Humanities & Social Sciences
September 2021
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April 2023Speculation by Commodity Index Funds
The Impact on Food and Energy Prices
by Scott H. Irwin, Dwight R. Sanders
Commodity futures prices exploded in 2007-08 and concerns about a new type of participant in commodity futures markets began to emerge. Market participants, regulators, and civic organizations began raising concerns that inflows from new "commodity index" investments were driving the increases in commodity prices instead of economic fundamentals. The main argument was that unprecedented buying pressure from these speculative long-only futures traders created massive bubbles that resulted in prices substantially exceeding fundamental value. At the time, it was not uncommon to link concerns about speculation and high prices to world hunger, food crises, and civil unrest. Naturally, this outcry resulted in numerous regulatory proposals to restrict speculation in commodity futures markets through transaction taxes, speculative position limits, and even the bizarre idea of a "virtual reserve" whereby a public agency would take futures positions opposite speculators. At the core, these assertions raised major economic questions about the efficiency of price discovery in commodity futures markets. Moreover, these so-called remedies did not come without a potential cost. Burdensome regulations would increase compliance and risk sharing costs across the global food system-lowering prices for producers and increasing costs to consumers. To guide this debate, a rigorous approach was needed to understand the dynamics between prices and commodity index activity. This book documents a curated selection of papers on the impact of index investment on commodity futures prices. The chronology of the papers roughly follows the timeline of our involvement in the world-wide debate about commodity speculation as it evolved after 2007. The 10 papers follow the evolving speculation debate with new author forwards highlighting the contribution and impact. Policy-makers, researchers, and market participants will find this not only as useful documentation of the debate; but, also a natural starting point when high commodity prices inevitably create the next speculation backlash.
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Humanities & Social SciencesJanuary 2024The debate on Black Civil Rights in America
by Kevern Verney
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Humanities & Social SciencesJune 2024Sexual politics in revolutionary England
by Sam Fullerton
Sexual politics in revolutionary England recounts a dramatic transformation in English sexual polemic that unfolded during the kingdom's mid-seventeenth-century civil wars. In early Stuart England, explicit sexual language was largely confined to manuscript and oral forms by the combined regulatory pressures of ecclesiastical press licensing and powerful cultural notions of civility and decorum. During the early 1640s, however, graphic sex-talk exploded into polemical print for the first time in English history. Over the next two decades, sexual politics evolved into a vital component of public discourse, as contemporaries utilized sexual satire to reframe the English Revolution as a battle between licentious Stuart tyrants and their lecherous puritan enemies. By the time that Charles II regained the throne in 1660, this book argues, sex was already a routine element of English political culture.
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Humanities & Social SciencesFebruary 2017Cultures and caricatures of British imperial aviation
Passengers, pilots, publicity
by Gordon Pirie, Andrew Thompson, John M. MacKenzie
The new activity of trans-continental civil flying in the 1930s is a useful vantage point for viewing the extension of British imperial attitudes and practices. Cultures and caricatures of British imperial aviation examines the experiences of those (mostly men) who flew solo or with a companion (racing or for leisure), who were airline passengers (doing colonial administration, business or research), or who flew as civilian air and ground crews. For airborne elites, flying was a modern and often enviable way of managing, using and experiencing empire. On the ground, aviation was a device for asserting old empire: adventure and modernity were accompanied by supremacism. At the time, however, British civil imperial flying was presented romantically in books, magazines and exhibitions. Eighty years on, imperial flying is still remembered, reproduced and re-enacted in caricature.
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Humanities & Social SciencesMarch 2017Air empire
British imperial civil aviation, 1919–39
by Gordon Pirie, Andrew Thompson, John M. MacKenzie
Air empire is a fresh study of civil aviation as a tool of late British imperialism. The first pioneering flights across the British empire in 1919-20 were flag-waving adventures that recreated an era of plucky British maritime exploration and conquest. Britain's development of international air routes and services was approved, organised and celebrated largely in London; there was some resistance in and beyond the subordinate colonies and dominions. Negotiating the financing and geopolitics of regular commercial air service delayed its inception until the 1930s. Technological, managerial and logistical problems also meant that Britain was slow into the air and slow in the air. Propaganda concealed underperformance and criticism. The study uses archival sources, biographies, industry magazines and newspapers to chronicle the disputed progress toward air empire. The rhetoric behind imperial air service offers a glimpse of late imperial hopes, fears, attitudes and style. Empire air service had emotional appeal and symbolic value, but disappointed in practice.
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Humanities & Social SciencesAugust 2022The power of citizens and professionals in welfare encounters
The influence of bureaucracy, market and psychology
by Nanna Mik-Meyer
This book is about power in welfare encounters. Present-day citizens are no longer the passive clients of the bureaucracy and welfare workers are no longer automatically the powerful party of the encounter. Instead, citizens are expected to engage in active, responsible and coproducing relationships with welfare workers. However, other factors impact these interactions; factors which often pull in different directions. Welfare encounters are thus influenced by bureaucratic principles and market values as well. Consequently, this book engages with both Weberian (bureaucracy) and Foucauldian (market values/NPM) studies when investigating the powerful welfare encounter. The book is targeted Academics, post-graduates, and undergraduates within sociology, anthropology and political science.
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Humanities & Social SciencesMarch 2017Air power and colonial control
by David Omissi
Air policing was used in many colonial possessions, but its most effective incidence occurred in the crescent of territory from north-eastern Africa, through South-West Arabia, to North West Frontier of India. This book talks about air policing and its role in offering a cheaper means of 'pacification' in the inter-war years. It illuminates the potentialities and limitations of the new aerial technology, and makes important contributions to the history of colonial resistance and its suppression. Air policing was employed in the campaign against Mohammed bin Abdulla Hassan and his Dervish following in Somaliland in early 1920. The book discusses the relationships between air control and the survival of Royal Air Force in Iraq and between air power and indirect imperialism in the Hashemite kingdoms. It discusses Hugh Trenchard's plans to substitute air for naval or coastal forces, and assesses the extent to which barriers of climate and geography continued to limit the exercise of air power. Indigenous responses include being terrified at the mere sight of aircraft to the successful adaptation to air power, which was hardly foreseen by either the opponents or the supporters of air policing. The book examines the ethical debates which were a continuous undercurrent to the stream of argument about repressive air power methods from a political and operational perspective. It compares air policing as practised by other European powers by highlighting the Rif war in Morocco, the Druze revolt in Syria, and Italy's war of reconquest in Libya.
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Humanities & Social SciencesMay 2022The anthropology of power, agency and morality
by Victor de Munck, Elisa J. Sobo
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Humanities & Social SciencesFebruary 2018How to save politics in a post-truth era
by Ilan Zvi Baron
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Humanities & Social SciencesDecember 2017Selected Works of Culture and History in Hunan
Volume 5
by Hunan Research Institute of Culture and History
The book is divided into several parts, such as the study of Hunan culture, historical stories, Hunan famous characters, folk customs, appreciation of scenery in Hunan, Hunan art and literature, etc., to show Hunan's history, culture and events from different perspectives. The book is supported with theories, historical materials, and also is of interest. It is of positive significance to the advancement of the research and development of Hunan culture.
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Journey in Trumplandia: The Rise of Populism in America
by Tiberiu Dianu
The book is a collection of essays about the transformation of America, which has turned from a united nation to one more divided than ever. Some pundits predict that, if things don’t change, another civil war could occur. Have we reached a point of no return? Hopefully, America is mature enough to learn from its mistakes and avoid further scars along its evolving history. "Trumplandia is a welcome addition toward understanding current events, Washington’s international policy, and the present American society; a society polarized and divided as it has not been since the Civil War.” NICHOLAS DIMA, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor and Research Associate, Nelson Institute, James Madison University, Virginia. "The book is fascinating. It provides background to, and insights into [the] current and past political history as well as offering a personal view... of the country and society. Presented in thematic form in chapters and sections, the insights offered provide a suggestive radiography...” Dr. DENNIS DELETANT, OBE, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington DC. "There has been this backsliding in... what a truly functioning rule-of-law state is, that has proper separation of co-equal powers, which, if you don’t keep working on that, you backslide. And I am even worried about that here, in the United States right now, about backsliding.” OBIE MOORE, Esq., OLM Advisors LLC, Washington DC “Indeed, Trumplandia should be a welcome addition to any scholar, student or layman’s library, especially in its international edition. If anyone loses sleep over its challenging assertions, then it will have been well worth it.” ERNESTO MORALES HIZON, Ph.D. Candidate in American and Comparative Politics at Claremont Graduate University, Member, Integrated Bar of the Philippines ABOUT THE AUTHOR: TIBERIU DIANU has practiced law in Romania (as a corporate lawyer, judge, senior counselor at the Ministry of Justice, university professor and senior legal researcher), and in the United States (as a legal expert for the judiciary). He published several books and a host of articles in law, politics, and post-communist societies. Tiberiu currently lives and works in Washington, DC.
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The ArtsJanuary 2019The cultural politics of contemporary Hollywood film
by Chris Beasley, Heather Brook
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Business, Economics & LawMay 2019New Journey of Great Powers
From Economic Gaint to Economic Power
by Zhang Zhanbin
This book provides a general explanation of new theoretical trees, new development goals, new contradictions, and new historical missions. As a world power, how China, guided by the spirit of the Party ’s 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, “decided to build a well-off society in an all-round way and start to build a comprehensive socialism. The new journey of a modern country "vividly demonstrates China's image as a great power.
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Humanities & Social SciencesApril 2005Democracy, social resources and political power in the European Union
by Niilo Kauppi
In this book Kauppi develops a structural constructivist theory of the European Union and critically analyses, through French and Finnish empirical cases, the political practices that maintain the Union's 'democratic deficit'. Kauppi conceptualises the European Union as both an arena for political contention and a nascent political order. In this evolving, multi-levelled European political field, individuals and groups construct material and symbolic structures of political power, grounded in a variety of social resources such as nationality, culture, and gender. The author shows how the dominance of both executive political resources and domestic political cultures has prevented the development of European democracy. Supranational executive networks have become more autonomous, reinforcing the dominance of the resources they control. At the same time, national political cultures condition the political status of elected institutions such as the European parliament. The book is particularly suited for undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of European Politics, European Union Studies and International Relations. ;
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THE POLITICS OF HATE – A Piercing Insight into American Politics
by HUGO N. GERSTL
America is being systematically destroyed – not by terrorists from without, but by vested interests from within! It’s being destroyed by politicians, talk show hosts, media moguls, and populist rabble rousers who seek to preserve their “territory” at any cost – by obstructing the passage of beneficial laws, by scandalous lies and accusations, by negative campaigning, and by gratuitous insults. These “saviors” pose absolutely no constructive ideas of their own to resolve the morass in which our country now finds itself. The politicians think no further than getting themselves elected or re-elected. The lure of $100,000 in lecture fees is a powerful aphrodisiac. The lure of power is an even greater aphrodisiac. Politicians, fearmongers, “talking heads,” and captains of industry revel in their fame, their glory, and their self-styled wisdom when the country is in greater debt than any other nation in history, and when we are more and more quickly slipping toward becoming a third world nation each year. If the public starts putting two and two together, the answer should come out “four.” But so far, the “average” American can still be led to believe that 2+2 equals whatever number the spin masters want to make it. What is even worse, more than 40% of Americans are buying into the politics of fear, dissension, and abuse without stopping for even a moment to consider exactly what these political hatemongers are offering in exchange for turning one faction out and securing the benefits of power for themselves. But regardless of political infighting or outfighting, what we are doing is akin to two fleas fighting over who owns the dog. We don’t seem to realize that we have run out of time and money; that we no longer have the luxury of political gamesmanship and needless, stupid bickering. While this timely book points the finger at who’s to blame, it also goes one step further and tells how America, the most powerful nation on earth, can take back control of its destiny and cure its own disease! HUGO N. GERSTL earned a degree in political science and history at UCLA, then went on to graduate from the UCLA School of Law. He turned down an invitation to run for Congress on the Republican ticket as it meant running against his friend and fellow-lawyer, Leon Panetta, who was just finishing his first term in Congress. Gerstl has been a nationally known trial lawyer for forty-six years and remains eternally optimistic about the resilience of the American people. An English eBook Edition was published in fall 2012 by Samuel Wachtman's Sons INC., C.A. 454 pages, 15x22.5cm
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AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?
An Israeli Political Novel Predicting a Civil War
by Daniel Gelleri
CIVIL WAR IN ISRAEL! Though it is seemingly impossible, world media are screaming the headline. Has the greatest experiment in democracy utterly failed? As the Arab world gloats, the United States – the world’s only surviving superpower – is faced with momentous agony. On the stage of international politics, did it back the wrong actor? One hundred and ten years after the birth of Yitzhak Isaac Isserlish, descendant of a prominent East-European rabbinical line, in Krakow, Poland, his great-grandsons are at war with one another in the hills of Jerusalem – a war that may truly prove to the world that Armageddon is at hand! Following the government's decision to return Israel to its pre-1967 borders, ideological controversy tears apart the paper-thin fabric of what the world has always viewed as a beacon of hope, a secure monolith in a sea of discord. What was formerly whispered behind closed doors now explodes onto the streets of every major city and town. Each side is adamant in its view of the final shape of the country. Each side is also intent upon achieving its desired goal. The greatest fear becomes reality: CIVIL WAR! Israeli citizens confront one another, brother against brother. They all love their country, all have its best interest at heart, and all fear for its safety, but conversely and tragically each finds his opponents' vision to be an abomination. In a tiny nation that has faced the enemy without fear for seventy-five years, the impossible is happening: the enemy is within. The enemy is not at the gates; the enemy is inside the gates! Each side is fighting for its own justice, its own faith, its own truth, and its own vision of a Biblical Israel redeemed. In a tightly-woven transgenerational saga, Daniel Gelleri, author of the popular novel Iris, traces the lives of five generations of one Jewish-Israeli family whose members share not only time, place, hopes, and dreams with their forefathers, but who are deeply affected by the nightmares and fears of their own lives. Daniel Gelleri, a senior officer in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) Reserves, was originally a secular Jew, who became Orthodox at the age of 25. He lived with his family on the West Bank settlement of Bat-Ayin for ten years. When Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist, Gelleri began to reexamine his faith and beliefs. After a period of soul searching he returned to his original secular life style and abandoned the religious world in which he had lived. His first novel, Iris, was received with great success.
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Fiction2017Remorse Test
by Khalil Sweileh
Remorse Test is Sweileh’s follow up to his novel Writing Love, which was the 2009 winner of The Mahfouz Medal for Literature. This semi-autobiographical novel, takes readers through the streets of Damascus and offers a first-hand look at life and loss during the Syrian civil war. The protagonist is a brilliant writer who is navigating a new, war-torn reality. While reminiscing about his past, he shows us what everyday life is like in Damascus—at once brutal and boring—and laments the missed opportunities and destruction the conflict has caused in his country. Drawing on his experience as a journalist, poet and novelist, author Khalil Sweileh writes about the psychological conflicts amid the shattered reality of place and society using language that is full of imagery. Remorse Test is an important addition to Syrian literature, both for its subject matter and unique use of narrative tools and vocabulary. (An extended English-language report on this book will be available soon.)
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Humanities & Social SciencesApril 2008The politics of EU accession
Ideology, party strategy and the European question in Hungary
by Agnes Batory, Emil Kirchner, Thomas Christiansen
How do parties adopt and change positions on the European question? How do they balance the demands placed upon them by ideology, voters and participation in coalition government? What are the sources of Euroscepticism, and how widespread is it among the parties and the public? This book addresses these questions by examining the politics of Hungary's accession to the European Union, from the early 1990s to 2004. The book provides a conceptually grounded yet accessible analysis of the way questions related to EU membership, and European integration in general, are channelled into political life. Starting with a comparative exploration of the impact of European integration on party politics in Western and Eastern Europe, the book goes on to review the Hungarian political parties' history, ideological profiles, electoral competition and coalition-building in government and opposition, as well as the dynamics of public opinion. It will be of interest to academics concerned with the contestation of European integration in EU member states, and specifically with party politics in Central and Eastern European. ;
