A novel, integrated approach to understanding long-term human history, viewing it as the long-term evolution of human information-processing. This title is also available as Open Access.
A novel, integrated approach to understanding long-term human history, viewing it as the long-term evolution of human information-processing. This title is also available as Open Access.
On the basis of a careful analysis of Olivier Messiaen's work, this book argues for a renewal of our thinking about religious music. Addressing his notion of a "hyper-religious" music of sounds and colors, it aims to show that Messiaen has broken new ground. His reinvention of religious music makes us again aware of the fact that religious music, if taken in its proper radical sense, belongs to the foremost of musical adventures. The work of Olivier Messiaen is well known for its inclusion of religious themes and gestures. These alone, however, do not seem enough to account for the religious status of the work. Arguing for a "breakthrough toward the beyond" on the basis of the synaesthetic experience of music, Messiaen invites a confrontation with contemporary theologians and post-secular thinkers. How to account for a religious breakthrough that is produced by a work of art? Starting from an analysis of his 1960s oratorio La Transfiguration de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ, this book arranges a moderated dialogue between Messiaen and the music theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, the phenomenology of revelation of Jean-Luc Marion, the rethinking of religion and technics in Jacques Derrida and Bernard Stiegler, and the Augustinian ruminations of Søren Kierkegaard and Jean-François Lyotard. Ultimately, this confrontation underscores the challenging yet deeply affirmative nature of Messiaen's music.
Unsurpassed in the scope of its coverage, this book explores like no other the roles of policy entrepreneurs and the causes of policy change across diverse political systems ranging from the developing world to the largest western democracies. The studies show how entrepreneurs work with outside donors, take advantage of windows of political opportunity, create those windows, and push the policy process in the direction they hope. They also show the limits to these strategies, and strategies that tend to fail. The book dramatically advances our understanding not only of change and stability in water policy, but of the policy process more generally. Frank R. Baumgartner, University of North Carolina, US This book is a theoretically and empirically grounded analysis of one of the world s most pressing problems: the management of water resources. The editors have assembled a remarkable collection of authors with a truly global outlook and an excellent grasp of contemporary water issues as well as modern theories of public policy and decision-making. The volume also demonstrates excellent applications of policy theory to current and pressing matters. It is a must-read for students and practitioners in water resources and will be influential to water policy and in environmental resource management and policy for years to come. Thomas A. Birkland, North Carolina State University, US This volume is a major achievement. It advances our knowledge of stability and change in water policy through case studies from around the world. Its focus on transitions instances of really major shifts in policy is particularly welcome at a time when challenges such as climate change force water policy makers to reconsider the very foundations of their regulatory frameworks and infrastructural policies. The volume goes beyond water policy, however. It makes a major contribution to the study of policy dynamics in general by offering an empirically grounded comparative analysis of policy entrepreneurs as change agents in policy networks. There has been much loose talk about policy entrepreneurs in the fields of public administration and public policy, but a dearth of empirical work underpinning the various claims made. This volume goes a long way towards filling that gap. Highly recommended for water experts and policy scientists alike. Paul t Hart, Australian National University, Australia and Utrecht University, the Netherlands This major volume focuses on the role of policy entrepreneurs in revolutionizing water management worldwide. Adopting an international comparative perspective, the authors explore the changes taking place in water policy across fifteen countries, at both the global level and within the European Union. Their analysis highlights the importance of groups and individuals in stimulating progress and reveals the crucial part played by policy entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs use various strategies to initiate and implement change, including the framing and reframing of issues, the assembly of coalitions, venue shopping and the exploitation of windows of opportunity. In showcasing the role of entrepreneurs in achieving transitions and explaining their approach, this groundbreaking book presents an optimistic message for those who desire improvements in the way water is managed. This book will not only make a unique contribution to the current literature on transition management, but will also prove an invaluable tool for those keen to influence water policy management at the regional, national and international level. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of water resources and environmental management and governance, as well as practitioners in the fields of water and climate policy.
Diets and dieting have concerned – and sometimes obsessed – human societies for centuries. The dieters' regime is about many things, among them the control of weight and the body, the politics of beauty, discipline and even self-harm, personal and societal demands for improved health, spiritual harmony with the universe, and ethical codes of existence. In this innovative reference work that spans many periods and cultures, the acclaimed cultural and medical historian Sander L. Gilman lays out the history of diets and dieting in a fascinating series of articles.
A practical, one-stop reference on the theory and applications of statistical data editing and imputation techniques Collected survey data are vulnerable to error. In particular, the data collection stage is a potential source of errors and missing values. As a result, the important role of statistical data editing, and the amount of resources involved, has motivated considerable research efforts to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of this process. Handbook of Statistical Data Editing and Imputation equips readers with the essential statistical procedures for detecting and correcting inconsistencies and filling in missing values with estimates. The authors supply an easily accessible treatment of the existing methodology in this field, featuring an overview of common errors encountered in practice and techniques for resolving these issues. The book begins with an overview of methods and strategies for statistical data editing and imputation. Subsequent chapters provide detailed treatment of the central theoretical methods and modern applications, with topics of coverage including: Localization of errors in continuous data, with an outline of selective editing strategies, automatic editing for systematic and random errors, and other relevant state-of-the-art methods Extensions of automatic editing to categorical data and integer data The basic framework for imputation, with a breakdown of key methods and models and a comparison of imputation with the weighting approach to correct for missing values More advanced imputation methods, including imputation under edit restraints Throughout the book, the treatment of each topic is presented in a uniform fashion. Following an introduction, each chapter presents the key theories and formulas underlying the topic and then illustrates common applications. The discussion concludes with a summary of the main concepts and a real-world example that incorporates realistic data along with professional insight into common challenges and best practices. Handbook of Statistical Data Editing and Imputation is an essential reference for survey researchers working in the fields of business, economics, government, and the social sciences who gather, analyze, and draw results from data. It is also a suitable supplement for courses on survey methods at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels.
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