bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New Public Policies: Effectiveness, Efficiency, And Their Social Costs and Benefits
Authors: N. Kallianiotis Dr. Ioannis
Published: February 2025

The objective of this research is to determine and measure the effectiveness, the efficiency, the social costs, and the social benefits of our new modern and “progressive” public policies (monetary and fiscal). By using different policy rules, correlation, causality, and a VAR model, we test the effectiveness and efficiency of monetary and fiscal policies by testing the effects of policy instruments (iFF, MB, MS, T and G) on the objective variables, prices (CPI), unemployment (u), growth of GDP (RGDP), stock market (DJIA), long-term interest rate (i10YTB) and trade account (TA). A stationarity and co-integration test for our series is used, too. The empirical results show that the most of the public policy tools do not have a significant effect on the objective variables. The benefits, lately, are insignificant and the social cost enormous and the reason might be the incompetence, the corruption or the control of the policy makers. They must know what the true objective of their policy is, but they cannot satisfy it, which is the maximization of the social welfare, the wellbeing in every sector in the lives of the citizens of the country. There is a need to fix all these dysfunctional institutions and improve our democratic system. What their new liberal public policies have caused to people is just uncertainty, an enormous social cost, and pessimism for the future. After the 2024 elections and the new President in the U.S., some people have started to become more optimistic. We must go back to our traditional policies and to our 3,000 years old value system, civilization, culture, faith, and education. Public policies must prevent crises and satisfy the current, the future, and eternal needs of humans (persons), our citizens.
Wellbeing At Work With Mission, Vision, And Values: An Exploratory Study In SMEs In Spain
Authors: Danes Vilallonga Arantza , Fajula Payet Anna , Barrio Fraile Estrella
Published: February 2025

Wellbeing at work is a popular topic to attract and retain talent. Nevertheless, its relationship with organisational culture remains complex. This exploratory study sought to offer a pathway for SMEs to explore organizational culture and wellbeing at work, using mission, vision, and values, as motivational factors within a corporate culture. SMEs constitute over 99% of businesses in the European Union and Spain, where wellbeing at work is not generally addressed. This quantitative study focused on employee's perception of wellbeing at work at Spanish SMEs. Results offer information that can be used to address the situation as they indicated that wellbeing at work’s perception decreases when internal communication and coordination across different layers are lacking. A perception gap of wellbeing at work exists between senior managers and other employees. The level of wellbeing at work declines as company size increases, and salary does not appear to influence wellbeing from an organisational culture perspective. Further research is required to validate these findings and confirm the role of mission, vision, and values as a valid path to explore inconsistencies at the strategic level of wellbeing at work and corporate culture.
An Evaluation of The Influence of Social Media Marketing on Brand Awareness for Hyatt Regency Hotel Harare
Authors: Chimbuya Martin
Published: February 2025

The study was necessitated by the observation that the Zimbabwean hospitality sector particularly city hotels is confronted by a significant challenge in utilizing social media marketing to enhance brand awareness. In spite of the low growth rate in the accommodation sector and increasing importance of online platforms, the adoption of social media particularly Facebook remains limited. The study employed an explanatory research approach to assess the influence of social media marketing on brand awareness as it helps in understanding the relationships between social media marketing and brand awareness and explaining why these relationships exist. The study population comprised of managers, employees and customers of Hyatt Regency hotel who were selected using simple random and stratified sampling methods. A structured questionnaire was used to gather primary data. The study's results showed that social media marketing influences brand awareness for Hyatt Regency Hotel. More explicitly, the research discovered that social media marketing has a significant impact on prompting consumer perception of the services offered by Hyatt Regency Hotel and that social media marketing can be used to complement other marketing strategies to enhance brand awareness. The study identified that Hyatt Regency Hotel need to unceasingly monitor and manage social media platforms to ensure effective communication with customers. Based on the findings, the study recommends that Hyatt Regency Hotel should continually invest in social media marketing to enhance brand awareness and customer engagement. Future research should explore other ways in which social media marketing can be used to influence brand awareness and customer engagement for Hyatt Regency Hotel.
ABSENCE DE PREUVE D EFFICACITE CLINIQUE DE L OXOMEMAZINE DANS LA TOUX
Authors: BERKHOUT C
Published: February 2025

Publication originale de T. Bacon, C. Blanchard, E. Dubois, H. Vaillant-Roussel H, R. Boussageon
(Collège universitaire de médecine générale de Lyon)

La toux est un motif fréquent de consultation en médecine générale (MG). L’oxomémazine (Toplexil®) est un antitussif de la famille des antihistaminiques. C’est la spécialité antitussive la plus prescrite en France, responsable en 2022 d’un coût de remboursement pour l’Assurance maladie de 1 724 227 €. La Haute Autorité de santé n’accorde à l’oxomémazine qu’un faible service médical rendu (SMR) et une absence d’amélioration du service médical rendu (ASMR, niveau V) par rapport aux autres antitussifs. La revue Prescrire classe l’oxomémazine dans la catégorie des médicaments à éviter en raison d’un rapport bénéfice/ risque défavorable et d’un risque de mésusage.
CHERE ARMANDE ! DEAR "DEAR MAN" !
Authors: RICHARD C , LUSSIER MT
Published: February 2025

Cette chronique, un peu spéciale, va vous présenter « DEAR MAN », ou ARMANDE, une des techniques communicationnelles développées dans le cadre de la thérapie comportementale dialectique (TCD). Le propos n’est pas d’exposer les principes de la TCD, mais de présenter un outil utilisé dans sa composante portant sur l’efficacité interpersonnelle. Les autres composantes du TCD sont : le mindfulness (traduit par l’art d’être présent, ou la pleine conscience) ; la tolérance à la détresse ; la régulation des émotions1.
CE QUE NOUS PERCEVONS DES COMPETENCES DES ETUDIANTS A LA LECTURE DE LEURS RSCA EST-IL CORRELE A LEURS EVALUATIONS EN STAGE ?
Authors: BRABANT Y , LEPINE C , AUBART B , LORENZO M , ONAISI R
Published: February 2025

Introduction. La formation de troisième cycle menant au diplôme d’études spécialisées de médecine générale (DES-MG) vise le développement des compétences du référentiel de médecine générale par les étudiants. Le récit de situation complexe et authentique (RSCA), outil d’écriture réflexive utilisé dans les départements de médecine générale, semble renseigner sur le développement des compétences des étudiants de troisième cycle. L’objectif de cette étude était de comparer les résultats d’une évaluation des compétences à partir d’un RSCA à celle réalisée en stage.
Méthode. Une étude observationnelle analytique a été menée dans quatre subdivisions dans le cadre de la cohorte NICOMNIREAC. Les étudiants volontaires parmi ceux en premier stage chez le praticien au 1er novembre 2021 ont été recrutés. Après recueil du consentement, leur premier RSCA a été évalué par les 5 investigateurs à l’aide du référentiel niveaux de compétences (RNDC). Une comparaison des niveaux de compétences à partir des évaluations de stage et du RSCA a été réalisée en utilisant le test exact de Fisher.
Résultats. Cinquante RSCA de trois subdivisions ont été évalués. La compétence « prévention, éducation » n’a pas pu être évaluée dans 36 RSCA. Les autres compétences ont pu être évaluées dans chaque RSCA, avec une concordance inter-évaluateurs minime, et sans association entre les niveaux de compétences évalués dans les RSCA et en stage.
Conclusion. Le faible accord inter-évaluateurs interroge le RNDC et ses modalités d’utilisation. Le suivi de la cohorte NICOMNIREAC sur trois ans participera à documenter l’utilisation du RNDC par les différents évaluateurs et sa fiabilité. Il est légitime de questionner l’utilisation du RSCA pour l’évaluation des niveaux de compétences alors qu’il est d’abord un outil d’apprentissage au service de la pratique réflexive.
FAKTOR RESIKO YANG BERHUBUNGAN DENGAN PERDARAHAN POST PARTUM: STUDI LITERATUR
Authors: Djannah Roichatul
Published: February 2025

Perdaran Post partum merupakan salah satu  penyebab tingginya AKI di Indonesia yaitu perdarahan postpartum. Perdarahan postpartum merupakan suatu kondisi yang abnormal di mana darah yang keluar sangat banyak hingga 500 cc atau bahkan lebih. Kasus ini dapat terjadi pada semua kalangan ibu hamil. Tujuan: Untuk mengetahui insiden dan faktor risiko perdarahan post parum pada persalinan pervaginam. Metode: Menggunakan metode studi literatur sesuai dengan topik yang diangkat dalam penelitian ini. Studi literatur didapat dari berbagai sumber, diantaranya jurnal dari tahun 2019 - 2023. Kata kunci yang digunakan dalam pencarian literatur: “perdarahan post partum”, “faktor risiko”, dan “insiden”. Hasil: Dari beberapa jurnal yang telah di telaah, perdarahan postpartum masih merupakan salah satu komplikasi terbesar kematian ibu setelah melahirkan yang banyak disebabkan oleh atonia uteri. Sebagai tenaga medis, hal yang dapat dilakukan untuk mencegah terjadinya perdarahan postpartum adalah dimulai dari pemantauan asuhan antenatal ibu hamil hingga ibu bersalin yang dilakukan oleh tenaga terampil dan melakukan rujukan tepat waktu apabila kasus perdarahan postpartum tidak teratasi melalui fasilitas pelayanan kesehatan yang memadai
Non-clinical interventions and services for individuals with suicide distress or crisis: an Accelerated Evidence Snapshot
Authors: Petrunoff Nick , Jackson Bess , Harley Samuel , Schiavuzzi Alexandra , McEnallay Melissa , van Kemenade Cathelijne , Maple Myfanwy , Wayland Sarah , Knight Alice , Goldberg Eileen
Published: February 2025

The NSW Suicide Monitoring System recorded 933 suspected or confirmed suicide deaths in 2023, highlighting the need for effective prevention strategies. The Towards Zero Suicides (TZS) initiative funds non-clinical crisis services like Safe Havens and Suicide Prevention Outreach Teams (SPOTs), providing peer-led, community-based support to individuals in distress. This Evidence Check aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of such interventions for people aged 16 and over, informing potential refinements or new approaches in NSW. Fifteen studies from Australia, the US, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, and the UK were reviewed. Digital interventions, including self-help tools, social media campaigns, and crisis text lines, were accessible and well-received, especially among young people. Community-led programs like Wesley LifeForce Networks and Deadly Thinking improved local suicide prevention capacity. Crisis support services, such as Lifeline’s follow-up calls, were linked to reduced suicide risk. Workplace programs, like MATES in Energy, enhanced suicide literacy but showed mixed results for improving mental health. Peer-led and co-designed interventions were generally more engaging and relevant to service users. However, most studies had short-term follow-up, limiting assessments of long-term impact. Research gaps exist for Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ communities, and many studies lacked control groups, making causal links difficult to establish. Moving forward, a combination of digital, community-based, and workplace interventions is recommended. Sustained funding, long-term evaluation, and targeted research are essential to improving non-clinical suicide prevention strategies and ensuring their effectiveness for diverse populations.
The Concept Of Property Management In The Qur'an And Its Implications In Social Life (Thematic Study According To Al-Azhar Tafsir)
Authors: Sabila Hasya , Ayatullah Ayatullah , Suwarno Suwarno , Soleh Rahmat , Alfaruq Ahmad Yasin
Published: February 2025

Social inequalities, such as poverty, limited education access, and wealth disparity, often stem from unjust wealth management. Islam, through the Qur'an, offers comprehensive guidelines on acquiring, consuming, purifying, distributing, and protecting wealth to benefit society. While Islamic finance has been widely studied, research linking wealth management to social implications remains limited. This study analyzes wealth management concepts in the Qur'an based on Tafsir Al-Azhar by Hamka and examines their impact on social welfare. Using a qualitative, literature-based approach with thematic tafsir, the study explores relevant Qur'anic verses in a modern socio-economic context. Findings reveal five key aspects of wealth management: halal acquisition emphasizing justice and spiritual balance, moderate consumption avoiding excess and miserliness, purification through zakat to reduce inequality, distribution via charity and waqf to foster social solidarity, and wealth protection through financial planning and inheritance for future security. The study confirms that applying Islamic wealth management principles can help reduce social inequality, improve welfare, and promote economic justice. It contributes to Islamic economic theory while offering practice al guidance fo individuals and policymakers to manage wealth fairly and sustainably.
Analysis Of Home Foot Temperature Monitoring Intervention in Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients: Literature Review
Authors: Dewinta Adelia  , Sri Murthi Lestari  , Lisbet Tiurmaida  , Cau Kim Jiu
Published: February 2025

Introduction: High blood sugar can cause neuropathy and peripheral artery disease, reducing sensation in the limbs and leading to diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), about 30% of diabetics develop DFU. The purpose of this study was to analyze the intervention of home foot temperature monitoring in patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). Methods: using the PICO formulation to conduct a literature search collection of materials from databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and science direct. The search was conducted using relevant keywords,and focused on articles published between 2021 and 2024 according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Low compliance in reducing activities after detecting hotspots hinders ulcer prevention, especially in those with high self-care scores. Home foot temperature monitoring is ineffective without activity reduction, requiring behavioral changes and a comprehensive approach. Sensor-based smart footwear better prevents ulcers by reducing plantar pressure, while telehealth and interactive dashboards enhance patient monitoring and communication for more efficient care. Conclusion: The articles stress combining behavior change and technology to prevent diabetic foot ulcers. Low activity reduction limits effectiveness, but smart footwear aids prevention, while telehealth improves monitoring and communication, highlighting integrated solutions.
Manajemen Penggunaan Teknologi untuk Mengukur Kepuasan Kerja Perawat
Authors: Fatika Puteri Rosyi Prabowo  , Puput Mulyono
Published: February 2025

The development of innovative health technology continues to be needed by health workers, including nurses in hospitals. Nurses need to adapt and are required to be able to utilize various technological innovations that currently exist. However, the demand for quality services in maintaining patient safety through the use of technology is still a problem that affects the achievement of nurses' job satisfaction. This study aims to describe nurses' job satisfaction regarding the use of health technology. This research is a descriptive study with a cross-sectional design involving 172 hospital nurses. The sample was selected using a purposive sampling method, and data collection was carried out through a questionnaire. Of the nurses in the sample, 33.1% were between 26 and 31 years old, while 90.1% were female. In addition, based on educational background, the majority of nurses (54.1%) had a nursing diploma, and 23.8% had a professional nursing degree. Maximum work experience caring for patients is more than 10 years. The results of this study showed that 40.1% of nurses felt satisfied with the use of health technology, while 59.9% felt dissatisfied. A significant relationship was found between education level, work position, and nurse satisfaction (p <0.05). The recommendation of this study is that the manager's role should include supporting, motivating, and providing self-awareness to nurses regarding technology in order to save time, make communication more effective, facilitate nursing care, and improve patient safety. Managers must also be tasked with implementing technological innovations that are easy to use.
The Satiric Decade
Authors: Forbes Amy Weise
Published: February 2025

Where do democratic political practices originate? This issue has long concerned republics, but few historians have studied the process by which people learn the skills of rights-based government. In this illuminating history, Amy Wiese Forbes addresses these origins by analyzing how republicanism took shape through the political satire that flooded French newspapers, theaters, courtrooms, and even academic life in 1830. Forbes shows that satire was the chief source of the critical spirit of republicanism that erupted in the 1840s and sustained the Republic in the 1870s and argues against the notion that satire had no lasting political impact. This book will speak to historians of French politics, republicanism, popular culture, the July Monarchy, satire and political humor, class and gender formation, and legal history.
Postcolonial Imaginations and Moral Representations in African Literature and Culture
Authors: Eze Chielozona
Published: February 2025

The postcolonial African culture, as it is discoursed in the academia, is largely influenced by Africa’s response to colonialism. To the degree that it is a response, it is to considerably reactive, and lacks forceful moral incentives for social critical consciousness and nation-building. Quite on the contrary, it allows especially African political leaders to luxuriate in the delusions of moral rectitude, imploring, at will, the evil of imperialism as a buffer to their disregard of their people. This book acknowledges the social and psychological devastations of colonialism on the African world. It, however, argues that the totality of African intellectual response to colonialism and Western imperialism is equally, if not more, damaging to the African world. In what ways does the average African leader, indeed, the average African, judge and respond to his world? How does he conceive of his responsibility towards his community and society?

The most obvious impact of African response to colonialism is the implicit search for a pristine, innocent paradigms in, for instance, literary, philosophical, social, political and gender studies. This search has its own moral implication in the sense that it makes the taking of responsibility on individual and social level highly difficult. Focusing on the moral impact of responses to colonialism in Africa and the African Diaspora, this book analyzes the various manifestations of delusions of moral innocence that has held the African leadership from the onerous task of bearing responsibility for their countries; it argues that one of the ways to recast the African leaders’ responsibility towards Africa is to let go, on the one hand, the gaze of the West, and on the other, of the search for the innocent African experience and cultures.

Relying on the insights of thinkers such as Frantz Fanon, Wole Soyinka, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Achille Mbembe and Wolgang Welsch, this book suggests new approach to interpreting African experiences. It discusses select African works of fiction as a paradigm for new interpretations of African experiences.
Beyond Realism
Authors: Datta Rekha
Published: February 2025

As the world is changing, many scholars, analysts, and policy makers agree that even as governments need to confront external threats, creating sustainable domestic environments is imperative as a policy priority. As events surrounding September 11, 2001 continue to remind us, marginalized sections of the population can become breeding grounds for dissatisfaction, disenchantment, and eventually, targets for terrorist groups. Throughout the cold war period, South Asia served as a strategic region in the bilateral rivalry between the United States and the former Soviet Union, coupled with China's careful scrutiny. In the post cold war period, several bilateral conflicts, the nuclear tests of 1998, the post 9/11 world in which South Asia has become a breeding ground for terrorists, entwined with an embattled, albeit a shared history, continue to make India and Pakistan a pivotal region to study. A timely analysis which starts with traditional approaches and combines them with new thinking within a human security policy framework, this book will contribute to a deeper and more holistic understanding of policy priorities of major players in a pivotal region of the world. It begins by analyzing security policies of India and Pakistan that have emerged in the context of geo-political concerns based on realist calculations. It also looks at the policies of the two governments in key areas such as the economy, education, public health, and safeguarding against gender-based violence. Concern with human security prompts analyses such as the one adopted in this book to argue that governments should empower and protect their citizens from serious threats to their survival. Home to a fifth of the world's population, large numbers of whom are reeling in poverty, where terrorism continues to be a concern, along with ongoing border disputes, India and Pakistan will find it imperative to make careful evaluations of this multipronged challenge to security. While it has relevance for regional policy priorities, this analysis also has broader implications for world powers such as the United States and China, for whom South Asia remains a key strategic area.
Politics of Ethnic Cleansing
Authors: Mulaj Klejda
Published: February 2025

This book sheds light on the causes and consequences of ethnic cleansing in the twentieth century Balkans with particular reference to the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. In providing a thorough and consistent analysis of large-scale episodes of ethnic cleansing in modern Balkan history,Politics of Ethnic Cleansing fills an important gap in existing conflict and peace studies literature. Offering a top-down interpretation of the expulsion of ethno-national minorities as a means of state-building, the analysis rests on a fresh, multidimensional approach, which provides an eclectic discussion of nationalism, politics, and security. This book establishes an agenda for policy-making and future research by making specific proposalsfor clearing up the present ambiguities in international humanitarian law related to ethnic cleansing, rethinking humanitarian intervention with a view to restoring the long-term viability of the target states, and repudiating the argument for forced homogenization as a conflict resolution strategy.
Conjugal Love and Procreation
Authors: Schemenauer Kevin
Published: February 2025

Dietrich von Hildebrand contributed to the Catholic tradition's increased recognition of conjugal love in marriage in the early twentieth century, and, as Kevin Schemenauer argues in Conjugal Love and Procreation, von Hildebrand's work remains relevant to contemporary Catholic thought as well. While some argue that this German Catholic philosopher and theologian neglected the role of procreation in marriage, this book shows that von Hildebrand's writings on reverence and superabundant finality contribute to a contemporary understanding of the significance of procreation within marriage. Schemenauer analyzes von Hildebrand's integration of conjugal love and procreation, showing him to be an insightful and parallel voice to the that of John Paul II. His thorough exploration of von Hildebrand's writings reveals not only how conjugal love and openness to new life are essential to marriage, but also how essential the role of procreation is to the conception of conjugal love.
Critical Issues in Peace and Conflict Studies
Authors: Matyók Thomas , Senehi Jessica , Byrne Sean
Published: February 2025

Critical Issues in Peace and Conflict Studies: Theory, Practice, and Pedagogy, edited by Thomas Maty-k, Jessica Senehi, and Sean Byrne, discusses critical issues in the emerging field of Peace and Conflict Studies, and suggests a framework for the future development of the field and the education of its practitioners and academics. Contributors to the book are recognized scholars and practitioners in their respective fields. The authors take an holistic approach to the study, analysis, and resolution of conflict at the micro, meso, macro, and mega levels.
Nature's Primal Self
Authors: Nguyen Nam T.
Published: February 2025

Nature’s Primal Self examines Corrington’s thought, called “ecstatic naturalism,” in juxtaposition to both C. S. Peirce’s pragmatic and semiotic concept of the self and Karl Jaspers’ existential elucidation of Existenz. Peirce’s and Jaspers’ anthropocentrism is thus corrected by Corrington’s ecstatic naturalism. Ecstatic naturalism, as a new movement, is both a semiotic theoretical method and a metaphysics that probes deeply into the ontological divide between nature naturing and nature natured. Author Nam T. Nguyen attempts to achieve three goals: first, to present and elucidate the underlying philosophical concepts of Charles Peirce, Karl Jaspers, and Robert Corrington; second, to critique the anthropocentric self of Peirce’s semiotic pragmatism and of Jaspers’ existential anthropology (periechontology) from the standpoint of ecstatic naturalism; and third, to introduce the concept of nature’s primal self, radically grounded in the perspective of ecstatic naturalism, as a judicious, more encompassing, and richer framework compared to Peirce’s semiotic construction of the self and Jaspers’ existential concept of Existenz.
Spirit, Soul, and City
Authors: Blits Jan H.
Published: February 2025

Spirit, Soul, and City offers a new reading of Coriolanus, Shakespeare's most political play and the last of his great tragedies. Portraying the founding of the Roman republic and the life and soul of its legendary warrior, Coriolanus, the play brings to light not only the hidden working of Rome's mixed regime but the inherent tragic tensions in the soul's spirited tendency to strive to go beyond itself in order to be true to itself. Distinguished scholar Jan H. Blits provides a fresh interpretation of this rich, complex, and often perplexing play, combining meticulous detail and insightful breadth. Proceeding line-by-line through the play, this book reaches its conclusions by closely examining Shakespeare's text—his plot, characters, language, structure, allusions, puzzles, and other devices.
Terror and Reconciliation
Authors: Jayasuriya Maryse
Published: February 2025

Terror and Reconciliation explores the English language literature that has emerged from Sri Lanka’s quarter-century long ethnic conflict. It examines poetry, short fiction and novels by both diasporic writers and writers resident in Sri Lanka. Its discussion of resident Sri Lankan writers is particularly important because it calls attention to a rich and ambitious body of work that has largely been ignored in the Western academy and media until now. The book outlines the ways in which a wide range of resident and diasporic writers have sought to represent the conflict, mourn the violence and terror associated with the conflict, and present options for reconciliation in the conflict’s aftermath. The writers discussed grapple with issues of terrorism, human rights, nationalism, war, democracy, gender, ethnicity, and reconciliation, making this a study of profound interest for students and scholars of South Asian literature and culture, postcolonial studies, race and ethnic studies, women’s studies, and peace studies.
Melancholy and the Otherness of God
Authors: Feld Alina N.
Published: February 2025

An impressive study that prompts the reader toward philosophical reflection on the hermeneutics of melancholy in its relation to maturing theological understanding and cultivation of a profound self-consciousness. Melancholy has been interpreted as a deadly sin or demonic temptation to non-being, yet its history of interpretation reveals a progressive coming to terms with the dark mood that ultimately unveils it as the self's own ground and a trace of the abysmal nature of God. The book advances two provocative claims: that far from being a contingent condition, melancholy has been progressively acknowledged as constitutive of subjectivity as such, a trace of divine otherness and pathos, and that the effort to transcend melancholy-like Perseus vanquishing Medusa-is a necessary labor of maturing self-consciousness. Reductive attempts to eliminate it, besides being dangerously utopian, risk overcoming the labor of the soul that makes us human. This study sets forth a rigorous scholarly argument that spans several disciplines, including philosophy, theology, psychology, and literary studies.
Communication and the Globalization of Culture
Authors: Mohammed Shaheed Nick
Published: February 2025

Shaheed Nick Mohammed's Communication and the Globalization of Culture: Beyond Tradition and Borders provides a unique perspective on the concept of culture and its fate in the globalized, mediated environment. Acknowledging widespread fears of cultural erosion at the hands of dominant global forces, Mohammed argues that what we understand as culture has always been the product of global forces, including those of trade and exchange. Our very conceptions of culture are questioned. The sanctity of tradition, religion, and heritage, the book suggests, should give way to an appreciation of the quite mundane origins of cultural artifacts, invented often as matters of political or social expedience, adopted sometimes in accidents of history and canonized by time into the catechisms of cultural belief.

Communication and the Globalization of Culture also suggests several mechanisms by which pragmatic social practices and fictional discourses make their way into the cultural beliefs and traditions of societies. Shaheed Nick Mohammed examines how the modern globalized environment gives rise to cultural practices that demonstrate cultural inventions, imagined communities, and manufactured cultural products, suggesting that such inventions and imaginations are not uniquely modern but rather a continuation of cultural inventions that long pre-date our media-globalized environment.
Metaphorical Metaphysics in Chinese Philosophy
Authors: Chen Derong
Published: February 2025

In Metaphorical Metaphysics in Chinese Philosophy: Illustrated with Feng Youlan's New Metaphysics, Derong Chen examines Chinese philosophy through a critical analysis of Feng Youlan's nnew metaphysics. He views metaphysics in Chinese philosophy as a metaphorical metaphysics separate from Western metaphysics. In examining the historical influences and contemporary reaction to Feng's work, he identify's Feng's system as the continuation of the Chinese philosophical tradition. This approach is most applicable to scholars of comparative philosophy and Chinese philosophy.
The School of Arizona Dranes
Authors: Dodge Timothy
Published: February 2025

Arizona Dranes (1889-1963) was a true musical innovator whose recordings made for the Okeh label during the years 1926-1928 helped lay the foundations for what would soon be known as gospel music. Her unique blend of ragtime, barrelhouse, and boogie woogie piano plus her exciting and emotional Pentecostal style of singing influenced the development of gospel music for the next forty years and beyond.

The School of Arizona Dranes: Gospel Music Pioneer covers the life and career of Dranes and situates her accomplishments in the broader history of African American gospel music and the rise of the Pentecostal movement. Starting with the earliest recordings of the music in the late nineteenth century, this book provides a history of African American sacred and gospel music that convincingly demonstrates the revolutionary nature of Dranes’s musical accomplishment. Using specific examples, the author traces the far-reaching influence of Arizona Dranes on African American gospel piano playing and singing.
Music at the Gonzaga Court in Mantua
Authors: Sanders Donald
Published: February 2025

Beginning in the second half of the fifteenth century, under the patronage of the Gonzaga family, the northern Italian city of Mantua became a vibrant center for visual art, theatre, and music. The performance at the Gonzaga court of Poliziano's Fabula di Orfeo, around 1480, marked the beginning of secular music theatre. The use of musical numbers within the drama anticipated the beginnings of opera at Florence a century later, as well as the first masterpiece of the genre, Monteverdi's La favola d'Orfeo at Mantua in 1607. Mantua reached the zenith of its artistic distinction during the reign of Duke Vincenzo I, between 1587 and 1612. During this time, Wert and Gastoldi were joined at the court by the important Jewish composer Salamone Rossi and, most notably, by Monteverdi. The premieres of his Orfeo and Arisanna made the Gonzaga court, for that brief period, the most important center in the development of opera.

In Music at the Gonzaga Court in Mantua, Donald C. Sanders discusses musical composition at the court in the context of the brilliant visual art that provided such a conducive environment. Sanders also traces the history of this very colorful family and their relationships with the emperors, kings, and popes who shaped modern Europe. Part history, part musicology, Sanders' analysis spans the fifteenth century through the seventeenth century, filling informative gaps with details essential for students in courses on Renaissance or Baroque music, or in more specialized courses on madrigal, opera, or liturgical music. Music at the Gonzaga Court in Mantua is also important reading for knowledgeable musical amateurs and anyone with interest in Italian history and arts.
Where the Waters Divide
Authors: Mascarenhas Michael
Published: February 2025

This timely and important scholarship advances an empirical understanding of Canada’s contemporary “Indian” problem. Where the Waters Divide is one of the few book monographs that analyze how contemporary neoliberal reforms (in the manner of de-regulation, austerity measures, common sense policies, privatization, etc.) are woven through and shape contemporary racial inequality in Canadian society. Using recent controversies in drinking water contamination and solid waste and sewage pollution, Where the Waters Divide illustrates in concrete ways how cherished notions of liberalism and common sense reform — neoliberalism — also constitute a particular form of racial oppression and white privilege.

Where the Waters Divide brings together theories and concepts from four disciplines — sociology, geography, Aboriginal studies, and environmental studies — to build critical insights into the race relational aspects of neoliberal reform. In particular, the book argues that neoliberalism represents a key moment in time for the racial formation in Canada, one that functions not through overt forms of state sanctioned racism, as in the past, but via the morality of the marketplace and the primacy of individual solutions to modern environmental and social problems. Furthermore, Mascarenhas argues, because most Canadians are not aware of this pattern of laissez faire racism, and because racism continues to be associated with intentional and hostile acts, Canadians can dissociate themselves from this form of economic racism, all the while ignoring their investment in white privilege.

Where the Waters Divide stands at a provocative crossroads. Disciplinarily, it is where the social construction of water, an emerging theme within Cultural Studies and Environmental Sociology, meets the social construction of expertise — one of the most contentious areas within the social sciences. It is also where the political economy of natural resources, an emerging theme in Development and Globalization Studies, meets the Politics of Race Relations — an often-understudied area within Environmental Studies. Conceptually, the book stands where the racial formation associated with natural resources reform is made and re-made, and where the dominant form of white privilege is contrasted with anti-neoliberal social movements in Canada and across the globe.
Grounds for Respect
Authors: Giselsson Kristi
Published: February 2025

In recent years traditional foundations of respect for others have been challenged on the basis that universal grounds — the assumption that we share a common humanity — have resulted in the exclusion of particular others from full moral consideration or respect. This current questioning of the concept of a common humanity is of enormous significance, in that universalism has been one of the central assumptions of modern western philosophy and a foundational key to its moral and political theory. This book attempts to address the question of just what grounds are needed in order to justify respect for others, and in addressing this question raises issues of fundamental importance; such as, what exactly does it mean to be human? On what basis can we claim that all humans are equal? Are there differences between animals and humans, and are these differences of moral significance — that is, should animals be accorded the same respect as humans? The author not only critically assesses past and current arguments for and against a common humanity, but also provides a distinctively new conceptualization of what it might mean to be human — and why being human is indeed morally significant.
Posthumous Harm
Authors: Belliotti Raymond Angelo
Published: February 2025

After introducing the early work of philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero, Machiavelli, and Kant on the matter, this book critically examines the literature over the past four decades on the topic of posthumous harm.
Free Will and Consciousness
Authors: Caruso Gregg D.
Published: February 2025

In recent decades, with advances in the behavioral, cognitive, and neurosciences, the idea that patterns of human behavior may ultimately be due to factors beyond our conscious control has increasingly gained traction and renewed interest in the age-old problem of free will. In this book, Gregg D. Caruso examines both the traditional philosophical problems long associated with the question of free will, such as the relationship between determinism and free will, as well as recent experimental and theoretical work directly related to consciousness and human agency. He argues that our best scientific theories indeed have the consequence that factors beyond our control produce all of the actions we perform and that because of this we do not possess the kind of free will required for genuine or ultimate responsibility. It is further argued that the strong and pervasive belief in free will, which the author considers an illusion, can be accounted for through a careful analysis of our phenomenology and a proper theoretical understanding of consciousness. Indeed, the primary goal of this book is to argue that our subjective feeling of freedom, as reflected in the first-person phenomenology of agentive experience, is an illusion created by certain aspects of our consciousness.
Modern China and the New World
Authors: Doyle Randall , Boshu Zhang
Published: February 2025

Modern China and the New World focuses upon a few of the main topics associated with China's recent rise to global prominence. Professor Randall Doyle writes about the impact that China will have on the geopolitical balance throughout the Asia-Pacific region. He also touches upon the effect that China's new power will have on U.S.-China relations in the 21st century. Finally, Professor Doyle writes about the continued role and influence that Dr. Henry Kissinger has upon interpreting and guiding modern U.S. policy concerning China, the Asia- Pacific region and America's role in global affairs in the 21st century.

Professor Boshu Zhang writes about China's continuing struggles with Tibet and the Dalai Lama. This topic has remained extremely sensitive for the Chinese leadership. He addresses the difficulties and contraditions existing within the Chinese Communist Party on the issue of Tibetan autonomy. Finally, Professor Zhang writes about the existing political system within China today. And, the future possibility of some democratic reforms occuring and transforming Chinese society itself. However, Zhang does indicate that the democratic process in China will be facing several domestic challenges and roadblocks along the way toward achieving a political reformation.

Professors Randall Doyle and Boshu Zhang have addressed these extremely important topics within their respective chapters by incorporating not just tradtional reading and research of their chosen subjects, but by also intergrating their personal experiences from living and traveling within China.
Political Melodies in the Pews?
Authors: Moody David L.
Published: February 2025

In this fascinating study of contemporary Christian worshippers, David L. Moody analyzes Christian rap music against traditional Christian theology. For many, mixing the sanctified worship of God with music originating from unconsecrated avenues has become difficult to accept. From the back alleys and streets of “the hood” to the club scene of urban America, Christian rappers walk to a different beat than the preacher at the pulpit. However, similar to a street evangelist, the Black Christian rapper is about singing praise to God and delivering the gospel message to his “lost homies” on the streets. Moody examines the emergence of hip hop based ministries and their place among youth with the Black community.
Brazil, the United States, and the South American Subsystem
Authors: Teixeira Carlos Gustavo Poggio
Published: February 2025

The United States has often acted as an empire in Latin America. Nevertheless, there has been an obvious dissimilarity between U.S. actions in South America and U.S. actions in the rest of Latin America, which is illustrated by the fact that the United States never sent troops to invade a South American country. While geographic distance and strategic considerations may have played a role, they provide at best incomplete explanations for the U.S.’s relative absence south of Panama. The fact that the United States has had a distinct pattern of interactions with South America is thus not captured by the typical concept of Latin America.

In Brazil, the United States, and the South American Subsystem: Regional Politics and the Absent Empire, Carlos Gustavo Poggio Teixeira recuperates the virtually neglected literature on regional subsystems. In so doing, Teixeira maintains that researchers of inter-American relations would greatly benefit from a characterization reflecting actual regional realities more than entrenched preconceptions. Such a characterization involves subdividing the Western Hemisphere in two regional subsystems: North and South America. This subdivision allows for uncovering regional dynamics that can help explain the U.S.’s limited interference in South American affairs compared to the rest of Latin America. This book argues that the role of Brazil as a status quo regional power in South America is the key to understanding this phenomenon. Through a historical analysis focusing on specific cases spanning three centuries, this research demonstrates that Brazil, regardless of particular domestic settings, has deliberately affected the calculations of costs and benefits of a more significant US involvement in South America. While in the past Brazil has taken actions that resulted in increasing the benefits of the U.S.’s limited involvement in South America, in more recent times it has sought to increase the costs of a more significant U.S. presence. Teixeira then considers some of the theoretical and political implications of the framework laid out by this research. Brazil, the United States, and the South American Subsystem is a groundbreaking investigation of U.S.-Latin American relations and the politics of imperialism.
Peacebuilding with Women in Ukraine
Authors: Flaherty Maureen
Published: February 2025

Twenty years post-independence Ukraine remains split, still floundering toward viable democracy. Active participation in civic affairs required for democracy is unfamiliar for most Ukrainian citizens, having internalized centuries of divisive oppression under a series of authoritarian regimes. Democracy-building and peace-building require participant agency and voice; rising out of oppression, people often need support to speak about and transform their lived experiences.

Peacebuilding with Women in Ukraine: Using Narrative to Envision a Common Future, by Maureen P. Flaherty, explores the roles women’s shared narrative, dialogue, and group-visioning play in the support of personal empowerment and bridge building between diverse communities. Despite participants’ initial beliefs that their regional counterparts shared little in common with them, in the process of telling their personal life stories women were able to reflect upon their own values and strengths, and with this rooting, they were then able to reach out to others. Rather than looking for differences, participants sought ways to express a shared vision for an inclusive, functional, peace-building future for themselves, their families, and Ukraine as a whole.

Peacebuilding with Women in Ukraine is a model for emancipatory social action and social change, while the women’s stories offer a window into the formative years and present-day lives of eighteen women born and raised in the Soviet Union. This study is a unique contribution to peace studies and to the history and building of a country that has most often had its history written for it.
Ecotourism Development in Costa Rica
Authors: Miller Andrew P.
Published: February 2025

Ecotourism Development in Costa Rica: The Search for Oro Verde, by Andrew P. Miller, examines the use of ecotourism as a development strategy in Costa Rica and its applicability to other Central American states. Ecotourism provides an important environmental check on industry, giving the environment a voice by making its preservation an economic necessity due to the number of people who derive their income from it. The move away from agriculture to ecotourism is a natural fit because many of those who are engaged in agriculture have extensive knowledge of plants and animals that can be utilized by the ecotourism industry.

The use of ecotourism as a development strategy is distinctive. For ecotourism to succeed, it must preserve the natural environment, but it must do so in a way that does not preclude growth in other sectors of the economy. Miller shows how the successful pursuit of foreign direct investment coupled with Costa Rica’s immense biodiversity and its attractiveness to tourists is key to understanding the success of the Costa Rican economy. Many of the preferences that ecotourists have for a vacation destination also help create an amenable atmosphere for business. These factors include: political and social stability, high quality of life, low levels of corruption, economic freedom, high levels of education, and a suitable infrastructure. The most important part of this research is its development of strategies based upon the Costa Rican model that would be useful for other states in the region. When looking at whether states can replicate the development strategy of Costa Rica, environmental sustainability is an important concern. Ecotourism Development in Costa Rica is an essential text for students and scholars interested in Latin American politics and history, development studies, and environmental sustainability.