This open access book presents the findings of the author’s 3 decades of studying China’s evolving anti-poverty strategies. It argues that much of the billions that nations spend yearly on economic aid is used inefficiently or to treat the symptoms but not the root causes of poverty. China, however, has evolved an effective sustainable alternative by providing the means for self-reliance to…
This Open-Access-book utilises Hipsterism to demonstrate modes of identity, collectivity, conceptions and a whole spectrum of activities with varying degrees of commitment in contemporary society. Analysed through the lens of Modernity, Consumerism, and the New Spirit of Capitalism, it draws on qualitative research from two subsequent field stays in Berlin and is complemented by self-reflexion …
This open access book examines the ways that consent operates in contemporary culture, suggesting it is a useful starting point to respectful relationships. This work, however, seeks to delve deeper, into the more complicated aspects of sexual consent. It examines the ways meaningful consent is difficult, if not impossible, in relationships that involve intimate partner violence or family viole…
This open access book examines the conversations around gendered mental health in contemporary Western media culture. While early 21st century-media was marked by a distinct focus on happiness, productivity and success, during the 2010s negative feelings and discussions around mental health have become increasingly common in that same media landscape. This book traces this turn to sadness in wo…
This open access book considers the concept of the hinterland as a crucial tool for understanding the global and planetary present as a time defined by the lasting legacies of colonialism, increasing labor precarity under late capitalist regimes, and looming climate disasters. Traditionally seen to serve a (colonial) port or market town, the hinterland here becomes a lens to attend to the times…
This open access book explores the disciplinary, disciplined, and recent interdisciplinary sites and productions of ethnomusicology and queerness, arguing that both academic realms are founded upon a destructive masculinity—indissolubly linked to coloniality and epistemic hegemony—and marked by a monologic, ethnocentric silencing of embodied, same-sex desire. Ethnomusicology’s fetishizati…
This open-access book analyses how stakeholder relationships impact the sustainability of health aid. It does this by providing an overarching analytical framework, which allows for a systematic analysis of sustainability, relationships, and a possible causal link between these phenomena. The book goes beyond universal paradigms and detailed single-case studies by offering a thorough analysis o…
This open access book presents contributions to decolonize development studies. It seeks to promote and sustain new forms of solidarity and conviviality that work towards achieving social justice.Recognising global poverty and inequalities as historic injustices, the book addresses how these can be challenged through teaching, research, and engagement in policy and practice, and the sorts of po…
This open access book considers the growing field of heritage tourism from community perspectives. It explores how the Cham—Vietnam’s large ethnic minority—reconcile their needs for economic development with the boundaries circumscribed by their traditional culture. It examines struggles that local minority stakeholders like the Cham face when trying to participate in areas of development…
This open access book studies how foreign models of economic development can be effectively learned by and applied to today’s latecomer countries. Policy capacity and societal learning are increasingly stressed as pre-conditions for successful catch-up. However, how such learning should be initiated by individual societies with different features needs to be explained. The book answers this p…