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This book studies the history of contemporary Chinese fiction criticism, highlighting the role of critics in shaping contemporary literary history.The author divides the history of contemporary Chinese fiction criticism into three periods: 1949–1976, 1977–1991, and 1992–2015. The first period saw the emergence of the circle of critics who insisted on judging literary works by political standards. The second period brought the rise of the Beijing Critics’ Circle and the Shanghai Critics' Circle. The former advocated “artistic standards” in judging works, while the latter introduced contemporary Western literary theories into literary criticism. The third period marked the emergence of “Scholarly Criticism,” “Criticism of Women’s Fiction,” and “Post-1960s Fiction Criticism,” reflecting critics’ attitudes toward history and philosophy. Drawing on historical materials, this study illuminates contemporary literary trends and the contributions of key writers and critics. It also relates literary criticism to the social environment, underlining the simultaneous relationship between contemporary fiction criticism and social ideology.This book will be invaluable to scholars and students of Chinese literature and literary criticism, especially those interested in the diverse landscape of contemporary Chinese culture.

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This book provides a comprehensive and synthetic analysis of the legal acts of the Council of Europe and the European Union affecting regulation of cybercrime in EU countries. Technical aspects relating to cybercrime are also discussed. The work explains core ideas, including background, nomenclature, a definition of computer crime and a history of its criminalisation. It examines the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime, the first international law act governing the subject, and the additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime, dealing with the criminalisation of computer-generated racist and xenophobic acts. The volume discusses European Union regulations, including applicable European Union laws on cybercrime such as the Council Framework Decision 2005/222/JHA and Directive 2013/40/EU on attacks against information systems, and Directive 2011/93/EU on Combating the Sexual Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Child Pornography. Finally, the work explores issues of cyberterrorism including the dissemination of terrorist content online. The book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of criminal law, IT law, EU law and cyber security.

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Contemporary Performance and Political Economy examines haunting concepts, relations, and artworks that demand our attention. Under capitalism, political and ethical considerations are subordinated to economic ones, and this subordination creates ghost worlds. Performance works, however, can offer insights into alternative politico-economic models. In this major contribution to the fields of contemporary performance and political economy, Katerina Paramana proposes that the investigation of performance works as economies can make the insights performance works offer visible. She positions the examination in relation to contemporary critiques of capitalism, neo-feudalism, and their by-products, and proposes and develops the notion of "oikonomia" as a means to theorize artworks which, through their house (oikos) rules (nomoi), propose ethico-political challenges to the economies in which they are embedded. For this, Paramana looks at politically positioned performance works created and presented in Cuba, Europe, Mexico, the UK, and the US. Her interest is in the politics, ethics, and effects of these works’ "house rules", and the insights they offer to the reconceptualization of political economy. Ultimately, this book aims to transform our understanding of economy’s purpose. It contributes to the development of a new ethico-political paradigm upon which a reconceptualization of political economy can be based. This inspiring study seeks to keep the fire for change alive by demonstrating that political economies, much like performances, are experiments that can be changed.This work will be of great interest to students and scholars in performance studies, theatre, visual cultures, politics, cultural studies, dance, and visual arts, and critical theorists.

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This book serves as a helpful guide for anyone interested in understanding and implementing Building Information Modelling (BIM) in developing countries. It focuses on the construction industry and how digital technologies can improve the way buildings and infrastructure projects are planned, designed, and built. The book starts by explaining what BIM is and why it's important. It then explores the challenges that developing countries face when adopting BIM, such as limited resources and lack of infrastructure. The authors provide practical solutions to overcome these challenges based on real-world examples and case studies. The book takes readers through a step-by-step process to create a roadmap for BIM adoption. It helps readers understand the necessary steps and strategies involved, such as setting clear goals, involving all relevant stakeholders, and managing changes in the way things are done.One of the book's unique features is that it focuses specifically on the needs and circumstances of developing countries. It recognises that these countries have different challenges compared to more developed nations. By addressing these specific challenges, the book provides tailored advice that readers can apply in their own contexts. The book also emphasises the need for training and capacity building. It acknowledges that many professionals in developing countries may not have the necessary skills and knowledge to fully utilise BIM. Therefore, it introduces an approach called the dynamic capacity model, which helps ensure that people receive the training they need to successfully implement BIM. Overall, this book is a practical and accessible resource for anyone interested in implementing BIM in the construction industry of a developing country. It is important reading for professionals and academics in construction management, engineering, architecture, infrastructure development, urban planning, and governance in developing nations.

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The climate crisis has reached a critical point, necessitating urgent global action. Women’s activism against environmental dispossession in the Americas manifests not only in protests and classrooms but also through artistic filmmaking and writing. This book focuses on the overlooked contributions of women filmmakers and novelists, highlighting how their work reveals the connections between environmental dispossession and various injustices related to gender, ethnicity, age, class, and labor. It demonstrates that contemporary women in the Americas engage deeply with ecological issues, analyzing their representations and identifying common principles across texts. Using an interdisciplinary approach from environmental humanities, gender and Indigenous studies, and film and literary studies, the author compares works from Canada and Latin America. Three poetics emerge: environmental destruction critiques harmful development; care expands notions of reciprocity beyond the human; and insurgency showcases struggles against extractivist models. These works invite readers to understand the complex interconnections of environmental justice within society.

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Relocation narratives form a distinct subgenre of contemporary travel memoirs concerned with the experiences of travellers who become settlers in foreign locales and narrate their experience of cultural accommodation in serial autobiographical accounts. This book seeks to understand the discourse of identity/alterity in relocation writing, which focuses on the topos of everyday life from a transnational perspective, one which embraces a cosmopolitan orientation of openness to cultural difference. Focusing on three transnational writers in Italy and their respective relocation trilogies – Frances Mayes’s Tuscan memoirs, Annie Hawes’s Ligurian memoirs, and Tim Parks’s Verona memoirs – the study examines the sustained engagement with place and place-based practices given narrative voice through multipart works which trace the authors' migrating identities. These nonfiction accounts contribute to a broader polyphonic literature in which transnational writers give voice to personal stories shaped by intercultural experiences which provide a powerful localised lens to examine how identities are dialogically transformed through contact with difference in a globalised world. By giving readers an opportunity to reflect on identity and diversity in local/global contexts, transnational literature contributes to a better understanding of cultural change in late modernity and provides an important space for critical, creative, and transcultural exchange.

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Integrating theory on diaspora politics and the growing academic area of non-state transnational repression, Young charts the historical and political evolution of the Chinese diaspora and examines Australia’s approach to national security policies.In recent decades, Chinese migration has increased exponentially in Australia. For a society that has largely accepted racial homogeneity as a precursor to nationhood, contemporary Chinese migrants must find unique transnational spaces where they can belong in the hostland while maintaining important connections to the homeland. Young identifies the emergence of ‘transnational social governance’, a form of control that is perpetrated by the contemporary patriotic Chinese migrant (the xinqiao) against other Chinese migrants in Australia. It is a phenomenon facilitated by a feedback loop of the non-welcoming Australian society and well-established co-ethnic spaces, allowing for xinqiao to dominate Chinese diasporic communities and transfer Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-aligned narratives. Drawing upon statistical data and interview-based case studies, this book provides a comprehensive contextual and epistemological examination of the politics of the Chinese diaspora in Australia.A valuable resource for scholars, students, researchers, and professionals interested in the academic and popular perspectives of diaspora politics affecting Australia-China relations.

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Cybersecurity and Data Science Innovations for Sustainable Development of HEICC: Healthcare, Education, Industry, Cities, and Communities brings together a collection of chapters that explore the intersection of cybersecurity, data science, and sustainable development across key sectors: healthcare, education, industry, cities, and communities. It delves into cybersecurity advancements and examines how innovations in cybersecurity are shaping the landscape of healthcare, education, industry, and urban environments. Data science advancements take center stage, showcasing the transformative power of data analytics in improving outcomes across HEICC sectors. Whether it’s optimizing resource allocation in healthcare, protecting patient privacy, personalizing learning experiences in education, enhancing efficiency in industry, or fostering sustainable development in cities and communities, data science offers unprecedented opportunities for innovation and progress.Key points:Healthcare system security and privacy, protecting patient data, and enabling development of novel healthcare solutionsSecuring educational data, improving online learning security, and harnessing data analytics for tailored education approachesManufacturing, finance, and transportation. Diving into critical infrastructure security, detecting and mitigating cyber threats, and using data‑driven insights for better industrial operationsHelping cities and communities develop sustainably, smart city security challenges, data privacy in urban environments, data analytics for urban planning, and community cybersecurity awarenessThis book serves as a comprehensive guide for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders navigating the complex landscape of cybersecurity and data science in the pursuit of sustainable development across HEICC domains.

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This book discusses the issue of limited stakeholder recognition and protection of stakeholder interests within the Anglo-Saxon corporate governance model practised in many sub-Saharan African countries.The volume argues that the relative success of the Anglo-Saxon model in developed economies is attributed to the presence of functional institutions, such as effective legal systems, active external markets for corporate control, and organised civil societies, among others. Many African countries, such as Nigeria and South Africa, have adopted the UK corporate governance framework despite facing challenges occasioned by an inefficient legal system plagued by systemic corruption. Given the challenging institutional contexts in African countries, this book proposes an alternative corporate governance framework – the functional stakeholder model (FSM) – for the banking industry in countries facing similar institutional challenges; the FSM aims to promote stakeholder recognition and the protection of stakeholders' interests. The book draws on stakeholder and institutional theories in designing an alternative corporate governance model, the ‘FSM’ for banks operating in challenging institutional contexts.The book will interest regulators, bankers, auditors, academia, policymakers, and researchers in comparative corporate governance and financial regulation, especially banking regulation and stakeholders in developing and emerging markets.

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Using the works and theories of Carl Gustav Jung and the astrologers Alan Leo, Dane Rudhyar and Liz Greene, this volume provides a cultural history of psychological astrology in the twentieth century, demonstrating the prevalence of ‘magic’ in modern culture through its presence in astrology.Astrology’s links to psychology are akin to those in wider culture, such as the exploration of the unconscious by writers and artists. The dominant form of astrology in the twentieth century was psychological astrology, a form principally influenced by the work of the psychologist Carl Gustav Jung. Through in-depth exploration of the three major astrologers of the period (Alan Leo, Dane Rudhyar and Liz Greene) and their psychological innovations, this volume considers whether psychology was used by astrology as a survival strategy to legitimise magic in the modern world and whether the result was ‘an astrology that has lost its magic’. Chapters consider the survival of magic in the modern world, the history of astrology as a psychological subject and astrology’s relationship to modernity, as well as a fundamental exploration of the nature of astrology.Ultimately arguing that the existence of psychological astrology represents a form of living magic, this book will be of interest to researchers, scholars and postgraduate students studying Jung and analytical psychology, magic, astrology and alchemy, and culture in the twentieth century more broadly.

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This volume explores the importance of constitutivism for legal studies. Constitutivism is the view that the normative force, or authority, of practical reasons is grounded in principles, capacities, aims, or functions that are essential to, and thus constitutive of, agency. While the implications that the constitutivist approach has on the fundamental metaethical disputes and central ethical debates have been extensively explored, the literature on the relations between constitutivism and law remains scarce, unsystematic, and sporadic. This collection brings together world-renowned practical philosophers and legal theorists to fill a noticeable gap in the literature. The authors systematically and innovatively address key dimensions of the relationships between constitutivism and the theoretical study of law, as well as programmatically offering novel insights into the conceptual connections between constitutivist claims, fundamental legal concepts and practices, legal issues, and, ultimately, the law as a distinctive concept. The book will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of Legal Philosophy, Legal Theory, Jurisprudence, Moral Philosophy and Metaethics.Chapter 8 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylor-francis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.Chapter 2 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

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The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Feminist Rhetoric explores the histories, concerns, and possible futures of feminist rhetorical work in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.Featuring work from scholars across disciplines, this book explores where we have been, where we are, and where we might be going. Forwarding key areas of study in feminist rhetoric, the handbook is divided into five interrelated sections—Time: Discovering, Recovering, and Composing our Histories; Space: Setting and Testing Boundaries: Physical and Digital Locales; Movement: Exploring Activism, Migration, and Globalism; Being: Celebrating (and Insisting on) Embodied Praxis; and Becoming: Transforming Hopes into Feminist Practice. Throughout the handbook, contributors survey and document the critical work of feminist rhetoric, pointing to ongoing interests in history, politics, and activism while showcasing new lines of inquiry and new methods of analysis, critique, and intervention.The first of its kind, this accessibly written handbook will be an indispensable resource for scholars and researchers in the fields of rhetoric, writing studies, communication studies, and women’s and gender studies.

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This book analyzes the theme of immediacy and the supremacy of the present in contemporary Japanese fiction.Examining immediacy in literary works by a diverse body of authors and works in popular culture released during the major social and economic changes of 1995 and the triple disaster of March 2011, the book underlines the importance of the perception of instability crucial for immediacy. By recontextualizing varied narratives of sudden action, violence, isolation, and alienation against crises of temporality, this book provides a model of analysis that, cutting across media and audiences, provides a key to understand the present and recent yesterday of contemporary Japanese literature and popular culture, together with a conscious glimpse into their possible future.Featuring an in-depth approach to examples of immediacy presented through literary and popular media, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of modern Japan and Japanese literature, popular culture, and media studies.

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Tragic Resistance analyzes playwrights, directors, and performers who shatter gender norms to gain agency within the patriarchal institutions restricting them.The artists in this book work against the tragic narratives that would otherwise constrict them: the tragedy of Antigone unmade by Judith Malina, the history of "The Venus Hottentot" pulled into the present in Suzan-Lori Parks's Venus, the narrative of the rape "victim" eschewed in Emma Sulkowicz's performances, the story of brides jilted by the homophobic state government in the case of Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, the tragedy of Anna Nicole as told by Margaret Cho, and the reclamation of the female body from traditional hip hop by Nicki Minaj. All these performers and performances subvert traditional notions of gendered roles that people should or could hold.This book examines the nature of these performances to interrogate how theatrical and performative resistance works and why performance might be a vehicle for altering patriarchal structures that withhold agency from women and trans/genderqueer+ people.

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