The Arab Spring began and ended with Tunisia. In a region beset by brutal repression, humanitarian disasters, and civil war, Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution alone gave way to a peaceful transition to a ...functioning democracy. Within four short years, Tunisians passed a progressive constitution, held fair parliamentary elections, and ushered in the country's first-ever democratically elected president. But did Tunisia simply avoid the misfortunes that befell its neighbors, or were there particular features that set the country apart and made it a special case?InTunisia: An Arab Anomaly, Safwan M. Masri explores the factors that have shaped the country's exceptional experience. He traces Tunisia's history of reform in the realms of education, religion, and women's rights, arguing that the seeds for today's relatively liberal and democratic society were planted as far back as the middle of the nineteenth century. Masri argues that Tunisia stands out not as a model that can be replicated in other Arab countries, but rather as an anomaly, as its history of reformism set it on a separate trajectory from the rest of the region. The narrative explores notions of identity, the relationship between Islam and society, and the hegemonic role of religion in shaping educational, social, and political agendas across the Arab region. Based on interviews with dozens of experts, leaders, activists, and ordinary citizens, and a synthesis of a rich body of knowledge, Masri provides a sensitive, often personal, account that is critical for understanding not only Tunisia but also the broader Arab world.
Urban Dwellings, Haitian Citizenships explores the failed
international reconstruction of Port-au-Prince after the
devastating 2010 earthquake. It describes the failures of
international aid in Haiti ...while it analyzes examples of
Haitian-based reconstruction and economic practices. By
interrogating the relationship between indigenous uses of the
cityscape and the urbanization of the countryside within a
framework that centers on the violence of urban planning, the book
shows that the forms of economic development promoted by
international agencies institutionalize impermanence and
instability. Conversely, it shows how everyday Haitians use and
transform the city to create spaces of belonging and forms of
citizenship anchored in a long history of resistance to extractive
economies. Taking readers into the remnants of failed industrial
projects in Haitian provinces and into the streets, rubble, and
homes of Port-au-Prince, this book reflects on the possibilities
and meanings of dwelling in post-disaster urban landscapes.
Explores the aesthetic dimensions of the Arab Spring and the protest movements that followed
From Egypt to India, and from Botswana to London, worker, youth and middle class rebellions have taken on ...the political and bureaucratic status quo and the privilege of small, wealthy and often corrupt elites at a time when the majority can no longer earn a decent wage.
A remarkable feature of the protests from the Arab Spring onwards has been the salience of images, songs, videos, humour, satire and dramatic performances. This book explores the central role the aesthetic played in energising the mass mobilisations of young people, the disaffected, the middle classes, the apolitical silent majority, as well as enabling solidarities and alliances among democrats, workers, trade unions, civil rights activists and opposition parties.
Comparing the North African and Middle Eastern uprisings with protest movements such as Occupy, the authors bring to bear an anthropological and sociological approach from a variety of perspectives, illuminating the debate by drawing on a wide array of disciplinary expertise.
Key FeaturesIncludes over 150 colour illustrations showing how visual media is used in protest movements across the globeShares perspectives from political, media, visual, economic and linguistic anthropology, and the anthropology of work, art, social organisation and social movementLooks at the use of social networking and new media technologies such as TwitterCase studies includeProtests about regime change in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and RussiaCorruption in IndiaThe demise of the welfare state in Spain, Israel and GreeceThe living wage in Botswana and WisconsinThe financial crisis and corporate greed and the Occupy movement in British and American cities
Here we present the results of visible range light curve observations of ten Centaurs using the Kepler Space Telescope in the framework of the K2 mission. Well defined periodic light curves are ...obtained in six cases allowing us to derive rotational periods, a notable increase in the number of Centaurs with known rotational properties.
The low amplitude light curves of (471931) 2013 PH44 and (250112) 2002 KY14 can be explained either by albedo variegations, binarity or elongated shape. (353222) 2009 YD7 and (514312) 2016 AE193 could be rotating elongated objects, while 2017 CX33 and 2012 VU85 are the most promising binary candidates due to their slow rotations and higher light curve amplitudes. (463368) 2012 VU85 has the longest rotation period, P = 56.2 h observed among Centaurs. The P > 20 h rotation periods obtained for the two potential binaries underlines the importance of long, uninterrupted time series photometry of solar system targets that can suitably be performed only from spacecraft, like the Kepler in the K2 mission, and the currently running TESS mission.
•Light curves of ten Centaurs observed with the Kepler Space Telescope in the K2 mission are presented•Rotation periods are derived for six targets: 2002 KY14, 2009 YD7, 2013 PH44, 2012 VU85, 2016 AE193 and 2017 CX33•The rotation period of P = 56.2 h of 2012 VU85 is the longest ever observed among Centaurs•The long period (P>20h) targets are also candidate binary systems, as revealed by our analysis•The results emphasise the importance of long, uninterrupted photometry by space telescopes, like Kepler/K2 and TESS
Taking a comparative approach, this book considers the ways in which political regimes in the Middle East and North Africa have changed since the Arab Spring.
Drilling Down Tainter, Joseph A; Patzek, Tadeusz W
2011, 20110803, 2011-09-16
eBook
For more than a century, oil has been the engine of growth for a society that delivers an unprecedented standard of living to many. We now take for granted that economic growth is good, necessary, ...and even inevitable, but also feel a sense of unease about the simultaneous growth of complexity in the processes and institutions that generate and manage that growth. As societies grow more complex through the bounty of cheap energy, they also confront problems that seem to increase in number and severity. In this era of fossil fuels, cheap energy and increasing complexity have been in a mutually-reinforcing spiral. The more energy we have and the more problems our societies confront, the more we grow complex and require still more energy. How did our demand for energy, our technological prowess, the resulting need for complex problem solving, and the end of easy oil conspire to make the Deepwater Horizon oil spill increasingly likely, if not inevitable? This book explains the real causal factors leading up to the worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. history, a disaster from which it will take decades to recover.
Oil and Water Miller, Andrea; Roberts, Shearon; Lapoe, Victoria
04/2014
eBook
Along the Gulf Coast, history is often referenced as pre-Katrina or post-Katrina. However, the natural disaster that appalled the world in 2005 has been joined by another catastrophe, this one ...man-made--the greatest environmental and maritime accident of all time, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. In less than five years, the Gulf Coast has experienced two colossal disasters, very different, yet very similar. And these two equally complex crises have resulted in a steep learning curve for all, but especially the journalists covering these enduring stories.
InOil and Water, the authors explore the media-fed experiences, the visuals and narratives associated with both disasters. Katrina journalists have reluctantly had to transform into oil spill journalists. The authors look at this process of growth from the viewpoints not only of the journalists, but also of the public and of the scientific community. Through a detailed analysis of the journalists' content, the authors tackle significant questions. This book assesses the quality of journalism and the effects that quality may have on the public. The authors argue that regardless of the type of journalism involved or the immensity of the events covered, successful reportage still depends on the fundamentals of journalism and the importance of following these tenets consistently in a crisis atmosphere, especially when confronted with enduring crises that are just years apart.
This book discusses one of the major U.S. disaster events within the past ten years. Scholars from various backgrounds address topics including the social and psychological impacts on Gulf Coast ...residents, the transformation of natural ecological systems, and media portrayals of the Obama administration and its response to this disaster.
Deepwater Horizon Earl Boebert, James M. Blossom
2016, 2016-09-06
eBook
In 2010 BP's Deepwater Horizon catastrophe spiraled into the worst human-made economic and ecological disaster in Gulf Coast history. In the most comprehensive account to date, senior systems ...engineers Earl Boebert and James Blossom show how corporate and engineering decisions, each one individually innocuous, interacted to create the disaster.
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