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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        November 2023

        Critical theory and human rights

        From compassion to coercion

        by David McGrogan

        This book describes how human rights have given rise to a vision of benevolent governance that, if fully realised, would be antithetical to individual freedom. It describes human rights' evolution into a grand but nebulous project, rooted in compassion, with the overarching aim of improving universal welfare by defining the conditions of human well-being and imposing obligations on the state and other actors to realise them. This gives rise to a form of managerialism, preoccupied with measuring and improving the 'human rights performance' of the state, businesses and so on. The ultimate result is the 'governmentalisation' of a pastoral form of global human rights governance, in which power is exercised for the general good, moulded by a complex regulatory sphere which shapes the field of action for the individual at every turn. This, unsurprisingly, does not appeal to rights-holders themselves.

      • Trusted Partner
        June 1993

        Die Ideologie des Ästhetischen

        by Paul Man, Karl Heinz Bohrer, Christoph Menke, Jürgen Blasius, Christoph Menke

        Als Paul de Man 1983 starb, war er der wohl bekannteste und einflußreichste Vertreter einer Richtung der Literaturkritik und ihrer Theore, die allgemein als »dekonstruktiv« bezeichnet wird. Kennzeichnend für diese Richtung ist eine erneute Konzentration auf die innere Verfaßtheit der literarischen Texte. Eine erste Auswahl dieser methodisch vorbildlich wie brillant geschriebenen Texte ist 1988 unter dem Titel »Allegorien des Lesens« in der edition suhrkamp erschienen. Die vorliegende Auswahl konzentriert sich auf die methodologischen und theoretischen Prämissen dieses Vorhabens, wie sie die Abhandlungen über die Zeitlichkeit der Literatur, über Shelley und über die Autobiographie deutlich machen. Sich auf die immanente Verfaßtheit und Bewegung von Texten einzulassen ist nach de Man kein selbstzweckhaftes, folgenloses Unternehmen. De Man beansprucht vielmehr für seine »Rückkehr zur Philologie« eine allgemeine Bedeutung; die Literaturkritik ist zugleich philosophische und politische Kritik. Damit ist der zweite Schwerpunkt dieser Auswahl bezeichnet. De Man erläutert diese These zum einen in kritischer Auseinandersetzung mit der Philosophie Jacques Derridas. Zum anderen zeigt er an zentralen Texten der ästhetischen Tradition, an Kant und Hegel, daß ihr falsches – »ideologisches« – Verständnis literarischer Texte unter der Kategorie des »Ästhetischen« ebenso weitreichende philosophische wie politische Konsequenzen hat.

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

        Queer as folklore

        The hidden queer history of myths and monsters

        by Sacha Coward

        A celebration of queer history like you've never seen it before. Queer as folklore travels across centuries and continents to reveal the unsung heroes and villains of storytelling, magic and fantasy. Featuring images from archives, galleries and museums around the world, each chapter investigates the queer history of different mythic and folkloric characters, both old and new. Leaving no headstone unturned, Sacha Coward takes you on a wild ride through the night from ancient Greece to the main stage of RuPaul's Drag Race, visiting cross-dressing pirates, radical fairies and the graves of the 'queerly departed' along the way. Queer communities have often sought refuge in the shadows and created safe spaces in underworlds. But these forgotten narratives tell stories of resilience that deserve to be heard. Join any Pride march and you will see a glorious display of papier-mâché unicorn heads, drag queens in mermaid tails and more fairy wings than you can shake a trident at. These are not just accessories: they are queer symbols with historic roots. To truly understand who queer people are today, we must confront the twisted tales of the past.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2013

        Christian Dualist Heresies in the Byzantine World, c. 650-c. 1450

        by Janet Hamilton, Bernard Hamilton

        Christian dualism originated in the reign of Constans II (641-68). It was a popular religion, which shared with orthodoxy an acceptance of scriptual authority and apostolic tradition and held a sacramental doctrine of salvation, but understood all these in a radically different way to the Orthodox Church. One of the differences was the strong part demonology played in the belief system. This text traces, through original sources, the origins of dualist Christianity throughout the Byzantine Empire, focusing on the Paulician movement in Armenia and Bogomilism in Bulgaria. It presents not only the theological texts, but puts the movements into their social and political context.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2026

        Migration and social policy in a changing world

        Histories, challenges and dilemmas

        by Bryan Fanning

        Migration and social policy in a changing world bridges the generally separate fields of social policy and migration studies. This book traces social policy responses to migration from the Industrial Revolution to today's era of globalisation and large-scale migration. Through case studies from across the globe, the book explores key themes including rural-urban migration, social citizenship, welfare internationalism and diasporic care systems. It examines how migrants are included in or excluded from social citizenship in host societies, and how they become providers of welfare services such as health and social care. Moving beyond a methodological nationalist focus, the book investigates migrant incorporation into welfare states through family networks, faith communities, and other informal welfare structures. It combines migrants' experiences with host societies' immigration politics, institutional perspectives and policies to present a comprehensive analysis of the migration-welfare relationship. This volume fills a gap in academic literature and offers policymakers, practitioners and scholars a framework for understanding the interplay between migration and social policy in our changing world.

      • Trusted Partner
        November 2013

        Divination in the Ancient World

        Religious Options and the Individual

        by Herausgegeben von Rosenberger, Veit

      • Trusted Partner
        December 1987

        Allegorien des Lesens

        by Paul Man, Werner Hamacher, Peter Krumme, Werner Hamacher

        Im Falle Paul de Mans ist die begriffliche Charakterisierung seines Vorgehens zusätzlich erschwert dadurch, daß die Theorie nie losgelöst von den Texten, an denen sie gewonnen wird, betrachtet werden kann.

      • Trusted Partner
        May 2021

        On the Amazement of the World

        (Im-)Possibilities of science

        by Ernst Peter Fischer

        The current debate on the corona virus shows that knowledge, and with that science, plays a central role in the struggle to preserve humanity. Knowledge provides opportunities to influence the world, for better or worse. In times when emotions and appeals to baser instincts often triumph over reason and humanity, Ernst Peter Fischer reminds us of the goal of science that has been pursued since the Enlightenment: “to facilitate the conditions of human existence”. In his new book, the bestselling author takes us on an instructive, varied and enjoyable journey through the history of knowledge and science.

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

        Child, nation, race and empire

        Child rescue discourse, England, Canada and Australia, 1850–1915

        by Margot Hillel, Shurlee Swain, Andrew Thompson, John M. MacKenzie

        Child, nation, race and empire is an innovative, inter-disciplinary, cross cultural study that contributes to understandings of both contemporary child welfare practices and the complex dynamics of empire. It analyses the construction and transmission of nineteenth-century British child rescue ideology. Locating the origins of contemporary practice in the publications of the prominent English Child rescuers, Dr Barnardo, Thomas Bowman Stephenson, Benjamin Waugh, Edward de Montjoie Rudolf and their colonial disciples and literature written for children, it shows how the vulnerable body of the child at risk came to be reconstituted as central to the survival of nation, race and empire. Yet, as the shocking testimony before the many official enquiries into the past treatment of children in out-of-home 'care' held in Britain, Ireland, Australia and Canada make clear, there was no guarantee that the rescued child would be protected from further harm.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        July 2025

        Strange matter

        Medieval disruptions of time

        by Martin Bleisteiner, Jan-Peer Hartmann, Andrew James Johnston

        Medieval and early modern texts reflect a fascination with material objects, from ancient heirlooms to ingenious automata. Often imbued with power or beauty, these objects carry an uncanny sense of otherness, their mysterious origins evoking wonder and suggesting temporal and spatial distance. Acting as repositories of temporal alterity, such artefacts bridge the past and present in profound ways. This volume, featuring contributions from experts in literature and art history, explores how texts from these periods use material objects to engage with temporal otherness. From everyday items to marvellous creations, objects challenge distinctions between human and material, natural and cultural. Whether examining the hybrid status of Hector's body in Lydgate's Troy Book or the temporal agency of humble bubbles, the chapters illuminate the vibrant networks connecting people and objects. By highlighting the 'hybridity' of matter, the book offers fresh insights into Bruno Latour's critique of nature-culture divides.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2021

        Critical theory and human rights

        by David McGrogan, Darrow Schecter

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        September 2021

        Human capital and empire

        by Andrew Mackillop

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        October 2023

        Windows for the world

        Nineteenth-century stained glass and the international exhibitions, 1851–1900

        by Jasmine Allen

        Windows for the world explores the display and reception of nineteenth-century British stained glass in a secular exhibition context. International in scope, the book focuses on the global development of stained glass in this period as showcased at, and influenced by, these exhibitions. It recognises those who made and exhibited stained glass and demonstrates the long-lasting impact of the classification and modes of display at these events. A number of exhibits are illustrated in colour and are analysed in relation to stylistic developments, techniques and material innovations, as well as the broader iconographies of nation and empire in the nineteenth century.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        August 2022

        The 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.

      • Trusted Partner
        June 2017

        Frauen der 1920er Jahre

        Glamour, Stil und Avantgarde

        by Thomas Bleitner, Man Ray, Edward Steichen, Claude Cahun, Dora Kallmus

        In den 1920er Jahren war vieles wagemutiger, unkonventioneller und exzessiver als heute. Keine Zeit hat so viel Glamour, Stil und Avantgarde hervorgebracht, und eine nie gekannte Experimentierlust erobert Bühnen, Kunstateliers, den Sport und so manches Schlafzimmer. Frauen machen den Flug- und Führerschein, sie greifen zur Filmkamera, sie designen eine neue Mode, sie rauchen und trinken und tanzen fröhlich am Abgrund. Thomas Bleitner stellt in diesem opulent bebilderten Band legendäre und unvergleichliche Frauen aus Film, Fotografie, Sport, Mode und Kunst vor, die in den 1920er Jahren in Berlin, Paris und New York alte Rollenmuster auf den Kopf stellten und damit für Furore sorgten. »Als die Frauen begannen, ihre Röcke zu kürzen und ihre Haare zu stutzen, war dies der größte Umbruch in der Geschichte der Mode der letzten hundert Jahre.« New York Vogue vom 1. Juli 1928

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