Modernity, proposes Christophe Bouton, is not about the acceleration of time, but about living in multiple temporalities-polychrony.

Like a speeding locomotive that has lost its driver, the history of Western society since the mid-nineteenth century has been characterized as an exponential, out-of-control acceleration. Simultaneously, in recent decades, the destructive impact of human activity on the planet has increased at a spectacular rate, giving rise to what has been called the Great Acceleration. But a kind of reversal seems to be taking place: nature, once seen as a realm of repetition, has become historicized and even rushed toward an end, while history, the very site of change itself, appears strangely stagnant. In the wake of Reinhart Koselleck, Bouton offers readers a history of the idea of acceleration from the Enlightenment to the Anthropocene and invites us to undertake a critical assessment of this narrative of the "acceleration of history." Challenging the theories of Hartmut Rosa and Francois Hartog, he emphasizes the plurality of temporal experiences that characterize our present-the polychrony of modernity. Ultimately, the book's aim is not to deny the relevance of the categories of acceleration and presentism for understanding modernity, but rather to show that alternative rhythms and relationships to both past and future also exist.

Through a comprehensive analysis of relations between Europe and China during the Cold War, this volume reveals how those interactions quietly reconfigured the global balance of power, helping to forge the contemporary international order. Rooted in a rich array of multi-archival sources, the book brings together an international group of historians to explore China's relationships with both Western European powers and European socialist countries, tracing how China systematically courted Europe to reshape the Cold War order and maneuver between the superpowers.

Beginning with China's diplomatic opening to Western Europe from the 1950s to the 1970s, contributors highlight key turning points in rapprochement with France, Britain, West Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, marked by a shifting mix of ideology, strategic calculation, and detente-era geopolitics. The volume then moves eastward, unpacking China's fraught but ambitious diplomacy with communist Europe, including Hungary, Poland, and Albania, as Beijing sought to contest Moscow's dominance and present itself as an alternative pole of leadership in the socialist world. Breaking new ground by integrating Chinese and European sources and perspectives, this book shows how China and Europe, often considered secondary actors, played crucial roles in reshaping the Cold War system and turning a rigid superpower standoff into a more multipolar world.

This book explains the uses of laughter in contemporary China, and demonstrates how humour in China is put to many uses. Through the use of examples from different mediums such as film, sketch comedy, stand-up and sitcoms, this book demonstrates that Chinese comedy is not just about telling jokes or presenting funny scenarios-humour is also used to criticise social trends, to mock people in authority and to allow the public to reflect on China's dramatic economic and cultural changes. The authors bring comedy figures who are well-known in China, such as Zhao Benshan, Feng Xiaogang, and Guo Degang, to the attention of international readers, using translation and explanations to explain why Chinese people find their work both amusing and meaningful. They explore uniquely Chinese forms of comedy, like xiangsheng dialogues, and consider how international genres like stand-up and situation comedy are localised in China. They demonstrate how comedy can be used to sidestep censorship and satirise the humourless restrictiveness of the Chinese government. This book appeals readers who are interested in how humour is used as a form of political communication, how humour can cross national borders, and those interested in contemporary Chinese media and politics.

This book offers a groundbreaking exploration into the elusive concept of arrogance, providing a comprehensive review that builds upon the fragmented and often silent literature. It delves into the intricate relationships between arrogance, leadership, and organizational culture, offering insights that are crucial for enhancing leadership effectiveness and workplace environments. By examining arrogance through various lenses, the authors challenge the notion that its consequences are solely negative, proposing instead that it may play a role in creativity and renewal.

Key concepts explored include the origins and development of arrogance, its distinction from similar constructs, and its impact on leadership and organizational dynamics. The authors present a nuanced analysis of arrogance as both a state and a trait, its emotional triggers, and its measurement through innovative qualitative methods. The book also investigates the potential benefits of arrogance in fostering creativity and innovation, as well as the emerging relationship between arrogance and artificial intelligence.

Ideal for scholars, students, and professionals in business and management, Arrogance in the Workplace is an essential resource for those seeking to understand and address arrogant behavior in leadership and organizational settings. This timely volume is a must-read for anyone interested in the complexities of human behavior and its impact on organizational success.

With the ongoing development of immersive technologies, growing degrees of design flexibility, and integrated communicative tools, the metaverse presents new possibilities for facilitating language learning opportunities through meaningful social interactions. As the metaverse is still emerging, the edited volume identifies the key elements of metaverse-based language learning and teaching by placing them in the context of established theories and practices in second language acquisition. It also presents metaverse platforms and tools, and provides examples of how they might be used in the field of English Language Education.

The volume is divided into four parts (Foundations, Practical Applications, Socio-Emotional, Ethical and Sustainable Dimensions, and Future Directions), consisting of 13 internationally contributed chapters that address various aspects of the metaverse-based language teaching and learning. The volume provides valuable insights for language educators, researchers, and learners, and aims to enrich the language learning and teaching landscape in an increasingly digital world.

This book features a collection of high-quality research papers presented at the International Conference on Tourism, Technology, and Systems (ICOTTS 2025), held at Technical University of the Atlantic, Sal, Cape Verde, from November 6 to 8, 2025. The book is divided into two volumes, and it covers the areas of technology in tourism and the tourist experience, generations and technology in tourism, digital marketing applied to tourism and travel, mobile technologies applied to sustainable tourism, information technologies in tourism, digital transformation of tourism business, e-tourism and tourism 2.0, big data and management for travel and tourism, geotagging and tourist mobility, smart destinations, robotics in tourism, and information systems and technologies.

Contemporary Marketing Practices in Africa: Ethical and Sustainability Perspectives is the second volume in a series of two published to honor Professor Kofi Q. Dadzie's enduring contributions to African business and development scholarship and his leadership in advancing research capacity and elevating global visibility of African scholarship.

This second volume brings together leading scholars to examine through empirical, conceptual, and multidisciplinary perspectives the ethical and sustainability imperatives that increasingly shape customer value and define responsible marketing in Africa. Several issues are covered, including ethical compliance in market-oriented strategies, consumer perceptions of online behavioral advertising, responsible technology use, sustainable consumption, public information systems, sustainable material management, strategic sustainability marketing, crisis-driven business resilience, and transformative arts-based approaches to consumer inclusion. This volume complements and deepens the strategic and technological insights provided in Volume 1, providing readers with a holistic understanding of contemporary marketing in Africa.

This volume is designed for practitioners, policymakers, and scholars who seek actionable perspectives on ethical responsibility and environmental stewardship within African marketing contexts.

This book seeks to incorporate often-neglected perspectives within discussions on migration and the global labour market. It focuses on the role and experiences of women involved in South-North migration and looks at the factors that lead to their migration and movement. Based on empirical evidence of women migrating from sub-Saharan African to Europe, the outcomes of migration are contextualised within the conditions female migrants faced in their original country. Access to waged employment and shifts within household power dynamics often appeal to women who live in countries where they only have access to unwaged work and where their civil, political, and economic freedoms are restricted. Insight into the economic and structural inequalities that prevent the marginalized, including women in less gender equal societies, from migration opportunities are also covered.

This book is a corrective to the current conversations on migration that overlook the economic and social experiences of women in the Global South. It will be relevant to students, researchers, and policymakers interested in the economics of migration and the experiences of migrants.

Arms control is eroding amid a rapidly changing and increasingly uncertain security environment. In addition to a spate of treaty withdrawals and demises that have occurred since 2002, major powers are militarizing space, and private actors are developing technologies at lightning speed. Thus, there is an urgent need for arms control agreements that incorporate multiple actors and weapons to mitigate uncertainty; yet, conditions of increasing uncertainty make reaching such agreements extremely challenging, if nearly impossible. This is what Amy J. Nelson calls the arms control paradox.

Drawing on years of research and policy experience, Nelson explores why traditional arms control strategies often fall short in today's security environment. Most past agreements were built on assumptions of transparency, reciprocity, and predictability that no longer hold in a multipolar world shaped by advanced technologies and strategic opacity. By focusing narrowly on eliminating known dangers through rigid verification and technical controls, arms control has inadvertently neglected uncertainty management-the ability to acclimate to the unknown. This book proposes an adaptive approach: one that focuses on managing ambiguity rather than eliminating it and reflects how real-world decisions unfold under pressure. The Arms Control Paradox provides valuable insights and policy-relevant guidelines for twenty-first-century arms control.

This volume gathers a selection of substantially expanded and revised contributions from the 33rd International Conference on Information Systems Development (ISD 2025), which captured cutting-edge research and insights under the theme "Empowering the Interdisciplinary Role of ISD in Addressing Contemporary Issues in Digital Transformation: How Data Science and Generative AI Contributes to ISD." The contributions provide a comprehensive overview of the transformative potential of technology, highlighting the symbiosis between innovative technologies and organizational processes. As such, they explore topics such as digital transformation, data science, machine learning, generative AI, and the integration of cutting-edge technologies, emphasizing the crucial role of information systems in driving digital change. The book offers valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and students who seek to understand and shape the future of information systems development in our rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Amid North Korea's advancing nuclear capabilities and the declining credibility of U.S. extended deterrence, South Korea has a strong motive to pursue its own nuclear deterrent. With its advanced nuclear energy program, South Korea possesses the means to develop nuclear weapons indigenously. However, its opportunity to do so is constrained by the prohibitive economic, security and reputational costs of nuclear armament. To circumvent these costs, Seoul is engaging in "nuclear hedging," pursuing the capability to develop nuclear weapons rapidly while stopping short of actual weaponization.

Drawing on Korean- and English-language documents, archival materials, and interviews with South Korean security experts, Lami Kim offers the most comprehensive analysis to date of South Korea's pursuit of nuclear hedging as an alternative to both nuclear restraint and outright nuclear armament. South Korea's renunciation of its nuclear weapons program in the 1970s - and its subsequent restraint - should not be mistaken for an absence of nuclear ambition grounded in confidence in U.S. extended deterrence. Instead, under both conservative and progressive governments, Seoul has sought the ability to acquire nuclear weapons rapidly, if necessary, as an insurance policy. A major contribution to the literature on nuclear deterrence, nonproliferation, and Korean studies, this book delivers timely and insightful policy recommendations for both Washington and Seoul.

Since South Africa's democratization in 1994, the urban centers have become hubs for international finance and tourism while the peripheral townships remain burdened by poverty and crime. In Cape Town, the country's leisure capital, racial segregation has grown a township tourism market that promises an "authentic" South African experience for visitors and an economic opportunity for township residents. Black women, rejecting the notion of "slum tourism," have spearheaded an accommodation sector by turning their township homes into bed and breakfasts and guesthouses. These entrepreneurial hostesses welcome white Western tourists as well as more frequent, though less recognized, Black South African guests. By tailoring their gendered service labor for different clientele, they curate multiple narratives of township life and South Africa's future.

Pinpointing women's homes as sites of ideological construction, Accommodating Aspirations considers how tourism shapes the way we understand "developing" countries. Annie Hikido critically examines how historical structures and everyday practices produce perceptions of neighborhoods and nations. Drawing from rich ethnographic fieldwork, Hikido demonstrates how township hostesses construct competing portrayals of place through race, class, gender, and nation. Poignant portraits of their homespun hospitality illuminate the promise and precarity of Black townships in the afterlife of apartheid.

This book presents one of the two collections of papers from the 12th International Conference on Tourism and Hospitality (ICT 2023), hosted by Jinan University, China, from November 3 to 5, 2023. Delving into the subject with a blend of scholarly rigor and practical insight, it provides a fresh outlook on how digital intelligence is reshaping the tourism landscape. Through the lens of interdisciplinary exploration, this book showcases pioneering strategies and real-world case studies, bridging the gap between demand and supply, and illuminating the path toward a more interconnected and intelligent future for the tourism sector. Its contents introduce emerging topics such as virtual reality tourism, cyber pilgrimage, smart tourism city construction, and large language models, tailored to cater to the needs of researchers, practitioners, and students alike.

In recent decades, dark tourism-also known as thanatourism-has sparked intense academic debate that extends well beyond the field of tourism research. The concept has captivated the attention of the social sciences and journalism alike. Thanatourism (from the Greek word Thanatos, meaning death) refers to travel to sites associated with mass death, suffering, disaster, or the macabre. These locations present a unique form of dissonant heritage that challenges future generations to reflect. This book is a curated literature overview that aims to provide meaningful answers to the questions of what dark tourism is and what motivates visitors to these sites.

The auto-summaries have been generated by a recursive clustering algorithm via the Dimensions Auto-summarizer by Digital Science handled by Subject Matter Experts and the author of this book. The author of this book selected which SN content should be auto-summarized and decided its order of appearance. Please be aware that these are abstractive auto-summaries, which consist of original sentences, but are not representative of its original paper, since we do not show the full length of the publication. Please note that only published SN content is represented here, and that curated books are still at an experimental stage.

This book honours Professor Stelios Virvidakis, whose work ranges over a variety of epistemological, moral and metaethical issues, and has more recently focused on debates in the areas of philosophy of religion, philosophy of literature and comparative philosophy. The papers put forth original research by prominent scholars from Europe, Asia and the U.S., engaging in a critical analysis of publications by Virvidakis. The authors deal with topics such as the epistemological credentials of religious faith, versions of moral realism, the nature of literary knowledge pertaining to ethics, the connection between free will and criminal responsibility, the philosophy of dialogue, and phenomenological approaches to self-experience. They also offer novel accounts of minimalist ethics in political philosophy; the relatively unexplored topic of Molina's influence on Kant's philosophy of history; Kant's transcendental philosophy in light of naturalistic epistemology; aesthetic ideals of a good life; the nature of sexuality; Thomas Kuhn's impact on the development of literary theory; and similarities in the metaethical foundations of Greek and Chinese ethics. Taken together, the chapters shed light on issues that interest Virvidakis and testify to the vitality of his style of philosophizing, which combines insights from both analytic and continental philosophy.