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      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        January 2021

        Language and imagination in the Gawain poems

        by J. Anderson

        This major new literary study offers a fresh view of the significance of the famous group of fourteenth-century poems, 'Pearl', 'Cleanness', 'Patience' and 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'. It is a comprehensive study which puts the poems themselves firmly at its centre, though it is always alert to relevant aspects of their literary and cultural context. John Anderson builds his discussions of the poems' ideas on an examination of the anonymous poet's superb Shakespeare-like language. He finds that the great fourteenth-century struggle, between religious and secular forces for control of men's minds, underlies all the poems. This title is the first in the new Manchester Medieval Literature series, which makes readability a priority. Accordingly, despite its wide range of reference and the radicalism of some of its leading ideas, this book is written in a jargon-free style designed to appeal to specialist, non-specialist and student readers alike.

      • Trusted Partner
        Literary studies: classical, early & medieval
        March 2005

        Language and imagination in the Gawain poems

        by J. J. Anderson

        This major new literary study offers a fresh view of the significance of the famous group of fourteenth-century poems, 'Pearl', 'Cleanness', 'Patience' and 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'. It is a comprehensive study which puts the poems themselves firmly at its centre, though it is always alert to relevant aspects of their literary and cultural context. John Anderson builds his discussions of the poems' ideas on an examination of the anonymous poet's superb Shakespeare-like language. He finds that the great fourteenth-century struggle, between religious and secular forces for control of men's minds, underlies all the poems. This title is the first in the new Manchester Medieval Literature series, which makes readability a priority. Accordingly, despite its wide range of reference and the radicalism of some of its leading ideas, this book is written in a jargon-free style designed to appeal to specialist, non-specialist and student readers alike.

      • Trusted Partner
        Teaching, Language & Reference
        December 2017

        Sustainable art communities

        Contemporary creativity and policy in the transnational Caribbean

        by Leon Wainwright, Kitty Zijlmans

        This collection sets out a range of perspectives on the challenges that the Caribbean is facing today, showing how the arts hold a crucial role in forging a more sustainable Caribbean community. It forcefully attests to the view that visual art in particular has a specific contribution to make and that this in turn means striving to foster a sustainable arts community that can contend with an environment of uneven infrastructure, opportunity and public awareness. Spanning the scholarly, artistic and professional fields of arts and heritage, this book compares two of the Caribbean's key linguistic regions - the Anglophone and the Dutch - to address the themes of global-local relations, capital, patronage, morality, contestation, sustainability and knowledge exchange. The result is a milestone of collaboration from diverse global settings of the Caribbean and its diaspora, including Jamaica, the Bahamas, Barbados, Suriname, Curaçao, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2017

        New frontiers

        Imperialism's new communities in East Asia, 1842–1953

        by Robert Bickers, Christian Henriot

        In the new world order mapped out by Japanese and Western imperialism in East Asia after the mid-nineteenth century opium wars, communities of merchants and settlers took root in China and Korea. New identities were constructed, new modes of collaboration formed and new boundaries between the indigenous and foreign communities were literally and figuratively established. Newly available in paperback, this pioneering and comparative study of Western and Japanese imperialism examines European, American and Japanese communities in China and Korea, and challenges received notions of agency and collaboration by also looking at the roles in China of British and Japanese colonial subjects from Korea, Taiwan and India, and at Chinese Christians and White Russian refugees. This volume will be of interest to students and scholars of the history and anthropology of imperialism, colonialism's culture and East Asian history, as well as contemporary Asian affairs.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        May 2025

        The politics of Unbelonging

        Understanding and challenging racialisation of Roma in Europe and beyond

        by Andreja Zevnik, Andrew Russell

        This book offers a comprehensive study of racialisation of Romani communities in Europe (and beyond). Drawing on the idea of unbelonging it demonstrates how Romani communities are placed in a position of visceral visibility by local, national and international institutions as well as public media discourses. It shows how such positionality impacts the ability of Roma to self-represent politically and build capacity for change. From the position of unbelonging the book offers an account of Romani agency which both challenges the mainstream representations of Roma but also develops an alternative none-nation-state sense of belonging. In doing so the book outlines an account of Romani alternative expressions in order to take control of their relationship with their own history, future, knowledge, and identity, and the rest of the society.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2025

        Beyond the Pale and Highland Line

        The Irish and Scottish Gaelic world

        by Simon Egan

        This book offers important new insights into the history and culture of the Gaelic-speaking world from the mid-fifteenth century through to the reign of James VI and I. Throughout this period, the reach of the English and Scottish crowns within these western regions was limited. The initiative lay with local communities and royal power was contingent upon negotiating with well-established and largely autonomous aristocratic lineages. Moreover, events within this western world could exert a powerful, often unpredictable, influence upon the affairs of the wider archipelago. Using a series of case studies, this collection examines the evolving relationship between Ireland and Scotland in rich detail. It demonstrates how this world interacted with the encroaching English and Scottish states and underlines the importance of paying closer attention to this neglected area of Irish and British history.

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        January 2020

        Language and imagination in the Gawain poems

        by Anke Bernau, J. Anderson

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2017

        Rethinking settler colonialism

        History and memory in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and South Africa

        by Annie Coombes

        Rethinking settler colonialism focuses on the long history of contact between indigenous peoples and the white colonial communities who settled in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. It interrogates how histories of colonial settlement have been mythologised, narrated and embodied in public culture in the twentieth century (through monuments, exhibitions and images) and charts some of the vociferous challenges to such histories that have emerged over recent years. Despite a shared familiarity with cultural and political institutions, practices and policies amongst the white settler communities, the distinctiveness which marked these constituencies as variously, 'Australian', 'South African', 'Canadian' or 'New Zealander', was fundamentally contingent upon their relationship to and with the various indigenous communities they encountered. In each of these countries these communities were displaced, marginalised and sometimes subjected to attempted genocide through the colonial process. Recently these groups have renewed their claims for greater political representation and autonomy. The essays and artwork in this book insist that an understanding of the political and cultural institutions and practices which shaped settler-colonial societies in the past can provide important insights into how this legacy of unequal rights can be contested in the present. It will be of interest to those studying the effects of colonial powers on indigenous populations, and the legacies of imperial rule in postcolonial societies.

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        September 2025

        Do It Yourself

        Making political theatre

        by Common Wealth

        A unique guide to creating political theatre, produced by one of the UK's most exciting companies. Do It Yourself is a vital resource for anyone interested in exploring theatre culture grounded in and produced by working-class, multi-racial communities. Designed for artists, activists and community organisers, the book offers a step-by-step guide to creating political theatre that is relevant, impactful and rooted in the lives of everyday people. Common Wealth have spent fifteen years working at the cutting edge of political theatre. In Do It Yourself, they share their experimental and activist approach to performance-making, based on DIY principles and the belief that ground-breaking theatre can be made with anyone, anywhere, in ways that truly resonate with the communities it serves. Do It Yourself introduces Common Wealth's artistic and political ethos, provides unique insights into their most significant performances and offers practical exercises for creating your own work. But this is not just a manual. It is a celebration of culture as a collective endeavour, one that can challenge the status quo and inspire change.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        October 2023

        Towards a just Europe

        A theory of distributive justice for the European Union

        by João Labareda

        This highly original book constitutes one of the first attempts to examine the problem of distributive justice in the European Union in a systematic manner. João Labareda argues that the set of shared political institutions at EU level, including the European Parliament and the Court of Justice of the EU, generate democratic duties of redistribution among EU citizens. Furthermore, the economic structure of the EU, comprising a common market, a common currency and a free-movement area, triggers duties of reciprocity among member states. The responsibilities to fulfil these duties, Labareda argues, should be shared by the local, national and supranational levels of government. Not only should the EU act as a safety net to the national welfare systems, applying the principle of subsidiarity, but common market and Eurozone regulations should balance their efficiency targets with fair cooperation terms. The concrete policy proposals presented in this book include a threshold of basic goods for all EU citizens, an EU labour code, a minimum EU corporate tax rate and an EU fund for competitiveness. Labarada argues that his proposals match the political culture of the member states, are economically feasible, can be translated into functioning institutions and policies and are consistent with the limited degree of social solidarity in Europe. This book is a major contribution to the understanding of what a just Europe would look like and what it might take to get us there. This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10, Reduced inequalities

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2026

        Visions for Europe

        Debating the future of the European Union with great political thinkers

        by João Labareda

        This book offers a fresh look at some of the most challenging dilemmas of European integration and proposes innovative solutions to them by building on perspectives and insights from twelve classical authors in the history of political thought. The book simultaneously offers an original introduction to critical debates in EU studies and makes key political thinkers more accessible to contemporary readers by presenting present-day policy applications of their doctrines. While each chapter discusses a specific challenge for the EU, five key themes appear recurrently throughout the book: (i) the prospects for peace in Europe; (ii) the conditions for an inclusive EU democracy; (iii) socioeconomic inequalities in the EU; (iv) strategies to promote political change in Europe; and (v) the requisites for a fully-fledged EU citizenship. The authors discussed are Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant, Wollstonecraft, Marx, Arendt, Rawls and hooks.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2020

        The British political elite and Europe, 1959-1984

        A higher loyalty

        by Bob Nicholls

        This book offers an original interpretation of Britain's relationship with Europe over a 25 year period: 1959-84 and advances the argument that the current problems over EU membership resulted from much earlier political machinations. This evidence based account of the seminal period analyses the applications for EEC membership, the 1975 referendum, and the role of the press. Was the British public misled over the true aims of the European project? How significant was the role of the press in changing public opinion from anti, to pro Common Market membership? Why, after over 40 years since Britain became a member of the European community, does the issue continue to deeply divide not only the political elite, but also the British public? These, and other pertinent questions are answered in this timely book on a subject that remains topical and highly controversial.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        October 2020

        The European Union and its eastern neighbourhood

        Europeanisation and its twenty-first-century contradictions

        by Mike Mannin, Paul Flenley

        This volume is timely in that it explores key issues which are currently at the forefront of the EU's relations with its eastern neighbours. It considers the impact of a more assertive Russia, the significance of Turkey, the limitations of the Eastern Partnership with Belarus and Moldova, the position of a Ukraine in crisis and pulled between Russia and the EU, security and democracy in the South Caucasus. It looks at the contested nature of European identity in areas such as the Balkans. In addition it looks at ways in which the EU's interests and values can be tested in sectors such as trade and migration. The interplay between values, identity and interests and their effect on the interpretation of europeanisation between the EU and its neighbours is a core theme of the volume.

      • Trusted Partner
        Business, Economics & Law
        February 2025

        The political economy of Turkey’s integration to Europe

        Uneven development and hegemony

        by Elif Uzgören

        This book examines Turkey's integration with Europe within structural dynamics of globalisation from a critical political economy perspective. Critical approaches have been sidelined within European Studies. Turkish enlargement is not an exemption. The analyses are based on original data generated by 109 interviews conducted in 2010, 2017 and 2023 with five categories of actors: representatives of capital and labour, political parties, state officials, and struggles around ecology, patriarchy and migration. It argues that the pro-membership was hegemonic in the 2000s which was contested by two rival class strategies, Ha-vet and neo-mercantilism. In the 2010s, pro-membership is no longer hegemonic within rising critical tone of social forces supporting rival class strategies. Unevenness of Turkey's trajectory of integration to Europe is likely to be consolidated through market integration and management of migration through transactional approach.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        November 2025

        Humanitarian mobilisation in Central and Eastern Europe

        Local, national, and international perspectives

        by Doina Anca Cretu, Michal Frankl

        By focusing on aid Central and Eastern Europe, the volume adds to the existent scholarly explorations of modern humanitarianism, its actors and practices. In the twentieth century, aid workers assisted victims of war and earthquakes, delivered food, supported health care, provided childcare, or sheltered refugees. The contributors not only reconstruct these diverse histories and their protagonists, but also bring international, national, and local actors together: from grassroots activists to private associations to state-driven "socialist humanitarians" to large Western aid organizations. In doing so, they challenge the often unidirectional, from West-to-East, and asymmetrical perspective on donor-recipient relationships in humanitarian processes.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        July 2025

        European Union health policy

        Markets, integration and modes of governance

        by Eleanor Brooks

        The first book-length analysis of EU health policy since the COVID-19 pandemic, encompassing the creation of the European Health Union and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, this volume offers a timely and accessible analysis of the EU's health policy, institutions and governance. Focusing on the EU's health objectives and how they are pursued, it offers a detailed overview of the development of EU health policy, and five in-depth case studies of specific policy fields. The book will appeal to academic and policy audiences interested in the EU's health objectives and how it pursues them.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        June 2021

        Critical security in the Asia-Pacific

        by Anthony Burke, Matt McDonald

        In the wake of 9/11, the Asian crisis and the 2004 tsunami, traditional analytical frameworks are increasingly unable to explain how individuals and communities are rendered insecure, or advance individual, global or environmental security. In the Asia-Pacific, the accepted wisdom of realism has meant that analyses rarely move beyond the statist, militarist and exclusionary assumptions that underpin traditional realpolitik. This innovative new book challenges these limitations and addresses the missing problems, people and vulnerabilities of the Asia-Pacific region. It also turns a critical eye on traditional interstate strategic dynamics. Critical security in the Asia-Pacific applies both a critical theoretical approach that interrogates the deeper assumptions underpinning security discourses, and a human-centred policy approach that focuses on the security, welfare and emancipation of individuals and communities. Leading Asia-Pacific researchers combine to apply these frameworks to the most pressing issues in the region, from the Korean peninsula to environmental change, Indonesian conflict, the 'war on terror' and the plight of refugees. The result is a sophisticated and accessible account of often-neglected realities of marginalization in the region, and a compelling argument for the empowerment and security of the most vulnerable.

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