Böcker utgivna av Palgrave MacMillan

This book assesses the quality of self-government in four northern European regions with strong autonomy rights. Examining the experiences of Scotland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and the Åland Islands, it considers how these regions have developed their own political and administrative systems within the larger states they form part of. The book looks to understand the key democratic and administrative qualities of a functioning self-government, and how geographic size and economic and human resources can impact the ways in which partially independent territories govern. It also assesses the emotional dimensions of regional nationalism, and how this impacts the concept and public perception of partially independent nation-territories. By focusing on the quality of self-government within these nation-territories, the book considers whether strong autonomy contributes to peaceful co-existence within established national borders, or provides new munition for secessionist movements. It will appeal to students and scholars of sub-national governance, European politics, territorial politics and conflict management.

This volume explores current methodological developments in the interpretation of the Bible from an African perspective. Previous scholarship has explored the relevance of Eurocentric biblical interpretive methods to African experiences and contexts. This book furthers the discussion by examining the continuing importance of contextual Bible interpretation. Authors provide an evaluation of the work done by the precursors and predecessors interpreting the Bible from an African point of view, and then analyse the emerging challenges to interpreting the Bible in an ever-changing context. The volume is a comprehensive resource, providing new interpretations of the Bible in Africa, and addressing the contemporary questions of people in Africa and beyond.

Aid organizations usually embrace the idea of digitalization, both in terms of using diverse technologies and processing data digitally for improving their services, making their operations more efficient and even mitigating various risks. While digital fundraising, the use of biometric ID systems or digitalized cash and voucher assistance enjoys widespread attention both in academic and practitioner circles, it is less known how aid organizations navigate between counterterrorism legislations and data protection laws in technical terms. Limiting the discussion to the EU General Data Protection Regulation and by conceptualizing screening -- commonly used to prevent the use of donor money for illicit purposes, money-laundering, terrorism finance or corruption -- as a data processing operation conducted by larger international aid organizations operating in the Global South, this book focuses on the matter of 'transparency' and 'right to information' being at the nexus ofsurveillance studies and privacy studies. By means of legal and social science methods, it simultaneously explores screening in light of classic surveillance and analyses whether opacity around screening by NGOs (data controllers) is in line with the spirit of European Union data protection regime from the perspective of individuals (data subjects). In so doing, Paragi also contributes to the discussion on the politics of transparency and highlights the dilemmas and challenges aid organizations operating in authoritarian regimes or conflict settings may face.

This book is focused on screenwriting and development for virtual reality (VR). It explores a diverse range of creative approaches to the writing and screen development of VR stories and immersive audience experiences. Contributions from scholars and practitioners combine conceptual and practically orientated approaches for creating fictional and documentary media VR stories. The book evaluates, challenges and adapts existing screenwriting models and practices for immersive storytelling and grapples with the future of storytelling in the era of sophisticated computer visualization, AI and the online social metaverse. The book proposes new VR storytelling models, identifies altered relationships between creators, screen works and their audiences and demonstrates how interdisciplinary practices will be core to the future of screen storytelling.

This book brings together a group of British and Italian scholars who have made significant contributions to the historiography of modern Italy over the last three decades, dedicated to the influence of Paul Ginsborg. Reflecting Ginsborg's interest in the encounter of social and political history in modern Italy, contributions explore the varied forms taken by activism in civil society. Rather than just treating activism and engagement as limited, circumscribed phenomena within a political system, the essays consider these as interventions in the social. Taken together, the contributions gathered here highlight Ginsborg's contributions to scholarship and activism, as well as advancing our understanding of cultural change, institutional reform and the renewal of community in modern Italian history.

SME credit ratings are one of the most underutilised and misunderstood concepts, though they have the potential to proliferate the ability of SMEs to access funding opportunities via both traditional and non-traditional channels. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the industry and sets out innovative solutions for improving the effectiveness, viability, and coverage of SME credit rating services. It focuses on how private and public sector SME credit rating industries can be established and how the unique "ecosystem approach" can be incorporated. It reintroduces the public sector credit rating model and highlights how it can be an effective solution within the SME space. The book will also include feedback from direct interviews with SME credit rating agencies (private and public), ministries linked to the SME credit rating industry, regulators, and related multilateral organisations. Furthermore, the book incorporates the author's knowledge from recently completed credit rating projects from the World Bank Group, The United Nations, and The African Union. This, together with innovative ideas around how SME credit rating industries can be created/initiated, establishes vital policy tools that can be utilised by governments, credit rating agencies, regulators, and related stakeholders.

This book is the first full-length study of apes and monkeys on the early modern stage. It broadens the scope of existing scholarship by situating the apes glimpsed in Shakespeare's plays in the wider context of the many uncelebrated uses by other playwrights, c. 1603-1659. The book investigates the theatrical appearances of real monkeys, actors dressed up as apes, and characters mistaken for them, arguing that the ape trope is so insistent in early modern drama that it becomes a structural metaphor. It addresses both plays and masques across the period, arguing that the ways of seeing in these different kinds of theatre make apes mean differently in their generic contexts. Grounded in historicist readings, this book also draws significantly on the field of ritual studies and the new intersectional discipline of animal performance studies.

This book identifies the turning points in Habermas's work and his transition from one stage to another in the development of his theoretical oeuvre. Habermas began his academic career as part of the Frankfurt School, but the two key points at which his career changes trajectory are moving from historical materialism to normative idealism and playing with some of the ideas of liberalism. Normative idealism is an ahistorical theory that insists on the independence of the normative from material reality, severing the connection between base and superstructure that Marx wrote about. The break with the basic concepts of Marxism enabled Habermas to build his own discursive (critical) theory, which, especially since the end of the 1980s, takes the ideas of liberalism seriously. This book makes a systematic, multidimensional and detailed analysis of Habermas's theoretical oeuvre in two dimensions, chronological (in the order in which Habermas worked on certain topics) and thematic (enclosingcertain thematic units).

The book explores Islamic perspectives on conflict resolution and peacemaking. It delves into key topics such as the principles of Islamic conflict resolution, historical examples of peaceful resolutions, and contemporary challenges faced by Muslim societies. By addressing these topics, the book aims to provide insight into Islamic teachings and practices that can contribute to building bridges and fostering peace in diverse contexts. The book is important and relevant due to the increasing need for understanding and promoting peaceful resolutions in today's world, particularly in regions influenced by Islam. It offers a comprehensive examination of the principles and methods of conflict resolution within an Islamic framework, shedding light on the rich history of peacemaking within Muslim societies. By highlighting Islamic perspectives on peace, the book aims to bridge cultural divides and foster dialogue, promoting a greater understanding and appreciation of the contributions Islam can make to conflict resolution. The book seeks to address the prevalent misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding Islam's approach to conflict resolution. It aims to challenge the notion that Islam is inherently associated with violence or lack of peaceful solutions. By presenting authentic Islamic teachings and historical examples of peaceful resolutions, the book endeavours to contribute to a more nuanced and accurate understanding of Islam's role in promoting conflict resolution and peacemaking. It offers readers an opportunity to explore Islamic perspectives on resolving conflicts, encouraging dialogue, and cultivating a more peaceful world.

Derivative trading? That's something for Wall Street types, right? Maybe, but it also affects everyone else in ways that are still little appreciated. Futures traders have paralysed the global trade of nickel, a key component in the battery of your neighbour's Tesla. For a few minutes one trading day during the pandemic, sellers of crude oil were paying buyers to take the stuff, defying the very notion of trading, in an episode straight out of "Alice in Wonderland".Understanding how this obscure corner of finance works (and what happens when it doesn't) is a key pillar of financial literacy today. If you are a financial markets practitioner, everyday investor, academic, regulator, policy maker or kitchen-table economist, you need to know how financial derivatives really work and be aware of the emerging digital innovations that makes this market the highest stake metaverse.

This book takes a historical approach to explore data, algorithms, their use in practice through applications of AI in various settings, and all of the surrounding ethical and DEI implications. Summarizing our current knowledge and highlighting gaps, it offers original examples from empirical research in various settings, such as healthcare, social media, and the GIG economy.The author investigates how systems relying on a binary structure (machines) work in systems that are instead analogic (societies). Further, he examines how underrepresented populations, who have been historically penalized by technologies, can play an active role in the design of automated systems, with a specific focus on the US legal and social system.One issue is that main tasks of machines concern classification, which, while efficient for speeding up decision-making processes, are inherently biased. Ultimately, this work advocates for ethical design and responsible implementation and deployment of technology in organizations and society through through government-sponsored social justice, in contrast with free market policies.This interdisciplinary text contributes to the timely and relevant debate on algorithmic fairness, biases, and potential discriminations. It will appeal to researchers in business ethics and information systems while building on theories from anthropology, psychology, sociology, management, marketing, and economics.

This book presents empirical and anecdotal evidence on the persistence of the variety of Majorcan Catalan that has been spoken since the 1850s in San Pedro, Argentina. Drawing on a series of 60-minute interviews (N=49) conducted with speakers recruited from the community, this study demonstrates how most participants appear to have preserved their heritage language to some extent, according to their observed Performative Language Competency levels (PLCs). Building on participants' firsthand accounts, additional historical, anthropological, and sociolinguistic details are provided to convey a vivid picture of the community, its traditions, speakers' attitudes to their heritage language, and the current status of San Pedro Majorcan Catalan in terms of endangerment. Within the field of understudied minority languages in the Americas, the reader of this volume will find an innovative, distinct approach to bilingualism in 'heritage vs. majority language' settings, which will beof interest to scholars and students with a background in sociolinguistics, bi- and multilingualism, and language policy and revitalization.

This open access book sheds light on collective practices of remembering, imagining and anticipating in relation to recent acts of urban terrorism in Europe. Analysing a range of personal and collective responses to urban terrorism in contemporary Europe, this book shows that current debates on this issue are shaped by multiple co-existing and intersecting memories of political violence in the past. Moreover, despite public declarations of unity and solidarity, collective memories of urban terror in contemporary Europe are far from consensual - memory can be both a catalyst for and an impediment to social and political change. The analyses in this book reveal that memory can be both at the same time. Drawing on case studies from a range of European countries and art representations from survivors, artists, and poets, this interdisciplinary volume introduces readers to key methods (e.g. discourse analysis and (auto-)ethnography) and concepts (e.g. Lieux de Mémoire and 'grassroots memorials') for the study of the memoralization of terror attacks.

This book reconstructs and compares the social theories of modernity of Georg Simmel and Walter Benjamin, two classic thinkers in German social thought. The author focuses on five main topics: the historical-sociological method through which they investigate modernity; how are the concepts of history and society possible; the consequences of modern metropolis on the construction of individual subjectivity; the aestheticization of everyday life caused by the expansion of commodity culture; and the female culture as a counter-power to the domination of masculine objective culture. In the decades since Simmel and Benjamin, urban reality has undergone profound changes and we may even question the very existence of the subject of analysis: what is the city, the metropolis in today's context of globalization and capital flows? Simmel's and Benjamin's metropolis has thus become an "endless city," beyond the physical and geographical confines of urban reality.

This open access book challenges the contemporary relevance of the current model of knowledge production. It argues that the full digitisation of society sharply accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic has added extreme complexity to the world, conclusively exposing the inadequacy of our current model of knowledge creation. Addressing many of the different ways in which reality has been transformed by technology - the pervasive adoption of big data, the fetishisation of algorithms and automation, and the digitalisation of education and research - Viola examines how the rigid conceptualisation in disciplines' division and competition is complicit of promoting a narrative which has paired computational methods with exactness and neutrality whilst stigmatising consciousness and criticality as carriers of biases and inequality. Taking the humanities as a focal point, the author retraces schisms in the field between the humanities, the digital humanities and critical digital humanities; these are embedded, she argues, within old dichotomies: sciences vs humanities, digital vs non-digital and authentic vs non-authentic. Through the analysis of personal use cases and exploring a variety of applied contexts such as digital heritage practices, digital linguistic injustice, critical digital literacy and critical digital visualisation, the book shows a third way: knowledge creation in the digital.

This open access book is based on a multi-country collaborative research project focussing on Canada, China, India, and Indonesia.It responds directly and concretely to concerns about the generational sustainability of smallholder farming worldwide- reflected in the current UN Decade of Family Farming. Drawing on research that asks how (some) young people continue to pursue a (future) livelihood in farming, the book uses the life-course perspective and privileges voices of young farmers to show that movement away from farming such as time spent in education, migration and non-farm work does not exclude eventual farming futures.The book will be of interest to scholars and students of agrarian studies, anthropology, development studies, gender studies, human geography, rural sociology, and youth studies.

Food Economics provides a unified introduction to the economics of agricultural production, business decisions, consumer behavior, and the government policies that shape our food system.This open-access textbook begins with economic principles derived using graphical techniques to explain and predict observed prices, quantities, and other outcomes as a result of individual choices influenced by market structure and public policies. The second half of the book explores available data globally and for the US, covering a wide range of questions in agriculture and economic development, food marketing, and consumption.Food Economics and its accompanying online resources are designed for advanced undergraduate or introductory graduate courses in agriculture, food, and nutrition policy. The book covers the standard diagrams taught in principles-level courses, with concrete examples and practical insights regarding food production, consumption, and trade. Online resources include data sources, and course materials, including slides, exercises, exams, and answer keys.

This book explores the geopolitical and symbolic borders of Europe through the concept of the semi-periphery. Focusing on the North Atlantic island nations, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, and Turkey - a set of very different social and cultural landscapes - the book compares the semi-peripheral aesthetics of Halldór Laxness's and William Heinesen's novels with the semi-peripheral city and borderscapes in works by Orhan Pamuk and Latife Tekin. It offers new readings of texts such as Laxness's The Atom Station and Pamuk's Snow, and provides original readings of works that little has been written about in English, such as Heinesen's The Black Cauldron and Tekin's Swords of Ice. Making use of the theory of uneven and combined development and world systems theory, the book illustrates that the experience of nation-building and capitalist modernisation in the semi-periphery results in a particular realist aesthetic that is remarkably similar across different regional literatures. The book's world-literary method shows that the semi-periphery constitutes a vital and productive area of study both for world literature and for broadening our understanding of colonialism and imperialism on the margins of continental Europe.

In this volume, contributors explore the deep ideological polarization in US society as portrayed in horror narratives and tropes. By navigating this polarized society in their representation of social values, twenty[1]first-century horror films critically frame and engage conflicting and divisive ideological issues. Culture Wars and Horror Movies: Social Fears and Ideology in Post-2010 Horror Cinema analyses the ways in which these "culture wars" make their way into and through contemporary horror films, focusing on the post-2010 US context and its fundamental political divisions.

This open access edited book connects two strands of federal studies, fiscal federalism, and diversity accommodation, to answer two closely interrelated questions. The first of these is to what extent has the need to accommodate diversities determined financial relations and their evolution? The authors answer this question by conducting a thorough investigation of the types of diversity that drive such evolution. The second question is does fiscal federalism have a broadly positive or negative impact on the accommodation of diversities, by producing institutional solutions that either integrate a federal system or pull it apart? Through contributions from experts in law, economics, and political science, the book uses a series of case studies to establish a theoretical framework for exploring the relationship between fiscal federalism and diversity accommodation. The authors lay the groundwork for a comparative study of this relationship in multilevel states.

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of the widespread issue of fake news and misinformation. Using real-life examples and semiotic theory, the author demonstrates how language, images, and symbols are being utilized in media production and distribution with the intention of altering the perception of individuals and shaping their beliefs. The book also addresses how social and cultural factors influence the spread of information and emphasizes the importance of understanding the context in which information is being received and shared. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the impact of fake news and misinformation on society, especially academics, researchers, journalists, policymakers, and media professionals at all levels. The author provides contemporary theories and practical strategies to navigate the complex and ever-changing media landscape.

This second edition brings together the views of expert academics and practitioners on the latest regulatory developments in sustainable finance in Europe and includes 5 new chapters on sustainable remuneration, reporting, lending, green monetary policy and ESG. The volume includes a wide range of cutting-edge issues, which relate to three main themes along which the volume is structured: (1) corporate governance; (2) monetary policy and financial stability; and (3) financial markets. With individual contributions deploying different methods of analysis, including theoretical contributions on the status quo of macro-financial research as well as law and economics approaches, the collection encourages interdisciplinary readership and will appeal to those researching capital markets law, European financial law, and sustainable finance, as well as practitioners within the finance industry.

Forty years after Ronald Reagan's successful re-election campaign, this book explores the significance of the year 1984 in the making of Reagan's presidential record and the shaping of his legacy. The authors examine the broader context of how Reagan impacted the nature of the US presidency and international relations during the Cold War, and how this in turn interacted with American popular culture. Serving as an introduction to academics, students and the interested public into what is a rapidly increasingly Reagan scholarship, this book will also appeal to anyone interested in US elections, the evolving nature of the US presidency, and American culture more generally.

Budgeting is arguably the single most important function in government. Every year governments spend considerable sums on expenditure programs and activities, as well as time preparing and executing the budget. It is therefore crucial that anyone interested in a career in public administration has a fundamental grasp of these basics. This second edition textbook integrates theory and practice of public budgeting into a single volume. The first part introduces the background to budgeting, focusing especially on taxation, government expenditure and revenue. The second part focuses on budgeting basics, in particular operating and capital budget. The final part deals with budgeting tools, especially those related to capital rationing, budget forecasting, and analyzing government revenue and expenditure. Written in a concise and easy to understand manner, this book captures the multidimensional nature of public budgeting that both students and practitioners will find useful. This second edition has been fully revised and updated, as well as expanded to include new material and exercises. It will appeal to all those studying public administration, financial management and public budgeting.

This work in two parts examines the relations between transnational societies and states. The second volume of this work contends that current policies meant to control or enhance transnational flows have led to the emergence of a transnational policy apparatus coined the transnational state. This book proposes an innovative conceptual framework to grasp the transformations of the contemporary state in both sending and receiving countries. It shows how states expand beyond national territorial limits by reaching out to migrants where they are. In response to the migrants' endeavours to circumvent the constrains imposed by selective migration policies, public authorities expand the reach of their control beyond (externalisation), within (internalisation) and at (expansion) borders. A totalitarian temptation seems to have seized contemporary state bureaucracies, affecting the very nature of borders and societies. The core argument of this research is that the development of the transnational state is not random. It is a process shaping and shaped by the structures of the transnational society.

The book discusses the main valuation methodologies of artificial intelligence (AI). Company valuation goes hand in hand with estimating intangible assets like AI, which are linked to higher risk and lower collateral value. Their accounting is controversial, and the most widely used valuation approaches are based on market, income, or cost-related metrics.The volume discusses in detail the valuation approaches such as the discounted cash flows (remembering that "cash is king") or the empirical market multipliers and comparables. The approaches are complemented by several models, including advanced business planning that incorporates machine learning, digital scalability networks, or validating blockchains. The book, with a tailor-made theoretical background backed by empirical cases, shows how to evaluate AI products, such as chatbots or virtual assistants, for AI established producers, startups, or traditional "brick-and-mortar" AI users. The comprehensive set of techniques and methodologies will interest researchers, students, and practitioners in corporate finance, intellectual property valuation, and financial technology.

This edited book focuses on the intersection of return migration and crises in non-Western countries. The book explores a wide range of theoretical and methodological perspectives while offering practical insights to address the intricate issues surrounding return migration and crises. The topics covered within this volume include return migration trends, the pivotal roles and contributions of return migrants, the social, psychological, and policy challenges faced by returnees, emerging issues stemming from return migration in their home countries, and the public and formal responses to return migration and the reintegration of returnees, and the roles of crises in these areas.This edited volume brings together diverse perspectives of academic researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on return migration. The book features cases of multiple non-Western countries in Asia (Philippines, China, India), Europe (Lithuania, Turkey, & Ukraine), the Middle East and North Africa (Morocco), and South America and the Caribbean (Mexico, Peru & Dominican Republic). Findings provide a unique opportunity to critically explore current thinking on return migration and investigate the relationship between migration and crisis from varying policy and operational viewpoints. This book, hence, attends to practitioners to develop creative solutions to both global and local policies and practices of return migration management in emerging market countries, which will support and accommodate both their returnees and residents amid challenging times.

This volume brings together emerging approaches and addresses shifting paradigms in Chinese science fiction studies, offering a window on fan cultures, internet fiction, gender, eco-criticism, post-humanism and biomedical discourse. These studies present a "second wave" of Chinese sf studies, re-evaluating the canon of Chinese sf print and cinematic production, and expand the range of critical approaches to the subject. The structure of the volume is both chronological and theme-focused. These studies also demonstrate that Chinese science fiction represents a significant contribution to modern Chinese cultural production, both in terms of its value, speaking powerfully to our modern condition, and its sheer volume in terms of production and consumption. Chinese science fiction speaks to both China's rapidly shifting reality, its political multiplicity and its formless future, voicing the anticipations and anxieties of a new epoch filled with accelerating alterations and increasing uncertainty.

Making human rights a reality requires that various types of domestic actors take measures, which is often demanding, all the more so in federal systems. This open access book, Engaging with Human Rights: How Subnational Actors use Human Rights Treaties in Policy Processes, shows that an important part is played at the subnational level, with repeated back-and-forth between and within levels of governance rather than a 'top-down' trajectory. The dynamics of implementation at national and sub-national level is an emerging area of study. This book explores how actors use human rights treaties in the policy process, sometimes leading to an engagement that increases human rights implementation, and at other times not. Treaties provide both opportunities and constraints. Switzerland, as a highly decentralized federal state, offers a perfect setting to study the processes at work. Using legal, political, and sociological analyses, the authors draw on over 65 semi-structured interviews and focusses on two topical case studies: violence against women, including domestic violence, and the rights of persons with disabilities. This book provides a blueprint for other researchers and practitioners who wish to study the concrete implementation and impacts of human rights obligations.

This book is both a conceptualization and detailed analysis of the current crisis in which modern utopian categories of political institutions find themselves, as well as a reflection and clarification of the new dangers and opportunities facing post-utopian politics in-the-making. Met with those who believe that no more utopian political projects are possible, the post-utopian movement maintains a non-fantastic or illusory character of being able to apply new great discourses and radically democratic historical narratives, while respecting both the autonomy and emancipation of individuals as plurality and the socio-cultural differences of communities. With this purpose in mind, the book is divided into five thematically differentiated sections: the new utopian categories beyond modern epistemes; the possibility of liberal utopian democracies without neoliberalism; the opportunities of socialist empowerments and insurgencies; the necessity of thinking in the space between two ages; andthe urgency to create eco-political post-utopias.