bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A History of Social Communication in East-Central Europe
Authors: Adamska Anna
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses the various forms of social communication and symbolism that framed the meanings of the spoken word, letters, and images in medieval East Central Europe. Focusing on elements of non-verbal communication, it examines the diverse communication capacities of particular regional groups, as well as the varying expectations in the region’s socio-cultural interactions. It is important not to put writing in radical opposition to oral and non-verbal communication; visual communication, for instance, combines crucial elements of these non-written forms by turning the sounds of the spoken word into a negotiated system of graphical signs. The ongoing investigation of the development of literacy in East Central Europe allows the conclusion that, despite some chronological delays, the implementation of writing in the region had a dynamic similar to that in many other parts of Europe. From the thirteenth century onwards, one can see both an apparent democratization and individualization in making, using, and keeping records in the ever-widening spectrum of pragmatic literacy, especially in urban environments.
Art and Architecture in Medieval East Central Europe
Authors: Zsolt Szakács Béla , Opačić Zoë
Published: September 2022

This chapter presents a cross-cultural analysis of the non-verbal language of medieval East Central Europe’s art. It provides entangled examples of artistic patronage across diverse genres, as well as how visual strategies, technical achievements, and stylistic developments were affected by historical change. East Central Europe has been often discussed as a historical region, but its common narrative as an art historical region has not yet been established. In fact, the region is simply missing from the map of European art in studies of the Romanesque period. This may have resulted, at least in part, from the fragmentary nature of the evidence, language barriers, and political differences, but recently a number of projects have attempted to harmonize research efforts across the area, especially for the Carolingian period. The chapter then looks at the flourishing of Romanesque art and architecture, as well as the Gothic style and royal residences, castles, and courts.
Contexts of Late Medieval Daily Life
Authors: Jaritz Gerhard
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines Central Europe’s material culture and its reception, focusing on some rarely studied daily practices such as drinking beer, or visiting a religious house, but also topics that have only recently started to attract scholarly attention, among them the attitudes of the region’s societies towards food consumption and management of health and disease. From the thirteenth century onwards, Central Europe was intensively influenced from the West, by more than just the chivalrous ideals and models of the elites. This can also be seen in elements of the daily life and material culture of other groups in society and led to a kind of “normalization” of European dress and food culture which remained socially determined but decreased with regard to “national” and regional differences, although the latter remained to some extent and showed no sign of general disappearance. All societies adopt and reject foreign elements, with the members of each society constantly assessing their own daily life and material culture, particularly such public elements as outer appearance, feasts, architecture, and language. Medieval Central Europe was no exception.
Monasticism in Medieval Central Europe (c. 800–c. 1550)
Authors: de Cevins Marie-Madeleine , Derwich Marek , Romhányi Beatrix
Published: September 2022

This chapter assesses monasticism in medieval Central Europe. Noting the differences in the density of the monasteries in Central Europe and the European West, as well as a somewhat belated appearance of these communities compared to the European medieval West, it depicts a special diversity patterned by monastic foundations and “Western” models in the organization of monasteries’ structures. The chapter also notes some important links deriving from the proximity of Oriental Christianity, especially apparent in the monastic landscape of medieval Hungary. The common features of Central European monasticism were strengthened by interactions among the monks, regular canons and friars of the area, who often belonged to the same regular districts and studied at the same universities. Nevertheless, each country had its own specificities.
The Image of East Central Europe in Medieval European Literature
Authors: Seláf Levente
Published: September 2022

This chapter addresses stereotypes by which the local population of medieval East Central Europe was described in the medieval West and their image reshaped over centuries by diverse Western influences, especially highlighting perceptions of the Slavs. The diversity of examples illustrates that there was no constant image of the region in Western literature. Various images and narrative functions wandered from one text and genre to another, which shows the complicated structure of intertextuality in medieval literature. This system was not static. After a long period when the lack of information about the region was compensated for by stereotypes and distinct ways of “orientalizing” by association, a growing number of personal encounters helped Western writers develop a more diversified vision of the region. Although these more nuanced representations still operate with stereotypes, by the late Middle Ages Western literature seems to have emancipated East Central Europe, which was increasingly portrayed as a land of highly mobile outstanding warriors and attractive princesses who played greater roles in fictitious political events, not unlike Eastern Europe’s intensifying significance in the affairs of Western kingdoms.
The Middle Ages after the Middle Ages
Authors: Bak János M. , Klaniczay Gábor
Published: September 2022

This chapter reflects on popular memories and various manifestations of interest in the real or imaginary Middle Ages which circulated in the past three centuries. Often connected with political agendas that one tends to classify as “medievalism,” they bring in some important fragments of Central Europe’s “culture of memory” and ways in which modern colonial establishments use its past, “softly” shaping it to justify the recent revival of dictatorship in modern Central Europe. As far as one can reconstruct from modern collections of folklore, some medieval figures—popular saints, celebrated heroes, and rulers—came to be associated with folkloric motifs known world-wide, used as early as the late Middle Ages. Another form of medievalism, the Gothic Revival, reached the region in the mid-nineteenth century, when it was already in decline in Western Europe. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the major occasions for medievalist events were the millennial celebrations connected with the founding of the states in Central Europe more or less a thousand years earlier.
Musical Culture in Medieval Central Europe
Authors: Gancarczyk Paweł
Published: September 2022

This chapter describes musical culture in medieval Central Europe. It challenges traditional interpretations that profiled the musical culture of Central Europe in its relation to the European West, showing how in different parts of the region various models arose from the influence of France, the Netherlands, and Italy, and also how they transformed into specific musical forms that are nowadays recognized as a distinctive regional contribution to the broader identity of medieval Europe. In seeking the beginnings of notated professional music in Central Europe, one has to reach back to the times of Charlemagne, when the first notations of plainchant appeared. During the Middle Ages, there was a whole range of musical genres used in church ceremonies which did not belong to liturgical chants such as antiphons, responsories, and mass sections. Minnesang, a German tradition of courtly lyric and secular monophony, also held an important place in the song tradition of Central Europe. The chapter then looks at composers such as Mikołaj Radomski, Hermann Edlerawer, and Johannes Tourout, before considering the development of polyphonic music.
Reliability and Validity of Research with Corpora of Music
Authors: Marsden Alan
Published: September 2022

Corpus musicologists seek conclusions which are valid and applicable for demonstrably abstract reasons. This chapter examines several aspects of reliability and validity in corpus musicology: the avoidance of bias, particularly through the deliberate exclusion of expert judgment; issues of the reliability of methods of measurement used and conversion from one form of information to another; variances in interpreted data involving human judgments; errors in corpora; the notions of “random” or “representative” samples; and statistical significance in both hypothesis-testing and exploratory studies. Some research aims to extend or test theory through building models, now frequently employing machine-learning. Particular care is required to separate training and test materials to avoid over-fitting, i.e., building a model which works for the specific data used but not for other music. Even in the absence of machine-learning, continually working with the same or a small number of corpora has similar dangers of drawing conclusions which lack wider applicability. When working with several separate corpora is not possible, techniques such as bootstrapping can be employed to estimate the reliability of conclusions. Even working with corpora which are comprehensive, such as the entire output of a composer, is not problem-free. As corpora become ever more comprehensive and corpus musicology more common, musicology is likely to have to rediscover its links with composition and its concerns with not-yet-existent music.
Statistical Methods in Music Corpus Studies
Authors: Müllensiefen Daniel , Frieler Klaus
Published: September 2022

In this chapter, the authors explain that there are two common goals in musical corpus analysis. The first is the description and comparison of musical corpora, the second is to establish relationships between musical structures and extra-musical data, which can refer to metadata of a particular musical piece (genre, style, and period labels, composer and performer attributions, etc.) or to listeners’ perceptions and evaluations. The authors give a brief overview of basic and advanced statistical methods that have been employed in music corpus studies. The chapter covers descriptive statistics and visualizations, feature selection and aggregation using principal component analysis. In addition, random forests and linear regression methods for use in the context of corpus studies are briefly explained, as well as supervised and unsupervised classification techniques. Each topic and method is introduced with a conceptual explanation, suggestions for its application, and usage scenarios from the research literature.
Race, Legal Representation, and Lawyer Ethics
Authors: Alfieri Anthony V.
Published: September 2022

This chapter explores contemporary civil rights, criminal justice, and poverty law practice in order to identify the dilemmas that practitioners face when prosecuting, defending, and advancing the rights of indigent minorities, and also to better understand why and how prosecutors and defenders as well as civil rights and legal aid lawyers knowingly appeal to racial bias in their advocacy. Across three sections, the chapter examines how a diverse group of public-interest lawyers—anti-poverty and civil rights advocates, prosecutors, and defenders—see, hear, and talk about race, notably the race and racial identity of indigent minority communities embodied in the day-to-day, sociolegal experiences of clients, accused offenders, and victims. This examination gives rise to multiple, interwoven lines of inquiry about race and legal representation. For example, what visual images and stock stories of race do public-interest lawyers employ in performing the functions of an advocate for the impoverished? What are the past and present sources of those images and stories? How do such images and stories construct the culture, social history, and identity of minorities? When do those images and stories engender racial bias and prejudice toward individuals, groups, and communities? Where do those images and stories predominate—courthouses, jury rooms, law offices? Who do they impact and harm—lone clients and offenders, neighborhood groups, whole communities? And why do ethics regimes like ABA rules and state bar codes permit lawyers to use such images and stories in their advocacy in spite of the palpable harm to individual, group, and community racial identity?
From the Center to the Margins
Authors: Camps Martín
Published: September 2022

This chapter begins by studying Fernández de Lizardi’s (1776–1827) novel El Periquillo Sarniento (The Mangy Parrot, 1816), considered the first Mexican novel. The twentieth century opens with Santa (1903) by Federico Gamboa (1864–1939), borrowing from realist and naturalist styles. A watershed moment in the country’s history was the Mexican Revolution. Its violence and failure inspired novels by Mariano Azuela (1873–1952), among others. Two masterpieces published in 1955, Agustín Yáñez’s (1904–1980) Al filo del agua (The Edge of the Storm, 1955) and Juan Rulfo’s (1917–1986) Pedro Páramo (1955), open the era of the modern novel in Mexico. The mid-century generation modernized Mexican fiction by moving away from regional themes with works by Carlos Fuentes (1928–2012), and Elena Garro (1916–1998), among others. The 1960s in Mexico were marked by the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, a moment of change expressed in the novels of La onda (The Wave), by José Agustín (1944) and Gustavo Sáinz (1940–2015). In the 1970s, Luis Zapata’s (1951–2020) El vampiro de la colonia Roma (Adonis García: a Picaresque Novel 1979) became a milestone in Mexican homosexual literature. In the 1980s, Fernando del Paso’s (1935–2018) Noticias del Imperio (News from the Empire, 1986) revisits the period of Emperor Maximilian in a masterful historical novel. Another important 1990s movement is the Generación del Crack (Generation of the Crack). Notwithstanding Mexico City’s magnetic pull, writers from the north of Mexico also write from or about the marginal “provinces.” The chapter closes by looking at a talented group of women writers, such as Fernanda Melchor (1982-) and Valeria Luiselli (1983).
José María Arguedas’s Poetics of the Novel
Authors: García Liendo Javier
Published: September 2022

This chapter studies José María Arguedas’s poetics of the novel focusing on Yawar Fiesta (1941), Los ríos profundos (Deep Rivers, 1958), and El zorro de arriba y el zorro de abajo (The Fox from Up Above and the Fox from Down Below, 1971). Antigenric coupling, a key characteristic of these works, is examined as Arguedas’s response to the challenge of narrating Peru’s historical transformation during the twentieth century, particularly the clash between indigeneity, traditional social relations, and capitalist modernization. Not a literary flaw but a deliberate formal decision, antigenric coupling refers to Arguedas’s use of multiple discursive genres (fiction, biography, history, ethnography, folklore, sociology, mythology, dance, music), avoiding fusing these genres into a single dominant narrative. This chapter maintains that Arguedas intentionally employs this formal manipulation to capture the multiple affective, epistemic, political, and cultural dimensions of a postcolonial country with a predominantly indigenous and rural population embroiled in an accelerating capitalist modernization.
Rita Indiana’s Tentacled Novels
Authors: De Maeseneer Rita
Published: September 2022

Queer identities and racialized subjects in a transnational and multi-ethnic context are central to the novels of Rita Indiana (1977), a lesbian writer, performer, and singer, originally from the Dominican Republic, a country where whiteness, anti-Haitianism, patriarchy, Hispanophile culture, and Catholicism prevail(ed). This chapter explores how Indiana’s multilayered works, aside from dealing with the well-researched globalizing topics of queerness, race, and transnationality, interconnect with other recurrent tendencies and subjects in contemporary (Latin American) literature. These include autofiction, urban novel, migration, violence, colonialism, science fiction, ecocriticism, and political disenchantment. This approach does not overlook the specific traits of Indiana’s poetics, which takes root(s) and routes in and from the Caribbean. As a peripheral writer of Latin American origin, facing many obstacles in forging an authorial persona and in gaining visibility in the publishing industry, she epitomizes the local and global position that writers from the South adopt in the twenty-first century.
Addams’s Methodologies of Writing, Thinking, and Activism
Authors: Fischer Marilyn
Published: September 2022

To understand Addams’s texts, readers need to attend both to her evolutionary methodologies and to her interpretive strategies. Addams was an evolutionary scientist and sociologist in the days before natural selection became merged with genetics and before sociology adopted a stance of positivistic objectivity. Like other intellectuals at the nineteenth century’s turn, Addams addressed contemporary social problems by locating them within their evolutionary histories and proposing ways of moving society toward healthy equilibrium. She used specific social theories as tools, selecting the ones best suited for each given social problem. Evolutionary theorizing served as foundation and framing for her writings. Addams employed evolutionary thought in the service of “interpretation,” that is, to make the lives of her urban immigrant neighbors intelligible to her largely Anglo-Saxon, middle-class audiences. For this, Addams employed late nineteenth century rhetorical and literary conventions. Her aim was to persuade her audiences to alter their perceptions of the poor and oppressed and work with them for social reforms. Addams’s theorizing is still of use today as a model of multi-disciplinary thinking, its integration of abstract theory with concrete social issues, and its ecological character.
The Complementary Theory and Practice of Jane Addams and George Herbert Mead
Authors: Lowe Barbara J.
Published: September 2022

This chapter focuses on the complementary nature of the theory and practice of Jane Addams (1860–1935) and George Herbert Mead (1863–1931). When applied to intractable contemporary problems, the application of their combined insights “bends toward justice.” Both were theorist-activists who embraced a relational and interdependent conception of the self and insisted that, with empathetic understanding, progress toward justice could be incrementally achieved. This approach has contemporary relevance, particularly in today’s polarized society. Our social circles have narrowed, becoming more insular, our political institutions have become more divisive, and the economic gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. Addams and Mead’s work help us see why these divisions are problematic and suggest possible paths for moving toward more just social, political, and economic arrangements.
ACT for Anxiety and Trauma-Related Disorders
Authors: Smith Brooke M. , Smith Gregory S. , Bluett Ellen J.
Published: September 2022

Anxiety and trauma-related disorders are described in terms of maladaptive response patterns that largely consist of avoidance of various threat cues. Following an introduction to the classes of disorders and primary behavioral processes that maintain them, the authors briefly review traditional conceptualizations of etiology and associated treatments, followed by a theoretical rationale that underscores acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as a conceptually sound and comprehensive treatment for these disorders. An overview of empirical research supporting the efficacy of ACT for these disorders is then provided, followed by clinical considerations and examples of implementation as they relate to specific disorders within the overarching classes. Lastly, the authors discuss limitations in the extant literature and provide recommendations for future research, including a shift to a more process-based approach of conceptualization and treatment of these classes of disorders.
ACT in Schools
Authors: Renshaw Tyler L. , Weeks Sean N. , Roberson Anthony J. , Vinal Stephanie
Published: September 2022

This article makes the conceptual and empirical case for using acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) with youth in school settings. As background, a logical, evidence-based case is made for school-based mental health services more generally. The authors outline a public health approach to using ACT in schools via a multitiered system of supports (MTSS), which emphasizes scaled prevention at universal, targeted, and intensive levels. In addition, the existing literature on ACT in schools is reviewed, showing adequate evidence to support use at the targeted level. The limitations and challenges of using ACT in schools are discussed, and future directions for advancing research and practice are offered. Future work in this area might especially benefit from (1) enhancing the methodological rigor of research designs in school-based studies, (2) testing the viability of brief or focused ACT at the targeted level in schools, (3) investigating the treatment utility of ACT-related process measures in schools, and (4) expanding the scope of ACT in schools to promote the well-being of teachers and other educators.
ACT in Groups
Authors: Arch Joanna J. , Finkelstein Lauren B. , Dindo Lilian
Published: September 2022

This article offers an up-to-date selective review of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) conducted in the group format. ACT in the group format differs from ACT in the individual format; its potential advantages and disadvantages are discussed in general and in terms of the six ACT hexaflex processes. Reviewed in this article are select large randomized clinical trials on ACT in groups, and highlighted are innovative group delivery modes and the diversity of problem areas to which this format has been applied. Major considerations for conducting ACT in groups are briefly discussed, including reasons to form an ACT group, who and what to include in an ACT group, how to start group sessions, and their length and frequency. The authors consider challenges, including the dearth of studies that directly compare group to individual delivery of ACT and whether group ACT operates similarly at the process level as individual ACT; address the needs of diverse individuals; and evaluate cost effectiveness. Building on the growing number of trials of group ACT interventions, the authors offer recommendations for future research, including strategies to evaluate how ACT groups work and for whom they work best.
Primer on Basic Behavioral Principles
Authors: Waltz Thomas J. , Drossel Claudia
Published: September 2022

Behavioral principles guided the initial development of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and serve as the foundation for its flexible implementation. This article provides a broad introduction to the contextual approach to operant behavior, including behavioral principles, behavioral economics, and rule-governed behavior. Key applications of these relations include taking a constructional approach to building meaningful patterns of behavior that are supported by naturalistic contingencies outside of the therapeutic relationship, evaluating function-based hypotheses by monitoring response to treatment and other key variables, and occasionally systematically evaluating treatment outcomes using single-subject research designs. Examples used throughout the article help connect these foundational concepts to ACT practice. Behavioral principles support clinicians in taking a scientist-practitioner approach to ACT implementation and can support competent innovation while maintaining fidelity to the underlying functional contextual model.
African Sociology of Health and Well-Being
Authors: Amzat Jimoh , Razum Oliver , Adaranijo Aisha A.
Published: September 2022

This chapter takes a critical and macro stance showing the sociological interrogation of health and well-being in Africa, focusing on the social context of health and disease, including social life, institutions, and human health behaviors. Sociological discourse about health in Africa is no different from that in the rest of the world, as the exploration of macro and micro social processes influences social etiology, social response to illness, and access to healthcare. The chapter explores the social situation in Africa, including economic and gendered circumstances, increasing population, cultural and traditional practices, limited access to modern medicine, traditional medicine use, social constructions of health, and the influence of globalization. The chapter emphasizes that understanding health and well-being requires a sociological lens that can unravel the fundamental causes of the health situation in Africa and elsewhere.
The Sociological Implications of Africa’s Political Economy
Authors: Lekunze Manu
Published: September 2022

This chapter explains how the interaction between political power and authority shapes the nature and evolution of macrosociological features of African states’ societies. It captures the nature of current political order, political development, economic systems, and social order and explains their evolution. The chapter argues that the nature and evolution of Africa’s political economies oriented Africa toward the macrosociological features of multinational states, exterocentric economic systems, a social order built on large families and clans, and largely authoritarian political systems. The argument rests on five fundamental observations (a) the historical ability to form self-sufficient societies in isolation; (b) the historical possibility of trade as a strategy of self-sufficiency only, and not integration; (c) a historical link between family, labor, wealth, political power, and order; (d) the history of external domination; and (e) the disproportionate structural power of domestic and international political economies on externally dominated societies.
Africa’s Nature
Authors: Chellan Noel
Published: September 2022

The biggest environmental crisis facing the world is climate change, a phenomenon that began with the Industrial Revolution in England in the 1700s. Like the Amazon rainforests in Brazil, Africa comprises huge tracts of natural forests and biodiversity that are the green lungs of the world. Africa’s abundant natural spaces are a huge producer of the world’s oxygen, an effective regulator of global temperature, and a biodiversity paradise. However, colonialism and its incumbent capitalist economic system is subjecting Africa’s natural riches to large-scale destruction. The question is: What should Africa’s response to large-scale environmental destruction and climate change be? This chapter deals with environmental destruction and climate change, its genesis, and its and impacts on Africa. It highlights and focuses on four key objectives for analyzing and understanding the huge environmental and socioeconomic challenges facing Africa. The chapter proposes four recommendations toward planetary sustainability and human well-being in Africa.
Immigration and Job Quality
Authors: Armenta Amada , Gleeson Shannon
Published: September 2022

Immigrant workers are amongst the most vulnerable labourers in the workforce. Although immigrants comprise a significant portion of various employment sectors, immigrant workers often endure uneven access to workplace protections, challenges related to language ability and human capital, and discrimination at work and in the communities in which they live. Understanding immigrants’ labour market experiences is key to understanding the experiences of other marginal workers who either lack key protections or struggle to access them due to their structural positions. This chapter reviews the interdisciplinary literature on job quality for immigrant workers and presents data from a case study of Latino immigrant workers in Philadelphia. We consider how legal status and gender jointly impact immigrant workers. More specifically, we examine the challenges that immigrant women face in obtaining formal and informal job opportunities, negotiating power at work, and contesting workplace protections when violations occur. Lastly, we discuss the defining factors shaping their precarious work lives, as well as the moments of agency they exert at work and beyond.
Job Quality and the Small Firm
Authors: Edwards Paul , Ram Monder
Published: September 2022

This chapter addresses three issues. Firstly, it outlines the paradox of job quality in small firms, namely, low levels of objective aspects such as earnings but high subjective aspects, notably reported autonomy and satisfaction. It explains this paradox in terms of specific effects of size such as face-to-face relationships and correlates of size such as formalization. Secondly, the chapter outlines key variations in the pattern in relation to such factors as industrial sector, the ownership structure of firms and managerial strategy. It illustrates these variations using real-world examples of small firms. Thirdly, it addresses the neglected question of the policy implications, arguing that large-firm ‘best practice’ does not translate to the small-firm context. It suggests measures that recognize the aims of small business owners, including action by state agencies to work with firms and the promotion of local and sectoral associations of firms.
The Executive
Authors: Hebestreit Ray , Korte Karl-Rudolf
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines the executive branch of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with a particular focus on the Federal Chancellor, the ministers who form the Federal Cabinet, including their ministries, and other federal administrative authorities which form the executive bodies of the federal government. There is only a brief discussion of the German parliament (Bundestag), which has a close relationship with the ruling government in Germany’s political system. Germany’s federal government is best viewed as a ‘Chancellor’s Democracy’ whose policies and decision-making are guided by cultivating consensus between the major and minor parties of a governing coalition. Over time, historical developments have diminished the role of certain bodies, such as the Cabinet, and empowered others, such as the Office of the Chancellery, which are not mentioned in the Federal Republic’s Basic Law, the Grundgesetz.
The German Bundestag
Authors: Schüttemeyer Suzanne S. , Siefken Sven T.
Published: September 2022

The Bundestag is the only political institution in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) which is directly elected. It stands at the centre of the constitutional design of the political system. To fully grasp its status, it is necessary to analyse the basic characteristics of a parliamentary (party) democracy in Germany. Underlying all political practice is the logic of a ‘new dualism’ between the governing majority on the one hand and the parliamentary opposition on the other. This influences how the involved actors contribute in different ways to the key functions of parliament: election, legislation, control, and communication—all of which are aimed at achieving representation and consequently legitimacy. For a complete understanding, both publicly visible and invisible interactions and influences between parliament and the executive as well as the political parties need to be considered. Such a perspective disproves many current allegations of parliamentary decline and shows that the Bundestag is a working parliament under communicative pressure.
The German Economic Model
Authors: Schweiger Christian
Published: September 2022

This chapter outlines the foundations of Germany’s social market economy, which is deeply rooted in the ordoliberal tradition of coordination and consensus with the state providing the legal framework for interaction between market and non-market actors and foundations of the supporting welfare state. The main focus lies in analysing the changes Germany’s social market economy has undergone since German reunification. The partial collapse of industry in Eastern Germany, which was mainly the result of the restructuring undertaken by the government agency Treuhand, led to a steep rise in unemployment and to mounting pressures on the German economy and welfare state. The subsequent structural reforms introduced more than two decades ago—the Agenda 2010 policy—of the red-green coalition under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder have modified the institutional foundations of the social market economy and shown that they are adaptable. The most fundamental changes were introduced by the Hartz labour market reforms, which have both substantially increased the levels of precarious employment and transformed the formerly inclusive German welfare state towards activation and means-testing.
The Immigration System and the Rule of Law
Authors: Thränhardt Dietrich
Published: September 2022

West Germany came into being with millions of refugees and expellees and took in more ethnic Germans and East Germans from communist countries between 1945 and 1990. From 1955 on, it recruited ‘guest workers’ from the Mediterranean countries, most of whom became European citizens, due to the enlargement and consolidation of the European Union (EU). This immigration continues with the Eastern EU enlargement in an open migration space. Reacting against Nazism and communism, the German constitution guarantees broad human rights for everybody in the country. The constitutional right for asylum was instrumental in opening the country for refugees, culminating in the ‘welcome summer’ of 2015. In its aftermath, the government tried to limit the numbers of refugees. At the same time Germany opens up for qualified workers and students, to help industry and counter Germany’s demographic problem.
Franco-German Relations and the European Integration Process since 1990
Authors: Germond Carine S.
Published: September 2022

France and Germany are commonly seen as the two powerhouses driving European union. Their post-war reconciliation cleared the way for economic integration, which in turn provided multiple opportunities for the two countries to work together, deepen their bilateral partnership, and provide leadership. This role has become ever more important in a larger, more diverse, and crisis-laden European Union (EU). The chapter discusses how Franco-German relations have shaped the course of European integration since German reunification. The first section provides a broad-brush overview of the gradual process of Franco-German rapprochement and cooperation between 1945 and 1990. The second section examines the difficulties that France and Germany experienced while trying to steer the course of an enlarging Europe from the early 1990s to roughly the mid-2000s. The third and final section explores the more recent pressures and challenges that have affected the ability of both countries to exert joint leadership in an EU mired in crises.
From Post-National Democracy to Post-Classical Nation-State
Authors: Winkler Heinrich August
Published: September 2022

Learning lessons from the past has been a leitmotif of German politics since 1945. But what lessons have been the most successful and when? Unlike the German Democratic Republic, which decided to mirror the Soviet Union’s ‘anti-fascist’ dictatorship, the German Federal Republic made a conscious effort to join the club of mature Western democracies. This was possible thanks to a new constitution that looked for remedies to the structural flaws of the Weimar Republic and declared the inviolability of human rights as well as West Germany’s outspoken support of projects to intensify the process of European integration. A new set of ‘German questions’ has arisen since reunification in the fall of 1990. In light of contemporary threats to the cohesion of the European Union and the Transatlantic West, Germany once again faces a challenge of learning the right lessons from its past. Only time can tell whether constant appeals to remember the horrors of the Nazi era will lead Germany to avoid or more vigorously engage with the problems of the present and the future.
Germany and NATO
Authors: Kaim Markus
Published: September 2022

At the end of Angela Merkel's chancellorship, NATO enjoys greater support in Germany than it has for a long time. Since Germany's accession in 1955, the North Atlantic alliance has been one of the two pillars on which German foreign and security policy has rested, along with the European integration process. Without US nuclear and conventional military capabilities, Germany and Europe could not protect themselves. In light of France's recent calls for greater European strategic autonomy from the United States, it will be critical for Germany to reconcile Berlin's European ties and its transatlantic commitments. This will also play a major role in NATO's new strategic concept, which will be adopted in the summer of 2022 and will provide answers to crucial questions such as the future of nuclear sharing, NATO's strategy toward a rising China, and the shape of relations with Russia. It is high time that Germany set out its own vision of Europe's future role in the alliance and thus fleshed out what Berlin means by stating that German security policy is supposed to ‘become more European in order to remain transatlantic’.
A Quarter Century of German Relations with the Indo-Pacific
Authors: Stanzel Volker
Published: September 2022

For a continental European power traditionally not much involved in Asian affairs, the rise of Germany to the most successful European economic actor in Asia is remarkable. So far, this has been exceedingly profitable for all sides. That includes non-German European companies teaming up with German ones in their Asian endeavours. Economic relations are most advanced with China. Yet, it is also China which today casts a dark shadow over the future of that landscape. The reason is China’s ambition to translate its newly evolving status as a global great power into that of a hegemon able to reset the liberal international order to one that benefits China at the expense of its partners. That attitude has already had a negative economic, political, and societal impact on Germany’s relations with other European countries. It is likely that this will also be increasingly the case in the future. As a way out, Germany hopes to put its policy in the region on a new foundation. Berlin has begun to focus more on other partners in Asia with whom it already enjoys close relations, such as Japan, India, and Korea. In 2020 Germany promulgated a new framework named ‘Policy Guidelines for the Indo-Pacific’. The European Union (EU) is developing a similar new strategic concept for Asia.
Angela Merkel in Power
Authors: Kornelius Stefan
Published: September 2022

Angela Merkel’s sixteen-year chancellorship was a period characterized by great continuity and stability. Merkel governed with caution and risk aversion. She worked through the long chain of international crises methodically and persistently. Germany was thus saved from major shocks—from the international banking crisis and the ensuing sovereign debt crisis, the migration crisis, Russia’s occupation of Crimea and threat of war, and a wave of populism and nationalism led by US President Donald Trump. At the end of her tenure, her accumulated political capital helped to steer Germany united through the pandemic and once again united Europe under the multiple pressures of Brexit, budget conflicts, and vaccine nationalism. In this concatenation of crises, Germany grew more and more authoritative in international politics. Within the European Union (EU), the country assumed a dominant role that historically had always led to conflicts and balancing efforts in Europe. It is down to Merkel herself, her moderating and compromise-seeking nature, that Germany’s increase in power was not perceived as a threat for the first time in history.
Leaders in Partnership
Authors: Janes Jackson
Published: September 2022

Over the past three decades since unification, Germany has been challenged to rethink and reset its strategy and indeed its mindset about the foreign and security policies and priorities it faces. As the most powerful economic player in Europe, the Federal Republic has sought to understand and respond to expectations that it assume more responsibilities in sharing the burden of defending the international order which has provided the opportunity for Germany to become a stable democracy, a robust economic power, and a leader of the European Union (EU). While German leadership has been accepted by its European partners and it has been encouraged by the US to enhance that role, the German domestic debate over the parameters of that leadership remain contentious and controversial. Germany will have to overcome a tendency to be driven by caution and more by courage and convictions. Leadership will require clear messages about objectives, including the reality of burdens and capabilities. Leadership means being ready to accept shared risks and the ability to take decisions in the face of a changing global arena.
The Development of Germany After 1945
Authors: von Beyme Klaus
Published: September 2022

This essay considers developments in Germany since the end of the Second World War. The chapter differentiates among five points, which were essential for the quick recovery of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the years after 1949. The essay also focuses on the importance of Germany’s long legal tradition. The chapter considers the process of reunification in 1989/90 and the many fortunate factors which led to this. The chapter also focuses on Germany’s more recent developments during the Merkel era and points out some of the deficiencies of modern Germany, not least a lack of innovation and a great dependence on its industry and export-driven economy.
Atlantic Integration and ‘Ever Closer Union’
Authors: Larres Klaus
Published: September 2022

This chapter focuses on the unique role of the West German state in international politics and its close relations with both the US and its Western European partners. The US pursued two crucially important objectives regarding the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) during the Cold War era. First, the US pursued the FRG’s firm and irreversible integration with the Western world, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Second, and perhaps most significantly, West Germany was at the centre and the main reason for the US-inspired European integration process. Both US policy goals overlapped, however, and complemented each other. By the mid-1950s the former objective—the Bonn Republic’s integration with the West—was essentially completed, though quite unwarranted concern about its continued viability arose in the US in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the context of West Germany’s Ostpolitik. The second objective, the European integration and unity process, remained a work in progress throughout the Cold War years and indeed well beyond, until the present day. Initially, it was driven by the US, in cooperation with France and West Germany, before a decisive turning point occurred in the early to mid-1970s, when Washington largely cooled towards the European unity process. From the mid-1970s Washington lost almost all interest in helping and supporting the Europeans to create a united Western Europe.
Enabled Archaeology in the field, in museums, and the visitor experience
Authors: Hunt Abigail , Kitchen Thomas
Published: September 2022

This chapter explores the relationship between Enabled Archaeology in the field, interpretation methods in museums, and the visitor experience in the United Kingdom (UK). It provides a broad theoretical framework that can act as a foundation for more specific future research projects that draw together the work and visitor experience dimensions by bringing together two theoretical frameworks to examine existing literature: the Social Model of Disability and Crip Theory. It focuses primarily on access to museums and their workforces by dis/Abled individuals and argues that if archaeology and museum workforces are not enabled and organizations fail to ensure that their workforces include dis/Abled people, it is highly likely that archaeological sites open to the public and museums will not meet the needs of all their visitors regardless of dis/Ability.
Scientific investigation of museum objects
Authors: Quinn Patrick Sean
Published: September 2022

This chapter provides general guidelines for the application of techniques to the scientific analysis of museum objects for the purpose of academic research and conservation. It considers the advantages and risks of analysis, and discusses the various steps involved in the analysis of curated artefacts, including the choice of scientific technique, the negotiation of permissions, sampling, analysis, dissemination, and the future of data and analytical samples. The chapter draws primarily on the analysis of pottery and other ceramics, but is relevant to scientific studies on other inorganic and organic artefact types.
Ethnographic collections and archaeological research
Authors: Flexner James L.
Published: September 2022

Archaeologists increasingly turn to collections labelled ‘ethnography’, ‘ethnology’, or ‘anthropology’ depending on the institution to expand the scope of their research. The reasons for this are varied, from the presence of materials or objects that are unlikely to be discovered on archaeological sites because of rarity or taphonomic conditions, to community-driven interests in objects beyond the typical bounds of what is classified as ‘archaeology’. The pace of this research has increased in recent decades. Archaeologists have emphasized the active, dynamic nature of collections, often using interpretive frameworks derived from actor–network theory or assemblage theory. Looking ahead to the future, archaeologists working with these types of collections will in many cases need to confront the colonial legacies of ethnographic collections by working closely with source communities and becoming involved in different forms of repatriation or restitution activities.
Museums and archaeological exhibitions
Authors: Wang Siyu , Hang Kan
Published: September 2022

Under the official administrative system in China, museum construction and archaeological exhibition have historically been organized into two parts: ‘movable’ cultural relics and ‘immovable’ archaeological sites. This chapter outlines how the displays of these two parts are linked in terms of their institutional background, which was set up in the 1950s, but also how they have developed independently since. The display of ‘movable’ cultural relics was influenced by ambitions to construct regional museums, leading to the redistribution of archaeological resources between different regions and institutions. The exhibition of ‘immovable’ sites, on the other hand, has been driven by the ambitions of diverse stakeholders since the late twentieth century, while the twenty-first-century development of the ‘Great Site’ policy indicates that exhibiting archaeological sites has more recently moved into a new stage.