Hope is not only a rich and complex topic, but one which deserves a central place within our collective disciplinary and social dialogue. The papers collected in this volume take different approaches to hope: from philosophy and spirituality, via pedagogy and healing, the volume concludes with showcasing visual evocations of hope.

This expansive Handbook guides readers through a multi-layered landscape of the interpretations and uses of transdisciplinary thinking and practices worldwide. It advances understanding of the strengths and limits of transdisciplinary research in the context of societal power relations, institutional structures and social inequalities. This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.

Routledge International Handbook of Irish Studies begins with the reversal in Irish fortunes after the 2008 global economic crash. The chapters included address not only changes in post-Celtic Tiger Ireland but also changes in disciplinary approaches to Irish Studies that the last decade of political, economic, and cultural unrest have stimulated. Since 2008, Irish Studies has been directly and indirectly influenced by the crash and its reverberations through the economy, political landscape, and social framework of Ireland and beyond. Approaching Irish pasts, presents, and futures through interdisciplinary and theoretically capacious lenses, the chapters in this volume reflect the myriad ways Irish Studies has responded to the economic precarity in the Republic, renewed instability in the North, the complex European politics of Brexit, global climate and pandemic crises, and the intense social change in Ireland catalyzed by all of these. Just as Irish society has had to dramatically reconceive its economic and global identity after the crash, Irish Studies has had to shift its theoretical modes and its objects of analysis in order to keep pace with these changes and upheavals. This book captures the dynamic ways the discipline has evolved since 2008, exploring how the age of austerity and renewal has transformed both Ireland and scholarly approaches to understanding Ireland. It will appeal to students and scholars of Irish studies, sociology, cultural studies, history, literature, economics, and political science. Chapter 3, 5 and 15 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book is the product of a team-teaching course entitled, “Issues in Economic Development” offered to the final-year students of Department of Economics and Finance at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. In this volume, the authors comprehensively survey world’s most controversial issues in economic and political affairs. Topics in this volume cover Christianity-Islam confrontation; ISIS and anti-terrorism; North Korea and Taiwan-Strait Crises; China’s rise as a global power; Brexit; Artificial Intelligence; Bitcoin; same sex marriage; global warming; happiness and well-being. This book can be used as a reader or textbook in courses such as “International Political Economy” and “International Development”, or as a reference for scholars and policy makers.

In an age when the supply of gasoline to feed this modern American society has become both more expensive and more scarce questions are being pondered. Inquires like, How can a modern society scale back its dependence on gasoline as a motive source?' Are there genuine alternative power sources?' Are they the answer to a growing crisis?' Recent announcements of hybrids like those from Honda, Toyota, and Ford have really brought attention to this issue. Hybrids that use both gasoline engines and electric motors. Really, though, alternative power sources have been around for as long as the automobile has been. The battle between and among the steam car, the electric and the gas car was fought out in the first couple of decades of the twentieth century. This book explores the ins and outs of that battle. A struggle from which the gasoline car emerged completely victorious. To such an extent that steam cars and electric cars virtually disappeared from the scene for many decades. We will look over all three alternatives, exploring their advantages and disadvantages. We will also look over the obstacles to the steamers and the electrics. Barriers that still exist to a certain extent. Handicaps that caused their disappearance in the first place.

Looking to an increasingly perilous and inequitable future, many progressive activists and scholars are seriously questioning the capacity of global capitalism to guarantee the conditions for human well-being and sustainability in the 21st century. This development inspires the central inquiry of Marxist Phoenix: Will the intensifying contradictions and multiple crises of contemporary capitalism incite the emergence of a mass socialist workers' movement committed not merely to the "reform" of capitalism but to its overthrow? This collection of new and previously published essays, articles, and book chapters written over the last two decades makes the case for the indispensability of the Marxist-socialist project to the emancipation of humanity from material insecurity and ever-worsening social antagonism. Only a global workers' movement committed to the fundamental tenets of Marxism--a triumphant Marxist Phoenix rising from the ashes of the multiple defeats of the 20th century--can open the road to real social progress. Interdisciplinary, rigorous, and critically engaged with many currents in contemporary academic discourse, this volume is a timely contribution to the rebirth of a Marxist socialism that is at once scientific, emancipatory, and internationalist in its commitments.

Sino-Soviet Alliance: An International History

Phoenix Rising was a five-day conference devoted to all things Harry Potter held 17-21 May in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference featured educational and academic programming presented by scholars, teachers, business and industry professionals, artists, librarians, fans, and others with an interest in the Harry Potter novels, films, and phenomenon. Narrate Conferences, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, produces dynamic, innovative educational events for scholars, students, professionals and fans. Phoenix Rising was produced by Narrate Conferences, Inc., and was not endorsed, sanctioned or any other way supported, directly or indirectly, by Warner Bros. Entertainment, the Harry Potter book publishers, or J. K. Rowling and her representatives.

The Biblical World is a comprehensive guide to the contents, historical settings, and social context of the Bible. This new edition is updated with several new chapters as well as a new section on biblical interpretation. Contributions from leading scholars in the field present wide-ranging views not just of biblical materials and their literary and linguistic context, but also of the social institutions, history and archaeology, and religious concepts. New chapters cover topics such as the priesthood and festivals, creation and covenant, ethics, and family life, while a new section on biblical interpretation discusses Jewish and Christian bible translation and key thematic emphases, and modern reader-response and cultural approaches. This revised edition of The Biblical World offers an up-to-date and thorough survey of the Bible and its world, and will continue to be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament and their history and interpretation, as well as anyone working on the societies, religions, and political and cultural institutions that created and influenced these texts.

Integral Green Zimbabwe: An African Phoenix Rising by Ronnie Lessem, Alexander Schieffer and Liz Mamukwa is the first book in the Integral Green Society and Economy series, a series which has three overarching aims. The first aim is to link together two major movements of our time, one philosophical, the other practical. The philosophical movement is towards what many today are calling an 'integral' age, while the practical is the 'green' movement, duly aligned with that of sustainable development. The second is to blend together elements of nature and community, culture and spirituality, science and technology, politics and economics, thus serving to bring about an 'integral green' vision, albeit with a focus on business and economics. As such, the authors transcend the limitations to sustainable development and environmental economics, which are overly ecological, if not also technological, in orientation, and exclude social and cultural elements. Thirdly, this particular volume focuses specifically on Zimbabwe, as well as Southern Africa, drawing on the particular issues and capacities that this country and region represents. The emphasis on Zimbabwe and Southern Africa transpired not only because two of the editors (Lessem and Mamukwa) are Zimbabwean in origin, but because Zimbabwe is today like a phoenix rising from the ashes, and has the opportunity to recreate itself anew.