India and the Traveller: Aspects of Travelling Identity, a collection of essays on travel writings related to India, focuses on the evolving persona of travelers to India as well as Indians journeying to other lands or within India. It examines India as a space, reflected on and interrogated by others, as also people associated intrinsically with this space, who move in and out of it. The essays focus on the self-fashioning of the traveller - Buddhist pilgrims of Asia, European visitors to the Mughal court, the British colonizer, the Indian anthropologist, historian or whimsical civil servant, the wanderer seeking spiritual insight in nature, and the woman traveller with her distinct perceptions and sensitivities. Engaging with issues related to identity, this book explores the need for cultural accommodation by African and European travellers, the discovery of affinity by Asian travellers, the instability of postcolonial selves and travel as a means of negotiating complex problems of fashioning personae in literary works.
Comparing the variant ideologies of the representations of India in seventeenth-century European travelogues, India in Early Modern English Travel Narratives concerns a relatively neglected area of study and often overlooked writers. Relating the narratives to contemporary ideas and beliefs, Rita Banerjee argues that travel writers, many of them avid Protestants, seek to negativize India by constructing her in opposition to Europe, the supposed norm, by deliberately erasing affinities and indulging in the politics of disavowal. However, some travelogues show a neutral stance by dispassionate ethnographic reporting, indicating a growing empirical trend. Yet others, influenced by the Enlightenment ideas of diversity, demonstrate tolerance of alien practices and, occasionally, acceptance of the superior rationality of the other's customs.
‘Sex underlies human existence, and if human life is sacred, how can sex not be?’ As squeamish as India is today about sex, this is also the land where queens once copulated with head horses at religious ceremonies, where the art of love-making was declared the revelation of the gods and recorded in elaborate detail in the kama sutras and prostitution was a form of sacred offering at temples adorned with erotic sculptures. Using India as a paradigm, Rita Banerji illustrates that sexual morality is not an absolute but a facet of living that undergoes periodic upheavals. She delineates four major periods in Indian history when there were significant shifts in the collective social perception of sex and sexuality, and the associated customs and beliefs. What causes this revision in sexual ethos? To explain this, Sex and Power proposes a modified version of Nietzsche’s slave versus master morality theory. The theory, which is tested against the dynamics of each of the four defined periods, establishes that the moral overview of any given period is determined not by a set of pre-existing ethics but by the existent power structure of the period in question. The accepted moral code actually serves the party in power. How would this theory play out in the context of India today? Banerji examines this question at length as one of extreme urgency, and concludes that the three most burning issues facing the country today—population explosion, AIDS and female genocide—are the manifestations of a collective sexual malfunctioning of society and need to be redressed in the context of an existent social and economic power hierarchy.
India and the Traveller: Aspects of Travelling Identity, a collection of essays on travel writings related to India, focuses on the evolving persona of travelers to India as well as Indians journeying to other lands or within India. It examines India as a space, reflected on and interrogated by others, as also people associated intrinsically with this space, who move in and out of it. The essays focus on the self-fashioning of the traveller - Buddhist pilgrims of Asia, European visitors to the Mughal court, the British colonizer, the Indian anthropologist, historian or whimsical civil servant, the wanderer seeking spiritual insight in nature, and the woman traveller with her distinct perceptions and sensitivities. Engaging with issues related to identity, this book explores the need for cultural accommodation by African and European travellers, the discovery of affinity by Asian travellers, the instability of postcolonial selves and travel as a means of negotiating complex problems of fashioning personae in literary works.
Comparing the variant ideologies of the representations of India in seventeenth-century European travelogues, India in Early Modern English Travel Narratives concerns a relatively neglected area of study and often overlooked writers. Relating the narratives to contemporary ideas and beliefs, Rita Banerjee argues that travel writers, many of them avid Protestants, seek to negativize India by constructing her in opposition to Europe, the supposed norm, by deliberately erasing affinities and indulging in the politics of disavowal. However, some travelogues show a neutral stance by dispassionate ethnographic reporting, indicating a growing empirical trend. Yet others, influenced by the Enlightenment ideas of diversity, demonstrate tolerance of alien practices and, occasionally, acceptance of the superior rationality of the other's customs.
Prometheus, you are glad that you have outwitted me and stolen fire... but I will give men as the price for fire an evil thing in which they may all be glad of heart while they embrace their own destruction. So speaks Zeus, of ancient mythology, to the demi-God Prometheus. Man has given over the power of planning, and mastering of his destiny to machines. The complexity of these machines inevitably leads to miscalculations that have devastating consequences for the planet. After a cataclysm of global magnitude, only some isolated parts of the world remain intact. The remnants of three cultures come together in a sanctuary high in mountains of Nepal, each with their own blueprint for the new-world order. Join Ludec Jarmac and his companions as they race to ensure a future for earth in this thought provoking novel of the very near future.
This book examines the crucial role that sound file selection plays in assessing listening ability and introduces the reader to the procedure of textmapping, which explores how to exploit a sound file. The book discusses the role of the task identifier, the task instructions and the example, and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of different test methods. Guidelines for developing listening items, and procedures that can be used in peer review and task revision are also provided. A range of sample listening tasks illustrates the benefits of following the test development approach described in the book. Developing Listening Tests also provides insights into the advantages that field trials, statistical analyses and standard setting can offer the language test developer in determining how well their tasks work. This practical book will be of interest to researchers, language testers, testing commissions, and teachers engaged in assessing listening performance around the world.
‘Sex underlies human existence, and if human life is sacred, how can sex not be?’ As squeamish as India is today about sex, this is also the land where queens once copulated with head horses at religious ceremonies, where the art of love-making was declared the revelation of the gods and recorded in elaborate detail in the kama sutras and prostitution was a form of sacred offering at temples adorned with erotic sculptures. Using India as a paradigm, Rita Banerji illustrates that sexual morality is not an absolute but a facet of living that undergoes periodic upheavals. She delineates four major periods in Indian history when there were significant shifts in the collective social perception of sex and sexuality, and the associated customs and beliefs. What causes this revision in sexual ethos? To explain this, Sex and Power proposes a modified version of Nietzsche’s slave versus master morality theory. The theory, which is tested against the dynamics of each of the four defined periods, establishes that the moral overview of any given period is determined not by a set of pre-existing ethics but by the existent power structure of the period in question. The accepted moral code actually serves the party in power. How would this theory play out in the context of India today? Banerji examines this question at length as one of extreme urgency, and concludes that the three most burning issues facing the country today—population explosion, AIDS and female genocide—are the manifestations of a collective sexual malfunctioning of society and need to be redressed in the context of an existent social and economic power hierarchy.
We were excited with the prospect of writing the second edition of this book, but as we embarked on this journey our hearts became heavy and deeply saddened as we witnessed multiple social injustices in our community, the nation, and the world. We have rewritten this Introductory Chapter a number of times as these injustices occurred, aware that these events impacted ours and others personal and professional lives, and subsequently our writing. Astoundingly, each violation of human rights and social and racial justice was as profoundly devastating, disturbing, and shocking as the one that proceeded the injustice one month, one week, one day, or even one hour before"--
Between 1991 and 2010, Dhaka’s population more than doubled to 15 million. Simultaneously, the city’s contribution to the national economy almost trebled. Clearly, population growth was accompanied by an unmistakable trend of economic growth, and a significant decline in urban poverty and income inequality. On the other hand, Dhaka’s high population density exacerbated serious environmental challenges, and it was soon ranked as one of the world’s least livable cities. In the context of these contradictory signals of rapid urbanization, Dhaka’s Changing Landscape sets to answer three most intriguing questions: Are the poorer segments of urban population, which migrate with dreams for better lives, benefitting from positive economic trends? Are these benefits sustainable? Are these benefits creating scope for this group to have a stake in the city’s growing prosperity? By studying 600 households and applying comparative analysis over a span of 20 years, the authors examine demographic and economic trends to understand the patterns, scale, and complexity of urban poverty, income inequality, and rural–urban migration. Going beyond the space and poverty debate, they enlighten the readers about the quality of life questions, sustainability matters, and gender and generational roles and relations necessary to understand qualitative transformation and migrants’ prospects for a better future.
This Brief examines the dynamics between the informal economy and unemployment rates, the causes of informality, its consequences and potential reduction measures at both the theoretical and empirical level. Using Lithuania as a case study, this book tests the assumption that participation in the informal economy is largely by the unemployed in emerging economies. Chapters present a systematic and comparative literature analysis, a quantitative survey of participation in the Lithuanian informal economy, especially among the unemployed, an expert evaluation involving representatives of municipalities in charge of the issues of employment, and a statistical analysis of the results. Challenging traditional narratives around the informal economy, this Brief is targeted at academic and postgraduate researchers studying labor economics, public economics, human resource management, industrial relations, and economic sociology.
Why Unitary Social Science? pleads for a comprehensive appraisal of social reality. Tracing the visionary and transformative paths of reality from the subjective to the objective points of view, Mukherjee argues that it is precisely the division of social science into discrete compartments as disciplines that thwarts the emergence of an objective science of society. Social science is seen here as unitary with diverse specialisations emerging from a single base but proliferating endlessly as knowledge advances; neither as different social science disciplines nor as the unified social sciences.
Adulthood: An Introduction offers a thorough foundation to learn, consolidate, and apply developmental concepts and current knowledge to the psychology of adult development. It illustrates major ideas with carefully selected research that is widely referenced and topically pertinent to development in early, middle, and late adulthood. This comprehensive text reviews the five domains of development, including biological development, cognitive development, personality development, social development, and ecological influences in development. It introduces multicultural perspectives and contexts in these discussions, as well as developmental themes such as nature and nurture, early and later experiences, and the individual’s active role. Accompanied by learning objectives and section reviews, vignettes portray numerous adult experiences, and commentaries for students offer additional information and interpretation with the students’ perspectives in mind. Designed to encourage students to think critically about topics of adulthood in both academic and applied settings, Adulthood is appropriate for undergraduate students in psychology and related disciplines, such as addiction studies, speech pathology, criminal justice, nursing, and business. Combined with a complete ancillary package, the book provides activities for individuals and groups, critical thinking questions, vignette-specific questions and responses, perspectives across disciplines, and much more. Additional resources for both students and instructors are available in the book's Support Material.
Chanakyaniti, inspired by the ancient wisdom of Chanakya, is a guiding light for strategic brilliance. Rooted in astute insights and shrewd intellect, it navigates the intricate paths of life and leadership. Chanakyaniti empowers individuals with timeless principles, fostering astuteness, resilience, and triumph in the modern world.
This paper presents a novel approach to addressing VAT regressivity, by proposing the adoption of a progressive VAT: a single-rate, broad-base, VAT, whereby tax paid on consumption is re-paid to lower income households in real-time, at the moment of purchase. Such a system can effectively eliminate regressivity, while minimizing the political economy, cash-flow, and welfare stigma obstacles that are often associated with standard welfare transfers used in modern VAT systems. It would also have other significant advantages, particularly in terms of compliance incentives.
Skills and Jobs in Brazil: An Agenda for Youth is a new report focusing on the challenge of economic engagement among the Brazilian youth. In the context of a fast aging population, Brazil’s greatest economic opportunity is to increase its labor productivity, especially that of youth. This report documents important new facts about the extent of the youth economic disengagement, while at school and at work. Today, close to half of the Brazilian youth aged 15-29 years old is not fully economically engaged, because they are neither working nor studying, are studying in schools of poor quality, or are working in informal and precarious jobs. The report shows how the youth prospects in the labor market are dimmed by policies favoring existing workers over new entrants; in addition, it shows how youth are often ill equipped to meet an increasingly challenging labor market. The report suggests new education, skills, and jobs policy changes that Brazil could prioritize moving forward, so that it can take advantage of the last wave of its demographic transition. The report discusses in particular depth policies aiming to increase learning and reduce school dropouts in upper secondary education, and labor market policies that aim to support more effective and faster youth transitions from school to work.
The first of two volumes, this book examines Gandhi’s contribution to an understanding of the scientific and evolutionary basis of the psychology of nonviolence, through the lens of contemporary researches on human cognition, empathy, morality and self-control. While, psychological science has focused on those participants that delivered electric shocks in Professor Stanley Milgram’s famous experiments, these books begin from the premise that we have neglected to fully explore why the other participants walked away. Building on emergent research in the psychology of self control and wisdom, the authors illustrate what Gandhi’s life and work offers to our understanding of these subjects who disobeyed and defied Milgram. The authors analyze Gandhi’s actions and philosophy, as well as original interviews with his contemporaries, to elaborate a modern scientific psychology of nonviolence from the principles he enunciated and which were followed so successfully in his Satyagrahas. Gandhi, they argue, was a practical psychologist from whom we can derive a science of nonviolence which, as Volume 2 will illustrate, can be applied to almost every subfield of psychology, but particularly to those addressing the most urgent issues of the 21st century. This book is the result of four decades of collaborative work between the authors. It marks a unique contribution to studies of both Gandhi and the current trends in psychological research that will appeal in particular to scholars of social change, peace studies and peace psychology, and, serve as an exemplar in teaching one of modern psychology’s hitherto neglected perspectives.
This annual series, published in co-operation with the Women in International Development Program at Michigan State University, uses a multidisciplinary approach to explore women's experiences across a wide range of geographical areas, economic sectors, and societal institutions. The articles presented in each volume synthesize a growing body of literature on key issues, suggest priorities for research, and propose changes in development policy and programming. Each volume is divided into three major sections. In the first, contributors distill and interpret research in review articles; in the second - a trend report - they provide original analysis of existing data sets; and in the final section, they analyze a specific research concern from varying perspectives.
This paper studies the interconnectedness of the global financial system and its susceptibility to shocks. A novel multilayer network framework is applied to link debt and equity exposures across countries. Use of this approach—that examines simultaneously multiple channels of transmission and their important higher order effects—shows that ignoring the heterogeneity of financial exposures, and simply aggregating all claims, as often done in other studies, can underestimate the extent and effects of financial contagion.The structure of the global financial network has changed since the global financial crisis, impacted by European bank’s deleveraging and higher corporate debt issuance. Still, we find that the structure of the system and contagion remain similar in that network is highly susceptible to shocks from central countries and those with large financial systems (e.g., the USA and the UK). While, individual European countries (excluding the UK) have relatively low impact on shock propagation, the network is highly susceptible to the shocks from the entire euro area. Another important development is the rising role of the Asian countries and the noticeable increase in network susceptibility to shocks from China and Hong Kong SAR economies.
Get the science on helping reduce stress in family caregivers of people with dementia: Details the best tools for assessment and explores evidence-based approaches Reflects on diversity, equity, and inclusion Includes downloadable handouts Guidance for supporting family caregivers on maintaining positive mental health This is the first book that takes a "deep dive" to answer the questions that mental health providers encounter when working with family caregivers. Just what are the unique issues family caregivers face? How does this impact their mental health? What can providers do to help? Based on research and clinical experiences of the authors, this volume in our Advances in Psychotherapy series focuses on examining the specific issues that caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia face. Practitioners learn about the best tools for assessment and which evidence-based interventions help reduce caregiver distress – including cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness and multicomponent intervention programs. Resources in the appendix include a caretaker intake interview, and the book is interspersed with clinical vignettes that highlight issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion – making this is an essential text for mental health providers from a variety of disciplines including psychology, psychiatry, nursing, social work, marriage and family counseling, as well as trainees in these disciplines.
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