Negotiating The New Normal

" The world economy was still reeling from the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck like a bolt of lightning in late 2019. Whatever remained of the neoliberal credo - based on the salience of free markets - was upended, and economic nationalism fast became the new stock ideology. In Negotiating the New Normal, Saurav Jha carefully examines why, in the wake of the coronavirus shock, strong economic recovery in the developed world is more doubtful than ever. Instead of throwing its weight behind a multipolar world order, China, by far the largest economy among the BRICS nations, has chosen to create a Pax Sinica. However, it is unlikely to make much headway owing to both internal economic contradictions and pushback from the West and beyond. And what of India? Can it become a 'new China' to serve as a key engine of global growth, overcoming the pandemic-induced setback, as well as earlier policy missteps like demonetization? Answering all these questions and raising many more, Jha's deeply researched and cogently argued account examines the 'new normal' of a transactional, even predatory geoeconomic climate where central banks are fast running out of answers and heavily indebted governments are desperately searching for silver bullets. This work of extraordinary depth and ambition, tracing the destinies of the major economic centres of the world, provides a nuanced if sobering context to the reader as it suggests what India must do to rise in this grave new pandemic-ridden world. "

This book is about state socialism, not as a political system, but as an "ecosystem" of interactions between the state and the citizens it sought to control. It includes case studies that demonstrate how the major ideological principles of socialism translated into motives guiding people's lives. This unique post-revisionist study focuses on people's lives and experiences rather than political systems. The studies are grouped around three common elements—socialist labor, the new socialist man, and the socialist way of life. Using first-hand accounts, the authors find minute deviations from the norms that eventually lead to renegotiation of the norms themselves. Focusing on routines, not extremes, they present socialism in its "normal" state. The volume demonstrates different national strategies for dealing with the past in the post-socialist world. Studies of the socialist past may strive to be objective, but their messages tend to be complex. Rather than arriving at one truth about the nature of socialism, this volume explores the many ways people have survived the system.

This book centers on negotiations around cultural, governmental, and individual constructions of COVID-19. It considers how the coronavirus pandemic has been negotiated in different cultures and countries, with the final part of the volume focusing on South Asia and Pakistan in particular. The chapters include auto-ethnographic accounts and ethnographic explorations that reflect upon experiences of living with the pandemic and its implications for all areas of life. The book explicates people’s dealings with COVID-19 at various levels, situates the spread of rumors, conspiracy theories, and new social rituals within micro- and/or macro-contexts, and describes the interplay between the virus and various institutionalized forms of inequalities and structural vulnerabilities. Bringing together a variety of perspectives, the volume relates to the past, describes the Covidian present, and offers futuristic implications. It enlists distinct imaginaries based on current understandings of an extraordinary challenge that holds significant importance for our human future.

This critical, international and interdisciplinary edited collection investigates the new normal of work and employment, presenting research on the experience of the workers themselves. The collection explores the formation of contemporary worker subjects, and the privilege or disadvantage in play around gender, class, age and national location within the global workforce. Organised around the three areas of: creative working, digital working lives, and transitions and transformations, its fifteen chapters examine in detail the emerging norms of work and work activities in a range of occupations and locations. It also investigates the coping strategies adopted by workers to manage novel difficulties and life circumstances, and their understandings of the possibilities, trajectories, mobilities, identities and potential rewards of their work situations. This book will appeal to a wide range of audiences, including students and academics of the sociology of work and labor history, and those interested in understanding the implications of the ‘new normal’ of work and employment.

These essays showcase emerging and established scholars working in sociology, ethnography, public health, cultural activism, and film studies. The book poses new and exciting challenges to queer studies and other disciplines. It also demonstrates that the study of Chinese sexuality is an emergent field, and highlights the ways that different individuals and communities - including male sex workers, transsexual subjects, lesbians, and Asian migrants-negotiate modernity and power structures in many Chinese contexts. Yau Ching teaches cultural studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. She is the author of five books in Chinese and one in English. "This is the first sustained collection of writings by established and young scholars on how sexualities are negotiated in Hong Kong and China. It is innovative and exciting, providing grounded empirical fieldwork as well as critical applications from the wider fields of literary historical studies, public health, cultural and film studies. It demonstrates the study of Chinese sexuality and queer modernity in Asia as emergent fields emanating from many disciplines."

Strategy, tactics and templates to prepare for high-impact negotiations that result in successful long-lasting deals. The Financial Times Guide to High Impact Negotiation provides a comprehensive and strategic roadmap to the whole negotiation process from preparation to execution. Follow the practical steps to complete negotiation successfully, build relationships and finalise your deal.

Describes a method of negotiation that isolates problems, focuses on interests, creates new options, and uses objective criteria to help two parties reach an agreement.

A guide to understanding issues related to nuclear power as energy source Arcane discussions on nuclear power have been confounding people for a long time. The Upside Down Book of Nuclear Power is an attempt to demystify this critical area of public choice for the general reader. While it does not forego the seriousness associated with the topic, the book provides for an easy read that informs the reader of a variety of issues associated with the subject. Divided into short chapters, aspects such as technology, resource availability, economics, geopolitics and policies associated with nuclear power are dealt with in detail, but in a way that emphasizes readability. Contentious areas such as safety, waste management and the latest trends associated with them are laid bare for the reader. The book also dwells in depth on the shrill and seldom above-board debate on nuclear power and renewables. An invaluable companion for all those looking to understand the nature of the nuclear industry in the new millennium and the implications of international treaties such as the Indo-US nuclear deal.