bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inappropriate and Inarticulate
Authors: Bickford Tyler
Published: June 2017

This chapter examines how interactions using music devices are part of a Ȝchildishȝ expressive tradition that is engaged primarily with the bureaucratic organization of language and communication in school. Music listening, despite being wordless, is an important part of children’s intimate expressive repertoires. I propose understanding these modes of music listening through reference to two master tropes of intimate peer expression in school: inappropriateness and inarticulateness. I consider several examples where music listening practices make clear reference to the bureaucratic context of school to argue that music consumption should be understood as intimately tied up with schooling. Identifying music listening as an element of these interactional and communicative frames grounds popular music listening and consumer culture in everyday expressive practices and provides a key perspective for linking bureaucratic networks of educational institutions to the emerging public presence of children in commercial culture through the everyday activities of children in school.
Changing Schools, Changing Citizens, Changing Priorities
Authors: Stitzlein Sarah M.
Published: June 2017

In this introductory chapter, I explain the shifting context of public schooling and the democracy it enables. I show that increasing numbers of citizens have relinquished support for traditional public schools. I explain how neoliberalism has accelerated this trend and has been accompanied by changes in citizen life. I introduce accountability as an important issue tied to many of the frustrations with public schools and deteriorating support for them. I argue that, rather than being about the poor performance of schools, the current educational crisis is at heart one about citizen responsibility. Introducing the major thesis of the book, I claim that the recent accountability movement has shifted the onus of curing nearly all societal problems almost exclusively onto schools, but contend that these burdens should not be unidirectional. I make the argument that there is a corresponding responsibility on the part of citizens toward public schools.
Defining Public Schools and Understanding Their Shifting Terrain
Authors: Stitzlein Sarah M.
Published: June 2017

Chapter three illustrates the essential role of public schools in a vibrant democracy. I define what public schools are, identifying five key elements essential to their form and function. My discussion of the shifting nature of democracy, schools, and citizenship reveals that it is worthwhile to refocus our attention on these elements of public schools now as some are being compromised or eclipsed within the latest forms of school practice and governance. I detail the changing landscape of public schools in recent years by looking at particular recent transformations to the governance and practice of public education. These changes include aspects of schools choice, vouchers, for-profit education management, loss of local control, mayoral oversight of schools, recovery school districts, portfolio management models, and corporate influences. I also describe how citizens’ relationships with schools have changed and how citizens themselves have changed, especially under the influence of neoliberalism.
Diverging Accounts within the Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II
Authors: Berman Joshua A.
Published: June 2017

Egyptologists have long noted that Ramesses II commissioned three conflicting versions of the battle of Kadesh to be inscribed together at various monumental sites. This chapter lays out the multiple inconsistencies witnessed between these accounts, and explores how Egyptologists have accounted for this. To our minds, when we encounter conflicting historical accounts, the trustworthiness of both accounts is brought into question. The chapter concludes by exploring the modern notion of historiography—largely a phenomenon that emerges only in the nineteenth century—and premodern notions of history-telling in the writings of the so-called historians of ancient Greece and Rome, and the medieval Church fathers. These premodern notions of historiography provide us with a discourse through which to understand how ancient Egyptians could have overcome the glaring contradictions between these multiple, juxtaposed versions of the same event.
The Pivotal Characterization: Ancient Law as Non-Statutory Law
Authors: Berman Joshua A.
Published: June 2017

Scholars of biblical law have long seen the inconsistencies among the law corpora of the Pentateuch as signs of schools and communities in conflict. This chapter offers an introductory foundation for the following five chapters on biblical and ancient Near Eastern law. It demonstrates that the dominant approach to the critical study of biblical law—that is, as statutory law—is based on anachronistic, nineteenth-century notions of how law works and how legal texts are formulated. The chapter traces the history of legal thought in that century, and how it shaped (a better term might be distorted) how we view the ancient legal texts of the Bible and the Near East, and recovers premodern understandings of how law works and how legal texts are to be read in accordance with common-law jurisprudence.
The Misapplication of “Strict Construction” and the Semblance of Contradiction
Authors: Berman Joshua A.
Published: June 2017

The notion of statutory jurisprudence mandates that judges adhere to the exact words of the code because the code, by definition, is autonomous and exhaustive. This hermeneutic has had a profound impact on the comparative study of the Torah’s law collections. This chapter draws from discussions concerning the inapplicability of strict construction in the understanding of ancient Near Eastern law to illuminate contradictory passages of biblical law. The logic of the formulation of §§25–29 of the Laws of Eshnunna sheds light on the compositional logic of the inconsistent iterations of the laws of manumission in Exodus 21:1–6 and Leviticus 25:39–46. In the Laws of Hammurabi, §§6–8 have been seen as conflicting with each other and deriving from competing traditions. The inconsistencies, however, are deliberate, and reflect rhetorical needs. The drafting of these laws sheds light on the coherence of the homicide laws of Exodus 21:12–14.
Varieties of Islam in the Turkish Public Sphere
Authors: Walton Jeremy F.
Published: June 2017

Chapter 1 offers a vista over the terrain of public Islam in Turkey. The chapter delineates four public mediations of Islam in contemporary Turkey: statist/bureaucratic Islam, mass Islam, partisan Islam, and consumerist Islam. After an excursion/excursus in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, it focuses on the Directorate of Religious Affairs and its statist vision of Islam as homogeneous and incontestable. Following this, it describes a rally organized by a right-wing Islamist party in Turkey in protest of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. Next, it considers the increasing sway that partisan Islam and the AKP (in Turkish, the Justice and Development Party/Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) have on public images of Islam generally. Finally, the chapter concludes with an interview with the editors of a prominent Muslim fashion magazine, which is also a preeminent expression of consumerist Islam.
Counterpublic Spatial Practices of Muslim Civil Society
Authors: Walton Jeremy F.
Published: June 2017

Chapter 3 focuses on the spatial practices that emerge within and define Muslim civil society. It begins with two excursions/excurses that illustrate the state’s spatial practices of Islam: museification, as represented by the museum and mausoleum of Hacı Bektaş Veli, and institutionalized homogenization, as represented by a Friday sermon in a mosque. The remainder of the chapter elaborates three characteristic spatial practices of Muslim civil society: theological classes, academic-style conferences, and charitable service in a neoliberal environment. The analysis of these ethnographic contexts accentuates the emergence of Muslim civil society as a domain in which activities that were once monopolized by the state—education, mass media, healthcare—are now carried out by nonstate actors.
Introduction
Authors: Buchanan Ben
Published: June 2017

The introduction lays out the core argument of the book: that the security dilemma—the unintentional way in which states can threaten other states—applies to cyber operations. It demonstrates that cyber operations are a fundamental part of modern statecraft, and that the tools that scholars and practitioners have long used are useful in this new domain when coupled with new sources like intrusion reports. This chapter also outlines a roadmap of the rest of the book and explains the sourcing and methods, including its use of intrusion reports and documents leaked by Edward Snowden.
How Network Intrusions Threaten
Authors: Buchanan Ben
Published: June 2017

This chapter shows how any network intrusion into a strategically-important network is threatening. Hacking is thus a key part of international relations. This is true regardless of whether or not the intrusion was launched with offensive or defensive intent. The risk of misperception is real, and the threats enabled by a network intrusion are significant. Network intrusions offer the capacity for tailored cyber attacks, for more basic wiper attacks, for general intelligence collection and espionage, and for counterintelligence work. It is very difficult to determine the intentions of an intruder, and they can change very easily—all of which leads to the possibility of danger and animates the cybersecurity dilemma.
Conclusion
Authors: Buchanan Ben
Published: June 2017

The conclusion recapitulates the argument of the book. It shows as well the stakes of the problem, describing the damage that can flow from an unchecked cybersecurity dilemma. It shows how the cybersecurity dilemma can box states into self-defeating positions, can increase the risk of crises, and can make brinksmanship and misperception more dangerous. But the conclusion also notes that mitigating the cybersecurity dilemma has real costs, and states must be willing to make sacrifices in order to address the dangers—something that they may well be unwilling to do.
The Levites and the Boundaries of Israelite Identity
Authors: Leuchter Mark
Published: June 2017

The biblical record attempts to present the Levites as a clerus minor under the Aaronides, a second class priestly order occupying a mediating role between them and the larger Israelite public. But scholars have long recognized that this literary presentation obscures a much more complicated reality pertaining to the origin of the Levites and their role in the development of Israelite religion. This study provides a renewed examination of the Levites as a social entity within ancient Israel, providing a detailed picture of their origins, their ideas, their response to adversity, and the deep impact of the traditions they forged and preserved in literary form. The Levites’ own sense of social place and purpose persistently set terms for Israel’s own developing sense of identity—from the era before the rise of kingship, the formation of the northern kingdom, the emergence from Neo-Assyrian imperialism in the late seventh century BCE, the experience of exile under Babylon, and finally the complicated cultural negotiations under the Persian empire. An examination of the Levite traditions that emerged sheds new light on the role of myth in the formation of group identity boundaries both within and beyond Israelite/ancient Jewish social horizons.
Introduction
Authors: Leuchter Mark
Published: June 2017

Can you see the real me … ?

—Pete Townshend

AT A GLANCE, the biblical tradition paints a fairly simple picture of the Levites. They were a tribe descended from one of Jacob’s sons (Levi); Moses and Aaron emerged from their ranks in Egypt, and saw to their sacerdotal investiture during the wilderness period. Once the Levites had settled in the land of Canaan, they continued these priestly duties under the leadership of major priestly figures who descended from Aaron. They supported the building of Solomon’s temple, and they returned to Jerusalem following the end of the Babylonian Exile to help build the Second Temple and minister therein under the leadership of the Aaronide priesthood. The Levites then remained in this secondary position and were charged with a variety of duties to support the sacrificial cult conducted and regulated under Aaronide auspices. They also assisted powerful figures such as Ezra and Nehemiah in reading ritual texts, transmitting sacred teachings, and administering society according to divine law....
The Levites Strike Back
Authors: Leuchter Mark
Published: June 2017

The formation of the northern monarchy spurred the Levites to create countertraditions to reclaim their place in Israelite religious society. All of these countertraditions revolve around the institutions of the state, institutions that the Levites increasingly viewed as avatars of destructive cosmic forces. In the Golden Calf tradition of Exodus 32 and the “Song of Moses” in Deuteronomy 32, the northern state cult is characterized as a portal to the chaotic wilderness, its iconography as manifestations of YHWH’s enemies, and the agents and devotees of its cult as traitors to YHWH. Hosea’s eighth-century oracles takes up these earlier concepts and develop them into a cosmic-political drama, clarifying that the struggle Israel faces is no less than the struggle against Death (Mot)—but Israel’s adherence to Levite teachings could provide redemption and a renewed, reexperienced Exodus. This laid the foundation for development of the Deuteronomistic tradition roughly a century later.
The Levite Scribes, Part 1
Authors: Leuchter Mark
Published: June 2017

Deuteronomy reflects the attempt of northern Levites living in Judah to stabilize Israelite society in the face of accumulated social disruptions and growing tensions between the rural and royal spheres. In Deuteronomy’s vision, Israel is “made” through its fidelity to Moses’ teachings as preserved in text and entrusted to the people—but mediated through the Levites well beyond the esoteric depths of a temple. Flipping the common ancient Near Eastern script that saw such texts as the province of elite and exclusive priesthoods, Deuteronomy makes the textualized voice of YHWH accessible throughout the land, its presence marginalizing and expiating corrosive elements from within the community beholden to its contents. The Levite scribal construction of Deuteronomy becomes an expression of the divine warrior’s power, maintaining the crucible for Israel’s survival.
FDI and Privatization
Authors: Lin Yi-min
Published: June 2017

Chapter 6 extends the analysis of local state actions to the privatization function of FDI. The focal issue is how and why foreign investors were able to overcome centrally imposed regulatory and policy constraints on their entry, expansion, and organization before trade liberalization associated with China’s WTO accession in 2001. Again, rule bending by local governments was the centerpiece of the story. As in the case of locales experiencing early privatization, local officials took calculated political risk by using economic hardship and the benefits of FDI for addressing revenue and employment imperatives as justifications. The extent of their deviations from centrally set boundaries nevertheless varied, depending greatly on the bargaining power of local political leaders vis-à-vis their supervising authorities. In particular, whether a locale was perceived as a major fiscal burden or an important resource contributor to higher-level authorities was an important differentiating factor.
Conclusion
Authors: Lin Yi-min
Published: June 2017

The conclusion discusses the implications of the findings of the book for institutional analysis. It shows how a mechanism-focused view can make integrative and fruitful use of the analytical tools already furnished by the existing literature. In particular it focuses on the role of unintended consequences of rule-compliant behavior, the sustaining factors for noncompliance and its consequences for institutional instability, and the causal channels of path dependence in an evolutionary process of institutional change. It is the forces associated with these mechanisms that have contributed to defining and redefining the choices of political and economic actors and fashioning the outcomes of their strategies and interactions.
“An Odd Kind of Cross to Bear”
Authors: Wills Anne Blue
Published: June 2017

It is no understatement to say that Ruth Bell Graham significantly shaped her husband. This chapter appraises her creativity and theological vision by examining several distinctive ways that Ruth publicly served God with Billy: her direct involvement in the crusades; her editing and writing work; her public appearances and board service; and her advocacy of particular projects, such as the Cove Training Center. Moreover, media outlets regularly covered Ruth’s domestic life, endowing it with public significance. This chapter examines what Ruth represented for Billy’s followers, especially with respect to Ruth’s final public episode, the 2007 controversy over her burial place. Ruth’s life epitomizes the challenges and opportunities of being a “private woman” married to a “public man.” In exploring her impact on Billy, this chapter examines the dynamics of clergy marriages and contributes to a more historically textured story about twentieth-century marriage and gender.
Environmental Perspectives on Ancient Communication
Authors: Parker Grant
Published: June 2017

Chapter 1 underscores the importance of the physical environment, both water and land, while also issuing a timely reminder that the Mediterranean Sea has been a topic unjustifiably neglected by modern scholarship. Parker explores the remarkable contrasts in the region’s landscape, climate, and ecology, not to mention the varied means by which connectedness was achieved across such a vast region and beyond. He singles out Delos, Delphi, Ostia, and Palmyra as instructive examples of how places may be connected; the last of the four—a desert oasis—most strikingly by the creative integration of land, river, and sea routes.
Gesture in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Authors: Aldrete Gregory S.
Published: June 2017

This chapter deals with gestures, the oldest of all means of communication, shared by mankind with primates, yet also one of the most complex. To convey the subtleties and flexibility of gestures in short compass, Aldrete focuses on Roman practice, mainly during the late Republic and Principate. However, he also takes into account Roman encounters with Greeks, as well as variations of gesture at different levels of Roman society, from the imperial court to the arena. This environment of stereotyped gestures depends upon protocols for time, place, and purpose of use; yet Aldrete demonstrates repeatedly how Romans distorted, or even violated, these protocols to diverse effect.
“The Faggot God is Here!”
Authors: Barrett Rusty
Published: June 2017

This chapter analyzes the language of religious music among radical faeries, a gay subculture founded in Neopagan religion. The analysis focuses on Ye Faerie Hymnal, a collection of songs used during faerie gatherings (in which faeries meet together in a rural or outdoor setting, usually for several days). Particular attention is given to Bakhtin’s concept of chronotopes, or the spatial and temporal associations indexed by a particular use of language. The songs in the hymnal index chronotopes associated with anti-Christian stances. The songs include multiple appropriations from religious traditions that have historically been oppressed by Christian groups. The songs also index chronotopes specific to radical faerie history, including prior faerie gatherings. Particular attention is given to the ways in which the songs reproduce radical faerie ideologies of gay male androgyny.
The Preventive Turn
Authors: Carvalho Henrique
Published: June 2017

This concluding chapter applies the theoretical framework developed throughout the book to the contemporary framework of criminal law. It traces the ambivalence of criminal subjectivity through the modern development of criminal responsibility and liability in English criminal law, relying on the interaction between the work of criminal law scholars and the political sociology of citizenship proposed by T.H. Marshall. It concludes that the preventive turn in criminal law is primarily characterized by a condition of radical ambivalence, in which the responsibility and dangerousness of the subject of criminal law are found both overemphasized and in tension with each other. This condition, the chapter argues, is as much a consequence of contemporary socio-political insecurity as it is an expression of the inherently problematic character of liberal criminal law.
Cultural priming on cognition and underlying brain activity
Authors: Han Shihui
Published: June 2017

Chapter 6 examines the effects of cultural priming on cognition and brain activity by reviewing brain imaging evidence that temporary shifts of cultural knowledge systems toward independence or interdependence can significantly modulated brain activities involved in pain-related sensory processing, visual perception, self-face recognition and self-reflection, monetary reward, empathy, and a resting state. These findings provide evidence for a causal relationship between cultural belief/value and functional organization of the human brain. The findings further suggest that functional brain activity is constrained by both the sustained cultural frameworks formulated during long-term cultural experiences and the transient cultural frameworks induced by short-term exposure to cultural values.
Implications of the sociocultural brain
Authors: Han Shihui
Published: June 2017

Chapter 9 discusses the implications of cultural-neuroscience findings for understanding of the biosocial nature of the human brain and the sociobiological nature of human culture. It examines how cultural-neuroscience findings help us to rethink educational approaches in terms of culturally specific effects on human brain development, as well as how changes of brain functional organization in adult immigrants can improve their adaption to new cultural environments. It also discusses how understanding cultural differences in the neural underpinnings of human cognition and emotion can improve cross-cultural communication. Finally, it discusses the implications of cultural-neuroscience findings for the clinical treatment of neuropsychological mental disorders in different cultures.
The lex Pompeia de provinciis
Authors: Morrell Kit
Published: June 2017

The final chapter examines what Cicero calls ‘Cato’s policy’—that is, a policy of ethical governance designed to secure the welfare and good will of Rome’s allies. It appears that all governors appointed under the lex Pompeia de provinciis were engaged in this project, which entailed not only ethical governance but consciously exemplary behaviour. The chapter also revisits Cato’s letter to Cicero in the light of Cato’s policy: when Cato speaks of Cicero’s maiestas, he is invoking a particularly Stoic concept of ‘true glory’ due to moral excellence. A similar idea appears in Cicero’s De Legibus, written around the same time. Both reflect the ideology of the reform programme of 52–50, which aimed to promote good governance by making a reputation for moral excellence desirable in its own right.
Conclusion
Authors: Morrell Kit
Published: June 2017

The introduction begins with some historiographical problems encountered in the study of provincial governance in the Roman republic, and of the two key protagonists, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Porcius Cato. Discussions of what ‘good government’ meant in Roman terms and of the relevance of moral philosophy set up the parameters of the study. Next, Pompey and Cato’s activities are placed in historical context by outlining previous attempts at provincial reform. A brief discussion of sources and an outline of the book’s argument follow.
Francisco de Vitoria
Authors: Bunge Kirstin
Published: June 2017

This chapter argues that on the threshold of modernity, Vitoria’s jus gentium created a general framework for a legal order between people and nations. It shows how under the changing conditions of economy, theories of political domination, and relation between religious and secular spheres, the foundations of politics and law were re-assessed. At this juncture, one of the most important findings of Vitoria’s political and legal philosophy was that the sphere of political practice became more autonomous although still thought of as part of a God-given order. As the political power of the pope and the emperor was fading, new stakeholders gradually appeared. The traditional conception of totus orbis clarifies—one hundred years before the Peace of Westphalia—the scope in which different types of stakeholders such as individuals and social or political communities can act freely and (at least theoretically) interact on equal terms.
Universalism and Particularism
Authors: von Bogdandy Armin , Dellavalle Sergio
Published: June 2017

This chapter argues that current strands of the theories on international, supranational, and transnational law are on the road to leaving the dichotomy of universalism and particularism. It maintains against the trend that this dichotomy should be upheld. While some innovative conceptions look forwards to post-dichotomous rearrangements of domestic and international order, many other authors are still to be located within the traditional categories. Even if theories overcome the dichotomy of universalism and particularism, this does not imply that these categories fully belong to the past. On the contrary, they are still instruments for the understanding of the contrasting interpretations of domestic and international order. As normative concepts, the concepts of universalism and particularism help to shape preferences as regards the extension of order and the sources of its legitimacy, enabling to substantiate options by a well-founded interpretation of the old and new scholarship.
Mastery: learning to act and perceive
Authors: Di Paolo Ezequiel A. , Buhrmann Thomas , Barandiaran Xabier E.
Published: June 2017

If action and perception depend on the mastery of the laws of sensorimotor contingencies, then any theory of cognition that starts from this premise will not be complete unless it offers an explanation of how such mastery is achieved and of what exactly constitutes it. This chapter takes inspiration from Piaget’s theory of equilibration to develop an account of mastery as the progressive growth and refinement of an agent’s sensorimotor repertoire, involving processes of assimilation and accommodation. A new interpretation is provided of these Piagetian concepts in dynamical systems terms. The resulting theory holds that mastery of sensorimotor skills is both world-involving and nonrepresentational. Mastery does not consist in the accumulation of knowledge about the sensorimotor regularities that the agent is able to enact; rather, it is the ongoing process of equilibration by which the agent continuously adapts to new challenges presented to her by the world.
The missing theory of agency
Authors: Di Paolo Ezequiel A. , Buhrmann Thomas , Barandiaran Xabier E.
Published: June 2017

The sensorimotor approach emphasizes the significance of action as a determinant of perception, implicitly assuming an agent who engages in intentional actions serving his own interest. It has yet to concern itself with the origin of the norms guiding the agent’s behavior or with a definition of what an agent even is. The chapter examines how the enactive approach can fill this gap. It promotes a theory of agency grounded in the organizational properties of living systems and identifies three requirements—self-individuation, interactional asymmetry, and normativity—that are individually necessary and jointly sufficient to determine whether a system is an agent. The usefulness of the theory is tested by examining whether different systems satisfy these conditions. The chapter contributes to the conceptual clarification of the sensorimotor approach by showing how the notion of agency leads to an understanding of an organism’s sensors and effectors that goes beyond arbitrary anatomical distinctions.
Introduction
Authors: Schulkin Jay
Published: June 2017

CRF is well known and studied as a hypothalamic-releasing factor. It, along with ACTH and cortisol, are mobilized under diverse conditions, including adversity, and are often thought of as part of the stress axis. CRF, however, is much more than this. One aim of this book is pushing the conception of CRF beyond the HPA axis, and what most people know about CRF. Since its original discovery, research has shown that this molecule is much broader than a hypothalamic-releasing factor. It took a while to discern CRF and its properties outside of its role as an ACTH-releasing factor. Now, the scientific community knows that CRF is a dynamic and diversely widespread peptide hormone with many roles and functions, beyond its role as a releasing factor in the brain. CRF in invertebrates is linked to basic regulatory functions such as osmotic regulation, food intake, learning, and circadian rhythmicity.
SME Provisions in Trade Agreements and the Case of TTIP
Authors: Lodrant Martina , Cernat Lucian
Published: June 2017

Recent evidence has highlighted that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are more important for EU trade performance than previously thought. They already account for over 80 per cent of exporting enterprises and a third of direct EU exports. Yet, much untapped potential still exists, if trade barriers affecting SMEs could be reduced. The EU–US negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) offer a great opportunity for existing and potential SME exporters to expand their business across the Atlantic. This chapter examines the role of trade agreements in tackling the constraints on SME exports, focusing particularly on the relevance of provisions specific to SMEs. It offers a comprehensive overview of SME-specific provisions in existing EU and US trade agreements. Finally, a number of policy areas are identified where new SME-specific provisions (eg trade facilitation, services, procurement, transparency, etc) could be considered by TTIP negotiators.
Support of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises under European State Aid Law
Authors: Sherr Ilan , Miclotte Katrien , Fawcett-Feuillette Rebecca
Published: June 2017

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the economic development strategy of the European Union. However, while SMEs are important for job creation and economic development, the Commission has highlighted that they often encounter problems accessing finance and necessary information. In order to address certain market failures which impact SMEs most significantly, SMEs now have a favoured status under the state aid rules. The most important and recent changes are a consequence of the Commission’s state aid modernization (SAM) reform package. As part of the SAM package, the Commission has adopted ten guidelines and five regulations to render existing state aid control instruments and procedures more efficient. This chapter gives a brief but practical overview of those new guidelines and regulations and highlights the core principles that need to be taken into account when assessing aid possibilities for SMEs.
Imagining Future People in Biomedical Law
Authors: van Beers Britta
Published: June 2017

Human genetic engineering and other human enhancement technologies bring about uncertainties and risks on both the physical and the conceptual and intangible levels. Much of the controversy surrounding these emerging technologies is due to the fact that categorical distinctions, such as between person and thing, and chance and choice, are blurred in radical ways. As a consequence, the emergence of biomedical technologies also entails, what could be called, metaphysical risks and symbolic uncertainties. This chapter explores the ways in which imaginings of the future of mankind and mankind itself have found their way into international legal regulation of biomedical technologies through an analysis of recent debates on the international ban on human germline genetic engineering. This prohibition, which is at the heart of international biolaw, is currently being questioned as recent scientific breakthroughs in the field of gene-editing are about to turn human genetic engineering into a reality.
A Time with No Outside (Valéry and Jouissance)
Authors: Pouillaude Frédéric
Published: June 2017

This chapter discusses the writings of Paul Valéry on dance. It focuses on three of his texts in particular: a poetic-Socratic dialogue entitled “Dance and the Soul” (1957 [1921]); a paper entitled “Philosophy of the Dance” originally presented at a dance performance (1964 [1936]); and a short chapter called “The Dance” in Degas, Dance, Drawing (1960a [1936]). The poetic and dialogic form of “Dance and the Soul” allows multiple theses to be advanced simultaneously and intuitions to be articulated, without offering robust arguments in support. The other two texts, meanwhile, are more discursive and demonstrative. This chapter mainly discusses “Philosophy of the Dance” and “The Dance,” because of the nature of the texts themselves as much as the particular claims they advance. It refers to “Dance and the Soul”; essentially to confirm or complement insights drawn from the other writings.
Spectacle, Ritual, Divertissement
Authors: Pouillaude Frédéric
Published: June 2017

This chapter poses the question of the conditions under which dance is inscribed on the Western stage. From the point of view of general anthropology, the history of choreography as such extends only over a few pages. Choreographic history isolates a relatively recent—and probably distinctively Western—institution against a background murmur of millennia of festivals, trance, apotropical rituals, and cures for the possessed. Choreographic spectacle separates dances from their social or religious effects, depriving the participant of any real involvement with what they see. This Western invention is what this chapter aims to outline, in all the ambivalence of its origins—origins which can be identified as Greek.
Artaud: Presence and Ritual
Authors: Pouillaude Frédéric
Published: June 2017

This chapter considers to what extent the desire for presence is destined from the beginning to impossibility and unrealizability. It ponders how much this presence can reproduce, alongside the empiricity of the stage, an absence of works, in a process of unworking. Assuming that this presence—always pure and never redoubled—can be realized, the chapter questions to what extent it can be displayed, via the distancing of the stage, without once again adopting and legitimizing its double, and without confirming the ineluctable necessity of representation. In the context of such doubts, Derrida’s commentary on Antonin Artaud’s writings is discussed here. For Derrida, re-presentation is (via a continual reversal of origin and supplement) the very condition of presence, and all attempts to evade its closure would only confront an unmediated contradiction.
Section 1
Authors: Pouillaude Frédéric
Published: June 2017

The contemporary is perhaps displayed, even staged. Maybe the contemporary (choreographic?) stage can be read as somehow representing the spirit of our times, our own era. A defining feature of human time is its tendency to represent itself, depicting its own image, even performing itself onstage. Those products traditionally called “works of art” are the favored medium of this self-representation. This would suggest that any discussion of dance and the contemporary need merely decode dance works and their stage environment to reveal something like an image of the times, the figure of ...
Conclusion (1)
Authors: Pouillaude Frédéric
Published: June 2017

These final sections of the book provides some concluding thoughts on the role of art generally, and dance specifically, in the current crisis. It looks towards defining the term “contemporary.” Our era’s incapacity to understand itself still appears as an epochal characteristic, the text argues. In fact, we no longer believe in the idea of a unified, shared epoch or of a substantial community in time. But the form of our disbelief remains a way of subscribing to that idea. Whatever we may say, therefore, we remain believers. However, then epochal figuration must itself, in some way, still be operating. Finally, the text returns to the notion of unworking. Choreographic unworking ultimately only manifests the power of powerlessness itself.
Empirical Evidence against a Cognitivist Theory of Desire and Action
Authors: Schroeder Timothy
Published: June 2017

This chapter considers T. M. Scanlon’s (1998) theory of action as a specific instance of cognitivist theories of action. It raises an unusual sort of objection to Scanlon’s cognitivism and its nearest philosophical neighbors: given what is known about the low-level neuroscience of action, there is no reasonable way to interpret the brain’s action-producing neural pathways consistent with this sort of theory. Interpreting the action-producing neural pathways as requiring a cognitive representation of reasons to be involved in action production meets a variety of objections, depending on just which parts of the action-producing neural pathways one interprets as these cognitions about reasons. The chapter proposes that a desire-based interpretation of the neural pathways addresses the obstacles raised to Scanlonian and related cognitivisms and suggests that a desire-based theory of action is thus preferable.
Establishing an International Standards Framework and Action Research Agenda for Workplace Readiness and Success
Authors: Golubovich Juliya , Su Rong , Robbins Steven B.
Published: June 2017

Employers both in the United States and internationally are facing difficulties hiring workers who meet the skill requirements of 21st century jobs. This chapter focuses on the skill requirements of middle-skill jobs and argues for building a talent supply chain with standards that workforce entrants need to meet. The chapter provides a framework summarizing these skill requirements. By establishing a framework of critical skills for workplace readiness, identifying valid assessments of these skills, and defining expected skill levels for a targeted subset of jobs, expectations of what it means to be ready for the workplace can be articulated and education and business systems can communicate using a common set of standards. These activities will help link a “broken” talent supply chain by bridging education and work systems and by encouraging individuals to seek out transferable skills as they seek livable wage jobs and meaningful employment.
Traversing the Gap Between College and Workforce Readiness: Anything But a “Bridge Too Far”!
Authors: Murano Dana M. , Roberts Richard D.
Published: June 2017

This chapter reviews Chapters 11–13. Each chapter offers possible solutions for bridging the apparent gap between college and workforce readiness while inherently highlighting ways in which these two readiness domains are analogous. Across the chapters, an integrative framework for studying noncognitive skills across putative domains remains elusive, although it is possible. The authors also discuss various approaches to the measurement of noncognitive skills and both practical and policy implications. This chapter focuses on next steps that can be taken in an effort to resolve issues surrounding measurement and the organizational framework. It also advocates for social–emotional learning programs at the primary, secondary, and tertiary education levels to foster these skills. Juxtaposed, these chapters elucidate the current state of college and workforce readiness, potential pathways through which measurement of necessary skills can be improved, and a compelling means by which to bridge the gap between college and workforce readiness.
Universalizing Dignity in the Nineteenth Century
Authors: LaVaque-Manty Mika
Published: June 2017

This chapter traces some of the conceptual history from the late eighteenth century, when arguments about equal, intrinsic, and universal human dignity became politically important, to the mid-twentieth century, when the idea of universal human dignity was enshrined in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. The chapter argues that this universalization process primarily took place in the nineteenth century, in political controversies around gender, race, and labor. The chapter argues that a particular Christian conception about the dignity of labor, expressed by Pope Leo XII, helped cement the value of inherent human dignity while at the same time weakening its more radical political potential.
Design
Authors: Luna Paul
Published: June 2017

The Press’s approach to the design of its publications between 1970 and 2004 developed in parallel to its editorial policy. When the publishing departments were reorganized in Oxford in the mid-1970s, the design operations for general trade, educational, and academic books were consolidated. The increasing demand for design-intensive publications and the widely differing requirements of different titles soon necessitated the creation of individual design departments within each publishing department. Each design studio responded to the design challenges of its books, which were very different, and there were no centralized design standards until the implementation of the corporate identity in 1998. The chapter discusses how designers approached OUP books and considers the success of their designs, taking into account typefaces, typesetting, cover design, format, and illustration.
India
Authors: Murray Padmini Ray
Published: June 2017

The Indian branch moved its headquarters from Bombay to New Delhi in 1972, heralding a new dynamism for OUP in India. With Delhi closely overseeing financial and editorial activities in the Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay offices and supervising showrooms in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the Indian branches concentrated on developing strong local educational and academic lists primarily in English, but also in Urdu, Bengali, and other local languages. OUP India operated in a political climate that discouraged imports and favoured indigenous businesses; the branch responded by having titles printed in India and by reinforcing its Indian identity through the publication of prominent Indian intellectuals and academics. The chapter discusses local production standards and costs, general branch finances, changes in branch management, and the relationship with the Press in Oxford.
Reputation
Authors: Ron James , Golden Shannon , Crow David , Pandya Archana
Published: June 2017

This chapter surveys global South publics’ definitions of “human rights” and perceptions of local human rights organizations. Many human rights practitioners fear negative public opinions about human rights ideas and organizations, such as seeing them as protecting criminals or terrorists, imposing foreign ideas, or offering a rhetorical “cover” for offenses of governments. Data show, however, that people generally regard “human rights” very positively and have high levels of trust in local human rights organizations. Another key finding is that pro-human rights constituents generally have anti-power worldviews, including mistrust in their national governments, the US government, and multinational corporations. Findings do not show evidence of a strong middle class human rights constituency, as some have argued, but instead suggest a constituency based more in worldview or ideology than materialist explanations.
Evolution: A Very Short Introduction
Authors: Charlesworth Brian , Charlesworth Deborah
Published: June 2017

Less than 150 years ago, the view that living species were the result of special creation by God was still dominant. The recognition by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace of the mechanism of evolution by natural selection has completely transformed our understanding of the living world, including our own origins. Evolution: A Very Short Introduction provides a summary of the process of evolution by natural selection, highlighting the wide range of evidence, and explains how natural selection gives rise to adaptations and eventually, over many generations, to new species. It introduces the central concepts of the field of evolutionary biology and discusses some of the remaining questions regarding evolutionary processes.
A multi-scenario genome-wide medical population genetics simulation framework
Authors: Mugo Jacquiline W , Geza Ephifania , Defo Joel , Elsheikh Samar S M , Mazandu Gaston K , Mulder Nicola J , Chimusa Emile R
Published: June 2017

Motivation

Recent technological advances in high-throughput sequencing and genotyping have facilitated an improved understanding of genomic structure and disease-associated genetic factors. In this context, simulation models can play a critical role in revealing various evolutionary and demographic effects on genomic variation, enabling researchers to assess existing and design novel analytical approaches. Although various simulation frameworks have been suggested, they do not account for natural selection in admixture processes. Most are tailored to a single chromosome or a genomic region, very few capture large-scale genomic data, and most are not accessible for genomic communities.

Results

Here we develop a multi-scenario genome-wide medical population genetics simulation framework called ‘FractalSIM’. FractalSIM has the capability to accurately mimic and generate genome-wide data under various genetic models on genetic diversity, genomic variation affecting diseases and DNA sequence patterns of admixed and/or homogeneous populations. Moreover, the framework accounts for natural selection in both homogeneous and admixture processes. The outputs of FractalSIM have been assessed using popular tools, and the results demonstrated its capability to accurately mimic real scenarios. They can be used to evaluate the performance of a range of genomic tools from ancestry inference to genome-wide association studies.

Availability and implementation

The FractalSIM package is available at http://www.cbio.uct.ac.za/FractalSIM.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Neurobiology of REM sleep
Authors: Luppi Pierre-Hervé , Clément Olivier , Peyron Christelle , Fort Patrice
Published: June 2017

REM (paradoxical) sleep is a state characterized by rapid eye movements, EEG activation, and muscle atonia. REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterized by loss of muscle atonia during REM sleep. Cataplexy, a key symptom of narcolepsy, is a striking sudden episode of muscle weakness comparable to REM sleep atonia triggered by emotions during wakefulness. This chapter presents recent results on the neuronal network responsible for REM sleep and explores hypotheses explaining RBD and cataplexy. RBD could be due to a specific degeneration of glutamatergic neurons responsible for muscle atonia, localized in the pontine sublaterodorsal tegmental nucleus (SLD) or the glycinergic/GABAergic premotoneurons localized in the ventral medullary reticular nuclei. Cataplexy in narcoleptics could be due to activation during waking of SLD neurons. In normal conditions, activation of SLD neurons would be blocked by simultaneous excitation by hypocretins of REM sleep-off GABAergic neurons localized in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray.