Toward A Postpositivist World

One of the oldest philosophies in European intellectual history, Hermeneutics emerged as a process for interpreting scripture and for analyzing jurisprudence, history, and linguistics. In a contemporary context, Hermeneutics offers important opportunities for theory development in the social sciences. This new analysis of Hermeneutics addresses its theoretical possibilities for political science, in general, and for international relations, in particular. It discusses the history and development of both Hermeneutic philosophy and international relations theory and explores approaches for deriving new methodologies appropriate for the study of international relations. The work argues that political scientists face a crucial juncture in their field. The fissure between the «scientific» and the «interpretive», between the «empirical» and the «qualitative», has revealed inadequacies in these traditions, while at the same time, world events have called into question old theoretical approaches. This study offers Hermeneutics as a fertile field for the growth of new theories to political scientists seriously engaged in the reexamination of their discipline.

This book offers perspectives and challenges for action research in contemporary society with a particular reflection on ethics and standards. On the one hand the world is becoming smaller and much more open with tremendous opportunities for international exchange and multi-cultural enrichment. On the other hand the divide between the poor and the rich is deepening, international tensions are growing and the sustainability of the environment is under considerable threat on a worldwide basis.

Jacques offers a unique analysis of the connections between global marine and atmospheric science to global political phenomena. He shows how human survival is intricately linked to the sustainability of the world ocean, a singular connected body of regional oceans that is by definition a global resource that touches all other ecosystems. Jacques warns that the world ocean now offers evidence of several existential crises for global human populations, including declining global fisheries, coral reef losses, and climate change, but there has been a lack of global or regional cooperation in sustaining this complex ecosystem. He suggests how we can synthesize and coordinate global ecological information, exploring three regional areas in their local and global context: the South Pacific, Caribbean basin, and Southeast Asia. His book will be a valuable resource for researchers and students in environmental studies, marine sciences, and globalization studies.

This volume offers a comprehensive evaluation of the concept of global order, with a particular emphasis on the role of regional organisations within global governance institutions such as the United Nations. Building from a solid theoretical base it draws upon the expertise of numerous leading international scholars offering a broad array of timely and relevant case studies. These all take into consideration the historical setting, before analysing the contemporary situation and offering suggestions for potential realignments and readjustments that may be witnessed in the future. The volume adopts an interdisciplinary approach when addressing some of the most pressing issues of global governance which our global community must tackle. This presents the readers an opportunity to understand related topics such as political economy, international law, institutions of global governance, in conjunction with the academic field of International Relations (IR). It further helps students and interested readers understand the theoretical and practical foundations to the changing nature of global affairs.

First published in 1995. Notions of ‘inclusive schools’ and ‘schooling for diversity’ are rapidly gaining currency across the developed world as alternatives to traditional approaches to special needs education. This book explores the advances in our understanding of how schools can change and develop in order to include a wider range of students. By bringing together some of the foremost international writers and researchers in the field, it makes available to policy makers, practitioners and researchers the experiences from Australia, Europe, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

Primary research in education and social sciences is marked by a diversity of methods and perspectives. How can we accommodate and reflect such diversity at the level of synthesizing research? What are the critical methodological decisions in the process of a research synthesis, and how do these decisions open up certain possibilities, while closing down others? This book draws upon methodologically diverse literature on research synthesis methods and primary research methods to develop a framework for synthesizing research. It presents a Methodologically Inclusive Research Synthesis framework to facilitate critical and informed decision-making among the producers and users of research synthesis. Three guiding principles for a quality research synthesis are proposed: informed subjectivity and reflexivity, purposefully informed selective inclusivity, and audience-appropriate transparency. The book then provides a thorough discussion of how these principles might be enacted in the following six phases: -identifying an appropriate epistemological orientation -identifying an appropriate purpose -searching for relevant literature -evaluating, interpreting and distilling evidence from selected studies -constructing connected understandings -communicating with an audience. A wide range of techniques and perspectives from postpositivist, interpretive, participatory, critical and postmodern traditions are considered in the book, and Suri opens up new areas of debate by exploring numerous aspects of research syntheses from a methodologically inclusive perspective. The book will be valuable reading for researchers and postgraduates in education and social sciences.

This book is designed to familiarise students with leading International Relations (IR) theories and their explanation of political events, phenomena, and processes which cross the territorial boundaries of the state. Thus, students will be exposed to the interplay between power, interest, ideas, identity, and resistance, in explaining continuity and change in international relations. Developed to provide students with the analytical tools and intellectual frameworks needed to understand the behaviour of different international actors in contemporary global affairs. This textbook responds to the challenges of a dynamic job market by assisting students to gain both thorough theoretical knowledge and training them to apply this knowledge to real world problems. In short, this textbook delivers: A comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to the examination of national, regional and global trends in politics, economics and socio-cultural developments allowing students to understand: • the practice and theory of contemporary international relations • the politics, culture, history, and economies of different regions around the world • the role played by international interactions, culture, and government in local, national, and global settings. Equipping students with the proficiency: • to understand and interpret the dynamics, patterns, and issues of global affairs • to know how to get more information about particular questions • to evaluate that information independently and effectively. To these ends, the textbook provides a number of features that will appeal to students and avoids overwhelming students with chapters on topics which (in practice) are rarely on courses, while nonetheless providing a comprehensive overview of the field. Introduces students to the main debates, topics, and terms in the field and allows them to decide which they would like to focus on in their further studies.

This volume deals with the theory and practice of incorporating authentic experiential work into curricula for the education of professional translators and interpreters. The contributions deal with a wide variety of topics in this domain, extending from the foundations of experiential learning in pedagogical epistemology to discussions of exemplary experiments with the use of authentic project work at leading translator and interpreter education institutions in Germany, Spain and Switzerland. Matters of educational philosophy, curriculum design as well as instructional design are dealt with, and the wide range of focal points and perspectives of the various authors provides a multi-facetted view of authentic project work that has so far been lacking in translation pedagogy literature.