bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Iran
Authors: Volpe Tristan A.
Published: February 2023

Chapter 6 examines Iran’s attempts to leverage latency after the discovery of its covert nuclear program. Compellence was a second-choice strategy for Tehran. The chapter first explores how Iran developed its nuclear program from 1953 to 2002 and then botched a deception campaign before reconfiguring around a safer hedge posture. Iranian leaders also decided to leverage latency against Washington and its nonproliferation partners in Europe. Iran pursued three distinct diplomatic campaigns from 2003 to 2015. The chapter examines whether the success of diplomacy at a high level of latency in 2015 undercuts the book’s claim about the sweet spot for compellence. Despite inching close to the weapons threshold, Iran traded away some nuclear assets and made nonproliferation assurances in exchange for concessions. However, the chapter reveals that Iranian leaders still faced a severe threat-assurance trade-off after the nuclear program left the fissile material sweet spot in 2006.
Zionism, Israel, and the Middle East
Authors: Lederhendler Eli
Published: February 2023

This chapter looks at Yonatan Mendel’s work Language out of Place: Orientalism, Intelligence and Arabic in Israel, which shows how methods introduced by Hebrew University professors back in the 1920s and 1930s continue to shape the teaching of Arabic in Israeli schools and universities. Mendel exposes and critiques the symbiotic relationship between Arabic studies and the security establishment. It also talks about the opportunity for future service in military intelligence as a prime factor motivating young Israelis to study Arabic. The chapter highlights the the intelligence corps of the Israeli army that has a major role in determining how Arabic is taught and contributes to the militarization of Israeli society and high school students’ education. For the vast majority of Israeli Jews, the army–school symbiosis is natural and necessary, considering Israel’s conflict with most of its neighboring countries.
Ankylosing Spondylitis and Axial Spondyloarthritis
Authors: Khan Muhammad Asim
Published: February 2023

There have been tremendous advances in clinical understanding, early disease recognition, and more effective management of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and related diseases. The advent of better imaging methods, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and very low-dose computerized tomography (CT), have also facilitated their early diagnosis. There are more effective treatment options using “biologics” or another class of novel drugs called JAK-inhibitors that are taken as tablets, not injections. All these new developments have necessitated this second edition that has an updated title “Ankylosing Spondylitis and Axial Spondyloarthritis.” The term “Axial Spondyloarthritis” (axSpA) encompasses AS (that is recognized when there is X-ray evidence of damage) and “non-radiographic” form of axSpA (nr-axSpA). So, this new title reflects the current gradual transition of the name from AS to axSpA, and the next edition’s title, I anticipate, would simply be “Axial Spondyloarthritis.” This book is written in a clear style for patients and their families and friends; and is also ideal for healthcare professionals of all levels. The patients who receive education and counseling about their disease show more self-responsibility and comply better with the recommended treatment. A glossary, a list of abbreviations, some relevant website links, useful references, and an index are also provided.
Disease prevalence
Authors: Khan Muhammad Asim
Published: February 2023

Disease prevalence answers, “How many people have the disease in a particular population at a given time?” Disease incidence defines the number of new cases that develop during a specified period of time and is a more suitable measure to compare burden imposed by a disease as it is influenced by both the rate at which new cases are occurring (incidence) and the average duration of the disease (time from diagnosis until the patient recovers, dies, or cannot be traced due to various reasons). Large-scale and well-done world-wide epidemiological studies of AS/axSpA are very scant and results vary widely because of the influence of ethnicity, race, general prevalence of HLA-B27, study design, and the methods used for disease ascertainment. Studies of adult populations of European descent suggest a little over 1% prevalence of axSpA, that includes up to 0.5% prevalence of AS. There is minimal sex difference overall, with AS being 2 to 3 times more common in men, whereas nr-axSpA is more common among women.
Eye inflammation (acute anterior uveitis)
Authors: Khan Muhammad Asim
Published: February 2023

One or more episodes of acute inflammation in one eye can occur at some time during AS/axSpA. Subsequent episodes can involve the same or the other eye. It is the most common site of inflammation occurring outside the musculoskeletal (bones, joints, and tendons) inflammation caused by the disease. Typical eye symptoms include pain and redness of the involved eye, associated with excessive tearing, and an uncomfortable feeling on looking directly at a bright light (photophobia). The patients should promptly see an ophthalmologist (eye specialist) for diagnoses and treatment. If left untreated or treated inadequately, uveitis may cause some degree of permanent impairment of the eyesight. The patients usually respond very well to local eye drops of corticosteroids and medicines that dilate the pupil (mydriatics). Risk of recurrence is markedly decreased in patients receiving monoclonal TNF-inhibitors for their AS/axSpA.
Other manifestations
Authors: Khan Muhammad Asim
Published: February 2023

Patients with AS/axSpA can have involvement of extra-articular sites, such as the eye (discussed in the previous chapter), skin (psoriasis), and intestine (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, grouped under the term inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]). Approximately 10% of patients get psoriasis and 6% have symptoms resulting from IBD, discussed in other chapters. This chapter deals with very uncommon involvements of the heart, lungs, kidney, and the nervous system. Some patients may show mild scarring (fibrosis) of the lungs, particularly at its uppermost parts (apical fibrosis). Heart may rarely develop slowly progressive fibrosis of the aortic valve, the aorta, or the heart’s electric conduction system. Other rare occurrences discussed in this chapter involve the kidneys and the spinal cord. Post traumatic spinal fractures and resultant surgical fusion in elderly patients carries substantial in-hospital morbidity and mortality.
Physical examination and laboratory tests
Authors: Khan Muhammad Asim
Published: February 2023

Physical signs for AS/axSpA are sometimes minimal in the early stages and therefore require a comprehensive, including looking for inflamed bony attachment of ligaments (enthesitis). Unless the examiner has ample clinical experience, many cases will be missed at this early stage, but an early diagnosis and proper medical management are crucial for best outcomes. The disease course is quite variable among patients. The typical limitation of spinal mobility and physical deformities of AS usually evolve within the first 10 years. Important predictors of spinal disease progression are baseline presence of bony structural damage in the form of fine bony bridging (syndesmophytes) between adjacent vertebrae visible on X-ray examination, elevated CRP, obesity, male gender, HLA-B27, cigarette smoking, and non-compliance by the patient. There is no specific “diagnostic” laboratory marker for AS/axSpA, and the diagnosis is based on clinical history, physical examination, imaging findings, and exclusion of “disease mimickers”.
Assessment of disease activity and functional impairment
Authors: Khan Muhammad Asim
Published: February 2023

It is important to distinguish symptoms that reflect active disease from symptoms of a mechanical or psychological nature before making specific treatment decisions. Routine blood tests such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) do not correlate very well with disease activity in many patients with AS/axSppA. Therefore, several clinical measures have been developed for this purpose and are discussed in this chapter. These include disease activity scores, such as BASDAI, composite score, such as ASDAS, functional disability scores, such as BASFI, health-related quality of life scores, such as ASAS HI, and criteria for response to therapy, such as ASAS response criteria. An increasing number of rheumatologists are incorporating into their clinical practice the patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures (PROM), defined as any report that provides the status of patient’s health condition that comes directly from the patient.
Patient education
Authors: Khan Muhammad Asim
Published: February 2023

For people with AS/axSpA the future is often filled with uncertainty. They deserve receiving the appropriate education and counseling about their illness from their healthcare providers, and all their concerns need to be addressed in non-technical terms. The word “doctor” does not mean a healer but an educator. With the increasing use of electronic medical record (EMR) systems, many healthcare providers seem to be spending more time looking at their computer screens and clicking their keyboards rather than directly looking at and attentively listening and conversing with their patients during their clinic visits. The patients deserve to be actively involved in their treatment process as much as possible and not simply be passive recipients of medical services. They also need psychologic support through conversation that includes elements of empathy, honesty, and trust. Therefore, healthcare providers should never forget to ask their patients, “Is there anything that you are worried about or are afraid of?” Based on an affirmative answer, the next question: “Do you want to talk about that?”
Management
Authors: Khan Muhammad Asim
Published: February 2023

Every patient should be made aware about the disease they have and how to treat it. The long-term outcome is better if the disease gets diagnosed early and managed by an experienced rheumatologist, with co-management by the primary care physician and appropriate specialists for any associated disease manifestations (e.g., uveitis or inflammatory bowel disease) or comorbid conditions, such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes. Healthcare providers need to know the use of any “over-the counter” medicines, herbs, megavitamins, prebiotics, probiotics, and any potentially addictive substances by the patient. Beyond the prescribed medicines, there is an aspect called self-management that aims to provide the patients the support they need to achieve or maintain physical and economic independence. Patients should also feel free to discuss any issues related to their job and employment as well as their personal life, such as intimacy, sexual life, self-image, marriage, reproductive health, fertility, pregnancy, anxiety, and depression.
Fused (ankylosed) spine and risk of fractures
Authors: Khan Muhammad Asim
Published: February 2023

Structural deterioration due to osteoporosis and impaired spinal immobility due to bony fusion (ankylosis) make the spine fragile and very susceptible to post-traumatic as well as spontaneous vertebral compression fracture. Accompanied weakness of the muscles around the spine, as well as problems with keeping balance and decreasing field of view due to forward stooping (kyphosis) and immobile neck, further increase susceptibility to fractures. They usually occur in the cervical spine, and neurologic deficits are often subtle on initial presentation, resulting in the fracture being missed because of a low index of suspicion and poor visualization on conventional X-rays. MRI, CT, or bone scan results may be more helpful in confirming or excluding such spinal fractures. Patients with AS/axSpA or anyone with limited spinal mobility should avoid manipulation of their back or neck by chiropractors and masseurs because such treatments can inadvertently lead to spinal fractures and neurological complications. Availability of biologics has greatly enhanced the treatment, and a few observational studies have shown that long term use of biologics may slow down new bone formation that results in spinal ankylosis.
Anti-Black Violence
Authors: Seay-Howard Ariel Elizabeth
Published: February 2023

Black abolitionists and freedom fighters such as Ida B. Wells have successfully protected the Black community from violence by using their voices as tools to deconstruct white violence, create better representation of the Black community, and illuminate the shortcomings of the US democratic society. However, recent victims of white violence such as Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Robert L. Fuller demonstrate the inequities and inequalities that persist in the American democratic society, which is where all citizens are supposedly protected by the law and the judicial system against unjust acts of violence. This chapter exposes the racial violence that the African American community has endured throughout the long nineteenth century and continues to bear today. This chapter also uncovers how American democracy has a dark, bloody, and close relationship with racial violence.
Tyranny
Authors: Bernal Angélica María
Published: February 2023

Discourses of tyranny are foundational to US democracy and have throughout its history framed political debates and struggles. This chapter surveys the long arc of these discourses to engage with the tense and mutually constitutive relationship between tyranny and democracy. Exploring a wide range of its deployments—from the American Revolution, founding, and struggle to end slavery to the 2021 Capitol riots and critiques of capitalism—as well as its expression by elite and marginalized actors, this chapter analyzes the ways in which tyranny has been articulated as a mode of critique to expose central problems of domination, violence, the establishment of gendered and racial hierarchies and inequalities, and the distribution of power in US government, economy, and society.
Doubt
Authors: Pell John , Duffy William
Published: February 2023

While the history of American democracy owes much to classical liberalism, especially the idea that human beings are instilled with inalienable rights, in practice American democracy has always been a tug of war between balancing individual freedom with the collective good. Perhaps no group of American thinkers has wrestled with this dilemma more thoughtfully and thoroughly than the American pragmatists. This chapter offers a brief conceptual history of American pragmatism by tracing the importance of doubt as a critical practice for the development and maintenance of democratic institutions. Reviewing how key pragmatist thinkers such as Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, Jane Addams, and John Dewey, among others, accounted for the function of doubt in their own philosophical writings, this chapter argues for the importance of not only acknowledging but also embracing doubt, or fallibilism, as a democratic virtue.
Sentimentalism and Scientism
Authors: Justin D’Arms , Daniel Jacobson
Published: February 2023

Several prominent moral psychologists, including Jonathan Haidt and Paul Rozin, suggest that evaluative judgments are post hoc rationalizations of non-rational emotional responses. Some philosophers, including Joshua Greene and Peter Singer, accept this pessimism and conclude that we must either purify ethics of its emotional influences or accept some form of relativism. This chapter argues that this is a false dilemma, and that their pessimism is exaggerated. Emotions are connected to contingent but profound human concerns, and they can be responsive to genuine but anthropocentric reasons. Judgments made on their basis need not be mere rationalizations. Moreover, relativism produces repugnant evaluative conclusions that sentimentalists need not accept. The suggestions that disgust is irrational unless directed at things that threaten disease, and more generally that emotional concerns with anything other than harm and benefit lack rational support, are prejudices of scientism not deliverances of science.
Reasons for Emotions
Authors: Justin D’Arms , Daniel Jacobson
Published: February 2023

Sentimental value concepts concern whether the corresponding emotions are fitting, not whether anyone is disposed to have them. An emotion is fitting when there is sufficient reason of fit in its favor, where reasons of fit are those that bear on the correctness of the response. Although the idea of reasons to feel can seem peculiar, ordinary evaluative thought subjects the emotions to criticism and regulation with such reasons. Whether something is shameful or dangerous for you depends on the context, as well as on features of your social role and peculiar vulnerabilities. But it does not depend on your evaluative perspective—your sensibility. Hence, there is genuine evaluative disagreement between individuals and cultures over what is shameful, disgusting, and so on. But the same is true of other values. Disagreement does not supply special reasons for skepticism about the sentimental values.
Towards Practice: Mathematics Beyond the Canon
Authors: Senthil Babu D.
Published: February 2023

The first chapter, Mathematics Beyond the Canon, on the Kaṇakkatikāram corpus of texts, examines their socially embedded practice of computations while pointing to their quest for generalization. The problem-solving methods in these texts were not ‘inventions’ or ‘discoveries’ in the commonly assumed sense but point to how mathematics as a social activity made numeracy distinctively public. The mathematical content in these texts points to different kinds of mathematization and different experiences of mathematical practice in a caste society. They demonstrate the elastic and flexible nature of the boundaries between concrete and abstract engagements. Grasping this flexibility enables us to critically look at the continuous quest for a context-free abstraction that has come to define the mathematical activity of our present.
The Power of Style
Authors: Fürst Juliane
Published: February 2023

Youth style as a twentieth-century transnational project demonstrates the growing interconnectedness of young people all over the world and highlights geographical and political particularities. Focusing on the subcultural youth styles in the Soviet Union, yet with an emphasis on its inter- and transnational contexts, highlights the tensions between, and coexistence and mutual fertilization of, global and local factors in creating “style.” The Soviet lens serves both as an interesting case study and a reminder that there is no such thing as a single, definitive prototype of youth style, but that style is a never-ending negotiation between different intellectual, emotional, and physical forces that incorporate imported and local elements. The history of youth cultural style from the revolution to Perestroika includes Soviet flappers and foxtrotters, the so-called stiliagi, beatniks, hippies, punks, and late-socialist slackers. The unexpected richness and variety of Soviet youth subcultures reveal youth style as a globally interconnected phenomenon with several translations, mutations, and adaptations existing simultaneously.
MOOCs in Asia
Authors: Farley Helen
Published: February 2023

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) have become increasingly prominent across Asia. This eminence (and notoriety) reflects that seen globally, with MOOCs viewed both as eliminating inequities in access to higher education and as a failed experiment in learning. This chapter investigates the relationship between formal distance education and MOOCs, seeing MOOCs emerge from the Open Educational Resources, Open CourseWare, and the Open Educational Practice movements. The emergence of MOOCs is described across six developed and developing Asian countries. These cases illustrate how MOOCs in Asia differ from those of the United States and Europe. Specifically, they have been supported by central governments through direct funding and robust policy environments. Barriers to the wider adoption of MOOCs in Asia are explored in the chapter, covering a range of factors that include language of delivery, cultural specificity, and technical infrastructure. The chapter concludes with a brief exploration of possible future directions for MOOCs in Asia.
The Relevance of Geometry to Understanding Human Evolution from the Perspective of Cognitive Domains and the Neurovisual Resonance Theory
Authors: Hodgson Derek
Published: February 2023

Since the Neurovisual Resonance Theory (NRT) was first presented as a way of understanding the preference of fossil humans for certain geometric forms, intense neuroscientific research has provided intriguing insights as to its relevance. The theory presented a novel approach to issues concerning the increasing interest in the symmetry of Acheulean handaxes and how such a proclivity was exapted for making autonomous engraved patterns. With the development of sophisticated neuroscanning techniques for assessing the active human brain when subjects engage in viewing or interacting with geometrical forms, not only do these new empirical data provide useful support for the NRT but they also indicate that the NRT has a wider application to understanding the precursors that make humans different to non-human primates. In this regard, the precursors that underwrite the sense of geometry will be explored and compared with concomitant cognitive domains such as language, reasoning, and number that will allow a more nuanced understanding of cognitive evolution. More generally, this chapter sets out to investigate those factors from the perspective of Material Engagement Theory and human evolution.
Current Conceptions of Human Cognition in Understanding the Origins of Human Art
Authors: Martín-Loeches Manuel
Published: February 2023

Current conceptions of human cognition in understanding the origins of human art emphasize that cognition is mainly embodied, that is, crucially integrated in the perceptual and motor systems that essentially organize the brain. In addition, emotions are now suited for a central role in cognition, while the social nature of our brain is also notably highlighted to comprehend human behavior. This chapter considers all these factors in elucidating possible scenarios for the emergence and evolution of human artistic expression, in a new perspective that attempts to understand this apparently bizarre behavior in the frame of more Darwinian, naturalistic and current conceptions of the human mind than normally used, such as “symbolism.” In this regard, different levels of perception and motor control involved in art will be reviewed, as well as their links to affective factors, this providing sufficient reasons for art to arise. Art, as any behavior, would largely depend on the perceptual and motor systems of the brain and the body, these basically varying between species. For that reason, apparent manifestations of art in other human and nonhuman species will also be reviewed and framed within the embodied cognition perspective. Finally, the possible contribution of social variables to explain several peculiarities of human art, such as its success and profusion, will help to complete the picture.
Tool Use by New Caledonian Crows Can Inform Cognitive Archaeology
Authors: Fairlie Joanna , Uomini Natalie
Published: February 2023

This chapter discusses the fruitfulness of interchange between the discipline of cognitive archaeology and research on corvid birds. To illustrate the valuable two-way exchanges that can be made, the chapter presents published work on corvid cognition and the authors’ ongoing work on New Caledonian crows’ tool-use and social behaviors. The chapter highlights important gaps. In particular, parallels for early hominins have tended to focus heavily on primates but have ignored other taxa. Similarly, animal cognition research and especially corvid studies have underutilized the potential to put their findings in the context of current data from cognitive archaeology. The authors argue that greater attention should be given to birds in general, and corvids in particular, when reconstructing human cognitive evolution, as these species are in some ways more relevant to human evolution than the primate models that have always been the focus. Likewise, findings from other domains of cognitive archaeology should be better incorporated into corvid research. The authors advocate for stronger communication between researchers who work on human cognition, human evolution, and animal cognition. To achieve a truly complete understanding of human cognitive evolution, an interdisciplinary approach that brings together multiple lines of evidence is required, no matter how different the perspectives. Cognitive archaeology and corvids can greatly benefit from listening to each other. Each also offers their own unique contributions to wider fields.
Acheulian Cognition and Behavior at Gesher Benot YA‘AQOV
Authors: Alperson-Afil Nira
Published: February 2023

The long sequence of lake-shore occupations of the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‛aqov (MIS 18–20) includes extremely rich sequential archaeological horizons spanning ca. 50 Ka and dated to 0.79 Mya. During the last three decades the behavior of the Gesher Benot Ya‛aqov (GBY) Acheulian hominins was investigated through a plethora of multidisciplinary archaeological studies. These repeatedly revealed aspects associated with behavioral modernity, indicated by systematic butchering, elaborated plant processing, advanced lithic expertise, hafting, and spatial organization. Through a synthesis of previous studies, this chapter formulates an overall cognitive framework for Acheulian behavior at the site, attempting to identify the cognitive traits that enabled this behavior. To do so, the chapter draws parallels between cognitive traits, well defined by cognitive science, and diverse activities inferred from archaeological finds at GBY. These parallels suggest that the Acheulian hominins of GBY carried out tasks that necessitated a chain of steps, performed at different times in different places, requiring them to arrange their memories in sequential time (i.e., sequential memory). Hominins were able to acknowledge a variety of lithic, faunal, and floral resources, even when these were not physically present (i.e., displaced reference). The acquisition and transportation of resources for later manipulation and sharing required delayed gratification (i.e., inhibition). In addition, the chapter suggests that the accumulated knowledge of the GBY hominins was acquired through their ability to operate (“move” subjectively and fluidly) between past and future events (i.e., autonoesis). The integration and contemporaneity of these characteristics suggest that cognitive traits associated with modern cognition were already possessed by Acheulian hominins as early as early Middle Pleistocene.
Complex Behavior at the Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot YA‘AQOV, Israel
Authors: Herzlinger Gadi
Published: February 2023

This chapter presents a review of recent reconstructions of hominin technological behavior based on the analyses of the bifacial tools assemblages excavated at the 800,000 year-old Middle Acheulian site of Gesher Benot-Ya‘aqov, Israel. Through its exceptional preservation and meticulous excavation methods, this regionally unique site provided rich assemblages of handaxes and cleavers, as well as the perfect context for their analysis, showcasing many cognitive capacities identified in various Acheulian sites throughout the Old World. The application of a novel morpho-technological analytical approach reached several original conclusions regarding the site occupants’ behavior. These include both technical aspects in the production procedures of bifaces and socio-cultural aspects relating to the social group size, structure, complexity, and social signaling. These behaviors, considered in light of cognitive, social, and cultural models and theoretical frameworks, support the notion that some components of modern human cognition were already well established in the minds of the ancient knappers who occupied the site in the early Middle Pleistocene.
The Bose (South China) Handaxes
Authors: Wang Wei , Fan Yaobin , Bae Christopher J.
Published: February 2023

The Acheulean (1.76 Ma to 0.3–0.2 Ma) industry is characterized by large cutting tools, best represented by bifacially worked implements known as handaxes or bifaces. Their visual symmetry is often associated with hominin spatial cognition and theories of perception. Interestingly, the variables often studied (e.g., bifacial symmetry and refinement) change over time, but at different rates in different geographic regions. This suggests the relation between Acheulean material culture and hominin cognitive evolution is complex; it certainly remains a topic of debate. Stone tool symmetry may be constrained by function or raw material, which can result in an absence of a particular trend or pattern regarding refinement. However, the extension of symmetry possibly indicates deliberate attention to a specific and visually striking aspect of artifactual form. The Early Palaeolithic bifacially worked implements from the Bose Basin in southern China are well known in light of the Movius Line debate and make an excellent test case for addressing these questions. These handaxes were found in association with tektites dated securely to ~0.803 Ma, a relatively early appearance in eastern Asia that makes them particularly interesting. Though overlapping in certain aspects of their morphology with the Western Acheulean, the Bose handaxes differ generally from their Western counterparts. This variability suggests that a more flexible hominin adaptative strategy east of the Movius Line may have contributed more to variation in biface symmetry rather than anything related to hominin cognitive level. Explanations other than simply the level of cognition need to be investigated to better explain variation in these regional handaxe datasets.
Between and Beyond
Authors: Verhoeven Marc
Published: February 2023

This chapter focuses on the role of caves and cave walls in the production, experience, symbolism and meaning of Upper Palaeolithic cave art in France and Spain. Their crucial role in art and society is discussed by paying attention to what are regarded as their most important properties and related activities. First, the notions “encavement” and “perception shifting” are used to illustrate the cognitive effect of caves. Next, manipulations of cave walls by means of art (specifically, animal representations and handprints) and other symbolic activities are presented as practices of transformation of and communication via walls. Then, manipulations of sound and vision in creating drama, evidence of rituals, and secrecy are discussed in a way that reveals the relationships between caves and practice. Finally, the apparent great significance of caves suggests that they were central to the worldview of their users. This consisted of a cognitive focus on animals, an animistic ontology, and three “interaction spheres”: the “world outside,” the “world between” (caves), and the supernatural “world beyond.”
More than the Sum of their Parts?
Authors: Coward Fiona
Published: February 2023

Cognitive evolution is driven by network variables, including adaptive changes in group size, population density and effective population size, and the connectivity among individuals and groups. Concepts and methods developed to study networks offer enormous potential for studying cognitive evolution, providing practical analytical methods for handling the archaeological and anthropological data sets that comprise the only hard evidence for it. In addition, they also offer valuable tools for understanding key features of hominin cognition and the selective pressures driving its evolution. Accordingly, this chapter reviews the theoretical and practical bases for the application of network concepts and methods to the investigation of hominin and human cognition.
Understanding Family Policy Transformation in the Light of Critical Political Economy
Authors: Ferragina Emanuele
Published: February 2023

The chapter aims to address the ways by which family policy transformation relates to the political economy of welfare state change and the commodification of social reproduction. The chapter is based on the fact that childcare expansion in the context of family policy transformation is considered a key element in promoting female employment, gender equality, and the conciliation of paid and unpaid work, as well as in mitigating the social reproduction crisis. The author interprets this transformation critically, arguing that family policy transformation—in conjunction with welfare state change—is part of a bidirectional movement: toward commodification (especially for lower-class women) and the liberalization of the labor market, as well as toward increasing freedom from care and domestic tasks for women (especially middle- and upper-class women). The chapter illustrates these two movements by connecting the literature on comparative social policy and on critical political economy.
Parenting Leave Policies and Their Variations
Authors: Dobrotić Ivana
Published: February 2023

There is striking cross-country variation in leave policy, with a lot of ambiguity and complexity in policy development and design. This chapter reveals and thinks through some of these complexities by analyzing the main trends in parenting leave policy, with particular emphasis on gender and social inequalities. The chapter starts with a literature review, focusing on studies considering the relationship between leave policy and gender and social inequalities in employment and care. It then utilizes this strand of literature to explore cross-country and intra-country variations in leave policy in OECD countries, providing a deeper insight into (1) gender orientations underlying leave policy development and their implications; (2) the heterogeneity of leave entitlements within countries (i.e., their variation on a number of dimensions, such as socioeconomic status, territory, family status, or sexual orientation); and (3) the importance of how leave policies relate to and shape broader work-care policies and norms. By pointing out some of the “mechanisms” through which policies frame inequalities in parents’ abilities to engage in care and employment, the chapter calls for further research to yield a better understanding of heterogeneities and contradictions embedded in leave policies within countries, as well as the congruence between leaves and other policies and provisions.
Welfare State Policies toward Financial Solidarity between Generations
Authors: Frericks Patricia
Published: February 2023

The chapter aims to explore how current welfare state policies in Europe regulate financial solidarity between generations by demanding solidarity from society, on the one hand, and solidarity from family, on the other, while also examining how far the welfare regime typology contributes to the explanation of the differences. The main focus is on the regulations on resources flowing from the family and from society to the family, particularly in pension policies. The chapter introduces the findings of a comparative analysis for six European welfare states that represent different types of welfare regimes, using a new method devised by the author (“systematic comparison of qualitative data,” or SCQual). The chapter concludes that the regulation of solidarity from society and from family is very complex and follows concepts other than those applied in the widely acknowledged and further developed regime typology.
Process Tracing
Authors: Dowding Keith
Published: February 2023

Process tracing systematizes qualitative historical description to enable inferences about token causal processes. Contrary to some claims it does not provide a rival account of causation to large-n studies rather it answers questions posed at a different level of detail. Large-n and small-n analyses pose questions at different levels of analysis. By drawing an analogy with the external and internal validity of experiments we can view many historical disputes in terms of what causal aspects are foregrounded (as a “cause”) and what backgrounded (as “background conditions”). Process tracing examines detailed processes within type-mechanistic explanation. While it can demonstrate that specific mechanisms do not apply to the case under consideration, case studies on their own cannot test theoretically generated mechanistic claims, nor empirical generalization. Debates over what constitutes critical junctures usually concern the level of appropriate explanation and what aspects in a causal account are to be foregrounded.
Governance Feminism and Distributional Analysis
Authors: Ahmed Aziza
Published: February 2023

An emerging genre of scholarship puts distributional analysis at the center of the study of law and critical theory. Distributional analysis refers not just to an overall cost-benefit accounting but to an analysis of where the consequences fall and along what social, economic, and cultural fault lines. In tracing the history of feminist distributional analysis in legal scholarship, the chapter begins by describing the key analytic and theoretical frames that critical legal theory has contributed to the understanding of law and distribution. The chapter then considers the way feminist, gender, and queer legal scholarship, coming out of the critical theory tradition, has taken on questions of distribution. In doing so, the chapter offers several accounts of how a distributional analysis can shape how we understand the consequences of feminist legal reform projects.
Cross-Cultural Variation in Relationship Initiation
Authors: Karandashev Victor
Published: February 2023

Biological and cultural evolutionary perspectives complement each other to explain many processes in relationship initiation. The chapter shows how biological and social evolution interact to account for cultural variation in mate preferences and romantic relationship initiation. The influence of biological, ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural factors varies between and within types of societies. In isolated tribal, subsistence-based societies, biological and ecological factors play major roles. In traditional societies, besides these factors, socioeconomic and cultural factors play important roles. In modern societies, socioeconomic and cultural factors become dominant, with decreasing influences for biological and ecological factors. Ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural parameters, which affect practices of relationship initiation in subsistence-based, traditional, and modern societies, are propinquity, homogamy, social and relationship mobility, modernization of society, cultural values, cultural conception of individuality in interdependent versus independent societies, power distance and social equality, gender roles, and gender equality. The chapter addresses culturally evolved practices of relationship initiation, such as tribal gatherings, traditional courtship, dating, partnership, and social media and web-based communication and reviews the societal and cultural factors that affect these practices. The chapter concludes with a brief review of implications for future research on cultural variation in relationship initiation in terms of theoretical and empirical methodology.
Partner Evaluation and Selection
Authors: Li Norman P. , Choy Bryan K. C.
Published: February 2023

Not all mates are equally reproductively fit. As such, it makes sense that humans have evolved mate preferences to guide the evaluation and selection of partners who offer more versus less reproductive value. This chapter examines theory and empirical work on evolved preferences for long- and short-term mates and considers the emergence of new forms of casual, hybrid relationships. It examines basic sex-differentiated preferences for physical attractiveness and resources, as well as the prioritization of these traits, and developments in uncovering the processes that underlie the holistic valuation of a potential mate’s value. The chapter then discusses the criticisms and debates on the validity of mate preferences and research on mate preferences fluctuating adaptively with women’s menstrual cycle. Finally, the chapter closes with a consideration of principles of evolutionary mismatch, which may explain why there is a disconnect between theory and findings and why humans and other species are mating with human-made objects rather than their conspecifics.
Political Theory and Borges’s Work
Authors: Salinas Alejandra M.
Published: February 2023

Many of Borges’s stories, essays, and poems find inspiration in the fields of ideas, institutions, and events dealing with the organization and governing of society. Some philosophical questions will be used here as a lens to interpret Borges’s literary treatment of the political: what should a good political order be, and how is it preserved? What may be desirable political standards or ideals? Are they valid universally? The texts being analyzed show a particular concern with free political orders and the threats and challenges they undergo. This chapter also touches on Borges’s approach to the wars of conquest, revolution, the spirit of patriotism, and the spread of nationalism and populism.
Integration versus Minimization of Emotional Experiences
Authors: Roth Guy , Benita Moti
Published: February 2023

Much of the research on emotion regulation describes the regulation of emotions as turning a volume button up or down, thus focusing on changes in intensity. Because strong negative emotions can disrupt functioning, many approaches to healthy emotion regulation focus on diminishing negative experiences. However, grounded in an organismic view of wellness, self-determination theory (SDT) views adaptive emotion regulation as represented by integrated and harmonious functioning. In this perspective, emotions are not obstacles that stand in the way of adaptive functioning but informational inputs that can help in the choice and self-guidance of actions. The chapter begins with SDT’s definition of integrative emotion regulation (IER), compares it to controlled and amotivated regulation, and notes the differences between SDT’s approach and other dominant approaches. It reviews research on consequences of IER, as well as research on its socialization. The chapter concludes with a discussion of future research directions.
The Energy behind Human Flourishing
Authors: Frederick Christina , Ryan Richard M.
Published: February 2023

This chapter reviews the history of theory and research on subjective vitality within self-determination theory (SDT). Research on subjective vitality, defined as the phenomenal experience of aliveness and of having energy available to the self, has demonstrated the centrality of this experience of energy to wellness and flourishing. Research has shown that subjective vitality varies not only with physical conditions but also with different types and conditions of motivation. Generally, more autonomous motives are associated with enhanced vitality, whereas controlled motives diminish subjective energy. Findings also show that satisfaction of basic psychological needs enhances subjective vitality, whereas need frustrations deplete one’s sense of energy and aliveness. Experimental work on “ego depletion,” in which self-controlling motives are induced, leading to lowered energy, is consistent with this SDT-based theorizing. Subjective vitality has been studied in many domains, beginning with exercise and physical activity and extending to areas such as health and wellness, sleep, energy in the workplace, and the importance of nature to the experience of vitality. Across contexts and characters, subjective vitality remains one of the most phenomenally accessible and predictive indicators of wellness available.
The Role of Motivation in the Lifecycle of Personal Goals
Authors: Holding Anne C. , Koestner Richard
Published: February 2023

Personal goals are central to the attainment of well-being because they organize people’s lives and help them to realize visions for their future. However, not every goal is accomplished, and not every accomplished goal translates into greater well-being. This chapter provides a critical review and synthesis of the self-determination theory research on personal goal striving, highlighting how motivation for personal goals has important implications for outcomes related to the goal (e.g., performance, persistence) and the person (e.g., vitality, well-being). To do so the chapter examines the lifecycle of personal goals, arguing that across each phase in goal striving—from the early stage of goal setting to the possibility of goal disengagement—issues of autonomous versus controlled motivation are pivotal. Also discussed is the role of personality (nature) and other people (nurture) in goal pursuit, suggesting that the fate of our goals is partly determined by who we are and by who we surround ourselves with.
A Lifespan Perspective on the Importance of the Basic Psychological Needs for Psychosocial Development
Authors: Soenens Bart , Vansteenkiste Maarten
Published: February 2023

According to self-determination theory (SDT), people have a natural propensity to develop toward higher levels of psychosocial maturity. This growth tendency requires ongoing support for the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Using Erikson’s theory as an organizing framework, this chapter provides an overview of SDT-based developmental research on the role of psychological need satisfaction in psychosocial adjustment across the lifespan. This research increasingly shows that psychological need satisfaction contributes to age-specific and cumulative psychosocial strengths in every stage of human life. Although support for the basic psychological needs (e.g., by attachment figures) is crucial throughout the lifespan, the specific manifestations of contextual need support differ somewhat depending on individuals’ developmental stage. Moreover, as they age, people increasingly contribute in proactive ways to their own need-based experiences. Ultimately, satisfaction of the basic psychological needs and contextual need support represent essential resources for people to tackle developmental challenges and to experience psychosocial growth.
Self-Determination Theory and the Education of Learners with Disabilities
Authors: Wehmeyer Michael L.
Published: February 2023

The development of interventions to promote the self-determined learning of students with disabilities has its roots in understandings of causal agency, intrinsic motivation, and autonomous functioning described in early research in self-determination theory (SDT) and in applications of SDT in the context of positive psychology and education. In the early 1990s, the field of special education recognized that students themselves were the missing actors in efforts to improve post-school and life outcomes. As the field moved toward strengths-based approaches to disability after the turn of the 21st century, research in SDT, positive psychology, and positive education, including work on the application of SDT to educational settings, was critical in efforts in special education to enhance self-determined learning. This chapter overviews this progression, describes a model of the development of self-determination derived from SDT and causal agency theory, and overviews an intervention, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction, that has strong evidence of efficacy and potential to contribute to enhancing self-determined learning for all students, with and without disabilities.