Israel's Public Administration: Structure, Functions and Needed Reforms provides a comprehensive and critical examination of Israel's civil service, its institutional evolution, and the challenges it faces in maintaining effective and democratic governance.

Drawing on extensive historical analysis, quantitative data, and comparative perspectives, Itzhak Galnoor and Nissim Cohen trace how foundational institutional choices have shaped the structure, culture, and performance of Israel's public administration. The book identifies key structural weaknesses - including fragmented accountability, politicized appointments, opaque budgeting practices, and problematic privatization policies - and explains how these dynamics have contributed to inefficiency, inequality, and democratic deficits. This second edition incorporates the latest available data and introduces a new chapter examining the public administration's handling of the coronavirus crisis, offering timely insight into state capacity under conditions of emergency. The authors conclude with concrete and practical reform proposals, including legal safeguards, strengthened accountability mechanisms, outcome-oriented budgeting, and measures to reinforce professionalism and inclusivity in the civil service.

This book will appeal to students and scholars of public administration, political science, and Israeli politics, as well as policymakers, civil servants, and practitioners interested in governance reform, state capacity, and democratic accountability.

A subsequent analysis of EU law and case law on data protection and AI governance reveals that the 'right to explanation' has gradually been strengthened. However, the ongoing discussion about XAI tools is still largely ignored. Legislation is therefore far from satisfactory and leaves citizens seeking explanations empty-handed. This book analyses the debates in the machine learning community and how they could inform legislation and regulation. It thereby bridges computer science and law and helps reduce the disconnect between the two communities.

On AI Transparency, Explainability, and Interpretability is a pivotal resource for scholars and students of the connections between technology law and machine learning. AI regulators and government policymakers will similarly benefit from its interdisciplinary scope.

In Measure for Measure, Shakespeare's severe justice Angelo urges the problems that might arise from a static conception of the law: 'We must not make a scarecrow of the law, setting it up to fear the birds of prey and let it keep one shape till custom make it their perch and not their terror' (2.1.1-4). Despite Angelo's temporary authority and corrupt nature, the play illustrates literature's ability to scrutinise the boundaries of legal power. Yet Shakespeare's contemporaries also viewed the legal realm as an instructive performance space, as John Holles advises his son that 'More instruction is to be had at the starr-chamber than at the globe.'

This dichotomy encapsulates the intricate connections between law and literature, considered in this volume by approaching law as literature and literature as law. The present book brings together legal and literary experts to explore these ideas, with perspectives from established academics, early career scholars, and postgraduate students. The chapters examine medieval chronicles, poems, legal treatises, early modern plays, novels, cases, handbooks, and more. Themes include law in literature, legal literature, law as performance, and literature as a legal medium.

The volume serves as an essential resource for academics seeking to enrich their understanding of the complex dynamics that shaped medieval and early modern societies. Its relevance to contemporary discussions surrounding interdisciplinary methodologies also positions the collection as an essential addition to the libraries of scholars and students interested in the ongoing dialogue between law and the humanities.

Classroom management is often framed as control-rules, consequences, and compliance. The Heart and Craft of Classroom Management offers a different, more sustainable approach: one rooted in belonging, nervous-system awareness, and intentional structure. Drawing on decades of experience as a teacher, behavior specialist, and school leader, Joseph S. McQueen reframes behavior as communication and positions relationships as the foundation of effective classroom practice.

Blending research-informed insight with practical, classroom-ready strategies, this book guides educators in creating environments where students feel safe, regulated, and ready to learn. Readers will explore how adult presence, tone, routines, and predictable systems shape behavior before problems escalate. The book balances the emotional labor of teaching (the heart) with concrete tools and systems (the craft) that support both student success and educator sustainability.

Written for teachers, school leaders, and student support professionals across general, alternative, and therapeutic settings, The Heart and Craft of Classroom Management provides a compassionate, realistic framework for leading classrooms with clarity, dignity, and calm-especially in today's increasingly complex educational landscape.

This book provides a new take on the longstanding puzzle of intervention effects in questions, whereby specific scopal expressions block the interpretation of wh-elements when they occupy a particular position in the semantic representation.

Its central argument is that intervention effects are not a homogeneous phenomenon with a uniform underlying structure mapped to a single interpretive mechanism. Rather, they have distinct sources-a distinction that, to date, has not been systematically made in the study of intervention. The work distinguishes two types of intervention: one stemming from focus-based interpretation failure and another rooted in topicality constraints. Consequently, it proposes a new typology that clarifies the field and paves the way for future cross-linguistic research.

Semanticists, syntacticians, pragmatics researchers, and experts in logic and the philosophy of language will find this book illuminating.

Recent years have seen renewed interest in classical political economy. The essays in this collection, presented in honour of Christian Gehrke, explore the central tenets of classical political economy, its comeback in the aftermath of Sraffa's works and the engagement of major economists.

The chapters in the opening section present a gradual elaboration of what became known as the "classical" approach to political economy, with the theory of value and distribution as its core piece. It concerns what Sraffa called the "standpoint" of the classical economist, which revolves around the concept of "social surplus", its distribution mainly as property incomes, and how "physical real costs" together with income distribution governs relative prices in conditions of free competition. The classical authors dealt with include Francois Quesnay, Richard Cantillon, David Hume, Adam Smith and especially David Ricardo. The second section explores the resurgence of classical political economy. Major elements of this comeback were, first, a new interpretation of the role of the labour theory of value, which especially Ricardo had adopted as a makeshift solution in the absence of a coherent theory of value; and, secondly, the demonstration that relative competitive prices and the general rate of profits can be ascertained in terms of the givens in the classical approach to value and distribution. The implication of the findings within a classical framework of the analysis for marginalist theory are drawn. Finally, there are contributions dealing with the works of major economists, who at different times and in various contexts interacted with and intervened in the debates alluded to or tackled entirely novel problems. This applies especially to the problem of cyclical economic development or business cycles, which was particularly addressed by economists such as Otto Bauer, Friedrich August Hayek, and Joseph A. Schumpeter.

The book will be of great interest to readers in political economy, history of economic thought and economic theory.

Mazzi examines the nature of inventorship and evaluates the extent to which current legal regimes can recognise or respond to inventions created with limited or no human input. Scrutinising the concept of inventiveness and the continued relevance of the 'person skilled in the art', chapters question how patent law can ensure sufficient transparency when inventions arise from complex and opaque AI systems. Drawing on comparative methodologies and practical examples, the book concludes by reflecting on the broader justification of patent protection in light of non-human inventive activity and the compatibility between patent law and AI-driven innovation.

Presenting a multi-jurisdictional analysis, Patentability of AI-Generated Inventions is a crucial resource for scholars and students of intellectual property law and technologies. Patent lawyers and copyright policymakers will also benefit from its actionable recommendations for navigating the future of IP.

This book offers a historical-anthropological study of Swedish Protestant missionaries in the Congo Free State during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It examines how a Swedish mission society, working in the Congo Free State during the brutal regime of King Leopold II, attempted to reshape Congolese society by transplanting Western Christian ideals into the local Kikongo-speaking context. The author analyzes the relationship between missionaries, the violent colonial state, and the Bakongo people among whom they worked, showing how mission stations became contested sites where Christian ideals were translated into institutional practices and repeatedly destabilized by colonial violence and existing social arrangements. The chapters document the missionaries' activities and experiences using rich archival sources, drawing on Swedish-language mission archives and their personal writings such as letters, diaries, and reports. They tell a story of missionary efforts to improve the lives of Congolese converts, as well as failures, misunderstandings, and abuses of power. The author combines detailed empirical narrative with critical examination of topics including family and kinship, labor and economy, and state formation in a colonial context. By approaching Protestant mission in colonial contexts as a project of institutional reorganization, the book reframes familiar debates about domination, translation, hybridity, and local agency in mission studies and colonial history. It also offers a broader framework for understanding how transformative projects depend on the alignment of institutions, practices, and modes of governance, and why they tend to falter when such alignment cannot be secured.

This book critically examines the effectiveness of the United Kingdom's child and family social work structures and proposes the integration of a trauma-informed approach to improve current social work practice.

The authors argue that current government policies, theoretical frameworks, and practices contribute to structural inefficiencies leaving vulnerable children and families without the support they so desperately need. Drawing on evidence-based research, this book advocates for a trauma-focused, family-centred approach, focusing on interventions that are framed around national and international guidelines to emphasise prevention and healing over crisis management.

This call-to-action book provides social workers, policymakers, caregivers, and legal professionals with a roadmap towards reform and bridges the gap between public perception and professional practice to foster a trauma-informed approach.

Key Features:

• Analyses the current legal standing of a varied range of intimate adult unions
• Outlines an implementable legal framework which would enable a more equitable relational property law
• Illustrates the regulation of private solidarity between partners in conjunction with public privileges, such as hospital visitation rights and tax benefits
• Draws on relevant regulations and sources from a wide range of jurisdictions, including proposals from various law commissions, to form a rich comparative foundation

This comprehensive book is an important reference for academics and scholars of international family law, comparative law and European law. The practical recommendations and frameworks are also beneficial for legal professionals and practitioners of private international law and family property law.

The Routledge International Handbook of Psychoanalysis and Gender comprehensively covers psychoanalytic concepts and perspectives touching on major debates that have led to arguments, discussions, and considerations of gender, uncovering the topical groundwork, and predicting future directions.

The book highlights the broad interface and myriad reciprocities between gender and psychoanalysis, putting diverse psychoanalytic perspectives in dialogue with one another. With an emphasis on the role of the unconscious in gender identity formation, it critically examines today's combative discursive context. An international team of contributors explore the global scope of the debate, current clinical practice, the polarized political context. They lay out with precision the theoretical underpinnings of the social and cultural aspects of sex, gender, sexuality, love, desire, sexual identity, race, identity politics, and the controversies surrounding them. Thinking beyond the normative, Oedipal, and phallic landscape, transcending sex and gender binaries, this handbook radically expands the current critical frame of reference. It addresses gender and sexuality, oppression, transgenerational trauma, the embodied effects of the global climate crisis, postcolonial and non-Western perspectives, and queer and trans psychoanalysis-establishing an enduring reference in gender and psychoanalysis.

This essential book will appeal to psychoanalysts, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors, and therapists. It will also be an indispensable reference for students in the humanities and researchers of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, gender, literature, film, philosophy, sociology, queer studies, and women studies, among others.

This new edition of Profit and Pleasure: Sexual Identities in Late Capitalism explores how sexual identities have been shaped, differentiated, and commodified through the cultural and economic logics of capitalism.

Examining the interrelations among labour, value, consumption, and social reproduction, the book offers a materialist account of how bodies and desires are organized within shifting historical conditions. It brings together key concepts such as totality, overdetermination, and the social reproduction of labour to illuminate the structural forces that shape sexual subjectivities, demonstrating why these dynamics remain central to understanding contemporary sexual politics. In this new edition, a substantial Afterword extends this analysis into the twenty first century, addressing the heightened politicization of transgender life and situating this development within broader crises of capitalist reproduction and state power.

This foundational text is essential reading for students and scholars of feminist studies, queer and trans studies, cultural theory, and social and political thought who seek a rigorous materialist framework for understanding the historical and contemporary formations of sexuality.

Rejecting the view that liberal individualism is to blame for the rise of authoritarian governments, Vibert points instead to the way in which markets and political institutions are challenged by the superabundance of information associated with the information age. Chapters decry neo-liberalism and post-liberal theory as misrepresentations of the liberal tradition and advocate for narrowly defined constitutional processes as opposed to constitutional declarations. Emphasising the importance of liberal values such as tolerance, moderation, accommodation and harmony, the book warns against political forces which encourage a divisional 'them versus us' culture.

The Liberal Tradition and Political Order is an essential resource for scholars and students of politics and public policy, constitutions and political theory. Think tank professionals and NGO workers will similarly benefit from its actionable approach to preempting modern authoritarian movements.

'The Anthropocene' is one of the most important scientific concepts of our time. It is also one of the most contested. This book offers the most advanced yet accessible introduction to the complex and often heated debates about the meaning, nature, and implications of the Anthropocene.

Drawing on the work of physical and human geographers, alongside geographically-informed contributions from natural and physical scientists, sociologists, historians, anthropologists, philosophers, and others, this book maps and critically evaluates the implications of the Anthropocene for the discipline of Geography and for geographical thinking across other fields. It asks: Does the Anthropocene mark the start of the greatest environmental crisis in history? Which humans are most responsible? What impacts is it having on human well-being and the natural world? What needs to be done to mitigate its threats, and who will bear the costs? How does 'the Anthropocene' challenge the conduct of research, policy, and activism around issues like environmental justice, resilience, nature conservation, or decolonisation? Is 'the Anthropocene' even the best name for this new age?

Essential reading for university students and researchers in Geography and beyond, this book also appeals to general readers interested in understanding how human actions are reshaping the Earth and what this means for the future of people and planet.

India's rise in the eyes of the world began with its 1991 economic reforms. Given its vast soft power potential and complex power capabilities, India is expected to take on more responsibilities than it currently undertakes. This comprehensive volume examines India's evolution not only as a rule follower but also as a rule-shaper and rule-maker, exploring how India plays a vital role in global affairs. The book adopts a multidisciplinary approach through analytical and descriptive methodologies, relying on substantial primary sources to draw inferences and conclusions. It explores historical, present, and future scenarios to evolve concrete thought processes for policymakers, academics, and researchers. The volume is structured in three sections: the first examines the evolution of India's foreign policy since independence; the second focuses on India's technological and economic prowess; and the third evaluates India's maritime power. Key features include analysis of India's transition from idealism to pragmatism in foreign policy, examination of strategic autonomy and developmental diplomacy, assessment of India's role in multilateral bodies and the Global South, and evaluation of India's position in the Indo-Pacific region.

This volume is essential reading for postgraduate students, researchers, academics, policymakers, and think tanks engaged in International Relations, Political Science, Asian Studies, Development Studies, and Strategic Studies. It provides an invaluable and pragmatic understanding of India's rising power in a globalised world, making it an indispensable resource for those seeking to understand India's multifaceted role in contemporary global affairs.

David Chandler's Hope offers a compelling exploration of the politics of hope against the backdrop of a broken world grappling with global crises, from political disillusionment to catastrophic climate change, where alternative futures seem difficult to imagine in positive terms.

Examining hope as an ethicopolitical praxis, Chandler offers a highly readable analysis of how hope can sustain alternative futures amidst widespread uncertainty and disillusionment, critically engaging with hope's transformative potential, and challenging conventional political approaches and envisioning new ways of thinking about trust, care and relational politics. It traces the concept of hope through diverse critical traditions, including the Frankfurt School, Black Radical Tradition, Queer Utopianism, Critical Indigenous Studies and contemporary Critical Black Studies, and delves into the social and historical contexts of hope, analysing its role in communities of survivance, struggle and experimentation. Crucially, and uniquely, the author emphasises the human subject's centrality to hope, exploring how unconscious desires and liberated imaginations can foster new political imaginaries and connecting theoretical insights with practical applications for navigating today's critical challenges.

A thought-provoking examination of how struggles to keep futural possibilities alive in the present strive to move beyond a politics that can only reproduce more of the same, Hope is essential reading for students and scholars of environmental humanities, politics and the social sciences.

As the last Holocaust survivors bear witness in an age of deepfakes, avatars, and artificial intelligence (AI), the authenticity of witness is at stake as never before. Holocaust XR examines immersive and extended reality (XR) technologies through the lens of testimonial methodology, ethics, representation, and authenticity.

Written by a principal architect of the field of immersive testimony-Dimensions in Testimony, The Last Goodbye, IWalk-this volume moves from the philosophy of Walter Benjamin and Martin Buber to the technologies of virtual reality (VR) and conversational AI, asking a single urgent question: what methods do we use to preserve the agency of the eyewitness in an agentic world? At the book's ethical center is the "first-person-first" principle: the conviction that survivors must remain co-creators in the final act of witness.

Scholars and students in Holocaust studies, memory studies, digital humanities, and immersive media will find here both a theoretical framework and a practitioner's guide-one that equips readers to navigate the ethical, representational, and technological choices that will define Holocaust memory for generations to come.

This book brings together 40 genuine questions raised by student teachers in Finnish education, sparking reflection and insight into education and wider issues amid the complexity, diversity and uncertainty of today's classrooms and ever-changing world.

What does it mean to teach social justice in today's complex and divided world? How can educators acknowledge and value the multiple diversities that students bring to the classroom, while also responding to conflicting expectations from curricula, colleagues and the wider community? This book offers no definitive answers. Instead, it invites readers to engage in a different kind of conversation revolving around gender, discomfort, interculturality, neutrality, intersectionality, and structural racism. Each chapter takes up ten of the 40 questions, grounding the responses in real classroom situations and drawing on critical theories and decolonial perspectives. Written collectively by five experienced teacher educators and researchers, this book moves beyond prescriptive checklists and shallow understandings of social justice, diversity and interculturality. The authors argue that meaningful change requires ongoing critical reflection, structural awareness and the courage to ask better questions.

This inspiring book will attract a wide spectrum of readers, including experienced teachers, student teachers, teacher educators and scholars interested in teacher education, diversity, social justice education and intercultural studies.

This book addresses the dearth of comparative studies on carers' policies in Asia by analysing rapid socio-economic changes and rising caregiving demands in six East Asian societies: China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

The book examines the initiatives to support family carers and assess their impact. It further highlights the similarities and differences in carers' policies across the six societies, proposing the necessary changes to alleviate the caring burden and promote the well-being of both carers and care recipients. The experiences of East Asian societies will be useful to other countries in developing their policies and support services for informal caregivers.

An essential book for scholars and academics in Social Policy, Health and Social Care, Social Work, Sociology, Asian Studies, and International Development, it would also be of interest to policymakers and health and welfare practitioners in these fields.