bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Introduction
Authors: Robinson Paul
Published: October 2024

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the Soviet men and women who served in Afghanistan in both military and civilian capacities during the eight years that the Soviets occupied the country. Roughly speaking, wartime soldiers' experiences may be divided into three temporal segments: their training prior to deployment, their time spent at war, and their lives following their return to civilian life. The Lithuanian veterans' stories touch on all three, although the focus of their reminiscences is largely on the final stage and the problems they encountered with reintegrating into civilian society. As has been the case in many countries following other conflicts, veterans of the Soviet War in Afghanistan often felt alienated from a civilian society that had no understanding of their experiences and no desire to understand. Veterans often also faced considerable material and psychological problems once they left the army. Frustrated with the unresponsiveness of state institutions, Soviet-Afghan War veterans began to organize themselves into informal clubs starting in the mid-1980s to provide mutual assistance and lobby for social benefits. Despite the troubles the veterans describe, and despite the lack of social support, most of them seem to have found their own means of coping and of living fulfilling lives.
Rytas Jonas Belevičius
Authors: Reich Anna
Published: October 2024

Abstract and Keywords to be supplied.
Gediminas Šiaurys
Authors: Reich Anna
Published: October 2024

This chapter highlights the story of Gediminas Šiaurys, who was conscripted into the Soviet army in 1978 before the war in Afghanistan began. The Soviet army invaded Afghanistan in the final days of December 1979. During the first week of January 1980, Šiaurys was deployed to Kunduz. As a sergeant, Šiaurys was accountable for sixty soldiers; by the time he left Afghanistan, he held the rank of lieutenant. He recalls his war experience by describing vivid memories of an ambush that took place while his unit was crossing a bridge to reach the war zone. Šiaurys settled in Vilnius after the war and began to work in a security division of the police, but rejoining civilian life has been far from easy.
Andrej Misko-Špilecki
Authors: Reich Anna
Published: October 2024

This chapter presents the story of Andrej Misko-Špilecki, who spent twenty-one months in Afghanistan. When Misko-Špilecki returned home, Vilnius was very different. Socially and politically, the climate of the nation was shifting as the USSR was on the brink of dissolution. It took some time for Misko-Špilecki to feel comfortable again in this uncertain environment. In reflecting on his war experiences, he claims that his service was “normal” for the time. Overall, the most significant lasting impact of Misko-Špilecki's service has been a new outlook. He learned that there are things one cannot avoid and things one cannot stop. He also became more sensitive.
Petras Gaškas
Authors: Reich Anna
Published: October 2024

This chapter focuses on the story of Petras Gaškas, who grew up in Vilnius and had to spend a few years of his childhood in a children's home after his father passed away when he was only five years old. In the first week of his conscription, Gaškas was told that his unit would be sent to Germany. When they flew to Afghanistan, he felt a lot of anxiety and nervousness. Reflecting on his deployment nearly thirty years later, Gaškas says little about his experience in Afghanistan seems real. After leaving Afghanistan over the “Friendship Bridge”—a road and rail bridge over the Amu Darya River—on February 12, 1989, he separated himself from the war until 2004 when the Vilnius Association of Afghan War Veterans reached out to him. Gaškas joined the organization and has enjoyed the camaraderie, believing it has helped him. As of 2023, he lived in Vilnius with his wife of thirty-two years and his two sons.
Jonas Vaitkūnas
Authors: Reich Anna
Published: October 2024

This chapter focuses on the story of Jonas Vaitkūnas, who attended school in Vilnius to be an athletic coach; his studies postponed his military conscription until 1978. After six months of training in Rukla, Lithuania, Vaitkūnas deployed to Tashkent for intense mountain climbing and survival training with a small group of sixteen soldiers. They were tasked with finding a route from the Soviet Union to Kabul. The unit was ambushed on their return to the Soviet Union, resulting in a near-death experience for Vaitkūnas that earned him the nickname “Lucky One.” Kunduz was the first major city to be taken by Soviet forces and was subsequently turned into central command headquarters for the Soviet army. Vaitkūnas worked with a small group of scouts who were the first to forge a path through three thousand kilometers of treacherous mountains. Food and water were scarce for Soviet soldiers, and relations with local civilians were often poor. The transition home presented its own challenges for Vaitkūnas; he often had nightmares for the first six months after returning.
Vytas Cironka
Authors: Reich Anna
Published: October 2024

This chapter describes the story of Vytas Cironka, who was conscripted into the Soviet army in 1985. He spent the first six months in Uzbekistan before an eighteen-month deployment to Afghanistan. According to Cironka, locals were often referred to as dushman, the Uzbek word for enemy. Nevertheless, the Soviet army had agreements with the locals, which permitted caravans to pass unbothered and goods to be transported and traded. Relations with fellow soldiers could also be contentious, according to Cironka. He was called a fascist by the Russians in his unit because he wanted everything to be orderly and clean, and the other men were not accustomed to such cleanliness. When Cironka left Afghanistan, Russian soldiers took everything of value that he had and sent him home with nothing. After returning to Lithuania, he had frequent dreams of the army, at least two or three each week. Cironka believes this may be related to the prominence of alcoholism and suicide in veterans.
Juozas Balkus
Authors: Reich Anna
Published: October 2024

This chapter highlights the story of Juozas Balkus, who was raised with his sister in an orphanage after the death of their parents and grandfather. Balkus later spent time in boarding school in the Lithuanian city of Trakai. He was conscripted into the Soviet army in 1980, at the beginning of the Soviet War in Afghanistan, and served until early 1981. Balkus speaks minimally about his time in the army. What he chooses to share, however, is impactful. He says that he was tortured in Afghanistan. There was a time when he fell asleep in a tent and did not make roll call on time; once he broke the very strict rules, he was tortured.
Robertas Krikštaponis
Authors: Reich Anna
Published: October 2024

This chapter presents the story of Robertas Krikštaponis, who was called to the Soviet army on October 18, 1985. Despite the fact that the Soviet Union had been at war in Afghanistan for more than five years, little information about the war had been distributed in Soviet countries, and most people were still largely in the dark. Krikštaponis returned home in late September of 1988, after nearly two years in Afghanistan. For ten years after returning from Afghanistan, he had terrible headaches. Transitioning back to civilian life was different for every veteran, and there was no uniform solution to the problems that could arise. Krikštaponis did not discuss his experiences publicly until several decades after his deployment. In 2011, he became involved with the Vilnius Association of Afghan War Veterans.
Dalius Didika
Authors: Reich Anna
Published: October 2024

This chapter describes the story of Dalius Didika, who had the opportunity to avoid conscription altogether because his mother worked in a hospital and altered his health check to exempt him from the requirement. However, when all of his friends were conscripted into the army, Didika did not want to be left behind. He enlisted on April 17, 1985, two days after his mother adjusted his papers. Didika deplaned in Kabul with a group of more than one hundred young men, but he and roughly ten others were selected to go on to Jalalabad, where he was assigned to protect the airport. His time in Jalalabad was interrupted after only one-and-a-half months when he broke his leg in a noncombat injury. Didika's leg did not heal properly, despite his best efforts, and he spent most of the next year working in a field hospital assisting with operations instead of guarding the airport. Like many veterans from the Soviet War in Afghanistan, he longs for public recognition of all that he and his fellow soldiers went through.
Introduction
Authors: Helstosky Carol
Published: October 2024

This chapter explores the complexities of the Italian art and antiquities market in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, highlighting its appeal and pitfalls. It reviews Italy's rich history and cultural stratification that attracted a wide range of consumers, noting how the market was also fraught with forgeries and deceptive practices. Following Italian unification in 1861, there was hope for better protection of cultural treasures, but foreign critics remained skeptical. The chapter notes the scarcity of authentic pieces and the prevalence of forgeries that reflected both the high demand for Italian artifacts and the nation's inability to safeguard its heritage. This situation led to a market where consumers had to navigate a landscape of potential fraud, driven by talented but desperate artisans exploiting Italy's artistic legacy.
Brokers of the Past
Authors: Helstosky Carol
Published: October 2024

This chapter examines the Benivieni affair, highlighting the discord in the art market between Italians and non-Italians: foreign customers accused Italians of deceit, while Italians argued that foreigners made poor choices and then blamed Italians for their public humiliation. The chapter notes how the Benivieni affair revealed Italy's predicament as a land rich in art and antiquities yet struggling to benefit from this wealth. Italian artists, like Giovanni Bastianini, who replicated great works, were condemned as forgers, exposing the high stakes of the art market during Italian unification. The chapter recounts how Italy, amidst these debates, became a hub for the antiquities trade and a destination for collectors and travelers seeking pieces of history. It covers the rise of the modern antiquarian industry, where Italian dealers and go-betweens catered to the emotional, financial, and aesthetic desires of foreign buyers.
The Affair That Wasn’t
Authors: Helstosky Carol
Published: October 2024

This chapter scrutinizes the life and career of Icilio Joni, a renowned figure in the modern Italian art market, whose memoirs shed light on the complexities of art forgery and the perception of Italian artists. Unlike Giovanni Bastianini, Joni remained largely unnoticed outside of Siena until the publication of his memoirs in 1932. The chapter describes Joni's meticulous skill in creating imitations and artificially aging artworks that made him a notable figure among collectors, but his work seldom stirred international controversy. The chapter looks at Joni's memoirs, which reveal a deep resentment towards non-Italian consumers and a keen awareness of his role in an international market that often blurred the lines between authentic and forged art. Joni's story highlights the intricate balance between creativity and deception in the Italian art market at the turn of the century.
To the Far North
Authors: Akif'ëv Ivan Nikolaevich
Published: October 2024

This annotated translation, presents the diary of a twenty-seven-year-old Russian physician who was part of the 1900 expedition to the Chukotka Peninsula to find gold. No other account so richly details life along the North Pacific Rim before World War I, especially from a Russian perspective. The book relates the expedition's formation, development, and aftermath and offers unique insights on the region's place in both Russian policymaking and geopolitics. It includes picturesque descriptions of San Francisco, the Nome Gold Rush, Chukchi culture, Petropavlovsk, Vladivostok, and Nagasaki, Japan. The translation is based on an edition of Akifëv's book that was published in St. Petersburg in 1904. The diary shows how Russian and American views and cultural values clashed over a territory that is today more geopolitically important than ever. By documenting Akifëv's personal travels outside the expedition, the book also demonstrates, in both human and personal terms, the role Russians played in shaping this region's history.
In the Great Ocean
Authors: Akif′ëv Ivan Nikolaevich , Gentes Andrew A.
Published: October 2024

This chapter covers the author's experience traveling the Great Ocean while riding the small steamer ship Samoa. The author compares the difference between riding the enormous ship Campania through the Atlantic Ocean, which managed to slide down a wave and surmount the well, to the smaller ship. Moreover, there is a distinct boredom aboard the ship while being crowded enough that there is no space to walk. The chapter presents the life story of Vasilii Beliaev, a Russian hire, that roused the consideration that he could have been an Ermak or Semën Dezhnëv if the circumstances were different. It considers the possibility of researching the destination following a long journey.
On the Chukotka Peninsula Coast
Authors: Akif′ëv Ivan Nikolaevich , Gentes Andrew A.
Published: October 2024

This chapter explains anchoring on the Chukotka Peninsula Coast. The author and the rest of the crew decided to go on an excursion for gold. On the way, the author examined people aboard Chukchi boats and found them to be unhealthy and sick before sending them home for further examination. Moreover, he reunited with Bakharev and Malafeev, his travel companions in the expedition to northern Korea that they completed in the autumn of 1898. The chapter then details how the ship was nearly pushed through the strait directly to a huge ice field forcing the Americans to leave for Nome.
Alaska
Authors: Akif′ëv Ivan Nikolaevich , Gentes Andrew A.
Published: October 2024

This chapter looks into the author and his crew's arrival in Alaska. It explains that following anchoring in Nome, several people had already started searching for gold. Gold, though not especially abundant, was turning up in every sluic. According to the author, Russia owned Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and much else, however, in 1866, the expanse was sold to the United States for 7,200,000 dollars. During the early 1950s, mining engineer Doroshin discovered gold on the islands of Sitka and Kodiak and the Kenai Peninsula. The chapter also mentions how gold was found, but it had not been exploited and that the land was still wild and unsettled at Kamchatka.
Our Arrest in Nome
Authors: Akif′ëv Ivan Nikolaevich , Gentes Andrew A.
Published: October 2024

This chapter details how Ivan Nikolaevich Akif'ëv and his crew were arrested as pirates in Nome. It details how the ship's captain refused to acknowledge Karl Ivanovich Bogdanovich following the conflict. After docking, Bogdanovich clarified their clearance for the expedition to the captain and the local military commander. The chapter explains that Americans' actions had been dreadfully solemnized, which resulted in the Samoa's sailors fancying themselves to be Akif'ëv's masters in full. It then cites that even though they were eventually freed from imprisonment, the expedition was ruined and the author only wished for a quicker transfer to the Iakut.
From Sakhalin to Vladivostok
Authors: Akif′ëv Ivan Nikolaevich , Gentes Andrew A.
Published: October 2024

This chapter covers the author's journey from Sakhalin to Vladivostok. The author sailed Vladivostok to Japan aboard the steamer Tartar, which belonged to the Canada Company. Compared to his previous ship experiences, the steamer Sungari left much to be desired due to its filth, stench, kitchen scrap, and sluice. The chapter mentions that it was completely unnoticeable that a war was going on throughout the Vladivostok city. It then explains how Karl Ivanovich Bogdanovich did not stay long with the expedition and left for Japan. Meanwhile, the author, on the other hand, decided to leave aboard the Volunteer Fleet steamer Kherson.
Afterword
Authors: Akif′ëv Ivan Nikolaevich , Gentes Andrew A.
Published: October 2024

This chapter looks into the reports regarding the 1900 Chukotka Expedition. Vladimir Mikhailovich Vonliarliarskii initially reported to Tsar Nicholas II that rumors of American prospectors on the peninsula were fictitious and that his Russian expeditionaries had no misunderstandings with either their American counterparts or the local inhabitants. However, Vonliarliarskii was made privy to a telegram that had been forwarded to the Mining Department. Karl Ivanovich Bogdanovich accused the Americans of ruining the expedition; the Nome military command of terrorizing him and his team, and Vonliarliarskii of turning the expedition over to the hands of piratical stockbrokers. The chapter mentions that the author served with a Cossack detachment in Korea.
The Geology of Building Materials
Authors: Wiggers Raymond
Published: October 2024

This chapter outlines the diverse array of materials that architects use in buildings and monuments, emphasizing both their aesthetic appeal and geological significance. It includes patterned marbles, rugged granites, and gleaming metallic alloys that stand out and humble limestones, bricks, and concrete that quietly contribute to the visual effect. These materials, regardless of their showiness, fascinate geologists and urban naturalists due to their mythic origins and the ancient natural processes they represent. The chapter discusses quarrying techniques that range from ancient manual methods to modern mechanical techniques. It highlights the importance of bricks, concrete, and metals in architecture, each with its own unique geological and historical context, and underscores their pivotal roles in shaping urban landscapes.
Foundations
Authors: Wiggers Raymond
Published: October 2024

This chapter explores the intricate geological and civil engineering challenges that Milwaukee and Chicago face due to their subsurface conditions. It discusses how both cities, situated on the Lake Michigan shore, share a history of building on low wetland ground underlain by treacherous sediments deposited during and after the Pleistocene Ice Age. Despite the deep bedrock and challenging sediments, Milwaukee and Chicago have thrived and have employed various foundation techniques like raft foundations, spread footings, piles, and caissons to support their towering structures. The chapter considers Milwaukee and Chicago's architectural feats as a testament to the ingenuity and expertise of their civil engineers and foundation contractors. It underscores the vital role of often-overlooked professionals in creating stable urban landscapes on such unstable ground.
Milwaukee: Juneau Town (East Town) and Lake Park
Authors: Wiggers Raymond
Published: October 2024

This chapter explores several iconic architectural landmarks in Milwaukee, beginning with the US Bank Center at 777 E. Wisconsin Avenue. Completed in 1973 by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with Fitzhugh Scott Architects and engineered by Fazlur Khan, this forty-two-story skyscraper stands as Milwaukee's tallest building. The chapter mentions the 1914 Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Building at 720 E. Wisconsin Avenue, designed by Marshall & Fox, that showcases neoclassical elegance with Woodbury Granite, Carrara Marble, bronze, and terra-cotta features. The chapter also includes the 2017 Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons by Pickard Chilton, which introduces modernity with Buddusò Granite, Yule Marble, Botticino Limestone, and Eramosa Dolostone. Each building not only embodies architectural excellence but also serves as a geological testament to Milwaukee's rich urban landscape.
Milwaukee: Menomonee Valley, Kilbourn Town (Westown), Marquette, Avenues West, Concordia, Midtown, and Veterans Affairs; City of Wauwatosa
Authors: Wiggers Raymond
Published: October 2024

This chapter outlines Milwaukee's architectural gems, each revealing unique geological and design marvels. The US Post Office at 345 W. St. Paul Avenue, completed in 1968, exemplifies Brutalist architecture and showcases the striking Lannon Dolostone alongside concrete and weathering steel. The chapter highlights the Public Service Building at 231 W. Michigan Street, a Beaux Arts masterpiece completed in 1905, which contrasts pale-buff Salem Limestone with dark tan Norman Brick. The chapter further describes landmarks like the Gimbels Department Store, Plankinton Arcade Building, and Kresge Building that demonstrate the city's rich tapestry of Terra-Cotta and Salem Limestone. The George Weinhagen House at 3306 W. Highland Boulevard, completed in 1911 by Herman W. Buemming, features Cream City Brick and Roman Brick that echoes the horizontality favored by Prairie School architects.
Prologue
Authors: Tezcür Günes Murat
Published: October 2024

This chapter recounts a poignant visit to Qadya Camp in Iraqi Kurdistan in late May 2018, where over fifteen thousand displaced individuals resided in container houses. Amid the oppressive heat and the noise of a failing air conditioner, Salim, a middle-aged Yezidi man, shared his harrowing story of captivity by the Islamic State (IS) and his prior imprisonment as an Iraqi prisoner of war in Iran. The chapter details Salim's narrative, which highlights the unique suffering endured by Yezidis, including his family's escape to Germany and his struggle to join them. It also mentions another resident who revealed the tragic loss of sixty family members, underscoring the brutal impact of the IS on Yezidi communities. The chapter situates these personal stories within a broader historical context, detailing the systematic persecution of Yezidis where IS militants committed atrocities against men, women, and children in 2014.
Introduction
Authors: Tezcür Günes Murat
Published: October 2024

This chapter provides a background on the Islamic State's (IS) uniquely vicious campaign against the Yezidis, a Kurdish-speaking minority with distinctive monotheistic beliefs in northern Iraq. Despite IS's general trail of death and destruction, their treatment of Yezidis was exceptionally brutal, involving systematic executions, kidnappings, enslavement, and forced conversions. The chapter explores the reasons behind this intense violence, questioning why local neighbors actively participated in atrocities against Yezidis and turned from coexisting neighbors into looters, enslavers, and murderers. The chapter highlights the global pattern of discrimination and violence against minorities that led to predatory violence by numerical majorities. It presents a theoretical framework that posits that certain religious minorities become targets of mass violence due to stigmatization and political resentment, a phenomenon applicable to various marginalized groups in both Muslim and non-Muslim settings.
Identifying the Problems of Standard Schooling
Authors: Blenkinsop Sean , Kuchta Estella
Published: October 2024

This chapter encapsulates the essence of ecologizing education, which stands apart from traditional schooling, outdoor adventure education, and green schooling programs. The chapter discusses how ecologizing education advocates for a profound cultural shift towards a more eco-socially just world, recognizing the inherent problems in current globalized, industrialized cultures. Ecologizing education emphasizes a radical transformation at the cultural level, challenging anthropocentrism and other biases. The chapter concludes notes that ecologizing education aligns with the natural world, aiming to redress past eco-social tragedies and shape a more responsible future. This evolving culture will be better harmonized with the needs and rights of the natural world, refusing to perpetuate the environmental atrocities of the past.
Healing
Authors: Blenkinsop Sean , Kuchta Estella
Published: October 2024

This chapter investigates the cultural pressure to maintain a positive outlook at all costs, particularly prevalent in North American society. While optimism and positive thinking can improve well-being, the insistence on constant positivity can be problematic both ecologically and psychologically. The chapter discusses how the mandate for happiness leads to the repression of negative emotions and a denial of personal and collective traumas, hindering the deep healing and cultural transformation necessary for addressing ecological and social injustices. The chapter details how the focus on individual happiness aligns with capitalist ideals of consumption and productivity, ultimately limiting genuine well-being. It argues for a more nuanced approach that acknowledges and embraces the full range of human emotions as integral to the process of healing and meaningful change.
Introduction
Authors: Cribiore Raffaella
Published: October 2024

This chapter provides essential preliminary observations on ancient commentaries, such as Philodemus's commentaries and philosophical works that introduce terms like hypomnemata and hypomnematikon. Peri Parrhesias, central to this investigation, functions as a commentary on commentaries by reproducing his teacher's lectures. The chapter also focuses on Didymus the Blind's commentary on grammatical aspects to clarify biblical texts and Olympiodorus's commentary that combined philosophical insights with linguistic explanations. The chapter discusses grammatical commentaries that are aimed at different education levels and that addressed elementary aspects such as punctuation, meter, and grammar. It highlights the role of commentaries in transmitting ancient texts and the influence of scholars like Aristarchus and Didymus Chalcenterus.
Conclusion
Authors: Cribiore Raffaella
Published: October 2024

This chapter highlights the significance of note-taking in ancient philosophical classrooms, shedding light on how notes, recording, and listening shaped education in antiquity. It explores the motivations behind note-taking, such as forming personal libraries, writing commentaries, or aiding in composing future books and lectures. It also reveals that students often used their notes for later works, as seen with Epictetus's disciple Arrian. The chapter discusses the value of ancient class annotations in understanding pedagogical methods, emphasizing the direct insights they offer into student–teacher interactions and the learning environment. It touches on the modern relevance of studying ancient note-taking practices and the importance of recognizing and interpreting these practices within their historical context rather than imposing presentist views.
Women of the Mafia
Authors: Allum Felia
Published: October 2024

This book dives into the Neapolitan criminal underworld of the Camorra as seen and lived by the women who inhabit it. The book tells their life stories and unpacks the gender dynamics by examining their participation as active agents in the organization as leaders, managers, foot soldiers, and enablers. In doing so, it shows that these women are true partners in crime. The book offers an innovative interdisciplinary analysis that demystifies the notion that the Camorra is a sexist, male-centric organization. It links analysis of Camorra culture within the wider Neapolitan context to show how mothers and women act and are treated in the private sphere of the household and how the family helps explain the power women have found in the Neapolitan Camorra. It is civil society and law enforcement agencies that continue to see the Camorra using traditional gender assumptions which render women irrelevant and lacking independent agency in the criminal underworld. The book debunks these assumptions by revealing the power and influence of women in the Camorra.
Women in the Camorra Space
Authors: Allum Felia
Published: October 2024

This chapter focuses on women in the Camorra Space, particularly those who navigate the gray zone ambiguously where boundaries are fluid. The gray zone is usually made up of white-collar professionals whose expertise, support, assistance, and advice to mafia groups guarantee their economic, social, and political existence and survival. Lines between formal and real participation in the Camorra underworld are blurred, but another invisible dimension to Camorra participation revolves around the participation of females. Women's accounts of their life stories in Camorra clans showcase how they often do not recognize the nature of their participation, power, and influence. The chapter explains that both poverty and wealth are motivators for becoming involved in organized crime groups.
Women and the Camorra’s Cultural Value System
Authors: Allum Felia
Published: October 2024

This chapter explores Camorra's cultural value system, particularly the ideology and tenets of Camorra women. For the Camorra system to flourish as a criminal entity, it needs to be protected and insulated by collective values that reinforce its identity, existence, and reputation and develop within the traditional Neapolitan culture. As women dominate the private sphere in the local community, they play a key role in maintaining and upholding this cultural value system while also educating and socializing children. The chapter details the notions of power, violence and money within Camorra's cultural value system. The values are transformed into rules and resources that become human capital, intelligently used by women.
Efficient Managers
Authors: Allum Felia
Published: October 2024

This chapter looks into the importance of Camorra middle managers and lieutenants who relay instructions to foot soldiers. Managers occupy a central space in the Camorra as they are the link and the connection between foot soldiers and leaders. Moreover, managers can be either male or female, and they are nearly always blood relatives because kinship, trust, and loyalty are essential. The chapter highlights that women are very reliable, resourceful, and efficient Camorra managers who implement their own actions and strategies for the clan. According to evidence, wives tend to become efficient managers while filling the shoes of their husbands whether in prison or abroad.
Strategic and Intelligent Leaders
Authors: Allum Felia
Published: October 2024

This chapter elaborates on how women can be leaders in their own right in Camorra. It overviews the life stories of six women who have come to the forefront of the Neapolitan criminal underworld since the 1980s with their own agency and personalities. The narratives revolve around several recurring themes like family and the nature of female involvement. The chapter highlights that gender does not stop them from being valid powerful players and partners, and the organization does not discriminate against them. It explains that gender, social class and religion, can explain why women in the Camorra are powerful actors who have influence and who occupy a key position in the criminal underworld.
Challenging Traditional Male Perceptions of Camorra Women
Authors: Allum Felia
Published: October 2024

This chapter examines the traditional male perceptions of Camorra women. It notes that Camorra women have been considered footnotes to the transformation of the Camorra in the postwar period. Because of the traditional image imposed on women by civil society and law enforcement agencies, they are an invisible labor force. Camorra women find themselves in a paradoxical situation constructed by civil society despite being fundamental players in a complex historical, cultural, social, economic, and political context. The chapter then elaborates on women's power, violence and agency in Camorra before considering the differences and similarities between traditional and modern Camorra women.
Conclusion
Authors: Allum Felia
Published: October 2024

This chapter covers the debate surrounding the women of Camorra. In the Neapolitan context, mafia women are just as violent, active, money hungry, and exploitative as men, if not more. However, Neapolitan civil society has been incapable or unwilling to face this reality as though doing so would have weakened and diminished its masculinity. The chapter notes the lives of different women living in the Camorra space, referencing their agency and opinions of choosing between the darkness and fear or the light and hope. It also explains how Neapolitan women remain as some sort of Mother Courage figures, who are the active, solid, and hidden foundation of Camorra families.
The Abortionist of Howard Street
Authors: Fulton R. E.
Published: October 2024

Josephine McCarty had many identities. But in Albany, New York, she was known as “Dr. Emma Burleigh,” the abortionist of Howard Street. On January 17, 1872, McCarty boarded a streetcar in Utica, New York, shot her ex-lover in the face, and disembarked, unaware that her bullet had passed through her target's head and into the heart of the innocent man sitting beside him. The unlucky passenger died within minutes. McCarty was arrested for attempted murder and quickly became the most notorious woman in central New York. The abortionist of Howard Street was, however, far more than a murderer. In Maryland she was “Johnny McCarty,” a blockade runner and spy for Confederate forces. New Yorkers whispered of her as a mistress to corrupt Albany politicians. So who was she? The prosecution in her murder trial claimed she was a calculating and heartless operative both in the bedroom and in her public life. Or was she the victim of ill fortune and the systemic weight of misogyny and male violence? The answer, of course, was not as simple as either narrative. This book considers the nuances of McCarty's life from marriage to divorce, from financial abuse to quarrels with intimate partners and more, trying to decipher the truth behind the stories and myths surrounding McCarty and what ultimately led her to that Utica streetcar with a pistol in her dress pocket. The book revisits a rich history of women's experience in mid-nineteenth century America, revealing McCarty as a multifaceted, fascinating personification of issues as broad as reproductive health, education, domestic abuse, mental illness, and criminal justice.
The Campbell Inquest
Authors: Fulton R. E.
Published: October 2024

This chapter studies the inquest on the death of Maggie Campbell, who got an abortion from Mrs. Emma Burleigh. Maggie's death was certainly a troubling event. That she had died at twenty-two, with no known illnesses or enemies, was one thing. That she had died at the house of one of the few doctors in Albany still bold enough to advertise abortion services was sufficient to raise concerns in Albany's medical community, and perhaps among the statesmen who had passed the recent abortion bill. Just weeks before Maggie's death, another abortion case had made headlines in New York City. In the summer of 1871, one newspaper in particular took up the anti-abortion cause—and, at exactly the same time, a tragic death provided the perfect case study to illustrate the dangers and moral depravity of abortion to the general public. The paper that broke the abortion story of the century was none other than the New York Times. Ultimately, Josephine McCarty's privileged social position allowed her to evade criminal charges. Her narrow escape from the law proved that the question of who provided abortions was just as important as the question of whether or not the practice itself should remain legal.
The Representative Bad Woman
Authors: Fulton R. E.
Published: October 2024

This chapter begins by looking at Judge Charles Doolittle's final address to the jury on May 18, 1872. Doolittle read directly from the laws of New York State on murder and manslaughter, laying out for the jury the three major questions they would have to consider when rendering their verdict. The first was simple: Was Henry H. Hall killed? The second question offered more difficulty: Did Josephine McCarty kill him? Putting aside the bigger philosophical and psychiatric questions of responsibility, it seemed hard to deny that Josephine had fired the gun that killed Henry Hall. This brought Doolittle to the final question, the most crucial question in the whole trial: Did Josephine commit the act that killed Henry H. Hall with a premeditated design to kill Milton H. Thomson? Coming finally to the question of insanity, Doolittle told the jury that they should assume that she was sane unless given sufficient evidence to believe otherwise. Ultimately, the jury found Josephine not guilty. Within days of the McCarty verdict in May 1872, the 95th New York State Legislature passed a new abortion statute. The chapter then considers the Comstock Act and what became of Josephine McCarty after her trial.
Epilogue
Authors: Fulton R. E.
Published: October 2024

This epilogue describes how Milton Thomson never fully recovered from the wound he received on the Genesee streetcar on January 17, 1872. Despite the dismal predictions of his doctors, he survived for over twenty years after the incident, dying suddenly on the morning of March 6, 1893. After his celebratory fishing trip, Lewis Babcock returned to practice in Utica. Meanwhile, Horatio Storer turned his attention away from medical practice to medical numismatics; in his later years, the “father of gynecology” became an expert on collecting medical medals and commemorative coins. But he had not fully given up the abortion cause. In the end, Horatio Storer's work did more to develop a way of thinking about abortion by marrying medicine and morality than it did to curtail the actual practice of abortion. The epilogue then looks at what became of Josephine McCarty's children.
The Evolution of Central Banks
Authors: Moschella Manuela
Published: October 2024

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the institutional evolution of central banks. Forged in the aftermath of the Great Inflation of the 1970s, the notion that central bankers should be free from political interference to keep inflation low and stable has become an almost universally accepted principle of macroeconomic doctrine. Nowhere is this consensus more evident than in the delegation of monetary responsibilities to unelected technocrats that has taken place since the 1980s. By the early 2000s, central bank independence and the pursuit of low inflation through interest rate technology had become unchallenged economic orthodoxy. However, the deflationary forces unleashed by the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 crisis have led central banks away from the “tidy and cozy” central banking world that had reigned since the 1980s. Policies such as quantitative easing have indeed caused central banks to stray from the orthodox terrain of interest rate policy and price stabilization to give pride of place to balance sheet policy and financial stability. The chapter explains that the book examines what consequences this evolutionary path entails for the role of central banks in domestic societies.
Constructing Reputation and Monetary Orthodoxy
Authors: Moschella Manuela
Published: October 2024

This chapter examines the process of reputation building and reputation consolidation of central banks and economic orthodoxy. Specifically, it offers a historical reconstruction of the way in which conservativeness and political neutrality became the tenets of modern central banks' reputation. The analysis is organized into three major historical junctures and the institutional developments that spanned each of them. The first juncture is the period of the Great Inflation, which gave rise to central banks' reputation as conservative institutions. The second juncture is the period broadly associated with the era of the Great Moderation, which ranged from the late 1980s until the beginning of the 2000s. In this period, the reputation of central banks was cemented, and the notion of monetary neutrality was clearly engrained in the institutional image of monetary authorities. Finally, the analysis focuses on Japan's “lost decade.” The Japanese experience in the 1990s is particularly important because, up to that point, Japan was the only high-income country to experience deflation since the 1930s. The Japanese experience thereby provides a glimpse into the problems that independent and reputable central banks might have confronted in the context of low inflation.
The European Central Bank
Authors: Moschella Manuela
Published: October 2024

This chapter explores how the European Central Bank (ECB) responded to the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 crisis. Akin to what the US Federal Reserve did, the ECB reacted to both the 2008 and 2020 crises by increasing liquidity and loosening monetary policy, including through the adoption of controversial quantitative easing programs. Nevertheless, similar to the US Fed, the ECB expanded its remit to include social goals by elevating the fight against climate change and making it one of its policy priorities. Despite the ECB's policy responses ultimately matching those of its US counterpart, the dominant view is that the ECB was a slower and more reluctant responder than the Fed. This peculiar pattern is largely attributed to the technocratic character of the institution. That is, the ECB's behavior reflects the dominance of neoliberal and ordoliberal ideas among European monetary authorities and the attendant policy prescription that emphasizes price stability over growth and employment.
King of Fortune
Authors: Minnema Anthony H.
Published: October 2024

This chapter discusses the seizure of Murcia from Bahāʾ al-Dawla's heirs by al-Mutawakkil's son, al-Wāthiq, and his involvement in the Mudéjar uprising. Although he exemplified the pretensions of his father, politics in al-Andalus changed between the emir's death and al-Wāthiq's coup, as Castilian kings began a policy of treating all Muslim leaders as vassals. Some emirs recognized this shift and pursued a realist agenda, but al-Wāthiq was caught up in a wider political game and his actions threatened the dynasty's survival. After 1266, the survival of the dynasty depended less on the pretensions of its claims and diplomacy outside Iberia and more on pragmatic relations with Christian kings. Ultimately, the arc of al-Wāthiq's career from the son of an ideologue to the pawn of a cunning strategist illuminates the changing political landscape of al-Andalus.
Between Castile and Aragon
Authors: Minnema Anthony H.
Published: October 2024

This chapter describes the rebellion's consequences for the last Hūdids as the reyes moros (Moor kings) of Arrixaca (1266–1296). The return of Castilian rule permitted the dynasty to remain as Muslim governors, but with no clear way to participate in the region's administration or in the wider political affairs of Iberia. The faltering of the dynasty and Aragon's invasion of Murcia allowed for the rise of their vassals, the Banū Ḥudayr, who worked to succeed the Banū Hūd by claiming their titles and authority. These lords proved useful to the Aragonese kings as emissaries to the Naṣrids and as a stabilizing force within Murcia. In exchange, they received recognition of their legal authority over the Muslim community as they gradually lost their patrimony and disappeared.
Conclusion
Authors: Minnema Anthony H.
Published: October 2024

This concluding chapter reviews the concept of legitimacy in the later ṭāʾifas and illustrates how the Banū Hūd's politics echoed in other kingdoms. A contemporary Muslim dynasty, the Banū Ghāniya, provide a mirror-image likeness as generations of this family's leaders tried to carve out an emirate in North Africa. Although they made similar efforts toward legitimacy, their platform is commonly reduced in scholarship to a desire for vengeance. Christian kingdoms inside and outside of Iberia also pursued agendas that resemble the politics of the ṭāʾifas. The first kings of Portugal and Sicily came to power through periods of fracture that they exacerbated by fighting against and borrowing from Christian and Muslim opponents. Their belligerent reputations and ambitious claims garnered them considerable support at home and abroad. Yet, medieval and modern historians do not describe their efforts as despotic or populist, but rather see them as normative and even as a sign of vitality. These comparisons to the Banū Hūd's agenda demonstrate that the politics associated with the ṭāʾifas exist beyond al-Andalus and point to broader developments in the Mediterranean.
Fire Dancers in Thailand’s Tourism Industry
Authors: Pollock Tiffany Rae
Published: October 2024

This chapter provides a background to the ethnography of the affective worlds of fire dancers within Thailand’s tourism industry. The chapter constructs a culturally contextualized theory of affect based on the dancers’ own understandings and considers affect as a bodily experience that encompasses both emotions and fleeting, subconscious vibes and intensities. It also examines the “force” of affect to understand its impact on the dancers’ lives and identities. The chapter analyzes how fire dancers channel energies through their performances and daily activities and gives insights into their identity management, community building, and the negotiation of precarity and opportunities in tourist economies. It presents affect as a mechanism through which fire dancers reimagine their lives and engage with political dimensions.
Fire Dance Femininities
Authors: Pollock Tiffany Rae
Published: October 2024

This chapter looks into the gender dynamics of the fire dance scene on Koh Phi Phi and beyond, focusing on the experiences of female fire dancers in Thailand. It begins with the initial question about the absence of Thai female fire dancers, which sparked conversations with women like Dao, Kat, Khao, and others. These discussions reveal the societal challenges and homosocial norms that hinder women’s participation in fire dance, a predominantly male-dominated art form in Thailand. The chapter examines how gendered surfaces and kalatesa or attention to time and place shape the ways Thai women navigate public perceptions and negotiate their presence in the fire dance community. It outlines the struggles and strategies these women employ to assert their identities and skills amidst broader cultural and national narratives that often restrict their roles to specific gendered expectations.
Feeling Together
Authors: Pollock Tiffany Rae
Published: October 2024

This chapter traces the historical narrative widely shared in Thailand concerning Ayutthaya’s capture by Burma in 1569, its subsequent destruction in 1767, and the enduring impact on Thai–Burmese relations. It recounts Nah and his experiences in fire dance, which highlights how such histories are reshaped through cultural exchange and collaboration. It also discusses how fire dance fosters unexpected friendships and solidarity across cultural divides. The chapter examines the transformative potential of fire dance within Thailand’s tourism industry, where it provides economic opportunities, forges deep interpersonal connections, and challenges historical narratives. Through affective engagements, fire dancers navigate complex social dynamics, reimagine identities, and negotiate political possibilities, underscoring the profound role of art in reshaping cultural and historical narratives through embodied practices and affective labor.
Introduction
Authors: Gardner Andrew M.
Published: October 2024

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the foreign presence in urban Arabia, particularly in Doha, Qatar. Doha is a city in which nine of every ten urban residents are foreign temporary workers. One finds similar demographic proportions in a few other cities in the neighboring Gulf states. Most of the foreigners present in these cities can be described as transnational labor migrants, an appellation that connotes both their place in the working class and the temporary nature of their presence in Arabia. The chapter explains how the book explores the migration system that feeds millions of transnational migrants into the city. It assesses the experiences of the migrant majority in the city and studies how both city and society have taken shape around those mobilities.