This book offers a fresh and timely exploration of the intersections between ecology, media, and culture in Asian contexts, with particular attention to audiovisual narratives. Moving beyond conventional approaches to Asian media that privilege aesthetic, cultural, or socio-political analyses, it foregrounds ecological narratives and environmental themes embedded in the region's media practices. Drawing on a wide range of regional examples, the volume examines how Asian media creators engage with complex questions of history, globalisation, power, and environmental crisis while articulating distinctive counter-narratives that challenge Western-centric frameworks and orientalist perspectives. Spanning a broad geographical and thematic scope, including Japan, Korea, Thailand, Iran, Vietnam, China, and India, the book offers nuanced insights into both the ecological challenges faced across the region and the cultural frameworks that shape their mediation and representation. By combining theoretical interventions with in-depth case studies, the volume makes a rigorous scholarly contribution while providing a grounded analytical mapping of contemporary Asian ecomedia. Its key contributions lie in its interdisciplinary approach, which brings together ecocinema studies, environmental humanities, and postcolonial theory, centring Asian epistemologies and perspectives, as well as in its rich corpus of case studies drawn from varied cultural and historical contexts. As such, this volume constitutes an essential resource for readers seeking a critical and comprehensive understanding of ecological issues and their complex representations in Asian media and culture. It will be of particular interest to scholars and students in media studies, environmental humanities, ecocriticism, and Asian studies.

This is an Open Access book which explores the physical and societal consequences of climate events such as heatwaves, drought, heavy rainfall and rising sea levels, and how they can lead to social disruption. The impact of climate events extends beyond damage and casualties. Climate disruption may result in people losing trust in the government and each other, in communities falling apart, as well as in increasing poverty. Conversely, the social context partly determines how well people are able to cope with climate events. Those with a strong network or sufficient resources are generally less likely to encounter severe problems and more likely to recover from such disruptions. The book argues that Dutch climate adaptation policy currently pays too little attention to these social factors. The focus of Dutch policies and practices is on physical protection measures. Although these are essential, they are not sufficient. The authors argue that climate resilience in the Netherlands could improve if the government also invests in the country's social infrastructure, which enables people to look out for each other, increases mutual trust, and offers perspectives for action.

Industry 4.0 technologies help in reducing the set -up time and cost, lead times, labor and material cost and enhance productivity, flexibility, customization and value addition. Additionally, industry 4.0 helps in decreasing the energy and resources consumption that leads to decreased waste creation and carbon emission in the assembly, production and supply chain operations.

The research curated here examines the critical link between Industry 4.0 technologies and green supply chain management (GSCM) implementation to achieve supply chain sustainability. The chapters emphasize the necessity of digital transformation in firms in order to achieve sustainable performance, as well as the rising importance of sustainability in organizational strategy, product innovation, and process re-engineering. Furthermore, it investigates the inclusion of Industry 4.0 technologies to enhance sustainability in SCM operations, with a special emphasis on the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) 2030 and the post-COVID-19 scenario.

This book develops a pluralistic political theory that reinterprets John Rawls's proviso as a framework of justification capable of sustaining legitimacy amid deep reasonable pluralism and the rise of artificial intelligence. Part I reconstructs the distinction between morality and ethics in contemporary political philosophy and argues that the right to reciprocal and general justification grounds a freestanding but non-metaphysical account of political legitimacy. Part II brings this framework into dialogue with Confucian political thought, showing how a modified proviso can underwrite a non-meritocratic and pluralistic Confucian democracy, while also accommodating hybrid constitutional orders and maintaining global justice. Part III extends the same justificatory structure to the technological domain, proposing an expanded proviso as a normative architecture for the design, adoption, and regulation of artificial intelligence systems in democratic societies. Across these three parts, the book comparatively advances a pluralistic political theory at the intersection of ethics, politics, and artificial intelligence, showing how justificatory practices can be extended from liberal democracy to Confucian traditions and algorithmic governance to prepare democratic institutions for an increasingly technologically mediated future.

This book explores Indonesia's vibrant Death Metal underground, which, by many accounts, is the largest in the world. The peak of Indonesia's Death Metal scene occurred between 2009 and 2013, centered in Bandung, the capital of West Java, a city long known for its art and culture. This book traces the development of the scene in Bandung and other East Javanese cities like Surabaya, Malang, and Kediri, as well as the more conservative Madura Island. It examines the relationships between these scenes through the lens of governing myth and mythscape, focusing on how Bandung came to dominate the national and even regional scene, and the response from East Javanese cities. Drawing on over 90 interviews with more than 60 Indonesian bands, conducted between 2011 and the present, this book offers an in-depth look at this unique musical subculture.

This open access book offers a detailed analysis of how legal perceptions and regulations surrounding marriage changed in Ethiopia from the earliest times of statehood until the fall of the Ethiopian Empire in 1974. Drawing on a wide range of historical and legal sources, the research examines the complex development of Ethiopian family law, with particular emphasis on marriage. The central questions explore the complex relationship between customary law, religious norms, and formal state law in shaping the institution of marriage in Ethiopia. The study assesses the extent to which these various legal traditions complement or contradict one another in the marriage context. It discusses the significance of Ethiopian laws and the 1960 Civil Code, analyzing how they align with or differ from traditional marriage customs. These issues prove particularly significant given Ethiopia's distinctive historical trajectory. Unlike many other African countries, Ethiopia mostly avoided direct colonial rule, except for a short Italian occupation from 1936 to 1941. Its history has led to notable legal advancement, particularly in law codification, which differs markedly from other post-colonial African countries. Furthermore, the country's diverse, multicultural, and multi-ethnic composition, with many languages, traditions, and customs, enhances both the complexity and richness of its legal system.

The book highlights marriage as a fundamental social institution that evolves gradually, serving as a useful perspective to examine broader societal and political shifts. The Amhara, as the dominant ethnic group, have significantly influenced marriage customs and Ethiopian laws, with their customary laws gaining considerable importance.

This book, based on extensive first-hand research conducted between 2020 and 2024, places "Russian antiquity" in the center of analysis, and addresses memory-making in the regions. The author seeks to examine how public history is managed in Old Russian cities, who the mnemonic actors are, which narratives are institutionalized, how cultural heritage is reinterpreted, and how federal and regional historical narratives interact. How did existing approaches to the past contributed to legitimization of aggressive wars and the federal government's assumed right to arbitrarily initiate conflicts and compel citizens to participate in them? The book focuses on the period from 2012 to 2022, which saw the strengthening of personalist authoritarianism in Russia accompanied by a "conservative turn" whose roots lie in nineteenth-century nationalism. The book includes case studies of 12 regional capitals founded before 1584 (the year of Ivan the Terrible's death, his rule marked the emergence of the centralized Russian state).

This book offers a comprehensive and critical examination of Libya's modern history, political evolution, and societal dynamics. Dr. Sawani analyses the Sanusi monarchy, Gaddafi rule, and the period following the uprising that ended Gaddafi's rule and led to a tumultuous post-2011 transition. The book seeks to explain the interplay of all these elements and the interaction between the internal and the external. Pivotal developments and moments along Libya's contemporary path are examined including the state-building challenges under King Idris I, the foundations and idiosyncratic nature of the Gaddafi regime, the unrealized reform attempts of the 2000s, the causes and consequences of the 2011 uprising, the controversial NATO-led intervention, and the subsequent descent into crisis and political fragmentation.

A close-up examination of the roots of congressional politics in nominations for the House of Representatives.

With most House seats all but guaranteed for one party in general elections, primary elections for party nominees often decide who goes to Congress. Yet primaries are notoriously difficult to study, due in part to both the variety of rules that govern them and the differences in the influence of local leaders. Based on wide-ranging evidence from field interviews to fundraising data to exit polls, Parties on the Ground overcomes these challenges to take readers under the hood for an in-depth look at the nomination process.

Although progressive reformers sought the adoption of primaries to empower voters' control over nominations, Parties on the Ground finds that most voters pay too little attention to make use of the opportunity. Instead, the most important actors are intense policy demanders-such as interest groups and activist organizations-who supply campaign resources to some candidates and deny them to others. These groups care most about securing an agent for their own interests and values; to this end, they put serious effort into vetting candidates and often coordinate among themselves or with local parties in support of their choices. At the same time, competition between establishment and insurgent groups can be high, especially in the Republican Party. Developing a nuanced account of House nominations in today's parties, Parties on the Ground offers a host of new insights into this understudied but significant piece of the puzzle of American politics.

A critical history of the US dollar's dominance in the world economy-and what has kept China's currency from overtaking it.

The dollar is the primary currency of the world economy. With China now rivaling the United States on the world stage, a critical question hangs in the balance: will the Chinese renminbi challenge the status of the dollar and, in doing so, deprive America of its "exorbitant privilege"?

In GreenbackEmpire, Ho-fung Hung offers a powerful account of why, even as American shares of global production, ownership, and trade continue to decline, its currency has retained the support of governments and investors around the world. For six decades, Hung shows, the dominance of the dollar has rested on the security umbrella that the US offers to the world's wealthiest countries-including oil producers. To these countries, support for the value of the dollar is tantamount to maintaining US protection. While China has become a serious geopolitical and economic rival to the US, the Chinese state's airtight control of its financial system has delayed the free trading of the renminbi, limiting the currency's internationalization. In short, the same strategy that engineered growth in China's economy is restraining its currency's rise in opposition to the dollar. Hung's Greenback Empire is an essential history of the dollar's prowess, indispensable for understanding the future of the global monetary system.

This book is a comprehensive guide to applying positive psychology principles to leadership and organizational management. It equips leaders with practical strategies for enhancing resilience, fostering a strengths-based culture, and promoting well-being within teams. By integrating the latest research in positive psychology with leadership theories, the book offers actionable tools that leaders can implement to improve both individual and organizational outcomes. The authors draw on their extensive research and teaching experience to deliver insights that blend both Eastern and Western perspectives, offering a culturally inclusive approach to leadership. From building emotionally intelligent leaders to creating positive organizational cultures, this book addresses the most pressing challenges faced by leaders in today's complex environments. The book features case studies, exercises, and real-world applications and is designed for leaders, administrators, educators, and professionals seeking to foster resilience, well-being, and ethical decision-making in their organizations. It provides the tools to enhance leadership effectiveness and create a lasting positive impact. With a strong foundation in evidence-based practices, this book is an essential resource for those looking to bring positive psychology into their leadership strategies for sustainable growth and success.

This book examines the transformation of online targeting in a world of increasing privacy regulation, declining third-party identifiers, and growing reliance on first-party data. It provides practical guidance for marketers, technology teams, and decision makers who need to build sustainable digital advertising and data strategies.

The authors explain how organizations can develop privacy-compliant targeting capabilities based on first-party data, identity resolution, and modern marketing technology architectures. They evaluate emerging approaches from both advertiser and publisher perspectives and show how companies can maintain effective targeting, measurement, and personalization in a cookieless environment.

Without consistent and privacy-compliant customer recognition across touchpoints and devices, organizations risk fragmented customer views, inefficient advertising spend, and unreliable attribution. This book outlines concrete strategies to overcome these challenges and build a future-ready foundation for data-driven marketing.

Reshaping the State in the Age of Fiasco meticulously analyses fifty years of structural innovation in UK public management reform. Rather than ascribing policymaking blunders to the ascendency of New Public Management, it focuses on how the rise of managerialism led to pathologies and contradictions arising from the traditions and culture of British government. In the post-war era, the myth prevailed that UK institutions, policies and solutions offered a model for the rest of the world, while there was little meaningful that could be learnt from elsewhere. Yet recent governing crises, notably fiscal austerity, Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic underlined that despite decades of reform, the performance of the British state and public services remained glaringly inadequate. There has been far less improvement in efficiency, economy and effectiveness than was promised. This book asks why that is so, and what can be done.

This open access book presents an interdisciplinary perspective on the study of well-being at work. Written by experts from various disciplines, it integrates organizational behavior, sociology, economics, economic history, and entrepreneurship to probe two central themes: the causes and consequences of work meaningfulness and work motivations, and their implications for workers and organizations. It comprehensively explores why people find meaning in their work, what motivates them to work, and how this perception shapes individual, organizational, and economic outcomes. The respective chapters investigate how these central topics manifest in various contexts, from psychological and organizational frameworks to the impact of economic theories and technological change, offering new perspectives on the interplay between work, individual fulfillment, and societal development.

The edited volume promises to be a distinctive contribution to the field, sharing provocative insights and summaries of the state-of-the-art in the growing body of literature on meaningful work and work orientations, raising pivotal questions and providing informed answers that will shape future studies and practices.

This monograph discusses the contemporary role of sea basins in global politics. It highlights their economic and political importance, especially how countries use them to achieve regional and global goals. It also examines how these policies affect political and economic relations in different regions, considering international sea laws. The book also covers regional conditions around various sea basins and how they influence the maritime strategies of global and regional powers. It discusses specific maritime policies of key countries and how these policies fit into their overall international activities. Additionally, it looks at inter-state disputes and their impact on regional peace, as well as the legal status of different sea basins and their role in shaping the international order.

The volume begins with an exploration of the historical determinants shaping maritime activity and the status of sea powers. It examines the evolution of sea power concepts from the 19th century to the 20th century, highlighting the impact of technological advancements and legal regulations like the Montego Bay Convention. The emergence of non-state players and their influence on maritime strategies is also discussed. The subsequent chapters analyze the maritime policies of supra-regional players such as the USA, PRC, Russia, and the EU, emphasizing the strategic assumptions and naval capabilities required to achieve their maritime goals.

Further chapters focus on the geopolitical significance of specific sea basins, including the polar oceans, the Indo-Pacific, and the Atlantic. The book examines the strategic importance of these regions, the role of regional and global powers, and the impact of climate change and international regulations. It also highlights the unique maritime policies of regional powers like India, Japan, and Australia, and their interactions with major players. The final chapters address the strategic importance of the waters surrounding Europe, particularly the Black Sea, and the interplay between regional stability and the interests of major powers like Russia, China, and Turkey.

This approach will enable readers to understand the importance of sea basins both in the policy of global and regional state maritime players, and the impact of their maritime activity on the shape of the international system. As such this book will be an excellent resource for researchers and students of international relations, geopolitics and geostrategy as well as decision-makers and practitioners dealing with the analysis of maritime activity of states, their use in the implementation of state policy and the role of individual sea basins in global politics.

From a revered public intellectual, an essential argument for the political preconditions of a liberal society.

Liberalism has always suffered from messaging challenges. It simultaneously implies a pursuit of individual liberty and social equality, two projects often regarded as at odds. Or: Liberal means the opposite of conservative. Except when it doesn't. The list goes on.

Liberal bard Deirdre Nansen McCloskey understands these rhetorical troubles. Equality of Permission is her stirring and career-defining intervention on this essentially contested yet critical topic-a forceful case for liberalism as our best hope, and an essential vision of the political conditions necessary for its survival. McCloskey prescribes a liberalism built around liberty from the bottom up: "equality before the law and equality of political and economic permissions," lightly administered.

The state, McCloskey argues, is increasingly the source of our discontents-an illiberal institution, hindered by a quixotic fixation on pursuing equality of wealth or opportunity. Equality of Permission evangelizes for a better, and earlier, version of liberalism-that of John Locke, Adam Smith, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Henry David Thoreau-as against a top-down quest for an unattainable utopia. McCloskey shows that statism in pursuit of a chimerical general will, even when well-intentioned, leads to tyranny.

Brimming with energy and erudition, drawing on wisdoms from Alexis de Tocqueville to Mae West, Equality of Permission is McCloskey at the peak of her powers-brilliant, lacerating, garrulous, funny, worldly, and warm. Amid intense debate over the use and abuse of government institutions, McCloskey shares her singular vision for a true democracy, one grounded in respect and conducive to universal human flourishing.

This book examines the second BRICS outreach process known as "BRICS plus", inaugurated at the 2023 XV BRICS Summit in Johannesburg. The idea of BRICS plus was an initiative of China at the Xiamen summit in 2017, which had, at first, a timid consensus, exposing contradictions and conflicts of interest among BRICS members and between the BRICS and the West. The authors look at the innovative aspects of the new BRICS plus and how they might change the current geopolitical configuration, particularly in the post-pandemic world and in the context of the war in Ukraine. They focus on particular on the two enthusiastic supporters of BRICS plus "project": China and Russia; and the three more conservative ones: India, Brazil and South Africa.

This open access book is a comprehensive examination of how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the field of social work across practice, education, and research. This topic is particularly important to the field at this time due to the rapid integration of AI technologies into societal structures and the increasing demand for social services that are efficient, effective, and ethically sound. The book provides timely insights into how AI can be harnessed to address complex social issues while maintaining the core values of social work. It emphasizes the critical need for professionals to understand and navigate the ethical implications of AI, ensuring that technological advancements serve to enhance, rather than compromise, human well-being.

Organized into five parts, the book begins with a foundational overview in Part I, introducing the role of AI in transforming social work. Part II explores AI applications responding to social needs, covering critical areas such as poverty, child welfare, health care, mental health, substance abuse, support for older adults, communities at risk, criminal justice, and human trafficking prevention. Part III delves into AI's impact on social justice in changing contexts, including advocacy, environmental challenges, the evolving workplace, and international issues. Part IV focuses on AI in social work education and research, highlighting how AI tools enhance learning and scholarly inquiry. Part V addresses ethical considerations and future directions, discussing challenges, governance, and strategies for building AI literacy, culminating in a conclusion that outlines opportunities for AI in social work.

Artificial Intelligence in Social Work: Bridging Technology and Humanity equips social work practitioners, educators, researchers, and students with a deep understanding of AI's capabilities and implications within various social work domains. The book offers practical guidance on integrating AI into various aspects of social work practice, enhancing service delivery, and improving client outcomes. For educators and students, it provides a framework for incorporating AI literacy into social work curricula, preparing the next generation of professionals for a technologically advanced landscape. Researchers benefit from insights into innovative methodologies that leverage AI for more robust and impactful studies. By intertwining technological advancements with the human-centric values of social work, the book underscores the necessity of balancing innovation with compassion and ethical responsibility.

How race, class, gender, and place shape the ways working-class young people in Britain envision their transition from education to work

How do the effects of deindustrialisation and neoliberalism influence young people's perceptions of work and education? In Cancelled Futures, Amit Singh examines how experiences of class-based inequality work through race, place, and gender in different ways. Moving beyond the usual framing of race versus class and the populist fixation with the white working class, Singh shows the intractable challenges that Black, Asian, and white young people share when they envision their futures in changing labour market conditions. Drawing on extensive interviews with sixty-two young working-class Britons, he describes the range of strategies they employ in the absence of viable economic opportunities-and the uneven results that follow.

Singh offers a vivid nationwide portrait, bringing together seemingly divergent locations and their youth-those living in proximity to the extraordinary wealth and perceived opportunity of the City of London, in the former northern mill town of Rochdale, and in the forgotten seaside town of Morecambe Bay-and captures the empathetic sense of struggle that many cultivate. Singh reveals that although the unique features of place raise distinctive racial and gendered reckonings with their circumstances and hopes, these young people have in common an increasingly fading sense of the future. Singh shows that they do not cling to the illusion that hard work pays off or the myth of meritocracy, but seek only to realise some sense of dignity and meaning amid a future that feels not just confusing but altogether absent.

This book advances scholarship on the infrastructural turn in migration studies by foregrounding the underexplored role of migration brokers from receiving countries and catering to foreign professionals. While existing research has predominantly focused on brokerage in migrants' countries of origin, this monograph conceptualises migration brokerage in the host society as a key institutional infrastructure shaping contemporary cross-border labour markets. It conceptually contributes by integrating insights from economic sociology and international migration studies, introducing a transnational lens into the market-making framework.

Drawing on qualitative data from ethnographic fieldwork, the book examines the role of brokers not only in facilitating and regulating workers' mobility, but also in actively "making" an emerging cross-border labour market between Japan and Vietnam. It also provides a nuanced analysis of the experiences of skilled Vietnamese migrants as they navigate entry into and participation in Japan's labour market.

Focusing on Japan as an emerging immigration country, the analysis is situated within a context characterised by acute labour shortages alongside a persistently restrictive migration regime. Over the past decade, the number of foreign-particularly skilled-migrant workers, including Vietnamese nationals, has increased substantially. In the absence of a comprehensive immigration policy, private intermediaries have become crucial in facilitating, mobilising and controlling the mobility of both migrant workers and labour users. Despite Asia's importance as a major host region of international migrants, Japan remains comparatively under-researched. Addressing this gap, the book will appeal to scholars, students, and policymakers working in migration studies, economic sociology, Asian studies, and migration and labour policy.

This volume is the first to assemble a wide-ranging body of research on the history of a certain pattern of theorizing about cognizing as a kind of being, or even being itself. As such, it addresses a notable silence in contemporary scholarship about the mind, and even about the history of philosophy of mind, which stands in contrast with its appearances throughout the historical tradition of philosophy. This book therefore enhances with historical richness the growing interest in related concepts such as idealism and pansychism. The original research presented in the book advances our understanding of the philosophical richness of various concepts of "cognizing as being" and draws on both Western and non-Western philosophical traditions. In doing so the books fosters a dialogue among these interconnected philosophical traditions that includes Indian philosophy, Aristotelian and Neoplatonic traditions, medieval Latin and Islamic traditions, Renaissance and early modern Platonism, varieties of early modern panpsychism or pannoeticism, German idealism, and early phenomenology. By bringing these together these collected works provide an illustrative model that will help scholars "see" a long-overlooked insight about mind across various historical traditions, and spark new ideas about how this approach might manifest in unexpected places. This volume is of interest to scholars working in the history of philosophy, the philosophy of mind and ancient philosophy.

In an era where ideas can shape industries and algorithms can launch billion-dollar ventures, academic researchers stand at the forefront of innovation, though often without the tools to protect and benefit from the commercialization of their work. This book is a long overdue and groundbreaking guide that bridges the gap between discovery and impact, offering scholars a strategic roadmap to navigate the complex world of IP in the information age.

It demystifies patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets while introducing emerging protection mechanisms tailored to academic research contexts. From provisional filings and startup formation to licensing strategies and global patent systems, each chapter delivers actionable insights grounded in real-world experience.

Whether you're a graduate student with a breakthrough algorithm, a faculty member launching a spinout, or a university administrator shaping innovation policy, this book empowers you to unlock the full value of your research. With clarity, depth, and practical wisdom, it transforms IP from a legal hurdle into a strategic asset, essential for academic success and societal impact.