The book situates these discussions within the broader context of Latin America's colonial legacy and ongoing decolonization efforts. It demonstrates how the region's nation-states, often founded on myths of cultural homogeneity, have grappled with the complex realities of diverse populations. Through detailed case studies, the book showcases how cultural diversity has become a powerful tool for social empowerment, particularly among racialised groups and other marginalised communities. It also offers insights into the evolution of these policies, tracing the ways in which they have responded to grassroots movements and the global discourse on cultural citizenship.
Furthermore, this work contributes to global debates by positioning Latin America as a key player in rethinking cultural policies that promote diversity, justice, and inclusion. It reflects on the lessons learned from observing these policies, urging readers to consider the broader implications for social cohesion and inclusive development. This work not only provides a thorough analysis of Latin America's unique contributions to cultural policy but also underscores the urgent need for more dynamic, intercultural approaches to address the challenges of the 21st century.
]]>It has been fashionable to declare that there is no self. Certainly the notion of the unitary subject a transcendent subject linked to the traditional religious idea of the immortal soul has not had currency in academic discourse for a very long time, perhaps as much as a century and a half. The psychologically unified subject and the universal subject of shared experience are also things of the past. But is there nothing left of the experience of selfhood? For the self can disenchant itself. But what does the subject feel about itself once it begins to doubt its own integrity? How does it experience its own 'decentering'? How does this 'who' that is left define itself, for itself? For selfhood is an existential condition, and no matter how elusive the self is to itself, it does not and cannot wholly lose itself. This book analyses how the Gnostics, the Romantics, Kierkegaard, Beckett, and Ashbery dramatise the self's self-doubt and what follows. The shared theme of these works, disparate as they are, is the bewilderment of selfhood, the pathos of subjectivity. The self encounters its own selfhood as puzzling and paradoxical. It wants to possess the qualities of an ideal self to be whole, independent, and free and it is disappointed to find it does not. Yet after the skeptical dismantling, something remains within, which represents itself as the self and continues to hear the (unfulfillable) call to selfhood. The self can neither become a self, nor cease to be agitated by the desire to become one.
]]>Scottish-born stylist Ray Petri (19481989), founder of the maverick Buffalo collective, defined the look and feel of radical 1980s magazines such as The Face, i-D, and Arena. Harnessing the power of street style, sportswear, and club culture, Petri's vision took the sartorial vocabulary of subcultural styles into the mainstream. His radical casting of Black models and his genderplay marked a culturally reflexive, political approach to the relationship between fashion and identity. Challenging the policing of masculinity and sexuality in particular, Petri's imagery boldly toyed with the iconography of homoeroticism against the backdrop of gay rights activism and the AIDS crisis. Today, the Buffalo spirit endures in the countercultural references, cultural diversity, and post-gender conversation that underlies the most powerful of contemporary fashion imagery. This book traces how Petri and Buffalo created the template for modern fashion photography by advocating for a new cultural order.
]]>This groundbreaking volume, the first book on the topic, is appropriately comprehensive, covering a range of genres, historical periods, regions, and languages. While the essays in this collection do not come to a consensus regarding the Gothic, they all refract the meaning of the term to expand its utility so that it may properly speak to the Philippines' longue duree of multiple colonialisms and various regional cultures that crowd under the umbrella of the nation. The various permutations of the gothic within the various regional cultures, languages, colonial histories, and uneven experiences of globalisation is what the editor of this volume refers to as 'archipelagothic'. The collection includes essays on the gothic in Philippine literature in English, Tagalog literature, regional literature, cinema, TV, and comics and graphic novels.
]]>Raf Simons: Fashion, Communication, and Modern Masculinity offers an in-depth look at how Raf Simons, through his bold and boundary-pushing designs, has become a pivotal figure in reshaping the discourse on masculinity in fashion. Starting from his early collections to his leadership at renowned fashion houses like Jil Sander, Dior, and Calvin Klein, the book traces Simons's journey in using fashion as a platform to comment on societal pressures, identity, and modern manhood.
The book not only highlights Simons's ability to merge subcultural references with high fashion but also his unique talent for creating garments that convey complex narratives of masculinity, individuality, and rebellion. Through detailed analyses of his most iconic collections, Simons's work is positioned as a significant cultural force that speaks to the evolving perceptions of gender roles and self-expression in contemporary society.
Interviews with key collaborators and rare archival insights give readers an inside view of the creative processes behind Simons's groundbreaking designs. By connecting fashion with broader cultural and gender studies, the book invites a deeper understanding of how clothing can shape and reflect the changing definitions of masculinity today.
]]>The book introduces the concept of resilience and explores key challenges, including workforce development, leadership and the effective use of data-driven sustainable models. It highlights threats to resilience and identifies predictors that enable adaptation to evolving conditions. Emphasising the importance of strong leadership and collaborative capacities, the book discusses resilience-based frameworks that support global tourism revival. It also underscores the role of technology, sustainability and organisational culture in maintaining long-term resilience. Practical case studies offer real-world insights into overcoming challenges and implementing effective strategies. Designed for professionals, researchers, students and policymakers, this book serves as a critical resource for understanding and applying resilience strategies within the tourism and hospitality sectors. By combining theoretical foundations with practical applications, it provides valuable guidance for building a more adaptive, sustainable and future-ready industry.
]]>In outlining the potential of Wittgenstein's philosophy for the study and criticism of popular culture, it aims to establish his work as an alternative or addition to existing approaches (Marxist, post-structuralist, etc.) in the field of popular culture theory. The essays outline the methodological framework of Wittgensteinian approaches to philosophy and conceptual analysis. Each essay demonstrates their merits by looking at particular examples such as analyses of popular films and TV series, detective fiction, comics, or shared practices of fandom. Thus, we encounter varieties of what it means to engage with approaches to criticism of pop in a Wittgensteinian way.
]]>Martin Urschel is a film scholar and writer whose research focuses on genre conventions in films and television, patterns of (anti-)conformism, and the uses of Wittgenstein's philosophical method for film and media studies.
]]>Featuring numerous illustrations and 12 letters, this book tells not only of the passion of an insect collector but also of a perilous journey to the South Seas at the turn of the century. Published in this form for the first time, this collection is a fascinating and at the same time unsettling art project that blurs the boundaries between authenticity and fiction. The finely crafted sculptures are cold-formed from thin sheet steel and presented in preserving jars. The creatures appear deceptively real and at the same time their strange appearance is astonishing. Meyer's South Pacific Expedition offers the viewer the opportunity to imagine an exploration expedition 100 years ago and at the same time this series of works defies exact classification; the boundaries between nature, literature and art, reality and fantasy become blurred. Text in English and German.
]]>She then pursued a degree in Sculpture and Metalwork at Burg Gie-bichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, graduating in 2011 with a diploma in Fine Arts, specializing in Sculpture and Metalwork. She lives and works in Ltzen and Leipzig.
]]>This art book presents 10 distinctive styles of women's relic boxes (Gaus), plus headdresses, ear pendants, shoulder chatelaines, and waist ornaments. The author's fascinating interviews with the last living Lhasa noblewomen and master goldsmiths reveal the original names of pieces and how and when these beautiful treasures were worn. This innovative study establishes for the first time that jewellery styles changed with each Dalai Lama, setting an important dating precedent for all Tibetan collectibles. Meticulous research makes this the definitive scholarly publication on Tibetan jewellery.
]]>Lynn Levenberg's thirty years of research on Buddhist jewelry have made her the only knowledge able expert in this field.
]]>This book shows how a shared fluency in animal-style design became a status-defining symbol and a bonding agent in opportunistic nomadic alliances, and was later adopted by their sedentary neighbours to showcase worldliness and control over the "Other". In this study of enormous geographical scope, the author raises broader questions about the place of nomadic societies in the art-historical canon.
]]>Established scholars consider various themes, including colonial duration and the politics of refusal, feeling feminist time, the exchange of play, scalar theory and scattered bodies, spectatorship and the entanglement of montage, disability, dance and speculative embodiment, AI phenomenology and breath gestures, cinematic atmospheres, the precarious intimacy of the film screen, stardom and biopics, and Black lived experience.
Divided into three parts, Film Phenomenologies offers a collective combination of phenomenological approaches, braiding classic and critical methods to explore aesthetic, embodied, ethical, and political perspectives. It is the first collection to provide a substantial engagement with diverse and inclusive directions in the field of film and media studies.
]]>However, such films have received minimal critical attention as British fantasy films. The reasons for this absence are manifold; leaving many films contested, ignored and omitted from established canons.
This book re-addresses prevailing scholarship on the fantasy genre, national film production and representation on screen, providing readers with a revised appraisal of the contemporary film landscape. It delivers a fresh perspective across a broad range of films which all embrace the fantastic within British cinema.
]]>Anchored by the contention that the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre in Paris (1572) was instrumental to early modern understandings of massacre, the book uses this atrocity, and its most famous dramatic depiction Christopher Marlowe's The Massacre at Paris as a hook to explore larger concerns about massacre in plays by Robert Greene, George Chapman, John Fletcher, and William Shakespeare.
Thus, Massacres in Early Modern Drama considers how early modern drama forms part of a continual cultural process of trying to piece together the contentious and traumatic phenomenon of massacre.
]]>Situating Melilla within broader processes like Spain's colonial history and Europe's border restructuring, the book argues that its fragmented sovereignties and external dependencies make it a paradigmatic site for grasping Europe's precarious margins. It calls for an ethnographic lens attuned to dislocation as both lived experience and analytic tool.
]]>Caroline Aherne was one of the most influential and beloved of British comedians. In this book David Scott explores Aherne's comedic artistry and creative legacy, focusing on her iconic characters and ground-breaking TV shows.
Scott dives into Aherne's most beloved creations, from the sharp-tongued Mrs Merton to the quietly revolutionary The Royle Family. Drawing on the tales of collaborators and telling behind-the-scenes stories, he provides an intimate glimpse into the creative processes that brought these iconic works to life. At the same time, he examines the social and cultural influences that shaped Aherne's work, from the rich traditions of Northern working-class humour to the experiences of Irish migrants.
Aherne's work is celebrated for its sharp wit, warmth and ability to find comedy in adversity. This book offers an exploration and celebration of one of comedy's most inventive minds, revealing how she reshaped the British comedy landscape.
]]>Despite years of attempts to improve its military capabilities, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 revealed a crippling lack of skill, discipline and equipment. Non-material factors, in particular the power struggle between military and civilian leaderships, have hindered reform of its armed forces: with officers dominating defense policy, the Kremlin has struggled to implement the necessary changes.
Kirill Shamiev explores the political reasons behind Russia's poor military preparedness for the war in Ukraine. He demonstrates how a seemingly obedient military has frequently blocked civilian reforms, taking advantage of weak oversight mechanisms. The Kremlin's efforts to centralise control and make the armed forces personally accountable to President Vladimir Putin harmed institutional learning, cementing a conservative civilmilitary status quo. While this protected the military from civil society interference and ensured Putin's autocratic rule, it ultimately limited the pace and scope of change.
Analysing three cases of reform between 2000 and 2021, Imperfect Equilibrium offers critical insights into the relationship between civilian control and military effectiveness in Russia. Drawing on extensive qualitative and quantitative evidence including interviews, parliamentary speeches, media reports and surveys it shows how unchecked autonomy can undermine military development, even in authoritarian contexts.
]]>This volume establishes dossier creation as the foundational practice of all bureaucracies, despite differences in how it has been weaponized as a technique of power by different systems. In nine case studies, ranging from police dossiers in Nazi Germany to China's Hukou family dossier system, this book examines the evolution of surveillance in societies. Surveillance and society researchers Cristina Plamadeala and zgn Erdener Topak engage in a diverse yet comprehensive study of this surveillance tool, looking at examples such as dossiers implicating former members of Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organization (CIO), dossiers used in Cold War-era Australia to monitor migrants from the Soviet Union, dossiers of colonial Japan's Unit 731, deployed in Manchukuo, in Northeast China, and dossiers mobilized for Canada's World War II conscription program. Deeply relevant and imperative, Surveillance and the Dossier seeks to understand the links between the infliction of state-violence and surveillance.
This book demonstrates that dossiers serve as a valuable platform for understanding the past and present of surveillance societies across governments and countries.
]]>In this landmark book, renowned scholar of religion Mircea Eliade lays the groundwork for a Western understanding of yoga. Drawing on years of study and experience in India, Eliade provides a comprehensive survey of yoga in theory and practice from its earliest antecedents in the Vedas through the twentieth century. In his introduction, David Gordon White provides invaluable insight into Eliade's life and work, highlighting the key moments in his intellectual and spiritual education, as well as the personal experiences that shaped his worldview. Yoga is not only one of Eliade's most important books, but also his most personal the only one to analyse a religious tradition that he had truly lived.
]]>Shamanism is an essential account of this mysterious and fascinating phenomenon. The founder of the modern study of the history of religion, Mircea Eliade surveys the shamanic tradition through two and a half millennia of human history, moving from Siberia and Central Asia where shamanism was first observed to North and South America, Indonesia, Tibet, China, and beyond. This authoritative account illuminates the magico-religious life of societies that give primacy to the figure of the shaman at once magician and medicine man, healer and miracle-doer, priest, mystic, and poet. Synthesising the approaches of psychology, sociology, and ethnology, Shamanism is an essential study of an important practice.
]]>First published in English in 1954, this founding work in the historical study of religions secured the North American reputation of the Romanian emigre-scholar Mircea Eliade. Referring to an astonishing number of cultures and drawing on scholarship in no fewer than half a dozen European languages, The Myth of the Eternal Return illuminates the religious beliefs and rituals of a wide variety of ancient cultures and argues that understanding them still has the power to enrich our conception of what it means to be human.
]]>No other god of the Greeks is as widely present in the monuments and ritual practices of antiquity as Dionysos. In this book, acclaimed mythologist and historian of religion Carl Kerenyi presents an engaging history of the religion of Dionysos from its beginnings in the Minoan culture to its transition to a cosmic and cosmopolitan religion of late antiquity under the Roman Empire. From the wealth of Greek literary, epigraphic, and monumental traditions, Kerenyi constructs a vivid picture of Dionysian worship, bringing to life the secret cult scenes of the women's mysteries both within and beyond Attica, the mystic sacrificial rite at Delphi, and the great public Dionysian festivals at Athens. He shows how tragedy and New Comedy are high spiritual forms of the Dionysian religion and how the Dionysian element itself represents an important chapter in the religious history of Europe.
]]>The god Prometheus stole fire from heaven and bestowed it on humans. In punishment, Zeus chained him to a rock, where an eagle clawed unceasingly at his liver until Herakles freed him. For the Greeks, the myth of Prometheus's release reflected a primordial law of existence and the fate of humankind. Carl Kerenyi examines the story of Prometheus and the very process of mythmaking as a reflection of the archetypal function and seeks to discover how this primitive tale was invested with a universal fatality, first in the Greek imagination and then in the Western tradition of Romantic poetry. Kerenyi traces the evolving myth from Hesiod and Aeschylus, and in its epic treatment by Goethe and Shelley. He goes on to consider the myth from the perspective of Jungian psychology as the archetype of human daring signifying the transformation of suffering into the mystery of the sacrifice.
]]>The Sanctuary of Eleusis near Athens was the center of a religious cult that endured for nearly two thousand years and whose initiates came from all parts of the civilised world. In this classic work, Carl Kerenyi examines the Mysteries of Eleusis from the standpoint not only of Greek myth but also of human nature. He reveals how the yearly autumnal mysteries were based on the ancient myth of Demeter's search for her ravished daughter Persephone, a search that he equates not only with woman's quest for completion but with every person's pursuit of identity. Drawing on archaeology, objects of art, and religious history, Kerenyi explores what the mysteries may have been like for those who experienced them and suggests rich parallels with other mythologies.
]]>What did Zeus mean to the Greeks of antiquity? Who was Hera, archetypally united with Zeus as if they were a human couple? Examining the word Zeus and its Greek synonyms theos and daimon, acclaimed mythologist and historian of religion Carl Kerenyi traces the origins of Greek religion to the Minoan-Mycenean civilisation. He shows how Homer's view of the gods decisively shaped the literary and artistic tradition of Greek divine mythology and how the emergence of the Olympian family became the expression of a humane Zeus cult determined by the father image but formed within the domain of Hera.
]]>To the physicians of classical antiquity, Asklepios was the ideal of their existence as healers. In this book, acclaimed mythologist and historian of religion Carl Kerenyi takes readers on a tour of the sacred sites of the Greek god of medicine to investigate the origins and archetypal significance of Asklepios as the divine physician. Drawing on mythology to trace the obscure beginnings of the cult, Kerenyi argues that Asklepios was an aspect of his father, the god Apollo, closely associated with the light of rising sun and embodying the qualities of a healing deity. He shows how the Greeks revered Asklepios as the divine ancestor and prototype of mortal physicians and explores the role of the Asklepios archetype in modern psychology.
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