bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Financing industrial development
Authors: Peneder Michael , Resch Andreas
Published: February 2021

Continuing the brief sketch of the historical background and heterodox sources of Schumpeter’s monetary theory, the period covered by this final chapter of Part I is characterised by powerful waves of industrial innovation and the growing importance of finance. In England, it induced the classic controversies surrounding money, which paved the way towards the monetary orthodoxy, which dominated at the time when Schumpeter began his inquiries. But these debates also produced many heterodox ideas, which introduced alternative perspectives that were taken up and later modified by another generation of economists, which included Wicksell, Schumpeter, and Keynes. Apart from the theoretical discourse, it was the emergence of banks in continental Europe, which actively engaged in promoting industrial development, that left the biggest mark on Schumpeter’s theoretical vision as well as his later personal ambitions in banking.
The normative framework of the EU’s commitment to human rights
Authors: Altafin Chiara , Lukas Karin , Nowak Manfred
Published: February 2021

The chapter presents and assesses the various normative layers—domestic, European, regional, international—on which the European Union’s (EU’s) commitment to human rights is built. It analyses the interaction of EU primary law, general principles of law derived from constitutional traditions of Member States, and international human rights law, including relevant regional instruments such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter, and the Istanbul Convention. It is contended that, despite an impressive and pioneering normative framework on human rights, the EU currently faces a number of challenges that call for a strong stance on human rights realisation in all areas of its competence and influence. Enduring deficiencies in the relevant normative framework include the absence of a fully fledged EU competence to legislate in the area of human rights protection and the application of ‘double standards’ in the EU’s approach to human rights internally and externally, leading to a deep divide between internal and external policies guided by starkly different logics. Further areas of concern include the difficulties of the Charter of Fundamental Rights implementation in view of EU institutions and Member States’ competencies, which have become particularly apparent in the EU’s response to the Eurozone crisis and the arising tensions between EU and Member States’ austerity measures, as well as the uneven nature of the EU and Member States’ human rights obligations with regard to the international legal framework, leading to gaps and overlaps.
EU security and counter-terrorism policies and human rights
Authors: Heikkilä Mikaela , Pirjatanniemi Elina
Published: February 2021

Numerous terrorist attacks both within and outside the European Union (EU or the Union) have prompted the Union to increasingly act in the field of counter-terrorism. Since the adoption of the Union’s counter-terrorism strategy in 2005, the Union’s action in relation to counter-terrorism has been based on four connected pillars: to prevent, to protect, to pursue, and to respond. A general trend in the Union’s counter-terrorism action has been a move towards a pre-emptive approach, where the focus lies on countering terrorism threats in advance. The aim of this chapter is to discuss whether the adoption of these pre-emptive measures strengthen the security landscape of the Union. The chapter thus takes a closer look at how the Union strives to detect persons planning or preparing terrorist offences, and to hinder actual attacks from taking place. In particular, attention is paid to the EU’s police and judicial cooperation, general surveillance, the criminalisation of preparatory terrorist offences, and cooperation with third states and international organisations. A central objective is also to assess how the various counter-terrorism measures concur with international human rights law, including the Union’s legal framework on data protection.
Conclusion
Authors: Hachez Nicolas
Published: February 2021

This chapter first outlines the important opportunities offered by the European Union’s (EU’s) commitment to human rights in light of an increasingly worrisome internal and international context, characterised by enduring conflicts and a rise in authoritarianism and populism. Building on the foregoing chapters, this chapter then reflects on the challenge faced by the EU to deliver on its commitment to human rights. This chapter examines the challenge of delivery from a triple perspective: implementation, coherence, and effectiveness. The implementation section takes a descriptive approach to the delivery challenge, by exposing the various ways in which the EU fails to concretely apply its commitment in its daily operations. The coherence section takes an analytical approach to the delivery challenge by explaining it in terms of misalignments in the EU’s institutional and policy set-up. Finally, the effectiveness section takes a normative approach to the delivery challenge by suggesting ways in which the EU’s commitment can become more successful in improving respect for human rights within and outside the Union. The chapter then concludes with recommendations.
A Life for the Tsar, an Opera for the Nation
Authors: Werth Paul W.
Published: February 2021

Performed as A Life for the Tsar (Ivan Susanin in the USSR), composer Mikhail Glinka’s first opera occupies a unique place in both Russian music and Russian history. Contemporaries asserted its importance almost immediately. As one critic wrote ten days after the premiere, ‘Glinka’s opera appeared suddenly, as if from nowhere’, signifying ‘the dawn of a new age in the history of the arts––the age of Russian music’. Premiered in November 1836 and completed the next year, A Life for the Tsar represents a watershed—a major event in the history of Russian musical culture, signalling the country’s arrival as a musical power, the mobilization of opera in Russia’s nation-building, and a process of myth-making about these and other issues.
Philosophical Madness
Authors: Werth Paul W.
Published: February 2021

Among the stranger literary products of 1837 was an essay called Apology of a Madman. Together with companion Philosophical Letters, this text represents a fundamental moment in the history of Russian thought and makes its author, Peter Chaadaev, a central figure in Russian intellectual history. For these texts not only played a major role in precipitating a grand debate between Westernizers and Slavophiles about Russia’s place in the world, but also laid the foundations for all subsequent philosophies of history in Russia. And by positing that Russia constituted a blank slate on which virtually anything could be inscribed, the Apology exerted a powerful influence on anyone contemplating Russia’s future. Chaadaev’s interventions in 1836–7 thus gave birth to a particular way of thinking about Russia’s past and future, and the country would not be the same without them.
Think More About Camels
Authors: Werth Paul W.
Published: February 2021

Russia’s military campaign against the khanate of Khiva in 1839–40 is noteworthy for its disastrous outcome. Planned for the winter months in order to obviate the absence of water in the arid Kazakh steppe, the campaign encountered an uncommonly severe winter, which imposed exceptional hardships and compelled the expedition to return to the outpost of Orenburg. Felled largely by the decimation of its camels in the cold winter, the campaign is enmeshed in larger changes unfolding in Russia’s relationship to Kazakhs, Central Asia, and the wider world. A growing Russian attitude of European superiority and preoccupations with great-power status after the defeat of Napoleon equipped tsarist elites with an enhanced sense of entitlement. The year 1837 proved critical for translating these sentiments into attempted conquest. Russian activity in the region also served as the midwife for an intense British Russophobia.
Statistical Methods for Analyzing Species–Habitat Associations
Authors: Veech Joseph A.
Published: February 2021

Six methods for statistically identifying and quantifying meaningful species–habitat associations are discussed. These are (1) comparison among group means (e.g. ANOVA), (2) multiple linear regression, (3) multiple logistic regression, (4) classification and regression trees, (5) multivariate techniques (principal components analysis and discriminant function analysis), and (6) occupancy modeling. Each method is described in statistical detail and associated terminology is explained. The example of habitat associations of a hypothetical beetle species (from Chapter 8) is used to further explain some of the methods. Assumption, strengths, and weaknesses of each method are discussed. Related statistical constructs and procedures such as the variance–covariance matrix, negative binomial distribution, generalized linear modeling, maximum likelihood estimation, and Bayes’ theorem are also explained. Some historical context is provided for some of the methods.
The Psychocultural Life of Cities and Regions
Authors: Huggins Robert , Thompson Piers
Published: February 2021

This chapter seeks to explore the role of culture in relation to economic development in a place-based context, and secondly to examine the adoption of a more holistic perspective of behaviour at the regional and local level that considers specific configurations of human behaviour, which in combination influence the outputs attained. In particular, it combines theories of socio-spatial community culture and personality psychology into a holistic, spatially oriented perspective in order to identify distinct psychocultural behavioural profiles, drawing on an empirical example of regions and localities across Great Britain. This psychocultural behavioural approach is based on the interaction between the community culture apparent in these localities, which generates the social norms that influence the behaviour of individuals, and the personality traits of individuals located in these places.
Agency, Economic Evolution, and History
Authors: Huggins Robert , Thompson Piers
Published: February 2021

This chapter argues that the type and nature of human agency existing within cities and regions at particular points in their development are significant factors explaining the capacity of these places to achieve economic transformation and renewal. In particular, it seeks to set notions of entrepreneurial human agency within wider and emerging theories of regional economic renewal and transformation. It is suggested that, while the configuration and capability of economic ecosystems—which are conceptualized through notions such as clusters, innovation systems, and industrial districts—determine regional development outcomes, at the micro level it is the role played by certain key human agents within regions that actually shapes the nature and evolution of these ecosystems. In other words, human agency is considered to be a primary driver associated with economic development and transformation, and should be viewed seriously when addressing the routes available to economically mature and underdeveloped cities and regions in their bid to foster renewal and transformation.
Institutions, Capital, and Network Behaviour
Authors: Huggins Robert , Thompson Piers
Published: February 2021

As a means of seeking to better understand and consider the deeper and less transparent drivers of urban and regional development, this chapter examines the institutional determinants of the innovation and growth capability and capacity of cities and regions. From the institutional perspective, cities and regions are portrayed as growth systems in which the availability of a range of capital and institutional forms play a key role in promoting innovation and growth. Having established the means by which the types of institutions and associated capital within a city or region impact upon its evolutionary development, the second part of the chapter argues that within any city or region the institutions concerning the networks formed by key agents will establish the framework for the distribution of power, particularly power that impacts upon the evolution and development of the economy.
Repertoires of Migration Governance
Authors: Geddes Andrew
Published: February 2021

This chapter specifies the idea of migration governance repertoires, which are then used to organize the analysis of migration governance in Europe, North America, South America, and Southeast Asia and to explore prospects for global migration governance. Repertoires are shown to have narrative, social, symbolic, and affective components and also to be ongoing in that they don’t have a clear beginning and end. The key features of repertoires are assessed through five intuitively expressed questions that actors face in migration governance systems: ‘How can we figure out what’s going on out there?’; ‘Why do something when we don’t know what effect it will have?’; ‘How can we choose our priorities?’; ‘Who are all these people at this meeting?’; and ‘Does that make sense to us?’ These are shown to require interpretations of facts and evidence but also to necessarily elide with beliefs and values in ways that shape the operation and effects of migration governance systems.
The Courtroom in the Bedroom
Authors: Ziogas Ioannis
Published: February 2021

This chapter compares the distinction between what lies inside and outside the rule of law with the blurring of public and private space in the age of Augustus. Love elegy blends private with public life but also bars Roman law from the privacy of the bedroom. The secrecy of lovemaking is emblematic of the autonomy of love poetry, an independent area governed by the sovereign laws of love. At the same time, love’s jurisdiction spreads from the privacy of the bedroom to occupy the spaces of public life. The bedroom in love elegy is part of the discursive independence of sexuality, an autonomy that is the basis of sovereignty. Focusing on representative case studies from the Amores (1.4, 2.5, 2.7–8, 2.19, 3.4, 3.14), the chapter examines the shift to the privacy of the elegiac bedroom against the background of Augustus’ policy of making all aspects of his private life public.
Freedom in Paul and Modernity
Authors: Tilling Chris
Published: February 2021

In this chapter, Tilling argues that an account of Paul’s understanding of freedom can be brought into fruitful dialogue with other contributions in this volume, and with ‘freedom’ in the Eroica and in modernity more generally. An outline of Pauline scholarship sets the stage for Tilling’s constructive proposal, which claims that Paul’s core theological axioms situate the Apostle’s ‘freedom’ language in such a way that takes us beyond contemporary New Testament debates. It does this by deploying musical analogies, presenting a more coherent account than before of both Paul’s language as well as the interpreter’s task of describing Paul’s theology. The upshot, which presents freedom in Paul as a corollary of divine love, facilitates critical interaction with modernity’s freedom.
The Theology of Richard Allen’s Musical Worship
Authors: Andemicael Awet
Published: February 2021

This chapter examines the role music may have played in Bishop Richard Allen’s struggle for African-American liberation from slavery, and empowerment as full participants in church and state affairs. It begins with a broad survey of music in American and British abolitionist efforts in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, including two hymns of Allen’s own composition, to provide context for Allen’s engagement with music. In comparison to such protest songs, the hymns Allen selected for his hymnbooks were not overtly political. Nevertheless, the theology of music they represented resonated with socio-political significance, coalescing around three key themes: musical worship as (a) a means for conversion and a telos for the Christian life; (b) a bridge between heaven and earth; and (c) a reflection of, and aide to, the formation of community and ecclesial unity.
The Hegemony of the Reasonable Person in Anglo-American Tort Law
Authors: Simons Kenneth W.
Published: February 2021

Tort law has increasingly employed the rubric of the reasonable person in a variety of doctrinal domains. Many jurisdictions have rejected a differentiation of landowner duties according to the status of the entrant as trespasser, licensee, or invitee, and substituted a “reasonable person” test. Assumption of risk has been eliminated or greatly narrowed in favor of comparative fault, which asks simply whether the plaintiff failed to act as a reasonable person. The reasonable person plays a significant role even in intentional torts: apparent consent precludes liability when the defendant reasonably (though mistakenly) believes that plaintiff consented; putative self-defense precludes liability when the defendant reasonably (though mistakenly) believes facts that would establish that privilege; and offensive battery requires that the contact be offensive to a “reasonable” sense of dignity. What explains this widespread use of “reasonable person” tests? A desire for simplicity? The normative appeal of such a standard? Normative modesty about adopting a more controversial standard or about specifying more detailed rules? A concern to empower juries? Inertia or lazy thinking? Are such tests mainly descriptive (of ordinary conduct) or mainly idealized and prescriptive? In answering these questions, this paper argues that the hegemony of the reasonable person is sometimes a welcome but often an unwelcome development.
Building Governance Capacity in Areas of Limited Statehood
Authors: Risse Thomas
Published: February 2021

Areas of limited statehood where central government authorities lack the capacity of implementing and enforcing decisions and/or lack the monopoly over the means of violence, are ubiquitous. However, these areas are neither ungovernable nor ungoverned. Enormous variation exists, that includes badly governed places but also “good governance” in areas of limited statehood, sometimes separated only by a few blocks. Effective governance (public service provision, rule-making) depends on three factors: legitimacy; social trust relations within communities; and adequate design of institutions, including financial resources. International Financial Institutions (IFIs) should thus focus on building governance capacity rather than further engaging in state-building, which has failed despite substantial investments. If the central state is autocratic and/or predatory, building state capacity will only make a bad situation worse. Yet, if the central government is constrained by the rule of law and by democratic institutions, but lacks the capacity to implement and enforce decisions, then capacity-building might help improve governance.
The State of Finance in Fragile States
Authors: Barajas Adolfo , Chami Ralph , Fullenkamp Connel
Published: February 2021

This chapter describes the state of financial development in fragile states. Our analysis primarily relies on indicators from the World Bank Global Financial Development Database, which have been used extensively in the literature to capture the degree to which financial services and activities are present in an economy (depth) and the extent to which they are disseminated and made available to the population (inclusion). We find that financial depth in fragile states is underdeveloped and financial inclusion is low, but with significant heterogeneity among fragile states. We conduct empirical exercises which suggest that fragility is negatively related to financial development, both in terms of depth and especially in terms of inclusion, and exercises that also point to certain aspects of fragility most associated with financial underperformance. Finally, we use a benchmarking exercise to estimate how much financial underdevelopment in fragile states is costing them, in terms of economic growth.
Fiscal Policy in Fragile Situations
Authors: Milante Gary , Woolcock Michael
Published: February 2021

While in principle fiscal policy in all countries is a central component of the “long route of accountability” binding citizens and the state, in fragile states the political dynamics shaping the extent to which this “route” does in fact deliver incrementally better key services (such as security and health) to citizens—and for which citizens, in turn, give the state due credit—are highly fraught. Using five governance measures across two time periods (2005–10, 2010–15), we document the wide array of pathways by which the fiscal policy space can and does change and can lead to variants in outcomes. The absence of a clear singular empirical story connecting fiscal policy to effective outcomes suggests the limits of what can be asked of aggregate governance measures in providing context-specific policy guidance in fragile situations; such measures need to be closely accompanied by solid theory, experience and context-specific knowledge.
Building Fiscal Institutions in Fragile States
Authors: Baer Katherine , Gupta Sanjeev , Mansour Mario , Pattanayak Sailendra
Published: February 2021

Building or restoring fiscal institutions is central to state-building and economic growth in fragile states. This chapter proposes a two-step approach to designing and implementing tax revenue and public expenditure reforms in fragile states based on the experience of IMF technical assistance programs. Reforms to build fiscal institutions in fragile states need to be sequenced to reflect country-specific circumstances. In the first stage, the focus should be on using available administrative capacity for effective tax collection and developing core public financial management functions with easy-to-implement measures. In the second stage the focus can shift to medium-term revenue and public financial management strategies to help countries exit fragility. Country authorities should lead coordination efforts, with technical assistance providers playing a supportive role. The chapter also discusses the role of fiscal conditionality in IMF programs in fragile states and how it should focus on the medium- and long-term aspects of institution building.
Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy in Fragile States
Authors: Adam Christopher , Wilson James
Published: February 2021

This chapter charts monetary and exchange rate policy aspects of countries’ descent into, and exit from, economic fragility and draws out some key normative policy lessons for fragile countries and their external partners. Choices around exchange rate regime and the conduct of monetary policy in fragile states will rarely be fundamental drivers of deep structural fragility, even though they may present as proximate causes. Nor are they likely to be decisive in driving the recovery from extreme fragility. However, monetary and exchange rate policy choices can and do play an important role in affecting movements into fragility as well as shaping potential exit paths. Moreover, choices in these domains affect the likely distribution of rents, including those generated by policy distortions themselves. In doing so, they alter the balance of power and can decisively shift the points of influence for policy, including by outside agents.
Do Financial Flows Make a Difference in Fragile States?
Authors: Chami Ralph , Ernst Ekkehard , Fullenkamp Connel , Oeking Anne
Published: February 2021

A rising number of people is living in fragile countries whose weak institutions fail to deliver on decent work and poverty reduction. The chapter discusses to what extent external financial flows, such as remittances, foreign direct investment or official development aid, can substitute for weak institutions. Fragility matters: fragile countries receive different amounts of financial flows than their non-fragile peers, and these flows affect them differently. Fragility lowers the effect of financial flows on growth, living standards and inequality. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has a moderate impact on poverty alleviation, albeit concentrated on employment gains in mining and natural resources. Remittances provide some weak relief for the poor, with less pernicious effects on growth and labour supply than in non-fragile countries. ODA does not improve social outcomes but rather exacerbates fragility. Policymakers should focus on improving upon the positive contribution of FDI and remittances on jobs and growth, avoiding the remittances trap.
Reckoning Reputation
Authors: Kolb Laura
Published: February 2021

Chapter 1 analyzes Shakespeare’s Othello alongside sixteenth-century commercial arithmetics. Othello makes a problem that inflects certain narrative examples in these math books into grounds for tragedy: the problem of calculating the value of persons in a society where new forms of commercial credit were unsettling traditional notions of worth. Social evaluation comes to the fore in the specific mathematical genre of “partnership problems,” which were designed to teach merchants how to calculate returns on joint ventures but which also demanded skill in reckoning the worth of words and of persons. Othello’s jealousy operates according to an extreme version of the logic inherent to these mathematical problems. The evaluation of others and of the self are linked, in Othello, to acts of evaluation drawn from the world of trade—the world reflected and addressed in arithmetic textbooks in general, and partnership problems in particular.
Opposing Fascism or Accommodating Its Last Remnant?
Authors: Guirao Fernando
Published: February 2021

Chapter 3 demonstrates that in the late 1950s, the pro-Europe group in the Spanish administration decided that trade liberalization and European integration were required to assure the survival of the Franco regime. The liberal officials in Madrid were cautious about progressive Europeanization. The official request of February 1962 to open negotiations with the EEC expressed Spain’s goal to obtain a commitment from the Six in favour of the country’s economic development and political evolution at the Franco regime’s desired pace. The official Spanish request brought the Six to assess their responsibility towards Spain’s future economic stability. The critical moment in the European rescue of the Franco regime took place in 1964 when the Six accepted that the Europeanization of Spain should not be limited to solving bilateral disputes, but should address Spain’s place in the future integration of Europe.
The Decision to Grant the Preference (1964–1967)
Authors: Guirao Fernando
Published: February 2021

For the Six, Chapter 4 shows, the Spanish question boiled down to whether they would grant the preference rather than how. Documentary records and trade data show that the EEC did not discriminate against Spanish products. The EEC’s policy on Franco Spain was forged around the justification that relations with dictatorships of less-developed countries served to promote economic development and social change. These changes would naturally lead to a collective desire for political change. France and West Germany acted accordingly and exercised due influence on their peers. In the pursuit of their own interests, the European Community and its member-states opted to induce progressive reform towards West-European institutional standards over punishment or rupture. The political debate was limited to the speed of such changes, not to the validity of the assumption. The Europeanization/democratization binomial implied that closer relations with the EEC would promote convergence towards West-European standards, including democratization.
Conclusion
Authors: de Lisle Christopher
Published: February 2021

Throughout this book, I have argued that Agathokles is best understood by putting him in the context of both his Sicilian predecessors and his Hellenistic contemporaries, emphasizing that Agathokles participated in the changes occurring in his world, while also continuing many earlier patterns and practices. Agathokles represents both continuity and change, was both a local and a Panhellenic phenomenon....
Long-run economic growth
Authors: Rangvid Jesper
Published: February 2021

This chapter explains what we understand by ‘aggregate economic activity’, i.e. Gross Domestic Product, per capita income, population growth, and related concepts that will all be used repeatedly throughout the book. The chapter shows how economic activity has developed historically, using both US and international data. The chapter does not analyze what causes long-run economic growth to be high or low, as subsequent chapters deal with this. Instead, the chapter deals with the concepts and stylized facts such that thesecan be used when analysing their implications for asset markets in subsequent chapters.
Predicting returns: Theory
Authors: Rangvid Jesper
Published: February 2021

This chapter provides a brief description of the history of academic thinking on the subject of return predictability. The chapter starts by describing the initial formulations of the efficient market hypothesis in the 1970s, with its view that returns are unpredictable, moving on to Shiller (1981), who demonstrated that stock prices are far too volatile to be solely determined by future dividends discounted by a constant discount rate. The hypothesis that the discount rate is not constant but time-varying emerged. Finally, the chapter describes the current view on return predictability. It concludes that, today, it is well-accepted that returns contain a predictable component. This does not mean that we can easily say how stocks will develop in the future, but it does not mean either that we cannot say anything at all. Theory has also been developed that reconciles return predictability with efficient capital markets.
Karl Barth and the Crisis of the First World War
Authors: Mauldin Joshua
Published: February 2021

This chapter explores how Karl Barth responded to the social crisis in Europe in the wake of the First World War. Barth’s experience as a pastor and professor early in the twentieth century led him to seek an alternative to nineteenth-century theological liberalism, which he had imbibed during his own education. Many of Barth’s critics, as well as his supporters, have mistakenly assumed that Barth’s rejection of theological liberalism entailed and included a matching rejection of political liberalism. This chapter argues that Barth supported democratic liberalism even while rejecting theological liberalism. Focusing primarily on his early lectures, the chapter examines how Barth’s vision of the legitimacy of modern politics was not in tension with his theological project; on the contrary his politics afforded him the theological freedom to work toward a renewal of dogmatic orthodoxy.
Introduction
Authors: Hill Benjamin , Lagerlund Henrik , Psillos Stathis
Published: February 2021

Causal powers have been posited to ground and explain activity in nature. And yet, powers are subject to scrutiny and criticism today as they were in the seventeenth century and for more or less the same reasons. The detailed and substantive Introduction sketches the key conceptions of, and arguments for and against, powers from Aristotle up to the present. In the first part (Sections 1.1–1.5), there is an account of the history of the powers debate, starting with the Aristotelian conception and moving through medieval accounts to the revolt against powers by the novatores of the seventeenth century. Various criticisms of powers, notably by Descartes, the occasionalists, Boyle and Newton, as well as endorsements, notably by Leibniz, are presented. Then there is an account of Hume’s systematic critique of the epistemology and ontology of powers, of the transition from a power-based to a law-based conception of nature (notably in the work of Mill) and finally a recounting of the various attempts to eliminate or reduce powers and dispositions in the twentieth century. Sections 1.6–1.9 describe the key reasons for the comeback of powers in the last quarter of the twentieth century, notably the issues concerning the nature of properties and the ontic status and necessity of the laws of nature. Sections 2.1–2.12 offer a detailed summary of the twelve contributions to the volume. Finally, the chapter concludes with questions for moving forward.
The Inherence and Directedness of Powers
Authors: Psillos Stathis
Published: February 2021

Stathis Psillos explores a fundamental ontological puzzle pertaining to powers, in the editors’ opinion perhaps the most fundamental one, namely the internal coherence of their dual nature. On the one hand, powers are intrinsic properties of their objects. They are really and truly predicated of their subjects because they are, strictly speaking, constituents of their subjects. Thus their beings are tied to their objects in a way that makes the rest of the world irrelevant for them, and this way is typically characterized through a counterfactual: even if everything else in the world were different, or if nothing else existed in the world, object X would possess any and all powers Φ‎ that it now possesses in the actual world. But, on the other hand, powers are also directed toward their manifestations. This notion of directed is somewhat vague and difficult to nail down, but at the very least it prima facie implies that powers in some important way depend on something external to them and their object. The implication and its externality are crystal clear in most cases: an active/passive power requires the existence of its co-relative as a necessary condition for that power’s ever being manifested. And insofar as the existence of a power depends on the possibility of its being manifested, the existence of any power Φ‎ now seems to require the existence of its co-relatives and, consequently, the bearers of those co-relatives.
Books for the common man
Authors: Pearson David
Published: February 2021

The best-documented private libraries are typically those of the educated, professional, or wealthy classes in urban centres, but there is plentiful (if scattered) evidence of widespread ownership of books across society more widely. This chapter examines this, using particular examples such as Bibles, where inscriptions and other annotations testify to these kinds of ownership patterns. The annotations in a book owned and used in rural Cumbria in the seventeenth century are described. The tendency for books to circulate within geographical localities, and to move from better-off households to poorer ones, is observed. Relevant recent scholarship in this field is acknowledged and summarized.
The somatosensory system
Authors: Rolls Edmund T.
Published: February 2021

A hierarchical system through the somatosensory cortex builds representations of touch and of the positions of the limbs in space up through parietal cortex areas 5 and 7b, where the system is interfaced to the visual system for the computations involved in reaching into space and grasping objects. Attractor network mechanisms for decision-making between somatosensory stimuli are described. In the orbitofrontal cortex, the affective value of pleasant touch and of pain is represented.
Cortical attractor dynamics and connectivity, stochasticity, psychiatric disorders, and aging
Authors: Rolls Edmund T.
Published: February 2021

In this chapter we consider how the operation of attractor networks in the brain is influenced by noise in the brain produced by the random firing times of neurons for a given mean firing rate; how this can in fact be beneficial to the operation of the brain; and how the stability of these systems and how they are influenced by noise in the brain is relevant to understanding a number of mental disorders. The concept of noise in attractor networks is important to understanding decision-making, short-term memory, and depression and schizophrenia, and this is described in this Chapter. It is a key aim of this book to increase understanding of the brain that is relevant not only to its operation in health, but also in disease, and how it may be possible to ameliorate some of the effects found in these mental and other disorders.
Adjunctions and Monads
Authors: Johnson Niles , Yau Donald
Published: February 2021

In this chapter, adjunctions and monads in 2-/bicategories are defined and discussed, along with their basic properties and examples. This includes the internal theory of mates, adjoint equivalences, and monads in bicategories, along with 2-monads on 2-categories and various concepts of algebras for a 2-monad. A section is devoted to several examples of duality in algebra as adjunctions in the bicategory of bimodules over rings.
SIMON BAINBRIDGE (b. 1952)Orpheus (2006)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter discusses British composer Simon Bainbridge’s Orpheus (2006), a beautiful miniature and an elegantly crafted setting of a memorably evocative poem by W. H. Auden. It was originally written for tenor, and is perhaps best suited to that voice, in view of some high passages where a soprano’s resonance might impair verbal clarity. The musical idiom is atonal but not dauntingly so. There is ample space to place each entry carefully, and to gauge intervals, listening to the piano. Time signatures fluctuate throughout, creating a smooth flow devoid of rigidity—instinctive musicality is the hallmark. Meanwhile, the composer’s note explains the reason for the solitary vocal dynamic of piano. This is not intended to inhibit the singer into an over-careful monochrome delivery, but rather to preserve a general essence of quietness. His close understanding of singing means that he is aware that changes of tessitura will automatically result in subtle gradations of intensity and expressiveness, and he wishes this to be left to happen naturally, without the need for detailed annotation. The singer is therefore left unfettered to enjoy the enticingly mellifluous vocal phrases.
STEPHEN BARCHAN (b. 1982)Two Songs about Spiders (2010/2011)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter examines British composer Stephen Barchan’s Two Songs about Spiders (2010/2011), an enchanting little piece with a growing reputation. These vivid settings of well-loved nursery rhymes—including Little Miss Muffet and Itsy Bitsy Spider—will make an ideal encore after a demanding recital, but could serve equally well as an ‘appetizer’ at the start of a programme. The vocal writing certainly stretches the singer’s technical control and range, and a mezzo might be well suited to it, in view of the many low-lying passages. However, a soprano’s agility will be an advantage. Although its duration is only three minutes, the piece is packed with inventive detail, and dynamics and timbres change with breathtaking rapidity. The musical idiom is atonal and highly chromatic, but cohesive; intervals seem logical and are often repeated. Exciting leaps and scoops abound, with liberal use of glissandos, which helps considerably when approaching extremes of register. Some loud, single-note attacks will need care to conserve air and prevent them splintering under pressure.
JOE CUTLER (b. 1968)Bands (2008)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter addresses British composer Joe Cutler’s Bands (2008). This touching, insightful piece, deceptively simple, demands immense concentration and empathy. The text, by the composer’s father Richard Cutler, is a moving encapsulation of the traumatic experiences faced by child evacuees during the Second World War, as they left home and parents and boarded trains for unfamiliar places. With immense skill and daring, the composer strips his material to the bone with a pared-down, static harmonic base and stark, repetitive vocal lines to convey graphically the desolation and numbed emotions of the departing children. Rhythmic fluidity is provided by the interplay between irregular patterns in the piano’s left hand punctuated by percussive right-hand acciaccaturas, while the singer maintains a steady quarter-note pulse through syncopations and tied notes. In view of the plethora of high Gs, some prolonged, a tenor would perhaps be most comfortable, although a very light baritone with a secure high range could sound suitably disembodied.
JONATHAN DOVE (b. 1959)Cut My Shadow (2011)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter studies Jonathan Dove’s Cut My Shadow (2011). This set of three songs (‘Surprise’, ‘The Guitar, and ‘Song of the Dry Orange Tree’) amply demonstrates Dove’s musical acumen and special understanding of vocal writing. The musical style, with its frequent use of repetitive figures, could certainly be described as ‘minimalist’, especially with regard to the characterful piano writing. It goes without saying that Dove is also an excellent pianist. The music brims with rhythmic vitality, and an exotic, passionate ‘Spanishness’ is established from the outset, achieved by deceptively simple means. A light mezzo can even relish the deepest notes, which are set so well that they come off every time, as long as the singer does not push too hard. Significantly, there are no dynamics written over the vocal line, so it is up to the singer to develop a close awareness of balance with the piano, and to adjust the volume without feeling strained or overwhelmed.
ROB KEELEY (b. 1960)Five Songs on Poems by Stevie Smith (2000)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter explores British composer and pianist Robert Keeley’s Five Songs on Poems by Stevie Smith (2000). The distinctive flavour of Stevie Smith’s poems—wistful, fey, and mordantly perceptive by turn—is captured in music of fluency and confidence, the subtle layers of the texts unpeeled with skill and empathy. Though the range indicates a mezzo, one or two high-lying repeated fragments do require the special lightness and agility more usually found in sopranos. The lowest notes, however, must have ‘bite’, and a weightier, more dramatic voice will have the advantage in riding the denser textures of the final song. The singer needs to be versatile, able to convey unaffected joy, bitter foreboding, and heart-on-sleeve longing, with the lithe, quirky exuberance of Song No. 3 (‘Le Singe qui swing’) providing a cheerful interlude. In general, lines move easily and cover a wide range. Keeley has a penchant for repeated, catchy ‘motto’ fragments in both voice and piano. These linger in the memory and contribute to a disciplined, clear structural impression.
RODERICK WILLIAMS (b. 1965)A Coat (2008)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter highlights Roderick Williams’s A Coat (2008). Williams is a baritone of innate musicality and enviable technique, as consistent as he is versatile. Tailor-made for his own voice, the piece spans a wide range in pitch and dynamic and teems with subtle colours and detailed nuances which evoke comparison with Hugo Wolf, especially in the refinement of the word-setting. His ear for balance is particularly acute—he doubtless has experience of songs with over-heavy piano parts, where the singer must struggle to communicate a text. An intriguing, flexibly atonal idiom is eminently approachable. Williams does not shy away from rhythmic complexity, but embellishes vocal lines within a steady pulse, giving a feeling of natural musical flow and almost improvised freedom, yet the overall structure is disciplined and concise.
RAYMOND YIU (b. 1973)The Earth and Every Common Sight (2010/2013)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter examines Hong Kong-born composer Raymond Yiu’s The Earth and Every Common Sight (2010/13). This appealing cycle, written in a fluent, highly attractive idiom, is a fine example of Yiu’s expertise. Each song has an individual character and the six main movements are interspersed with two ‘Intermezzos’, setting words of Charles Darwin. Throughout, the voice–piano relationship is perfectly caught and words are set scrupulously. The composer shows a fine ear for balance and commands a range of contrasting styles with consummate ease. Wisely, he confines the vocal range to the treble stave for the most part, thereby ensuring clarity of text and variety of expression without putting the singer under duress. Despite a lack of extreme high notes, this is definitely for soprano rather than mezzo.
Catalysing Marginalisation? The Effect of Populist Governments on the Legislative and Scrutiny Functions of the Italian Parliament
Authors: Fasone Cristina
Published: February 2021

The article analyses whether and how the activity of populist governments in Italy has affected the performance of parliament’s legislative and scrutiny functions. The analysis covers the government of Five Star Movement (5SM) and the Lega as well as the coalition government made up of the 5SM, the Democratic Party and centre-left junior allies up to the COVID-19 outbreak. The article uses selected bills and decree-laws to investigate the impact on the legislative function, while question time sessions and committees of inquiry are examined as case studies on the scrutiny function. The analysis demonstrates that although ‘subversive’ constitutional and parliamentary conduct was already in place beforehand, when populists entered government in the 18th legislative term there was a worsening of a trend towards eroding representative democracy.
Confrontational but Respecting the Rules: The Minor Impact of the Finns Party on Legislative–Executive Relations
Authors: Poyet Corentin , Raunio Tapio
Published: February 2021

Having achieved a major breakthrough in the 2011 elections, the Finns Party remained in opposition but joined the governing coalition from 2015 until 2017 when the party suffered a serious internal split. This article shows that the overall impact of the populists on parliamentary procedures and culture has been modest. The Finns Party has adjusted to the strongly institutionalised parliamentary norms and it has not contested the existing patterns of legislative–executive relations. The populists have brought more confrontational elements to the debates but seem content operating within the established institutional constraints. Content analysis of oral and written questions shows the internal diversity of the party.
The molecular and genetic regulation of shoot branching
Authors: Luo Zhiwei , Janssen Bart J , Snowden Kimberley C
Published: February 2021

The architecture of flowering plants exhibits both phenotypic diversity and plasticity, determined, in part, by the number and activity of axillary meristems and, in part, by the growth characteristics of the branches that develop from the axillary buds. The plasticity of shoot branching results from a combination of various intrinsic and genetic elements, such as number and position of nodes and type of growth phase, as well as environmental signals such as nutrient availability, light characteristics, and temperature (Napoli et al., 1998; Bennett and Leyser, 2006; Janssen et al., 2014; Teichmann and Muhr, 2015; Ueda and Yanagisawa, 2019). Axillary meristem initiation and axillary bud outgrowth are controlled by a complex and interconnected regulatory network. Although many of the genes and hormones that modulate branching patterns have been discovered and characterized through genetic and biochemical studies, there are still many gaps in our understanding of the control mechanisms at play. In this review, we will summarize our current knowledge of the control of axillary meristem initiation and outgrowth into a branch.