Working within a framework of environmental philosophy and environmental ethics, this book describes and postulates alternative understandings of nature in Indian traditions of thought, particularly philosophy. The interest in alternative conceptualizations of nature has gained significance after many thinkers pointed out that attitudes to the environment are determined to a large extent by our…
This book is an amateur astronomer’s guide to the mythology and symbolism associated with the celestial bodies in the Solar System, and even includes some of the legendary tales of people who had or have a connection with these objects. It explores different cultures (for example, the Greco-Roman and the Norse) and different times and how stories were used to explain the worlds they saw above…
This work responds to the increasing global need of measuring and analyzing impacts, vulnerabilities and coping capacity of countries, regions and communities regarding climate change, extreme weather conditions, natural disasters and institutional constraints. The case of Mexico, analyzed in this work, provides lessons for further developing countries to assess natural disasters vulnerability,…
This volume is based on the recognition that heritage is popular and popular culture is now readily transformed into heritage whose meanings and myths reshape social life and political and economic realities as well as re-make “tradition.” The papers in this volume consider: What does popular heritage look like? To whom does it speak? Is it active in dissolving class and cultural boundaries…
This book explores the relationship between transnational and local Islam as expressed in public discourse and policy-making, as represented in the local press. It does so against the background of local governments in majority Muslim regions across Indonesia promoting and passing regulations that mandate forms of social or economic behaviour seen to be compatible with Islam. The book situates …
Between 1915 and 1941, Tagore (1861-1941) and Gandhi (1869-1948) differed and argued about many things of personal, national, and international significance---satyagraha, non-cooperation, the boycott and burning of foreign cloth, the efficacy of fasting as a means of resistance and Gandhi’s mantra connecting “swaraj” and “charkha”. The author tracks the development of this dialogue an…
This volume works explores a transferable theory of a specific social-psychological infrastructure, based on the work of Dr. Daniel Bar-Tal, that develops from cultures immersed in intractable conflicts. The book's approach to this issue is different from approaches that are predominant in social psychology. This is because an important inspiration of many scholars that contributed to the book …
Wandering the Wards provides a detailed and unflinching ethnographic examination of life within the contemporary hospital. It reveals the institutional and ward cultures that inform the organisation and delivery of everyday care for one of the largest populations within them: people living with dementia who require urgent unscheduled hospital care. Drawing on five years of research embedded in …
This volume brings together research on development in three major areas of contemporary global relevance: agriculture and food security, energy, and the institutions of national innovation. Covering six of the largest emerging and developing economies (EDEs) in the world, three Asian (China, India and Malaysia), two Latin American (Brazil and Mexico), and one African (South Africa), the book …
This book takes stock of micro irrigation systems (MIS), the technological intervention in India’s agricultural and water management sectors, over the past couple of decades. Based on empirical research from the major agriculturally dynamic states, viz., Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the book provides a nuanced understanding and objective assessmen…