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"This volume offers a new framework for understanding expertise. It proposes a reconceptualization of the traditional notion of expertise and calls for the development of a new contextual and action-oriented notion of expertise, which is attentive to axiological values, intellectual virtues, and moral qualities. Experts are usually called upon, especially during times of emergency, either as decision makers or as advisors in formulating policies that often have a significant impact on society. And yet, for certain types of choices, there is a growing tension between experts' recommendations and alternative views. The chapters in this volume critically assess the idea of whether possessing epistemic authority can automatically make someone's assertions necessarily more grounded than others. They evaluate not only the epistemological implications of this idea, but also reflect on its ethical, socio-cultural, and political consequences. The interdisciplinary framework advanced across the chapters seeks to overcome certain limitations that underlie current models of expertise by adopting more inclusive and representative decisions that can improve the perceived neutrality of experts' decisions. Increasing neutrality means reducing cases in which an unidentified bias-be it a scientific one or not-puts any of the individuals involved in a specific public choice at a systematic disadvantage. Philosophy, Expertise, and the Myth of Neutrality will appeal to scholars and advanced students working in epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of the social sciences, public policy, and sociology"--

"This book critically analyzes US political-military strategy by arguing that freedom of the seas discourse is fundamentally unfit for an era of maritime great power competition. The work conducts a genealogical intellectual history of freedom of the seas discourse in U.S. foreign policy to show how the concept has evolved over time to facilitate American control over the global ocean space. It concludes that the contemporary discourse works to establish the high seas as an arena free from claims of sovereignty so that the United States, as the presumed unrivaled naval power, can intervene globally on behalf of its national interests. However, since sea control strategies depend on a preponderance of material force, as the U.S. wanes in relative material capability it becomes less able to support political-military strategies predicated on the assumption of global naval dominance. The book provides a timely commentary on the current geopolitical competition between the United States and China, and critiques the US approach towards China in the maritime domain in order to highlight potential avenues of foreign policy action that may enable the two countries to mitigate the risk of conflict. This book will be of much interest to students of naval history, maritime security, US foreign policy and International Relations"--

"Psychoanalytic Reflections on Vladimir Putin: The Cost of Malignant Leadership attempts to explore the core psychodynamics that appear to characterize Vladimir Putin's presidency. Its contributors examine the nature of the leader-follower relationship, the costs of malignant leadership, and the larger historical context in which Putin's presidency is unfolding. The sobering threat of nuclear war is considered. Finally, the viability and ethics of distance assessment are discussed. This book will be of great interest to psychoanalysts and to readers seeking to understand the complex dynamics of populist leadership"--

"This interdisciplinary book presents an intervention into methodological practices in the subfield of Critical Terrorism Studies, and features established and early career scholars. The volume interrogates the role that research methods play in shaping the sub-discipline of Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS). It responds to two major methodological gaps within CTS: (1) the dearth of Global South cases and voices, and decolonial and feminist approaches; and (2) the lack of engagement with 'traditional' disciplines and quantitative methods. Together, authors demonstrate that interdisciplinary methodological dialogues can open up new possibilities for researchers seeking pathways towards and definitions of emancipation, social justice and freedom from violence. Simultaneously, the book shows that by focusing on the possibilities that methodologies open up to us and by maintaining a commitment to reflexive practice, we expand our understandings of what are 'legitimate' and 'acceptable' forms of research, thus challenging the Critical/Terrorism Studies divide. The chapters draw upon a wide range of empirical cases, including Nigeria, Kenya, France, Brazil and the UK, focusing on three key issues within Critical Terrorism Studies: its own relationship with and perpetuation of epistemic violence; decolonial, postcolonial, Global South, feminist and queer approaches; and more 'traditional' approaches and methods as a means to interrogate the methodological binary between Critical Terrorism Studies and Terrorism Studies. This book will be of much interest to students of critical terrorism studies, counter-terrorism, security studies and International Relations in general"--

"This book is an exploration of media scandals in contemporary Japanese society. Shedding new light on the study of scandal in Japan, the book offers a novel view of scandal as a specific social ritual which follows moral disturbances in Japanese society. Society and culture are analyzed largely in terms of social performances, while the focus is on how Japanese transgressors talk and act when explaining their scandals to the public. A detailed analysis of three case studies is provided: the drug scandal of the popular Japanese celebrity Sakai Noriko from 2009, the political donation scandal from 2009 centering the heavyweight politician Ozawa Ichiro, and the Olympus accounting fraud revealed by the British CEO Michael Woodford in 2011. This book will appeal to students and scholars of Japanese culture and society, anthropology, communication and media studies"--

"Focusing on the greening of imperialisms and empires, Empires of Sustainability analyses the shift around the world from denial of the environmental crisis to action to prevent catastrophe, and the resulting implications. Evidence of this shift is clear in widespread and purposeful social change which is gathering momentum. The book explains how globalisation accelerated us towards the crisis, and today, even as its own legitimacy is being questioned, is evolving through solutions and responses to it. Looking ahead and as the environmental crisis worsens, two possible futures are discerned and explored. One is that through universal actions to save the planet, shaped by interweaving political and economic forces, the hegemony of globalisation is restored, albeit in a green form. The other is that the world reorganises into competing spheres of influence, with politics, economics and the environment interwoven differently in each case. In these ways, we face the prospect of one or more Empires of Sustainability emerging over the decades ahead, unless we build a better alternative society. The author presents an alternative: a more diverse World of Caring Places. This accessible book will appeal to students and scholars of international political economy, sustainability, and environmental studies, and analysts, policy makers, campaigners and others concerned about the future of relations between people and planet"--

"Disinformation Debunked: Building Resilience through Media and Information Literacy examines the way Media and Information Literacy (MIL) can address disinformation in conjunction with fact-checkers and developers, to benefit from the expertise of these fields in fighting disinformation. The book highlights the underlying stakes that are involved in the fight against disinformation, from producing smart tools to generalizing their use beyond the journalistic profession. It considers the MIL theories and methodologies at work in the digital era, especially from the perspective of digital visual literacy. Offering a comparative study of 4 European national experiences (France, Romania, Spain, and Sweden), the authors also make public policy recommendations to improve the fight against disinformation. This book is of great importance to students, scholars and educators working on media and information literacy, digital media, journalism, mass communication, misinformation and disinformation"--

"This book improves our understanding of battlefield coalitions, providing novel theoretical and empirical insight into their nature and capabilities, as well as the military and political consequences of their combat operations. The volume provides the first dataset of battlefield coalitions, uses primary sources to understand how non-state actors of varying types form such groupings, engages in interviews with policy makers to understand North Atlantic Treaty Organization operations, and uses cases studies of various wars waged throughout the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries to understand how they operate. Part I introduces battle coalitions as an object of study, demonstrating how they are distinct from other wartime collectives. Using a novel dataset of actors fighting in 492 battles during interstate wars waged between 1900 and 2003, it provides, for the first time, a comprehensive portrait of the universe of battlefield coalitions. Part II explores processes and dynamics involved in the formation of battlefield coalitions, addressing how potential coalition members prepare for future battles in peacetime (as well as the consequences of such preparations) and the dynamics of mission design. Part III focuses on how battlefield coalitions are organized and fight when combat ensues, notably their decision-making rules and practices, command structures, and learning capacities. Part IV addresses three curious tendencies observed in the operations of battlefield coalitions: partners under-providing effort in combat, rebels and terrorist networks persisting in cooperation even when their interests diverge, and members defecting from the collective. Part V concludes with a chapter outlining for future researchers what we know about battlefield coalitions and what remains to be understood. This book will be of much interest to students of military and strategic studies, defence studies and International Relations"--

Effective urban governance is essential in responding to the challenges of inequality, migration, public health, housing, security, and climate change. Reclaiming Democracy in Cities frames the city as a political actor in its own right, exploring the city's potential to develop deliberative and participatory practices which help inform innovative democratic solutions to modern day challenges. Bringing together expertise from an international selection of scholars from various fields, this book begins with three chapters which discuss the theoretical idea of the democratic city and the real-world applicability of such a model. Part II discusses new and innovative democratic practices at the local level and asks in what way these practices help us to rethink democratic politics, institutions, and mechanisms in order to move toward a more egalitarian, pluralist, and inclusive direction. Drawing on the Istanbul municipal elections and the Kurdish municipal experience, Part III focuses on the question of whether cities and local governments can lead to the emergence of strong democratic forces that oppose authoritarian regimes. Finally, Part IV discusses urban solidarity networks and collaborations at both the local level and beyond the nation, questioning whether urban solidarity networks and alliances with civil society or transnational city networks can create alternative ways of thinking about the city as a locus of democracy. This edited volume will appeal to academics, researchers, and advanced students in the fields of urban studies, particularly those with an interest in democratic theory; local democracy; participation and municipalities. It will also be relevant for practitioners of local governments, NGOs, and advocacy groups and activists working for solidarity networks between cities.

"Inclusion and Exclusion of the Urban Poor in Dhaka explores how the inhabitants of poor neighborhoods in Dhaka, Bangladesh, gain inclusion in the city at the face of exclusion. The book considers how the people of poor neighborhoods encounter the exclusionary behavior of city development, and how their inclusionary attempts have influenced the urban design. The book is presented in two parts: first, it explains how people in poor neighborhoods face exclusion because of the imbalance of power and politics. Second, it demonstrates how the existing exclusion of urban poor is affecting their strategies to gain access to urban services through people's power and politics. Focusing on the transdisciplinary field of urban anthropology, the chapters uncover the urban forces, policies and actions that facilitate urban politics. It also investigates the people who live in poor neighborhoods, who in the face of exclusion, have included themselves in urban development planning and design by employing diverse strategies against those forces in the urban politics, e.g., accepting dominance, bargaining, or having control over their lives. This book will recontextualize an ethnographic inquiry into the exclusion and inclusion of the people within city development design, plans and innovations in applications of anthropological theory and methodology. This book will encourage the reader to understand the politics of state's development projects and plans, and furthermore instigate the city government, planners and policymakers to focus on the people's political power and agency that enables them to achieve inclusion. It will therefore be of interest to researchers and students of urban planning and development, urban geography, and urban anthropology, as well as planning professionals and policymakers"--

"Shakespeare in Tehran is a personal history of Iran through the eyes of an award-winning Iranian American artist. Drawing on parallels between life and the stage, it uses A Midsummer Night's Dream as a roadmap to explore social, political, economic and cultural aspects of Iran before and after the revolution of 1979. Through first person accounts, interspersed with emotional reflections of the universal human experience, it delves into the historical and sociological context of a divided country. Storytelling, flashbacks, and flashforwards make paint an intimate picture of public life in Iran in a time of uncertainty. Accessible, engaging and nuanced, this volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers of politics, history, theatre and performance studies, and West Asian studies"--

"This book describes the formation, transnational activities, and inner workings of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in exile. Made possible thanks to an in-depth examination of previously unutilised correspondence relating to the OUN, this title examines the organization during the first five years of its existence (1929-1934). In contrast to other available sources, such as the press or propaganda materials, the letters more faithfully present actual plans, motivations, and goals of the nationalists. The analysis not only uncovers unknown facts, but also reveals reactions, opinions, and emotions of individual activists. The book explores the structure and mechanisms of the OUN émigré networks by depicting tactics, decision making processes, and the efficiency of activities, as well as contacts and relations within the OUN and with the outside world. The international activity of the OUN is examined through the cooperation with individual countries, including Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, and Germany, but also with lobbying efforts in Great Britain, France, Italy, and North America, where émigré activists of the OUN or their contacts were based. Finally, the book investigates the OUN policy towards activists operating on the area of the Second Polish Republic. This text will be of interest to scholars of Ukrainian history, nationalism, comparative fascism, and transnationalism"--

"This book is a study of Adolf Hitler in his role as military commander and strategist from the beginning of the Second World War until the end of 1942, examining in detail the campaign in southern Russia that year. Warlord Hitler will appeal to postgraduates and specialists in military history, as well as general readers interested in a deeper study of the Second World War"--

"Should local people lose out as new reservoirs, mines, plantations, or superhighways displace them from their homes? What if the process of resettlement were made accountable to those impacted, empowering them to achieve just outcomes and to share in the benefits of development projects? This book seeks to answer these questions, putting forward powerful counterfactual case studies to assess what problems real-world development projects would likely have avoided if the project had followed a higher standard, such as the World Commission on Dams policy framework. Drawing on contributions from leading and emerging scholars from around the world, this book considers cases involving dams, mines, roads, housing, amongst others, from Asia, Africa, and South America. In each case, the counterfactual approach invites us to reconsider the dynamics of accountability and the asymmetries of power relations in the negotiation of displacement benefits and redress. Considering a range of theoretical and ethical perspectives, the book concludes with practical alternative policy suggestions. This book's novel approach to the dynamics of governance, accountability, and (dis)empowerment in development projects with displacement and resettlement will appeal. to academic researchers, development practitioners, and policy makers"--

"This volume is jointly written by twenty experts and scholars from China. It aims to reflect and answer at least two kinds of questions from historical experience and academic perspective. First, how to view the world in the post-pandemic era? Second, how to view China in the post-pandemic era? From the perspective of macroeconomics and international relations, the book discusses in detail the trend of economic globalization, the risk of global economic recession, the industrial chain affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the world order in the post-pandemic era, global governance, and relations between and among major world powers. This book presents Chinese scholars' in-depth and timely reflections on the international pattern of the post-pandemic era. It will be a great read for students and scholars of international relations, East Asian studies, and those interested in the world economy in general"--