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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2026

        Connoisseurs and conmen

        The contest for cultural authority in early twentieth-century Britain

        by Lewis Ryder

        This book examines John Hilditch (1872-1930), a notorious collector of Chinese art who lied, hoaxed and manipulated in his struggle against museum experts to become a cultural authority. Previously overlooked as a pest with a dubious collection, this book uses Hilditch to interrogate how far the monumental social, cultural and political changes of the early twentieth century unsettled social and cultural hierarchies and how these hierarchies were remade. It shows how the cultural elites were forced to engage with the public and re-draw the boundaries of citizenship, expertise and high and low culture in response to unprecedented social mobility, the democratisation of culture and politics, as well as the effects of British imperialism which brought ordinary Britons access to antiquities as well as confidence to claim expertise over foreign cultures. The book will interest social and cultural historians of Modern Britain, museum scholars and art historians.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2026

        The dilemma of Authority

        by Allyn Fives

        The moral problem of authority is the challenge of reconciling legitimate authority (the right to rule) with the demands of freedom and rationality. In this book, I argue that authority can have legitimacy, but when it does it generates a moral dilemma, where the obligation to obey comes at some cost to freedom and reason. Hence, not only do I depart from the views of those who insist that authority can never have legitimacy, but also those who maintain that insofar as authority is legitimate it simply satisfies the demands of freedom or rationality. My focus here will be on both what it is that justifies authority (in particular focusing on membership, and the goods of membership) as well what type of reason an authoritative directive is, how it can come into conflict with others reasons, and how those conflicts are resolved.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        December 2024

        British culture after empire

        Race, decolonisation and migration since 1945

        by Josh Doble, Liam Liburd, Emma Parker

        British culture after Empire is the first collection of its kind to explore the intertwined social, cultural and political aftermath of empire in Britain from 1945 up to and beyond the Brexit referendum of 2016, combining approaches from the fields of history, English and cultural studies. Against those who would deny, downplay or attempt to forget Britain's imperial legacy, the various contributions expose and explore how the British Empire and the consequences of its end continue to shape Britain at the local, national and international level. As an important and urgent intervention in a field of increasing relevance within and beyond the academy, the book offers fresh perspectives on the colonial hangovers in post-colonial Britain from up-and-coming as well as established scholars.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2026

        Rethinking right-wing women

        Gender and the Conservative Party, 1880s to the present

        by Clarisse Berthezène, Julie Gottlieb

        Rethinking Right-Wing Women explores the institutional structures for and the representations, mobilisation, and the political careers of women in the British Conservative Party since the late 19th century. From the Primrose League (est.1883) to Women2Win (est.2005), the party has exploited women's political commitment and their social power from the grass-roots to the heights of the establishment. Yet, although it is the party that extended the equal franchise, had the first woman MP to sit Parliament, and produced the first two women Prime Ministers, the UK Conservative Party has developed political roles for women that jar with feminist and progressive agendas. Conservative women have tended to be more concerned about the fulfilment of women's duties than the realisation of women's rights. This book tackles the ambivalences between women's politicisation and women's emancipation in the history of Britain's most electorally successful and hegemonic political party.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2026

        The cultural politics of food in South Africa

        Media, nourishment, inequality

        by Mehita Iqani, Sarah Gibson

        Food is both a material system of nourishment, necessary for human survival, and a communicative system that signifies multiple meanings across human cultures. This book explores the cultural politics of food in the South African context, bringing together a range of disciplinary perspectives on the links between media, nourishment, and inequality. The chapters all highlight the multiplicity of meanings that food has in South African society. These include historical perspectives on the impact of colonialism, migration and apartheid had on food and foodways in South Africa; sociological interventions on food and society; aesthetic practices in relation to food; and mediated food cultures in South Africa. Taken together, the book critically explores the multiple ways in which food is never just food, and always linked to complex and shifting modalities of meaning and knowledge in the South African context.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2017

        British culture and the end of empire

        by Stuart Ward

        This book is the first major attempt to examine the cultural manifestations of the demise of imperialism as a social and political ideology in post-war Britain. Far from being a matter of indifference or resigned acceptance as is often suggested, the fall of the British Empire came as a profound shock to the British national imagination, and resonated widely in British popular culture. The sheer range of subjects discussed, from the satire boom of the 1960s to the worlds of sport and the arts, demonstrates how profoundly decolonisation was absorbed into the popular consciousness. Offers an extremely novel and provocative interpretation of post-war British cultural history, and opens up a whole new field of enquiry in the history of decolonisation.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        June 2025

        Faith, folk and the far right

        Racist and anti-racist Heathenry and Occultism in Britain

        by Dominic Alessio, Robert J. Wallis

        This book offers the first examination of extremist Heathenry and occultism in the UK and how anti-racist Heathens act to counter this discourse. It explores the spectrum of Heathen practice today and the historical origins of racist Heathenry in nineteenth century Germanic romanticism and twentieth century folkish nationalism. Treating each of the three main extremist Heathen organisations, the book extends the analysis to the neo-Nazi occult organization the Order of the Nine Angles (O9A), and the wider racist Heathen cultural scene in Black Metal and Dark Folk music. The authors balance this with discussion of how inclusivist Heathens are countering this discourse, from visible protests at far-right rallies to inter-faith forums and an active presence on social media platforms. The book makes an important contribution to the intersecting fields of new religious movements, nationalist history and racist politics.

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        June 2012

        Authorship and authority

        The writings of James VI and I

        by Jane Rickard

        James VI of Scotland and I of England participated in the burgeoning literary culture of the Renaissance, not only as a monarch and patron, but as an author in his own right, publishing extensively in a number of different genres over four decades. As the first monograph devoted to James as an author, this book offers a fresh perspective on his reigns in Scotland and England, and also on the inter-relationship of authorship and authority, literature and politics in the Renaissance. Beginning with the poetry he wrote in Scotland in the 1580s, it moves through a wide range of his writings in other genres, including scriptural exegeses, political, social and theological treatises and printed speeches, concluding with his manuscript poetry of the early 1620s. The book combines extensive primary research into the preparation, material form and circulation of these varied writings, with theoretically informed consideration of the relationship between authors, texts and readers. The discussion thus explores James's responses to, and interventions in, a range of literary, political and religious debates, and reveals the development of his aims and concerns as an author. Rickard argues that, despite the King's best efforts to the contrary, his writings expose the tensions and contradictions between authorship and authority. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of the reign of James VI and I, the literary and political cultures of late sixteenth-century Scotland and early seventeenth-century England, the development of notions of authorship and the relationship between literature and politics. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        June 2012

        Cultural Authority and Political Culture in China

        Exploring Issues with the "Zhongyong" and the "Daotong" during the Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties

        by Soffel, Christian; Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        January 2019

        The British working class in postwar film

        by Philip Gillett

        An incidental pleasure of watching a film is what it tells us about the society in which it is made. Using a sociological model, The British working class in postwar film looks at how working-class people were portrayed in British feature films in the decade after the Second World War. Though some of the films examined are well known, others have been forgotten and deserve reassessment. Original statistical data is used to assess the popularity of the films with audiences. With its interdisciplinary approach and the avoidance of jargon, this book seeks to broaden the approach to film studies. Students of media and cultural studies are introduced to the skills of other disciplines, while sociologists and historians are encouraged to consider the value of film evidence in their own fields. This work should appeal to all readers interested in social history and in how cinema and society works.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        June 2025

        Local government and democracy in Britain

        by Neil Barnett, J. Chandler

        Local government in the UK is in crisis. It is now neither local in terms of the geography and populations of its principle units, nor does it truly govern in these areas. As this book reveals, over the previous 200 years local government has moved from a system in which local interests held governance over localities to one in which central government and national and multi-national agencies such as corporate businesses hold governance over local and community decision-making. These changes seriously undermine the important role that local government can play in liberal democracy in the UK. The book explains the nature of local government today and asks if there is any possibility of change.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2026

        United States and Chinese foreign assistance and diplomacy

        Aid for dominance

        by Salvador Santino Regilme, Obert Hodzi

        Aid for Dominance addresses the analytic weaknesses of mainstream analysis of foreign aid, which often focuses on its material dimensions. The book underscores the constitutive relationship between foreign aid as a material resource and the diplomatic discourses and practices that constitute complex bilateral relations between donor and recipient states. Written by two leading scholars of contemporary United States and Chinese foreign policies in the Global South, Aid for Dominance offers a pioneering, theoretically conscious, and empirically rich account of the two great powers' grand strategies in the global development sector. By deploying a multidisciplinary and comparative analysis, this book draws from a wide range of evidentiary materials from primary sources, including data from fieldwork interviews, government documents, local and international newspapers, speeches by high-ranking government officials and diplomats, and secondary data from scholarly publications and policy papers.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2016

        Leisure and cultural conflict in twentieth-century Britain

        by Jeffrey Richards, Brett Bebber, Allison Abra, Brad Beaven, Brett Bebber, Kelly Boyd

        This collection of essays addresses research trends in the history of British leisure while also presenting a wide range of articles on cultural conflict and leisure in the twentieth century. It includes innovative research on a number of topics, including television, cinema, the circus, women's leisure, dance, football and drug culture. It provides an excellent entry to leisure studies and history, while addressing the contributions of other disciplines and exploring key historiographical trends. Three broad topics structure the collection; cultural contestation and social conflict in leisure; regulation and standardisation; and national identity embodied in leisure and popular culture. The book will be useful to students and educators of twentieth-century and British history, as it offers accessible and topical studies that pique historical curiosity. In addition, historians, sociologists and cultural analysts of the twentieth century will find it essential for understanding pleasure and recreation in twentieth-century British society. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Social & cultural history
        July 2012

        Leisure and cultural conflict in twentieth-century Britain

        by Allison Abra, Brad Beaven, Brett Bebber, Kelly Boyd

        This collection of essays addresses research trends in the history of British leisure while also presenting a wide range of articles on cultural conflict and leisure in the twentieth century. It includes innovative research on a number of topics, including television, cinema, the circus, women's leisure, dance, football and drug culture. It provides an excellent entry to leisure studies and history, while addressing the contributions of other disciplines and exploring key historiographical trends. Three broad topics structure the collection; cultural contestation and social conflict in leisure; regulation and standardisation; and national identity embodied in leisure and popular culture. The book will be useful to students and educators of twentieth-century and British history, as it offers accessible and topical studies that pique historical curiosity. In addition, historians, sociologists and cultural analysts of the twentieth century will find it essential for understanding pleasure and recreation in twentieth-century British society.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2023

        The fall and rise of the English upper class

        Houses, kinship and capital since 1945

        by Daniel R. Smith

        The fall and rise of the English upper class explores the role traditionalist worldviews, articulated by members of the historic upper-class, have played in British society in the shadow of her imperial and economic decline in the twentieth century. Situating these traditionalist visions alongside Britain's post-Brexit fantasies of global economic resurgence and a socio-cultural return to a green and pleasant land, Smith examines Britain's Establishment institutions, the estates of her landed gentry and aristocracy, through to an appetite for nostalgic products represented with pastoral or pre-modern symbolism. It is demonstrated that these institutions and pursuits play a central role in situating social, cultural and political belonging. Crucially these institutions and pursuits rely upon a form of membership which is grounded in a kinship idiom centred upon inheritance and descent: who inherits the houses of privilege, inherits England.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2006

        Gentry culture in late-medieval England

        by Raluca Radulescu, Steve Rigby, Alison Truelove

        Essays in this fascinating and important collection examine the lifestyles and attitudes of the gentry in late medieval England. They consider the emergence of the gentry as a group distinct from the nobility, and explore the various available routes to gentility. Through surveys of the gentry's military background, administrative and political roles, social behaviour, and education, the reader is provided with an overview of how the group's culture evolved, and how it was disseminated. Studies of the gentry's literacy, creation and use of literature, cultural networks, religious activities and their experiences of music and the visual arts more directly address the practice and expression of this culture, exploring the extent to which the gentry's activities were different from those of the wider population. Joining the editors in contributing essays to this collection is an impressive array of eminent scholars, all specialists in their respective fields: Christine Carpenter, Peter Fleming, Maurice Keen, Philippa Maddern, Nicholas Orme, Tim Shaw, Thomas Tolley and Deborah Youngs. As a whole, the book offers a broad view of gentry culture that explores, reassesses, and sometimes even challenges the idea that members of the gentry cultivated their own distinctive cultural identity. It will appeal to students looking for a comprehensive introduction to late medieval gentry culture, as well as to researchers interested in gentry studies more generally. ;

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