• A comprehensive introduction to small states, with a mixture of detailed examples (Quebec and Japan) and a broader range of case studies; • Addresses core questions of what a “state” is, what it is ...for and the role of small states in the international system; • Refocusses the study of small states away from the usual case studies, refocussing on the North American and East Asian contexts. ; With emphasis on East Asian and North American examples – notably Japan and Quebec – Date, Laniel and their contributors take a new approach to the understanding of small nations and their role in the international system. Small nations, by their very nature, raise significant questions about what a nation is. Some small nations are sovereign states with relatively small populations and limited territory, others are nations within larger sovereign states, with distinctive cultures, governance structures or other features that differentiate them from their “parent” state. By focussing on non-European nations in particular, the contributors to this volume challenge our conceptions of what a small nation is and how it operates within the international system. They focus in particular on the nation-within-a-nation-state of Quebec and on Japan, supplemented by further examples from East Asia. By interrogating what these examples have to show us about the typology and character of small nations, they offer a critique of superpower and draw out the potential of small nation studies. A valuable resource for students and scholars of international relations and theories of the nation and nation state.
In the last few decades, Andean states have seen major restructuring of the organization, leadership, and reach of their governments. With these political tremors come major aftershocks, regarding ...both definitions and expectations: What is a state? Who or what makes it up, and where does it reside? In what capacity can the state be expected to right wrongs, raise people up, protect them from harm, maintain order, or provide public services? What are its powers and responsibilities?
State Theory and Andean Politicsattempts to answer these questions and more through an examination of the ongoing process of state creation in Andean nations. Focusing on the everyday, extraofficial, and frequently invisible or partially concealed permutations of rule in the lives of Andean people, the essays explore the material and cultural processes by which states come to appear as real and tangible parts of everyday life. In particular, they focus on the critical role of emotion, imagination, and fantasy in generating belief in the state, among the governed and the governing alike. This approach pushes beyond the limits of the state as conventionally understood to consider how "nonstate" acts of governance intersect with official institutions of government, while never being entirely determined by them or bound to their authorizing agendas.State Theory and Andean Politicsasserts that the state is not simply an institutional-bureaucratic apparatus but one of many forces vying for a claim to legitimate political dominion.
Featuring an impressive array of Andeanist scholars as well as eminent state theorists Akhil Gupta and Gyanendra Pandey,State Theory and Andean Politicsmakes a bold and novel claim about the nature of states and state-making that deepens understanding not only of the Andes and the Global South but of the world at large.
Contributors:Kim Clark, Nicole Fabricant, Lesley Gill, Akhil Gupta, Christopher Krupa, David Nugent, Gyanendra Pandey, Mercedes Prieto, Maria Clemencia Ramírez, Irene Silverblatt, Karen Spalding, Winifred Tate.
The U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan mobilized troops, funds, and people on an international level not seen since World War II. Hundreds of thousands of individuals and tens of billions of ...dollars flowed into the country. But what was gained for Afghanistan—or for the international community that footed the bill? Why did development money not lead to more development? Why did a military presence make things more dangerous? Through the stories of four individuals—an ambassador, a Navy SEAL, a young Afghan businessman, and a wind energy engineer—Noah Coburn weaves a vivid account of the challenges and contradictions of life during the intervention. Looking particularly at the communities around Bagram Airbase, this ethnography considers how Afghans viewed and attempted to use the intervention and how those at the base tried to understand the communities around them. These compelling stories step outside the tired paradigms of 'unruly' Afghan tribes, an effective Taliban resistance, and a corrupt Karzai government to show how the intervention became an entity unto itself, one doomed to collapse under the weight of its own bureaucracy and contradictory intentions.
People living in different parts of the world hold diverse beliefs about the nature and the nurturing of infants. Celebrating that diversity and based on the research of anthropologists, ...psychologists, and historians, this book presents information on child care from seven societies around the world, past and present, illustrating how the childrearing customs of any given society make sense when understood within the context of that society. The seven societies include the Puritans of seventeenth century Massachusetts and six contemporary societies: the Beng of Ivory Coast, the Balinese of Indonesia, Muslim villagers in Turkey, the Warlpiri (an Australian Aborigine group), the Fulani of West and Central Africa, and the Ifaluk people of Micronesia. Following an introductory chapter, each chapter is written in the style of a child care manual. Each "manual" starts with a brief biography of its fictive author, followed by advice to prospective and new parents on a wide range of topics. The chapters are: (1) "If Dr. Spock Were Born in Bali: Raising a World of Babies" (Judy S. DeLoache and Alma Gottlieb), focusing on the challenges of caring for children, cultural foundations of infant care practices, and valued personal characteristics; (2) "A Parenting Manual, with Words of Advice for Puritan Mothers" (Debbie Reese); (3) "Luring Your Child into This Life: A Beng Path for Infant Care" (Alma Gottlieb); (4) "Gift from the Gods: A Balinese Guide to Early Child Rearing" (Marissa Diener); (5) "Making Babies in a Turkish Village" (Carol Delaney); (6) "Infants of the Dreaming: A Warlpiri Guide to Child Care" (Sophia L. Pierroutsakos); (7) "The View from the 'Wuro': A Guide to Child Rearing for Fulani Parents" (Michelle C. Johnson); and (8) "Never Leave Your Little One Alone: Raising an Ifaluk Child" (Huynh-Nhu Le). The book concludes with citations and sources cited. (KB)
First published in Portuguese in 1968, Pedagogy of the Oppressed was translated and published in English in 1970. The methodology of the late Paulo Freire has helped to empower countless impoverished ...and illiterate people throughout the world. Freire's work has taken on especial urgency in the United States and Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centers is increasingly accepted as the norm.With a substantive new introduction on Freire's life and the remarkable impact of this book by writer and Freire confidant and authority Donaldo Macedo, this anniversary edition of Pedagogy of the Oppressed will inspire a new generation of educators, students, and general readers for years to come.
Each year, millions of children in developing countries fall sick and die from diseases caused by polluted air, contaminated water and soil, and poor hygiene behavior. Repeated infectious also ...contribute to malnutrition in children, and subsequently impacts future learning and productivity. This book analyzes the linkages between malnutrition and environmental health, and assesses the burden of disease on young children, and its economic costs.
Quagmire Biggs, David; Cronon, William
03/2012
eBook
Winner of the 2012 George Perkins Marsh Prize for Best Book in Environmental History
In the twentieth century, the Mekong Delta has emerged as one of Vietnam s most important economic regions. Its ...swamps, marshes, creeks, and canals have played a major role in Vietnam s turbulent past, from the struggles of colonialism to the Cold War and the present day. Quagmire considers these struggles, their antecedents, and their legacies through the lens of environmental history.
Beginning with the French conquest in the 1860s, colonial reclamation schemes and pacification efforts centered on the development of a dense network of new canals to open land for agriculture. These projects helped precipitate economic and environmental crises in the 1930s, and subsequent struggles after 1945 led to the balkanization of the delta into a patchwork of regions controlled by the Viet Minh, paramilitary religious sects, and the struggling Franco-Vietnamese government. After 1954, new settlements were built with American funds and equipment in a crash program intended to solve continuing economic and environmental problems. Finally, the American military collapse in Vietnam is revealed as not simply a failure of policy makers but also a failure to understand the historical, political, and environmental complexity of the spaces American troops attempted to occupy and control.
By exploring the delta as a quagmire in both natural and political terms, Biggs shows how engineered transformations of the Mekong Delta landscape - channelized rivers, a complex canal system, hydropower development, deforestation - have interacted with equally complex transformations in the geopolitics of the region. Quagmire delves beyond common stereotypes to present an intricate, rich history that shows how closely political and ecological issues are intertwined in the human interactions with the water environment in the Mekong Delta.
Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp1-UItZqsk
Winner of the 2012 George Perkins Marsh Prize for Best Book in Environmental History
In the twentieth century, the Mekong Delta has emerged as one of Vietnam s most important economic regions. Its swamps, marshes, creeks, and canals have played a major role in Vietnam s turbulent past, from the struggles of colonialism to the Cold War and the present day. Quagmire considers these struggles, their antecedents, and their legacies through the lens of environmental history.
Beginning with the French conquest in the 1860s, colonial reclamation schemes and pacification efforts centered on the development of a dense network of new canals to open land for agriculture. These projects helped precipitate economic and environmental crises in the 1930s, and subsequent struggles after 1945 led to the balkanization of the delta into a patchwork of regions controlled by the Viet Minh, paramilitary religious sects, and the struggling Franco-Vietnamese government. After 1954, new settlements were built with American funds and equipment in a crash program intended to solve continuing economic and environmental problems. Finally, the American military collapse in Vietnam is revealed as not simply a failure of policy makers but also a failure to understand the historical, political, and environmental complexity of the spaces American troops attempted to occupy and control.
By exploring the delta as a quagmire in both natural and political terms, Biggs shows how engineered transformations of the Mekong Delta landscape - channelized rivers, a complex canal system, hydropower development, deforestation - have interacted with equally complex transformations in the geopolitics of the region. Quagmire delves beyond common stereotypes to present an intricate, rich history that shows how closely political and ecological issues are intertwined in the human interactions with the water environment in the Mekong Delta.
Watch the book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/user/UWashingtonPress#p/u/2/gp1-UItZqsk
