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Military action in South Ossetia, growing tensions with the United States and NATO, and Russia's relationship with the European Union…
demonstrate how the issue of Russian nationalism is increasingly at the heart of the international political agenda.This book considers a wide range of aspects of Russian nationalism, focussing on the Putin period. It discusses the development of Russian nationalism, including in the Soviet era, and examines how Russian nationalism grows out of – or is related to – ideology, culture, racism, religion and intellectual thinking, and demonstrates how Russian nationalism affects many aspects of Russian society, politics and foreign policy. This book examines the different socio-political phenomena which are variously defined as ‘nationalism’, ‘patriotism’ and ‘xenophobia’. As Russia reasserts itself in the world, with Russian nationalism as one of the key driving forces in this process, an understanding of Russian nationalism is essential for understanding the dynamics of contemporary international relations.Turkmenistan, an independent nation since 1991, is a strategically important Central Asian state. This book covers the most significant period…
of the establishment of the Turkmen political regime. At the core of this book is the Doctrine of Positive Neutrality, which, from 1995 onwards, constituted the theoretical backbone for the foreign policy of post-Soviet Turkmenistan. The author analyses the reason and aim of the concept, its significance for and impact on the country’s domestic and foreign relations, its practical implementation and its transformation into a tool of strengthening of absolute personal authority. Furthermore, he establishes whether Positive Neutrality has to be seen as a ‘domestic-oriented’ foreign policy, which has been used by the Turkmen regime to reinforce its internal position. . This is the first book-length and thorough analysis of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy. It furthers our understanding of Turkmenistan, and provides an informed background for the study of its foreign policy. It fills a void in the current literature, and it will constitute an essential reference for most scholars and researcher focusing on contemporary Central Asia, Russian foreign policy, Foreign Policy, International Relations and Comparative Politics.Feminism, Domesticity and Popular Culture (Routledge Advances in Sociology)
By Joanne Hollows, Stacy Gillis. 2009
The relationship between feminism and domesticity has recently come in for renewed interest in popular culture. This collection makes an…
intervention into the debates surrounding feminism’s contentious relationship with domesticity and domestic femininities in popular culture. It offers an understanding of the place of domesticity in contemporary popular culture whilst considering how these domesticities might be understood from a feminist perspective. All the essays contribute to a more complex understanding of the relationships between feminism, femininity and domesticity, developing new ways of theorizing these relationships that have marked much of feminist history. Essay topics include Marguerite Patten, reality television shows like How Clean is Your House?, the figure of the maid in contemporary American cinema, aging or widowed domestic femininities, and the relationship between domesticity and motherhood.Race and Multiculturalism in Malaysia and Singapore (Routledge Malaysian Studies Series)
By Philip Holden, Daniel P.S. Goh, Matilda Gabrielpillai, Gaik Cheng Khoo. 2009
This book explores race and multiculturalism in Malaysia and Singapore from a range of different disciplinary perspectives, showing how race…
and multiculturalism are represented, how multiculturalism works out in practice, and how attitudes towards race and multiculturalism – and multicultural practices – have developed over time. Going beyond existing studies – which concentrate on the politics and public aspects of multiculturalism – this book burrows deeper into the cultural underpinnings of multicultural politics, relating the subject to the theoretical angles of cultural studies and post-colonial theory; and discussing a range of empirical examples (drawn from extensive original research, covering diverse practices such as films, weblogs, music subcultures, art, policy discourse, textbooks, novels, poetry) which demonstrate overall how the identity politics of race and intercultural interaction are being shaped today. It concentrates on two key Asian countries particularly noted for their relatively successful record in managing ethnic differences, at a time when many fast-developing Asian countries increasingly have to come to terms with cultural pluralism and migrant diversity.Young Women in Japan: Transitions to Adulthood (ASAA Women in Asia Series)
By Kaori H. Okano. 2009
Young women in Japan: Transitions to adulthood received a CHOICE "Outstanding Academic Title of the Year 2010" award from the American Library…
Association. This book examines young women in Japan, focusing in particular on their transitions to adulthood, their conceptions of adulthood and relations with Japanese society more generally. Drawing on detailed primary research including a year-long observation of high schools and subsequent interviews over a 12 year period, it traces the experiences of a group of working class women from their last year of high-schooling in 1989 through to 2001 as they approached their thirties. It considers important aspects of the transition to adulthood including employment, marriage, divorce, childbirth and custody. It shows how the role and identities of young women changed over the course of the 1990s, exploring the impact of changes within Japanese society and global forces, and explains fully the implications for ordinary young people and their everyday lives. It considers to what extent young women’s perceptions of themselves and society are shifting, and how far this can be explained by external constraints and their own experiences and decisions.Since the mid-1980s, mass migration from the countryside to urban areas has been one of the most dramatic and noticeable…
changes in China. Labour migration has not only exerted a profound impact on China’s economy; it has also had far-reaching consequences for its social development. This book examines labour migration in China, focusing on the social dimensions of this phenomenon, as well as on the economic aspects of the migration and development relationship. It provides in-depth coverage of pertinent topics which include the role of labour migration in poverty alleviation; the social costs of remittance and regional, gender and generational inequalities in their distribution; hukou reform and the inclusion of migrants in urban social security and medical insurance systems; the provision of schools for migrants’ children; the provision of sexual health services to migrants; the housing conditions of migrants; the mobilization of women workers’ social networks to improve labour protection; and the role of NGOs in providing social services for migrants. Throughout, it pays particular attention to policy implications, including the impact of the recent policy shift of the Chinese government, which has made social issues more central to national development policies, and has initiated policy reforms pertaining to migration.This book examines and compares the emergence, development and impact of the party systems in post-colonial India and post-apartheid South…
Africa. It sheds light on the crucial role and function of party systems in democratising developing countries. Although often described as political miracles or empirical anomalies, both countries actually figure prominently in party system and democratic theory due to their regional importance and the important role the party system plays in their political trajectory. The author employs a diachronic comparison of the two party systems, with a distinct focus on the role of party agency in the shaping and maintenance of one-party-dominance and on the role of the two party systems as independent variables. Highlighting the similarities and differences between the two systems, he examines whether the lessons learned from the Indian experience in terms of the function and effects of the country’s post-independent party system and the role of party agency therein are applicable to South Africa. This book will be of interest to academics working in the field of democracy, comparative politics and development in general, and South Africa and South Asia in particular.Ultra-Low Fertility in Pacific Asia: Trends, causes and policy issues (Routledge Research On Public and Social Policy in Asia)
By Gavin Jones, Paulin Tay Straughan, Angelique Chan. 2009
Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong SAR are among the very lowest-fertility countries in the whole world, and…
even China has reached fertility levels lower than those in many European countries. If these levels continue over long periods East Asia will soon face accelerating population decline in addition the changes in age distributions in such populations raise major new questions for planning of economic and social welfare. This book brings together work by noted experts on the low fertility countries of East Asia with an up-to-date analysis of trends in fertility, what we know about their determinants and consequences, the policy issues and how these are being addressed in the various countries. Its role in bringing together information on policy trends and initiatives of a pro-natalist kind adopted over recent years in these countries is extremely important, as is the fact that the discussion of these pro-natalist policies is set in the context of a thorough analysis of what has driven fertility so low in these countries. Ultra-Low Fertility in Pacific Asia is invaluable to students and scholars of East Asian public and social policy, as well as fertility studies more generally.The Making of Modern Lithuania (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies)
By Tomas Balkelis. 2009
This book argues that – contrary to contemporary Lithuanian nationalist rhetoric – Lithuanian nationalism was modern and socially constructed in…
the period from the emergence of the Lithuanian national movement in the late nineteenth century to the birth of an independent state in 1918. The book brings into sharp focus those aspects of the history of Lithuania that earlier commentators had not systematically explored: it shows how, in this period, the nascent political elite fashioned its own and the emerging nation’s identity. Moreover, factors such as the elite’s social isolation, educational experience, marital strategies and narrowly based, fragmented and uncoordinated political activities were crucial factors in shaping identity and nation-building. It demonstrates how the elite was often in conflict with the peasantry, the religious establishment and other ethnic groups, and how critical considerations such as class, religion, displacement and ethnicity – rather than national ideology – were. The book’s conclusion that Lithuanian nationalism is a construct emerging from modern social forces is highly significant for understanding nationalism and contemporary political developments in Eastern Europe more generally.Ritual: Key Concepts In Religion (The International Library of Essays in Anthropology #3)
By Andrew Strathern. 2010
This volume consists of a number of carefully-selected readings that represent a wide range of discussions and theorizing about ritual.…
The selection encompasses definitional questions, issues of interpretation, meaning, and function, and a roster of ethnographic and analytical topics, covering classic themes such as ancestor worship and sacrifice, initiation, gender, healing, social change, and shamanic practices, as well as recent critical and reconstructive theorizing on embodiment, performance, and performativity. In their Introduction to the volume, the Editors provide an overall survey and critical consideration of topics, incorporating insights from their own long-term field research and reflections on the readings included. The Introduction and readings together provide a unique research tool for those interested in pursuing the study of ritual processes in depth, with the benefit of both historical and contemporary approaches.Internet and Change: An Ethnography of Knowledge and Flexible Work (Intervention Press Ser.)
By Jens Kjaerulff. 2010
In the lively debate over how Internet creates social and cultural change, the concept of change itself has not been…
well understood. Through an ethnographic exploration of telework and fine-grained descriptions of the material experience of Internet use, this book makes an important contribution to the theory of cultural change and the social analysis of technology. Kjaerulff argues that telework is mostly practiced informally, and that this form of flexible work is more prevalent than commonly assumed. Against conventional assertions that flexible work promotes alienation, he shows that the picture is far more complex and that the cultural conception ofwork changes through new practices of economic behavior.Minorities, Rights and the Law in Malaysia (Routledge Contemporary Asia Series)
By Thaatchaayini Kananatu. 2020
This book analyses the mobilisation of race, rights and the law in Malaysia. It examines the Indian community in Malaysia,…
a quiet minority which consists of the former Indian Tamil plantation labour community and the urban Indian middle-class. The first part of the book explores the role played by British colonial laws and policies during the British colonial period in Malaya, from the 1890s to 1956, in the construction of an Indian "race" in Malaya, the racialization of labour laws and policies and labour-based mobilisation culminated in the 1940s. The second part investigates the mobilisation trends of the Indian community from 1957 (at the onset of Independent Malaya) to 2018. It shows a gradual shift in the Indian community from a "quiet minority" into a mass mobilising collective or social movement, known as the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), in 2007. The author shows that activist lawyers and Indian mobilisers played a crucial part in organizing a civil disobedience strategy of framing grievances as political rights and using the law as a site of contention in order to claim legal rights through strategic litigation. Highly interdisciplinary in nature, this book will be of interest to scholars and researchers examining the role of the law and rights in areas such as sociolegal studies, law and society scholarship, law and the postcolonial, social movement studies, migration and labour studies, Asian law and Southeast Asian Studies.The End of Territoriality?: The Impact of ECJ Rulings on British, German and French Social Policy
By Andreas J. Obermaier. 2009
Through analyzing the implementation of a series of European Court of Justice rulings in the key member states of Germany,…
France and the UK, The End of Territoriality brings the high impact issue of policy changes to the foreground. The time sequencing of such changes is traced and scrutinized through a detailed investigation by Obermaier, followed by a comprehensive illustration on the full impact the policy amendments have had on the welfare states. By drawing extensively on original sources and new material, this volume will be of key interest to those studying and working within social policy, welfare, political sociology, and European law.Ritual and the Sacred discusses some of the most important issues of modern socio-political life through the lens of a…
neo-Durkheimian perspective. Building on the main lesson of Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life, this book articulates values and practices common to non-Western and religious traditions that have the capacity to shape our modern way of living. Central to this volume is the question of modernity and scepticism with regard to mainstream Western wisdom; Rosati focuses on the notion of societal self-reassessment and self-revision, illustrating a willingness to learn from ’primitive’ societies. This reassessment necessitates us to rethink the central roles played by ritual and the sacred as building blocks of social and individual life, both of which remain salient features within the modern world. This title will be of key interest to sociologists of religion, philosophy politics and social theorists.Mortality, Mourning and Mortuary Practices in Indigenous Australia (Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific)
By Myrna Tonkinson, Victoria Burbank. 2009
Drawing on ethnography of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia, Mortality, Mourning and Mortuary Practices in Indigenous Australia…
focuses on the current ways in which indigenous people confront and manage various aspects of death. The contributors employ their contemporary and long-term anthropological fieldwork with indigenous Australians to construct rich accounts of indigenous practices and beliefs and to engage with questions relating to the frequent experience of death within the context of unprecedented change and premature mortality. The volume makes use of extensive empirical material to address questions of inequality with specific reference to mortality, thus contributing to the anthropology of indigenous Australia whilst attending to its theoretical, methodological and political concerns. As such, it will appeal not only to anthropologists but also to those interested in social inequality, the social and psychosocial consequences of death, and the conceptualization and manipulation of the relationships between the living and the dead.An Anthology of Russian Folktales (500 Tips)
By Jack V. Haney. 2009
This anthology gathers a broad selection of Russian folktales, legends, and anecdotes, and includes helpful features that make them more…
accessible and engaging for English-language readers. Editor Jack V. Haney has selected some of the best tales from his seven-volume "Complete Russian Folktale" collection and added examples of anecdotes and the long 'serial tales' told in the far north.The 114 tales included here represent every genre found in the Russian tradition. They date from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries and come from all geographic regions of the Russian-speaking world. The collection is enhanced by a detailed introduction to the folktale and its types, brief introductions to each grouping of tales, head notes with interesting background for individual tales, and a glossary explaining Russian terms.This study examines how Japanese policy toward Middle East security issues is shaped by the need to both maintain Japan’s…
security alliance with the US and its oil relationship with states in the Middle East. Yukiko Miyagi introduces the historic roots of Japan’s policy, and then focuses on the major contemporary cases – the Iraq war, the Iranian nuclear crisis, and the Arab-Israeli conflict, to expose and explain how clashing interests and dilemmas were negotiated to arrive at policy outcomes. The author also sheds light on the utility of mainstream International Relations theories for understanding Japan’s behaviour. How do we understand the policy of a self-declared ‘anti-militarist’ state forced to operate in a realist world and for whom energy supplies are a matter of vital national security? This study shows how neither realism nor its rivals, such as constructivism, can wholly explain Japan’s behaviour and suggests a theoretical framework for doing so. Filling a major gap in our understanding of an increasingly important area of study Japan’s Middle East Security Policy is an essential read for those interested in Japan’s International Relations, Middle East politics, security studies and foreign policy.Women, Identity and India's Call Centre Industry (Routledge Research on Gender in Asia Series)
By J.K. Tina Basi. 2009
This book examines the concept of globalised identities and the way in which agency is exercised over identity construction by…
women working in India’s transnational call centre industry. Drawing on qualitative empirical data and extensive original fieldwork, the book provides a nuanced analysis of the experiences of Indian women call centre workers and the role of women’s participation in the global labour market. The author uses social, cultural, and historical factors to create a framework for examining the processes of identity construction. Within this framework, the book explores the impact of the call centre labour process on the social landscape of urban centres in India and the way in which this has impacted upon transformations and shifts in society with relation to gendered, sexual, and generational relationships. Highlighting the significance of identity in a globalised world, the author argues that identity acts as one of the most powerful constructs in transforming global ‘scapes’ and flows of culture and economics. This book will be of interest to academics working on South Asia, gender and labour studies and issues of globalization, identity and social change.Communist Indochina (Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia)
By R. B. Smith. 2009
This book examines the history of communist Indochina, from the foundation of the Indochinese Communist Party in 1929-30 to the…
end of the 1970s. It explores the impact of the Japanese invasion of Indochina in 1940, and the subsequent relationship between the Japanese occupiers and the Vichy French colonial regime. It considers why, following the Japanese surrender, the cause of Vietnamese independence was championed by the Communist-led Viet Minh movement headed by Ho Chi Minh, culminating in the August Revolution and the Viet Minh seizure of power, and analyses the record of the Viet Minh Provisional Government of 1945-46. It goes on to consider key episodes of the Vietnam War which followed partition in 1954, including the Tet Offensive of 1967-68 - a crucial turning point in the course of the conflict - and the Cambodia Crisis of 1969-70. Throughout, it considers events within Indochina in the context of wider regional and international developments, focusing in particular on the role played by the Chinese, including their support to the Viet Minh in their struggle against the French from 1947, and the issue of Cambodia which eventually precipitated the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979. The book also explores the main trends in social, economic and institutional development which characterised this period, including village and clan networks, economic and monetary developments, the contrasting systems of North and South after partition, and the consequences of choosing a Soviet economic alignment in preference to links with Japan and capitalist Asia. Written by the late Ralph Smith, a highly respected historian of Asia, this book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the history of Indochina.The first war between China and Japan in 1894/95 was one of the most fateful events, not only in modern…
Japanese and Chinese history, but in international history as well. The war and subsequent events catapulted Japan on its trajectory toward temporary hegemony in East Asia, whereas China entered a long period of domestic unrest and foreign intervention. Repercussions of these developments can be still felt, especially in the mutual perceptions of Chinese and Japanese people today. However, despite considerable scholarship on Sino-Japanese relations, the perplexing question remains how the Japanese attitude exactly changed after the triumphant victory in 1895 over its former role model and competitor. This book examines the transformation of Japan’s attitude toward China up to the time of the Russo-Japanese War (1904/5), when the psychological framework within which future Chinese-Japanese relations worked reached its erstwhile completion. It shows the transformation process through a close reading of sources, a large number of which is introduced to the scholarly discussion for the first time. Zachmann demonstrates how modern Sino-Japanese attitudes were shaped by a multitude of factors, domestic and international, and, in turn, informed Japan’s course in international politics. Winner of the JaDe Prize 2010 awarded by the German Foundation for the Promotion of Japanese-German Culture and Science Relations