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Addiction and the Brain: Knowledge, Beliefs and Ethical Considerations from a Social Perspective

This book investigates the neuroscientific knowledge on addiction as an epistemic project.

Civil Society and Social Science in Yoshihiko Uchida

This book introduces the work of Yoshihiko Uchida (1913–1989), one of the most prominent Japanese thinkers on the topic of civil society in the post-World War II era. The distinctive features of Uchida’s approach to civil society are his view of the metabolic relationship between human beings and nature and his call for a social science rooted in the experiences and inquiries of ordinary citizens. This original approach did not develop in a straight line from Uchida’s early work to his mature period, and this book follows the twists and turns in its formation through his reflections on the relationships between “the civil” and “the capitalistic,” “the modern” and “the pre-modern,” “the historical” and “the trans-historical,” and “science by specialists” and “inquiry by laypeople.” As a historian of economic thought, Uchida pursued these topical themes by examining figures such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Hajime Kawakami, a prominent thinker in Japan. By casting a light on these inquiries, this book offers the first depiction of Uchida’s body of work as a whole and in doing so illuminates the emergence of original democratic thought in post-war Japan.

Multidimensional Poverty Measurement: Theory and Methodology (International Research on Poverty Reduction)

​This book addresses and compensates for the lack of poverty measurement research in China. With regard to the multi-dimensional measurement of poverty, it is clear that the situation of Chinese farmers is problematic in terms of five major aspects: sanitation facilities, health insurance, durable consumer goods, productive assets and modern fuels. Based on these criteria, the book provides a clear direction for policy intervention to comprehensively improve farmers’ standard of living and tackle the key problems of poverty alleviation and development in the region. In addition, its analysis of poverty among ethnic minorities, the elderly and children offers valuable reference material for poverty alleviation and the development of special groups.

Humanizing Education in the 3rd Millennium (SpringerBriefs in Education)

This book proposes some insights and ideas into how education might be humanized. The chapters inform, provoke, and guide further inquiries into imagining and actualizing human education. It presents the view that education should be primarily understood as human education, which offers universal good for the entire planet. It centres around the significant values that make life, in a holistic sense, meaningful, worthwhile, and socially just. It discusses the fundamental idea that human education is the key to peace, individual and social freedoms, social justice and harmony, fraternity and happiness all over the world, and how educational ideals and methods must be reconsidered to achieve this end.This book originates from an international conference and round-table, “Human Education in the 3rd Millennium,” in July 2019 in Dharamsala, India.

Recovering Assemblages: Unfolding Sociomaterial Relations of Drug Use and Recovery

Recovering Assemblages offers an exciting new insight into the policies and practices of recovery and drug use bridging critical drug studies and the sociology of health and illness. The book investigates lived experiences of young people in Azerbaijan and Germany during their personal recovery from alcohol and other drug use and shows the contingency of 'real' experiences. The sociomaterial and ontological analyses unfold the interrelation of practices, spaces, bodies, and affects in experiencing recovery both within and outside of various treatment facilities. The book will appeal to a range of scholars, postgraduates, and undergraduates engaged in critical, methodological, and empirical studies of recovery, drug use, and policy.

Track and Trace Management System for Dementia and Intellectual Disabilities (Advanced Technologies and Societal Change)

This book reviews humanitarian literature and presents the development of low-cost track & trace management system integrated with accurate GPS location data pinging using Internet of Things (IoT). The first part relates to mobile device configuration with an embedded GPS and wireless Internet connection to transmit its current location. The second part presents web server implementation and development that receives the data, parses it, and stores it for access over the Internet. The third part discusses the user interface that allows one to visually identify the current location of the device.

Human Rights Education in China: Perspectives, Policies and Practices

The book provides new research highlighting perspectives, perceptions, and practices regarding human rights and human rights education in China. It traces the emergence and evolution of the human rights conception and human rights education from comparative perspectives. China’s deeply embedded philosophical and cultural traditions shed light on its ideas of human rights and human rights education. The efforts to construct an independent and strong nation-state since the mid-to-late nineteenth century fashioned the Chinese thinking of rights and citizenship, and the reciprocal relation between the individual and community/state.With the help of collected data, the book unpacks that the goal-making and content-selection of human rights education in China rely heavily on the provisions given by central authorities; however, the practices have different facets depends on how the people perceive and respond those requirements in the school and classroom contexts. The book concludes by explaining the human rights education in China as a socialization project for citizenship-making, and suggests that China’s doctrine on human rights and human rights education is closely associated with cultural relativization and social construction.Though China is just beginning to develop human rights education in its education systems, this study suggests possible direction for future research. How to live with human rights should be included further in schooling, especially how to infuse human rights education into all aspects of school day-to-day life.

Toilet as Business for the Hygiene of the Chinese Community in Colonial Hong Kong

This book analyses how public toilets were provided by the government and local business in Hong Kong between the 1860s and 1930s through a process that was embedded in class and racial politics. Addressing public toilet provision from a political economy perspective, it focuses on the interplay of the cross-border night soil business between Hong Kong and China’s silk producing area; the silk market between China and Colonial powers; the Hong Kong land market between the colonial government and Chinese business; and how these factors jointly produced a network of toilets in the colony. As the book shows, the commercial viability of toilets created multiple logics and a new moral geography; further, exploring the topic can help us gain a better understanding of how urban governance functioned in colonies and how it intertwined with economic contingencies within a global economic system. The intended readership includes academics and members of the general public with an interest in colonialism, public infrastructures, public health, government–business relations, and urban governance.

Reappraising Modern Indian Thought: Themes and Thinkers

Reappraising Modern Indian Thought: Themes and Thinkers is a lucid and comprehensive account of the thread of socio-political thought of major Indian thinkers over the decades. In contrast to the existing texts on the subject, it explores the social and political conditions that formed the basis of political thinking of the thinkers in the past two centuries. The book begins with a detailed discussion on the development and articulation of socio-political thought that have evolved in modern India. It then goes to give a comprehensive coverage and makes an analysis of great thinkers of modern India, namely Rabindranath Tagore, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghose, Abul Kalam Azad, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, Syed Ahmed Khan, and Muhammad Iqbal. Divided into four thematic sections; Ideal-Humanist Thought, Militant-Extremist Thought, Cultural–Revivalist Thought and Radical-Pragmatist Thought — the chapters on such thinkers not only talks about their lives and times but also discusses and examines the contributions of those to contemporary period.This multi-authored compendium has contributions from professionals and experts of the subject from different premier universities of India and it will be an indispensable and immensely helpful basic text to students, researchers, academicians as well as for general readers across India and also abroad who will take interest to develop a critical understanding of the modern Indian thinkers on the issues such as colonialism, India’s freedom struggle, nationalism, nation building, economic reconstruction, education, democracy, secularism, socialism, integral and universal humanism.

Performing Against Annihilation: Identity and Consciousness in J.R.R. Tolkien, Richard Wagner and George R.R. Martin

This book outlines how the protagonists in The Nibelung's Ring, The Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones attempt to construct identities and expand their consciousness manifestations. As the characters in the three works face the ends of their respective worlds, they must find answers to their mortality, and to the threat it implies: the loss of identity and consciousness. Moreover, it details how this process is depicted performatively. In a hands-on and interdisciplinary approach, this book seeks to unveil the underlying philosophical concepts of identity and consciousness in the three works as they are represented audio-visually on stage and screen. Through the use of many practical examples, this book offers both academic scholars and any interested readers a completely new perspective on three enduringly popular and interrelated works.

China's Space Programme: From the Era of Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping

This book comprehensively covers the history and current developments of space programme of China. It presents the complete story of China’s space programme from its origins through to present day activities on the International Space Station. This monograph further discusses the role of China’s space strategy in its emergence as a major power on the world stage. The book also presents the context of China’s space program within the larger narrative of international space development. The book binds together the diverse political, military, economic and technology aspects into a coherent understanding and explains their role in the establishment and growth of Chinese space programme. Given the contents, this book will be a valuable source of information for students, researchers, and historians in the area of space studies.

Applied Philosophy for Health Professions Education: A Journey Towards Mutual Understanding

This book increases the accessibility of philosophical concepts to a wider audience within medical education, translating ‘knowing’ to ‘doing.’ It prompts health professions educators and researchers to consider the dynamics and structure of contemporary issues within health professions education in new, philosophical ways. Through considering the practical implications of applying philosophical concepts to contemporary issues, the book recommends avenues for further research and pedagogical change. Individual educators are considered, with practice points for teaching generated within each chapter. Readers will acquire practical ways in which they can change their own practice or pedagogy that align with the new insight offered through our philosophical analysis. These practical recommendations may be systemic in nature, but the authors of this book also offer micro-level recommendations for practitioners that can be considered as ways to improve individual approaches to education and research.

Ubiquitous Mapping: Perspectives from Japan (Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences)

Since the last decades of the twentieth century, the circumstances surrounding map use and map making have drastically changed owing to advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs). In particular, the spread of web maps and mobile devices have altered the way people interact with maps. This book features the latest works on theoretical and practical issues of these changes by terming them “ubiquitous mapping”. In particular, the book pays attention to not only the technological basis but also multidisciplinary human–social aspects. The book covers the topics of the evaluation of ICT-based technologies for context-aware mapping, the theory and application of crowd-sourced geospatial information and collaborative mapping, and both the positive and negative effects of ubiquitous mapping on human society.

Intercultural Communication Education: Broken Realities and Rebellious Dreams (SpringerBriefs in Education)

This book explores the notion of interculturality in education and supports scholars in their discovery of the notion. Continuing the author’s previous work, the book urges (communication) education researchers and educators to 'interculturalize' interculturality. This book corresponds to the authors’ endeavor to complexify the way interculturality is discussed, expressed, (co-)constructed and advocated in different parts of the world and in different languages. To interculturalize interculturality is to expand the way we deal with the notion as an object of scientific and educational discourse, noting the dominating voices and allowing for silenced voices that are rarely heard around interculturality to emerge. This book is based on broken realities and (the authors’) rebellious dreams. As two researchers and educators with a long experience examining discourses of interculturality, this book represents the authors’ program for the future of intercultural communication education. The book is divided into three 'tableaus' (living descriptions) depicting today’s 'broken' realities of interculturality and two 'rebellious' dreams of what it could be in research and education.

Proceedings of Seventh International Congress on Information and Communication Technology: ICICT 2022, London, Volume 1 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #447)

This book gathers selected high-quality research papers presented at the Seventh International Congress on Information and Communication Technology, held at Brunel University, London, on February 21–24, 2022. It discusses emerging topics pertaining to information and communication technology (ICT) for managerial applications, e-governance, e-agriculture, e-education and computing technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) and e-mining. Written by respected experts and researchers working on ICT, the book offers a valuable asset for young researchers involved in advanced studies. The work is presented in four volumes.

Proceedings of Seventh International Congress on Information and Communication Technology: ICICT 2022, London, Volume 2 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #448)

This book gathers selected high-quality research papers presented at the Seventh International Congress on Information and Communication Technology, held at Brunel University, London, on February 21–24, 2022. It discusses emerging topics pertaining to information and communication technology (ICT) for managerial applications, e-governance, e-agriculture, e-education and computing technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) and e-mining. Written by respected experts and researchers working on ICT, the book offers a valuable asset for young researchers involved in advanced studies. The work is presented in four volumes.

Eco-Urbanism and the South East Asian City: Climate, Urban-Architectural Form and Heritage

This book traces the history of urban design in tropical South East Asia with a view to offering solutions to contemporary architectural and urban problems. The book examines how pre-colonial forms and patterns from South East Asian traditional cities, overlaid by centuries of change, recall present notions of ecological and organic urbanism. These may look disorganised, yet they reflect and suggest certain common patterns that inform eco-urban design paradigms for the development of future cities.Taking a thematic approach, the book examines how such historical findings, debates and discussions can assist designers and policy makers to interpret and then instil identities in urban design across the Asian region. The book weaves a discourse across planning, urban design, architecture and ornamentation dimensions to reconstruct forgotten forms that align with the climate of place and resynchronise with the natural world, unearthing an ecologically benign urbanism that can inform the future.Written in an accessible style, this book will be an invaluable reference for researchers and students within the fields of cultural geography, urban studies and architecture.

Urban Redevelopment and Traffic Congestion Management Strategies (Urban Sustainability)

This book focuses on the relationship between urban land redevelopment and traffic systems and discusses the related research. Consisting of three main parts, the first analyzes the interaction between land redevelopment and traffic congestion as well as the mechanisms and causes of traffic congestion. The second part presents strategies for the prevention and control of traffic congestion under urban land redevelopment, proposing a two-stage evaluation system of traffic congestion pre-inspection and traffic impact analysis in the planning and implementation stages of land redevelopment. Lastly, the third section includes an application case analysis of the proposed traffic congestion management strategy.

Gender and Politics in Post-Reformasi Indonesia: Women Leaders within Local Oligarchy Networks

This book employs a gendered perspective to uncover an in-depth understanding of the political role of women leaders in local government in Indonesia. Beginning with the story of two women who successfully won the local elections in Indramayu in 2010 and Tangerang Selatan in 2011, respectively, the book uses their experiences as a point of departure to present a discussion on female political leaders’ part within the larger political dynastic structure in Indonesia. The book explores the multiple challenges and difficulties that these women encountered in reaching power and in promoting local democracy, highlighting the patriarchal nature of the oligarchy. In doing so, this book provides a rich empirical account of the current features of female political leaders and their political and familial, linkages. The research, thus, contributes significantly to the work of scholars and political activists seeking to unpack the process and progress of democratization in post-reformasi Indonesia, in which women’s political participation and leadership are an inevitable and vital part. In doing so, the book champions how Indonesian women are playing an increasingly important role in the democratic process, even in the face of the enduring challenges posed by familial ties and political dynasty factors that continue to hinder democratization—trends that are also prevalent across multiple Southeast Asian countries in the twenty-first century. Relevant to scholars and students situated at the intersection of gender and politics, this translated and updated co-publication is a tour de force, led by one of Indonesia’s seminal scholars in women’s studies.

Social Entrepreneurship, Social Business and the Multi-functionality of Urban Agriculture: Mixed Methods Research on Japan and China (SpringerBriefs in Economics)

This is the first book to clarify the relationships between multi-functions of urban agriculture, creative classes, and social business in China and Japan. Specifically, it constructs a new framework showing how these factors contribute to the sustainability of cities by introducing the mixed methods research of structural equation modeling and the trajectory equifinality model. Policy implications drawn from the research suggests that governments should provide opportunities to create a virtuous cycle to improve the accumulation of social capital in order to attract those who think creatively. It is widely agreed that a sustainable city should meet the needs of the present generation without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. However, there has been no completely agreed-upon definition for what a sustainable city should be nor upon the paradigm for what components should be included. On the other hand, there is a possibility that the multi-functions of urban agriculture may attract especially those who are thinking creatively. These creative thinkers have a high level of social capital, pay attention to social issues, and are greatly motivated to find solutions through social enterprises such as agriculture-related business.

Disaster Management and City Planning: Lessons of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives #58)

This book first provides a comprehensive guideline for future disaster-resistant city planning in large cities in disaster-prone countries such as Japan. It is a compilation of knowledge and know-how obtained through the author’s work in the national government for one and half years in the Earthquake Reconstruction Headquarters, right after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake on 17 January 1995. The author has carefully examined the various ad hoc measures taken just after the earthquake, which were criticized because they did not work as well as expected. Additionally, he has examined the later revisions in disaster and risk management systems made at the levels of local and national governments through experience in the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, to which the author had long been committed. The author argues that the rescue activities, rehabilitation, and reconstruction plans for disaster countermeasures implemented once a disaster has occurred and the city planning established in ordinary times should be extremely tightly connected with each other. City planning that subsumes rescue activities, rehabilitation, and reconstruction plans against what ought to have happened would critically improve the capability of crisis management and, consequently, protect life and property once a disaster has occurred. Such city planning eventually creates disaster-resistant cities. This book assumes readers to be graduate students who study city planning. It is also beneficial for practitioners and policy makers who are in charge of the construction of disaster-resistant cities at the national and local levels of governments, especially in disaster-prone countries.

Psychodrama in Brazil: Contemporary Applications in Mental Health, Education, and Communities (Psychodrama in Counselling, Coaching and Education #3)

This book approaches contemporary psychodrama from many contexts and population application from different regions of Brazil. It presents the diversity of local culture, the originality with which psychodramatic philosophy emerges in the Brazilian scenario. It introduces the theoretical-methodological procedures that reaffirm psychodrama as a scientific instrument of social action. The chapters cover the philosophical and theoretical foundations and the new socio-psycho-educational methodologies applied in clinical practices, sociotherapy, politics and society. It is a helpful resource for professionals and academics interested in the development of innovative applications of Psychodrama.

Regional Innovation Evolution: An Emerging Economy Perspective (New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives #62)

This book covers many aspects of innovation theory, evolutionary economics, economic geography, and simulation models. It is one of the first books to comprehensively and systematically focus on the evolution of regional innovation based on provincial experience in emerging economics, including stylized facts, theoretical explanation, and simulation. The book is devoted to a pioneering process-based regional innovation matrix used for classifying a regional innovation model, which is illustrated by real-world cases and data analyses. The topics addressed here include path dependency, lock-in, routines, variations, selectivity, regional gap, innovation progress, agglomeration, and innovation efficiency. The simulation methods describing the dynamics of regional innovation evaluation on economics are developed as well. The primary objective of this work is to provide a tractable and useful regional governance tool for researchers and policy makers in regional science, human geography, and related disciplines. The book is highly recommended to readers who seek more insight into the continuous development of China or regional development gaps.

Research on Normalizing Income Distribution Order in China

Organising during the Coronavirus Crisis: The Contradictions of Our Digital Lives

This book investigates the use of digital technologies for social organisation during the Covid-19 pandemic, interrogating the specific relationship between digital technologies and social movements. Drawing upon Marx’s theory of alienation and Antonio Gramsci’s concepts concerning common-sense, good sense, hegemony and praxis, the author examines the effectiveness of digital technologies in filling the social void created by the pandemic. A series of in-depth interviews across a spectrum of areas – from community activism, mental health, trade union organisation, the creative arts, and resistance movements – reveal how digital technologies flourished during the pandemic crisis, facilitating new ways to communicate. However, the interviews also throw into sharp relief the inadequacies of digital technologies. The book challenges conventional wisdom concerning the beneficial impact of digital machines on our lives. This book will have a broad appeal to anyone researching or teaching the societal, ethical and political implications of digital technologies, particularly from a qualitative perspective. It also has relevance for a wider readership concerned about the influence of social media.