This open access book explores the representation and reception of female subjectivity in contemporary Chinese reality dating shows. Conceptualising gender as discursively and performatively constructed, and dating as mediated through the reality television format, it examines how female subjectivity is circumscribed by gender norms, familial relationships, and matchmaking practices. The book further investigates how female audiences actively deconstruct these gendered narratives. Drawing on texts-in-action viewing sessions and interviews with twenty-three young women in China, this study demonstrates how reality dating shows reinforce patriarchal scripts by reinventing traditional matchmaking rituals and inciting women to sustain a postfeminist sensibility that conceals systemic, structural, and taken-for-granted inequalities. The book contributes theoretically and empirically to feminist audience studies, mediated intimacy, and debates on how postfeminism and neoliberalism are lived, experienced, and represented. It is relevant to readers curious about media and gender studies, feminist theory, and East Asian studies.

This Open Access book, the first volume in a two-part series on quantum technology governance, provides a systematic examination of the legal and regulatory dimensions of quantum technologies, offering an original contribution to the emerging discourse on quantum governance. It distinguishes itself as one of the first comprehensive analyses to explore how quantum technologies intersect with existing legal frameworks, addressing the implications of quantum advancements for law, policy, and regulatory practice. The work examines how developments in quantum computing, cryptography, and sensing challenge established approaches to intellectual property, cybersecurity regulation, export controls, and public international law, while identifying pathways for adapting and strengthening existing governance structures. It highlights how the non-classical features of quantum technologies stress-test conventional legal doctrines and require interpretive flexibility, anticipatory policymaking, and evidence-based regulatory strategies rather than wholesale reform. Grounded in developments through 2025, the volume equips policymakers with analytical tools to navigate legal uncertainty, balance innovation with risk, and address regulatory gaps in areas such as cybersecurity and export controls, while fostering coordinated responses at national and international levels. The book equips scholars, policymakers, and practitioners with conceptual and practical insights to evaluate the evolving interplay between technological innovation, security, and legal order in the quantum era. With an interdisciplinary perspective, it advances understanding of how legal and regulatory systems can respond to the technical and governance challenges posed by quantum technologies.

This open access book provides a conceptual framework and a consistent series of meaningful didactic practices aimed at revitalizing critical citizenship pedagogy for democracy, beyond both methodological nationalism and cosmopolitanism. It discusses original theoretical insights into the field, highlights key structural contradictions in today's public education systems and offers operational descriptions of activities tailored to progressive developmental objectives. The book stems from ongoing research and action that has identified and is addressing the need for a more self-aware and reality-congruent citizenship education effort along the compulsory and post-compulsory school curriculum in Europe and beyond, cross-cutting any disciplinary field. This entails a paradigm shift toward what the authors call a "multiscale critical approach" to civic agency, culture and education, from the local to the global. The book contents foster an upscaled and widespread classroom experimentation in the motivating light of cooperatively developing a bottom-up contribution to a reference curriculum for citizenship education in the European Education Area. This book is intended for citizen-teachers of all disciplines and school levels, school directors, technical and vocational trainers, educational professionals including in the non-formal and informal education sectors, policy-makers and scholars who share our commitment to bring about system change in an emancipatory perspective. A perspective that is aimed at empowering what we call "emerging subjective autonomies" so as to maximise their ability to consciously and actively live their entangled condition.

This open access book examines intelligence orga-ni-zation in sixteenth-century Sweden. The specific aim is to examine the intelligence networks organized in Sweden during the reigns of Gustav Vasa, Erik XIV and Johan III. The study explores the operation of the intelligence networks and compares the Swedish case with recent studies of similar organizations in other states.

Both theoretical and narrative, the book draws on the author's long experience as a mediator and counselor to examine the ways in which members of society are dehumanized by institutional oppression and contribute to that system.

At the place where personal identity and institutional oppression meet there lie reasons beyond morality for all people, especially those with apparent privilege, to resist inequities based in race, gender, class or generation. Reclaiming Humanity explores the psychological and political ways modern individuals become dehumanized, even as we are recruited into systems that dehumanize others. Through stories of personal exploration and learning, the book delves into dynamics by which we consent to systems that deprive us of well-being. Reclaiming Humanity then moves beyond understanding how profoundly we've lost the art of community connection to open up creative visions of a truly humane social order. Through these narratives and explorations, the work discusses practical directions for mediators, activists, and other seekers after justice.

This open access book is based on a unique body of data on a hitherto understudied field of Pentecostal prayer camps and mental health in Ghana.

The book investigates and presents empirically grounded cases of persons with mental illness and how they deploy religious resources at prayer camps in Ghana in dealing with their illness. Particularly, the book explores perceived causes of mental illness and how such perceptions influence health seeking behaviours. The book illustrates how the perceived causes of mental illness and the healing practices found at prayer camps in Ghana that are meant to deal with the illness appeal very much to Ghanaians because they resonate with indigenous worldviews.

Through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of in-depth-interviews with persons afflicted with mental illness and practitioners, this book points out the varied ways in which prayer camps have become a source of authoritative knowledge in Ghana's medical pluralistic society, serving as an "informal" health sector in the provision of health care to persons with mental illnesses. It further highlights the network of relationships between prayer camps and hospitals as new ground of training in "cultural competence" for clinicians in their field of practice in psychiatry. The book proposes the intermediate continuum approach as a new framework or lens for examining the broader role of religion and culture in mental health care. The approach aims at providing a common ground to merge the differences in previous approaches in the studies of culture and mental health and thereby undo the tensions, conflicts, and controversies inherent in such approaches.


The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Abo Akademi University.

This open access book by Yulia Gradskova examines women's internationalism and gatherings in the places understood as Cold War peripheries.

East-South Women Internationalism at the Cold War Periphery: Coming Together in Tashkent, Havana, and Beyond examines women's gatherings, internationalism, political travel, and networks through questioning established geopolitical categories. While female "political tourists" coming to cities like Tashkent and Havana cannot be seen as free from neither the superpowers' open and hidden confrontational agendas nor from Cold War surveillance and pressures, Gradskova demonstrates that they significantly contributed to the advancement of transnational women's rights. Simultaneously, East-South Women Internationalism at the Cold War Periphery contributes to the growing field of decolonial criticism regarding the "second world" emancipation project by detailing how its vision of progress hindered many other voices and visions of the future from being heard. Gradskova's attention to the mundane problems and pleasures of traveling, coming together, and writing letters allows for distinguishing implicit details of curiosity, emotional attachment as well as (self) censorship and hierarchies; in turn, helping to reconstruct parts of women's robust and complex participation in the building of the transnational connectivity trespassing the Cold War division lines.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

This collection offers the first book-length engagement with Werner G. Jeanrond's theological thinking, spanning from hermeneutics through systematic theology to politics. More than twenty renowned scholars with a global reach offer interpretations, interventions, and inspirations sparked by Jeanrond's theology. Together, they take Jeanrond's lecture on "The Problem of the Theological Starting Point" as a starting point to tackle one of Jeanrond's key questions: 'How can theological thought begin today, in the midst of a confusing plurality of methods?' The wager of this collection is that this question can only be asked and answered in a dialogue that engages scholars critically and self-critically with each other. Tackling the problem of the starting point, then, implies a vision for the vocation of theology that cannot hide behind clear-cut answers. In Jeanrond's words: 'Because God has begun a relationship with this world, theology must do the same without fear of compromising itself in this process'.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Lund University.

This new open access handbook combines conceptual thinking with empirical illustrations to understand the trajectories of conflict and violence in our world.

Peace and Conflict Studies were broadly founded in the Northern Hemisphere, which strongly influenced how scholars understand patterns of peace or violence in Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia. This has proven to provide practitioners not only with false promises about external intervention, but even strengthened asymmetric colonial power structures in the way knowledge was and is produced. There is a need to make the discipline more plural by initiating and shaping a new research agenda that is more strongly rooted in the ground realities, contexts, imaginations - political, economic, and social - of the Global South(s).
This handbook is the first of its kind with a comprehensive and inclusive agenda for the field of peace and conflict studies: It engages in a thorough academic discussion not only about the Global South(s) but includes perspectives from the Global South(s). It reflects productive discussions with scholars from the Global South(s) that constitute the majority of authors in this handbook. In addition, while the handbook is a scholarly knowledge product, it is also an ongoing process for scholars, students and practitioners from both South(s) and North(s) with diverse backgrounds and positionalities.
This handbook is essential reference for students and researchers working on global peace and conflict studies, postcolonial studies, and international relations.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Leipzig University & Postcolonial Hierarchies in Peace and Conflict Studies Network.

Examining how local leadership has evolved by comparing the mayoralties of New York, London, and Amsterdam, this book uniquely focuses on Michael Bloomberg (2002-2014), Ken Livingstone (2000-2008), Boris Johnson (2008-2016), and Job Cohen (2001-2010) to reveal the cultural and operational contrasts that shaped their approaches to governance.

Drawing on the Leadership Capital Index (LCI) - a recent innovation in political leadership studies, Stafford offers a fresh perspective on the strong-mayor model, not only evaluating the strengths and limitations of the LCI but also advancing the debate on what makes effective urban leadership. Original and insightful, this book redefines how we understand mayors as pivotal political actors.

The Christian church in America stands at a crossroads. It can continue to follow the path of incarceration, or it can choose the path of abolition and liberation.

For too long, the church has been a site of violence and exclusion, despite its language of love and redemption. David Dault offers a timely and provocative analysis of an unspoken crisis affecting all forms of Christianity, particularly in the American context. In the wake of rampant sex abuse and a leadership increasingly wedded to the interests of right-wing and reactionary politics, the rise of covert mechanisms of authority and decision making threaten to undermine what little trust remains in the leadership. The Covert Magisterium offers a fresh analysis of theological identities, hinging on the choice between a Christianity that defines itself through forms of incarceration, and a Christianity that sets itself on the path of abolition, inviting believers to become (in the words of the late Pope Francis) "the dignified agents of their own destiny." The book concludes with a vision of the synodal magisterium, a process of decision-making in which everyone, especially the "least of these," has a voice.

This book discusses the medical knowledge system in the pre-Qin period and its specific development during the Han Dynasty, drawing on related accounts in non-medical literature as background evidence and analyzing in detail the texts of the current edition of Huangdi's Internal Classic (including two independent works Plain Questions and Miraculous Pivot) and ancient medical texts written on bamboo and silk. It even includes detailed evidence that Bian Que's medical theory was incorporated in the current version of Huangdi's Internal Classic.

This book uses textual research on the current edition of Huangdi's Internal Classic as its point of departure, instead of the eponymous work recoded in the Yiwenzhi of the Book of Han. Therefore, it departs from the previous definition and throws off the shackling assumption that the time of the formation of Huangdi's Internal Classic cannot be later than that of the Seven Summaries, a book completed in the late Western Han. Beginning with the study (1984) of dosage form originating from the Qin and Han Dynasties, it takes nearly 30 years to complete the "reconstruction" of the development of medicine in the Qin and Han Dynasties on the basis of many elaborate case studies. In turn, this book clarifies that there was no advanced medical development in the pre-Qin period, and that medicine became more innovative as the culture of the Han Dynasty became prosperous. Many developments and changes in medical theory in the Eastern Han Dynasty are closer to the traditional Chinese medicine we know today. Given its unique scope, this book appeals to a broad range of researchers and general readers.

Does the mind consist only of conscious experiences, or do mental states extend beyond awareness to unconscious brain states with genuine representational content? This second volume in Jerome C. Wakefield's trilogy immerses readers in one of the most enduring debates in intellectual history-the multi-century dispute over unconscious mental states. Beginning with Descartes' consciousness criterion and Leibniz's divisibility argument, Wakefield reconstructs successive rounds of argument through Locke, Mill, and others, culminating in a dialectical confrontation between Freud and William James and a novel argument for the importance of dreams in the debate.

Building on Volume 1's analysis of Freud's conceptual and theoretical arguments, this book examines the empirical dimension: whether phenomena such as memory, unnoticed mental states, gaps in reasoning, post-hypnotic suggestion, and dreams demonstrate unconscious mentation. Wakefield situates Freud's position within the philosophy-of-mind tradition and shows how Freud's synthesis helped pivot psychology from Cartesianism to a representational view of mind that underpins modern cognitive science.

Combining historical depth with analytic rigor, this volume clarifies what was at stake, what was established, and what remains unresolved-namely, the missing criterion for unconscious representation. Essential reading for scholars and advanced students in philosophy of mind, psychoanalysis, and the history of psychology, it also sets the stage for Volume 3's engagement with post-Freudian analytic philosophy.

This book addresses the critical challenge of educational equity and innovation in Southern Africa's low-resource contexts, where traditional educational models often fail to meet local needs and circumstances. The work examines how communities, educators, and institutions in countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania, and Lesotho are developing transformative educational solutions by leveraging indigenous knowledge systems, local resources, and culturally responsive pedagogies. Rather than viewing resource constraints as insurmountable barriers, this book positions community assets as catalysts for educational innovation that can inform global practices. The subject encompasses multiple interconnected domains: technology-enhanced learning adapted for low-infrastructure environments, community-based educational initiatives, indigenous knowledge integration, policy frameworks for educational equity, and sustainable educational development models. By focusing specifically on Southern Africa, the book provides deep contextual analysis while contributing to broader conversations about decolonizing education and creating more inclusive learning environments globally.

Many sociologists enter their discipline motivated to make a living doing intellectual labor in a way that also will make the world a more just place, only to find that academic institutional constraints routinely impede their pursuit of that original goal.
Sociologists Making Change gathers more than a dozen examples of the real-world activism of US sociologists, who confront those constraints and get involved in political and social change efforts in addition to their conventional teaching and academic research.
This volume provides a resource for sociologists aiming to enter, stay on, or get back onto a path of public engagement. Without imposing a singular vision of how to follow that path, the editors and contributors illuminate a variety of ways to pursue change-oriented sociology. While such publicly engaged sociology is not a requisite role for every sociologist, it is consistent with a long sociological tradition. In this time and in the foreseeable future, the book argues, both the public and sociology as a discipline could benefit from research, teaching, and activism that aims to make a difference. Sociologists Making Change offers a path for sociologists collectively to build better public visibility in ways that make the discipline better understood and more valued in the public mind.

The Trump II administration's trade wars and framing of the dollar's reserve status have accelerated concerns about the sustainability of the current monetary and trade system. Against a backdrop of various disintegrative tendencies, this volume re-introduces the concept of International Clearing Union (ICU) and offers an important overview of critical approaches to the prevailing monetary system.

The ICU concept is closely associated with J. M. Keynes but has older origins, diverse sources of debate, and a high degree of contemporary relevance. In discussing the concept this volume examines key contemporary political issues including principles of fairness in trade and finance, de-dollarization, development, exchange rate policy, capital controls, as well as urgent issues of climate emergency and ecological breakdown. It provides perspectives from different disciplines and from the Global North and South and opens up debate regarding new global institutional possibilities.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The Finnish Research Council.

This book develops a new framework for explaining how political parties survive severe crises in Latin America. Challenging accounts that equate survival with electoral recovery, it argues that endurance emerges from elite incentives shaped by territorial depth, organizational routines, and shifting strategic opportunities. The analysis centers on Argentina's Radical Civic Union, showing how subnational structures and legislative footholds anchored elites after national collapse and enabled a gradual adaptation toward coalition-based relevance, culminating in the successful Cambiemos alliance in 2015. Comparative cases from Venezuela, Peru, and Costa Rica reveal why parties with similar histories failed to adapt. The concluding chapter applies the framework to Argentina's contemporary realignment under Javier Milei, demonstrating how outsider disruption once again pushes the UCR toward strategies rooted in its organizational inheritance. Across these chapters, the book offers a theory of party survival that explains not only why some parties endure without national recovery, but also how they reinvent their political purpose in fragmented political systems.

This book investigates the sociological legitimacy of Colombia's Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), a key institution in the 2016 Peace Agreement with the FARC-EP. While legally established, the JEP's legitimacy has been contested by political actors, victims, and former supporters. The author argues that legitimacy should be understood sociologically-as the public's belief in the institution's right to make judicial decisions. Drawing on literature about high courts, the book identifies five key factors affecting legitimacy: diffuse support, specific support, obedience, salience, and institutional age. It proposes a method to operationalise these factors and applies it to the JEP using 43 elite interviews, fieldwork, surveys, and media analysis. The findings suggest the JEP has medium legitimacy, with potential to improve or decline depending on how it addresses delays, victim satisfaction, and public understanding. This is the first study to offer a comprehensive framework for assessing transitional justice legitimacy, making it a valuable resource for academics, policymakers, and international actors. The book also contributes to global debates on mixed justice systems and peacebuilding, offering lessons for future transitional justice mechanisms. Its timely publication aims to inform reforms before the JEP's mandate to indict human rights violations ends in 2028.

This book discusses Africa's call for reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) based on a decolonization perspective as opposed to the mainstream history of International Organizations (IOs). It advocates for the decolonization of IO history arguing that the roots of the UNSC are deeply colonial. Africa was virtually absent when the UN was founded. However, with the demise of colonialism and the subsequent admission of African states to the UN, the African group now has 54 members. With Africa as the main focus of the SC discussion agenda, its exclusion from permanent membership is a glaring anomaly. While Africa's demand to reform the UNSC based on the Ezulwini Consensus, especially immediate veto acquisition, is not easily achievable, the book offers important insights on why this demand is important.

The book analyzes up-to-date data on violent, extremist activity in North America and Europe. It examines various factors influencing the formation of public demand for radicalism, manifestations of xenophobia, racism and securitization of minorities, and provides statistics on hate crimes. It also studies the role of political parties and groups in the formation of public demand for radicalism. Focusing on Hungary, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland and France, Great Britain, the US, Canada, Russia, Moldova, and Ukraine, this book reflects the latest trends in Europe and North America, in partnership with The European Centre Democracy Development and the International Council for Diplomacy and Dialogue.

The author expresses gratitude to Dr. Jean-Yves Camus, Dr. William Allchorn, Dr. Anna Castriota, Marina Peunova-Connor, Dr. Eviane Leidig, Dr. Balsa Lubarda, Dr. Radoslaw Kossakovski, Dr. Pranvera Tika, Dr. Dmitry Stratievsky, Dr. Semyon Charny, Mr. Ruslan Bortnik, Dr. Jan Charvat, and Dr. Tommi Kotonen for their assistance in collecting and processing the material for this book

This new edition of a classic text provides a wealth of material on the management and
governance of the public sector, and explores the great shifts taking place in what is a
hotly contested part of society in many regions of the world. Setting out the key
theoretical perspectives on public management, this book will equip you with the key
concepts and tools that you need to make sense of contemporary public management
from different perspectives.

Reflecting the latest issues and trends in public management and administration, this
new edition offers:
Examples from a wide range of countries.
Increased analysis of the impact of authoritarianism and populism.
Coverage of key topics, including strategic management, leadership, performance
management, managing services and technology.
More inclusion of evidence and evidence-based policy.
Additional tables, figures and case study boxes offering the latest research insights.

Suitable for use on courses around the world, and for those with no prior knowledge of
the theory and practice of public management and administration, this fully revised sixth
edition is the ideal point of reference for lecturers and students in the field.

This book examines the complex relationship between Tuerkiye and Libya, integrating Welsh Critical Security Studies (CSS) with contemporary realities. It argues that security encompasses more than just military power, focusing on the cultural, social, and political dimensions that influence security policies. The book delves into the regional dynamics shaped by international organisations like NATO and the UN, particularly post-World War II. It highlights how these organisations' geopolitical interests have impacted bilateral interactions, framing security through notions of influence and power. Key historical turning points are analysed to reveal their effects on military and political engagements between Tuerkiye and Libya. The book also critiques the roles of major international players, especially the United States, exposing the hegemonic forces that often compromise the sovereignty of states. Challenging conventional military-centric perspectives, the narrative emphasises human rights, economic stability, and social cohesion as fundamental to achieving genuine security. It advocates for emancipatory security practices that align with the nations' unique socio-cultural and political contexts. It suggests a collaborative future for Tuerkiye and Libya centred on regional aspirations and societal resilience. Through thorough empirical analysis, the authors provide valuable insights into local perceptions of security and the historical legacies influencing contemporary policies. This book serves as both an academic resource and a practical guide for policymakers and advocates navigating the complexities of international relations. Essential for scholars and practitioners alike, this book offers fresh perspectives on the intricate nature of security in an interconnected world and presents a compelling case for enhancing bilateral relations while challenging established norms.

This book offers a critical and original analysis of how China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is actively reshaping the geopolitical architecture of the Middle East. Far from being a neutral economic enterprise, the BRI is conceptualized here as a deliberate and strategic modality of power-what the book terms "diplomacy by design"-through which China is redrawing regional alignments, recalibrating state relations, and subtly displacing long-standing Western influence.
Drawing on case studies from key Middle Eastern states-including the Gulf monarchies, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and some part of the Levant-the book situates China's infrastructural diplomacy within the broader context of regional fragmentation, post-American recalibration, and the emergence of multipolar diplomacy. It engages critically with concepts such as sovereignty, strategic autonomy, and the infrastructure-security nexus, arguing that the BRI constitutes a new grammar of international engagement that departs from traditional Western models.