interpretations will have to meet this scientific deficiency. Proceeding from a descriptive technique based on the specific structure and thus taking form as well as colour into consideration, the theories of morphology and perceptive psychology largely contribute to this intention. Only on the ground of visual findings which have been proven analytically, questions of how to date properly, of how to decide possible work participation and/or dependence of the artists can be clarified, with the additional goal of reaching hermeneutic results and working out what is considered typically Venetian.- Volume I starts out with a survey of Venetian history till the middle of the 15th century, leading from the mosaics of San Marco (beginning with the 11th century) to the second half of the quattrocento. Contrary to usual scholarly views, the art of mosaics is classed with the art of painting, for it incorporates the very same criteria of painting as to form, style and arrangement. The main point here is to bring O.Demus´s scientific results with reference to chronology, genesis of style etc. in accordance with those of Italian scientists who quite frequently hold different views, and to come up with personal decisions at times. Prevailing in the mosaics of San Marco, Byzantinism conditions Venetian painting (fresco and table painting, which gets into being at the end of the 13th century) and remains dominant till late into the trecento. Here it is first observed with Paolo Veneziano, who seldom glances at the development of the occidental style on Terraferma (e.g. Giotto). The ensuing breakthrough of the Gothic style is found with Lorenzo Veneziano. In its course, Byzantine, Upper-Italian and transalpine stimulations fuse into a remarkable symbiosis. Hence investigations in the field of coloring, which have rarely been dealt with in specialized literature, play and hitherto will play a decisive rôle in the evaluation of Venetian painting. A special chapter is dedicated to N. Semitecolo who stands under Padua´s influence (cf. Guariento). After recurrences to conservative Byzantine elements in the last third of the trecento, the international Gothic style celebrates its entry into Venetian painting (cf Jacobello de Fiore) under the strong influence of Gentile da Fabriano. At the same time, first signs of a more modern attitude to painting can be observed with Giambono. Far longer than in the rest of Italy, painting in Venice was partial to the tendencies of the international Gothic as well as to elements of splendour, decoration and space.

Corruption as an Empty Signifier critically explores the ways in which corruption in Africa has been equated with African politics and political order, and offers a novel approach to understanding corruption as a potentially emancipatory discourse of political transformation. Conventionally, both academic literature as well as development policies depict corruption as the lynchpin of politics in Africa, locking African societies into political orders which subvert democratic change.

Sharīʿa in Africa Today. Reactions and Responses explores how Islamic law has influenced relations between Muslims and Christians, through a series of case studies by young African scholars working in four African countries: in Sudan where total Sharīʿa was applied until recently; in Nigeria where the Northern states re-introduced Sharīʿa courts; in Kenya where the place of Islamic courts has been contested in constitutional debates; in Tanzania where Muslims are calling for the re-introduction of Islamic courts.

Sacrifice seems to belong to a religious context of the past. In Sacrifice in Modernity: Community, Ritual, Identity it is demonstrated how sacrificial themes remain an essential element in our post-modern society. The shaping of community, performing rituals and the search for identity, three main characteristics of traditional sacrifice, are dynamics of our modern times as well which cannot be understood without sacrificial awareness. This is demonstrated in such areas as the German poet Hölderlin, Harry Potter, martyrdom, the Twilight Saga, the Japanese writer Endo, Tarkovsky, movies and more.

This collection of essays explores the complex relations between Christians and Muslims at the dawn of the modern age. It begins by examining two seminal works by Nicholas of Cusa: De pace fidei, a dialogue seeking peace among world religions written after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, and Cribratio Alkorani (1460-61), an attempt to confirm Gospel truths through a critical reading of the Qur’an. After considering Nicholas, his sources, and his context, the book explores a wider range of late medieval texts on Christian-Muslim relations—not only Christian writings about Islam but also Muslim responses to Christianity. The book’s focus is historical, but it can also contribute to efforts at increasing Muslim-Christian understanding today.

News in Early Modern Europe – Currents and Connections, edited by Simon Davies and Puck Fletcher, presents significant new research on the production and dissemination of news in early modern Europe. Interdisciplinary in focus, and wide in geographical and chronological scope, the collection includes theoretical enquiries about the nature of news alongside deep archival case studies.

The essays are written by scholars from a wide array of disciplines, intellectual backgrounds, and perspectives, and address the conference’s two inter-related areas of focus: global antisemitism and the crisis of modernity currently affecting the core elements of Western society and civilization. Rather than treating antisemitism merely as an historical phenomenon, the authors place it squarely in the contemporary context. As a result, this volume also provides important insights into the ideologies, processes, and developments that give rise to prejudice in the contemporary global context.

This book presents a Facebook study on members of the Cusp Generation, or those born before the “great digital divide” of 1995. This delineation allows for a discussion on the possible socio-cultural implications of Facebook use for people of all ages. Members of the Cusp Generation are in a unique position as “part digital natives” to easily acquire and use new media technologies, while being more critically aware of the personal, social, and cultural effects that may arise from them thanks to having some memory of the pre-digital era. Drawing on identity theories rooted in critical theory and cultural studies, the author shows that there are potential constrictions on people’s agency in their Facebook use caused by consumer discourse, Facebook’s hyperreal nature and structure, psychological predispositions, and the potential for avatar attachment. In raising concerns over the impacts of technology-based communication, this book explores how the medium of Facebook extends and exacerbates processes of offline social reproduction and discusses how the positive social and political aspects of Facebook can be enhanced.