Traditions And Transformations

This comprehensive guide offers an unrivalled introduction to recent work in the study of religion, from the religious traditions of Asia and the West, to new forms of religion and spirituality such as New Age. With an historical introduction to each religion and detailed analysis of its place in the modern world, Religions in the Modern World is ideal for newcomers to the study of religion. It incorporates case-studies and anecdotes, text extracts, chapter menus and end-of-chapter summaries, glossaries and annotated further reading sections. Topics covered include: * religion, colonialism and postcolonialism * religious nationalism * women and religion * religion and globalization * religion and authority * the rise of new spiritualities.

"World Music: Traditions and Transformations, fourth edition, is an introductory-level survey of diverse musics from around the world. It assumes no prior formal training or education in music, and with one brief exception avoids the use of Western music notation entirely. It is written primarily for undergraduate nonmusic majors but is equally appropriate for music majors, and is therefore ideal for courses enrolling music and nonmusic stu-dents alike"--

German constitutionalism has gained a central place in the global comparative debate, but what underpins it remains imperfectly understood. Its distinctive understanding of the rule of law and the widespread support for its powerful Constitutional Court are typically explains in one of two ways: either as a story of change in a reaction to National Socialism or as the continuation of an older nineteenth-century line of constitutional thought that emphasizes the function of constitutional law as a constraint on state power. But while both narratives account for some important features, their explanatory value is ultimately overrated. This book adopts a broader comparative perspective to understand the rise of the German Constitutional Court. It interprets the particular features of German constitutional jurisprudence and the Court's strength as a reconciliation of two different legal paradigms: first, a hierarchical legal culture as described by Mirjan Damaska, building on Max Weber, as opposed to a more co-ordinated understanding of legal authority such as prevails in the United States and secondly, a more recent paradigm of transformative constitutionalism, which is most often associated with countries like South Africa and India. Using post-war legal history and sociological and empirical research in addition to case law, this book demonstrates how German developments reflect the frequently conflicting demands of these two legal paradigms - yielding an idiosyncratic synthesis in Value Formalism, a specific type of constitutional reasoning, at once pragmatic, open, formalist, and technical. Value Formalism however, also comes with serious problems, such as a lack of self-reflection in the Court's jurisprudence and the closure of constitutional discourse towards laymen.

This book raises the issue of the practice of patrimonial power with a focus on habitations, particularly in the urban areas of Indonesia. An assemblage of interdisciplinary studies within the framework of environmental humanities, covering the arts, architecture, urban studies, geography, cultural anthropology, and sociology, this multifaceted framework divulges the interactive connectivity between Indonesia’s patrimonial culture and the socio-culturally constructed system of habitation. The interdisciplinary study of the pertinent practices of patrimonial power that have been represented and been manifested by various political and traditional regimes in terms of the built environment and habitation in Indonesia contributes to a new understanding of Indonesian urban spatial development, from the pre-colonial era to the present. The book poses that in order to understand the politics of Indonesia, one must understand the culture and tradition of the political leadership of the country. The author presents such an understanding in exploring and unpacking the relationship between people and place that constructs, develops, sustains, and conserves Indonesian culture and traditions of habitation. This book is of interest to graduate scholars and researchers in Asian Studies in numerous disciplines, including urban studies, urban planning and design, political science, architecture, anthropology of space, public administration, and political philosophy.

In A History of Myanmar since Ancient Times, Michael Aung-Thwin and Maitrii Aung-Thwin take us from the sacred stupas of the plains of Pagan to grand, colonial-era British mansions, revealing the storied past and rich culture of this country. The book traces the traditions and transformations of Myanmar’s communities over nearly three millennia, from the relics of its Neolithic civilization to the splendors of its pre-colonial kingdoms, its encounters with British colonialism and the struggles for the republic that followed the end of World War II. The authors also consider the complexities of present-day life in Myanmar and examine the key political events and debates of the last twenty-five years that have brought the world’s attention to the country. By exploring current developments within the broader patterns of Myanmar's history, culture and society, they provide a nuanced perspective on the issues and questions surrounding Myanmar’s future. This updated edition considers the changes that have taken place since the elections of 2010, the reforms that the civilian government introduced, and the ramifications of the country's new international status. It also assesses the implications of the 2012 by-elections, the ensuing political dynamics among various stakeholders, and the continuing socio-economic challenges facing Myanmar in the twenty-first century. The most comprehensive history of Myanmar ever published in the English language, this book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Southeast Asian history and will surprise, challenge, and inform in equal measure.

Stoicism is now widely recognised as one of the most important philosophical schools of ancient Greece and Rome. But how did it influence Western thought after Greek and Roman antiquity? The question is a difficult one to answer because the most important Stoic texts have been lost since the end of the classical period, though not before early Christian thinkers had borrowed their ideas and applied them to discussions ranging from dialectic to moral theology. Later philosophers became familiar with Stoic teachings only indirectly, often without knowing that an idea came from the Stoics. The contributors recruited for this volume, first published in 2004, include some of the leading international scholars of Stoicism as well as experts in later periods of philosophy. They trace the impact of Stoicism and Stoic ideas from late antiquity through the medieval and modern periods.

This book sheds new light on processes of cultural transformation at work in Oceania and analyzes them as products of interrelationships between culturally created meanings and specific contexts. In a series of inspiring essays, noted scholars of the region examine these interrelationships for insight into how cultural traditions are shaped on an ongoing basis. The collection marks a turning point in the debate on the conceptualization of tradition. Following a critique of how tradition has been viewed in terms of dichotomies like authenticity vs. inauthenticity, contributors stake out a novel perspective in which tradition figures as context-bound articulation. This makes it possible to view cultural traditions as resulting from interactions between people—their ideas, actions, and objects—and the ambient contexts. Such interactions are analyzed from the past down to the Oceanian present—with indigenous agency being highlighted. The work focuses first on early encounters, initially between Pacific Islanders themselves and later with the European navigators of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, to clarify how meaningful actions and contexts interrelated in the past. The present-day memories of Pacific Islanders are examined to ask how such memories represent encounters that occurred long ago and how they influenced the social, political, economic, and religious changes that ensued. Next, contributors address ongoing social and structural interactions that social actors enlist to shape their traditions within the context of globalization and then the repercussions that these intersections and intercultural exchanges of discourses and practices are having on active identity formation as practiced by Pacific Islanders. Finally, two authorities on Oceania—who themselves move in the intersecting space between anthropology and history—discuss the essays and add their own valuable reflections. With its wealth of illuminating analyses and illustrations, Changing Contexts, Shifting Meanings will appeal to students and scholars in the fields of cultural and social anthropology, history, art history, museology, Pacific studies, gender studies, cultural studies, and literary criticism. Contributors: Aletta Biersack, Françoise Douaire-Marsaudon, Bronwen Douglas, David Hanlon, Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin, Peter Hempenstall, Margaret Jolly, Miriam Kahn, Martha Kaplan, John D. Kelly, Wolfgang Kempf, Gundolf Krüger, Jacquelyn Lewis-Harris, Lamont Lindstrom, Karen Nero, Ton Otto, Anne Salmond, Serge Tcherkézoff, Paul van der Grijp, Toon van Meijl.