This book offers an analysis of the sociological, historical, and cultural factors that lie behind mandatory clerical celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church and examines the negative impact of celibacy on the Catholic priesthood in our contemporary age. Drawing on sociological theory and secondary qualitative data, together with Church documents, it contends that married priesthood has always existed in some form in the Catholic Church and that mandatory universal celibacy is the product of cultural and sociological contingencies, rather than sound doctrine. With attention to a range of problems associated with priestly celibacy, including sexual abuse, clerical shortages, loneliness, and spiritual sloth, In Defense of Married Priesthood argues that the Roman Catholic Church should permit marriage to the priesthood in order to respond to the challenges of our age. Presenting a sociologically informed alternative to the popular theological perspectives on clerical celibacy, this book defends the notion of the married priesthood as legitimate means of living the vocation of Catholic priesthood-one which is eminently fitting for the contemporary world. It will therefore appeal to scholars and students of religion, theology, and sociology.

The book considers the main arms exporting countries, including China, Russia, and the US, as well as several European states, and the policies each employs in deciding advanced weapons sales to key regions of the world. It examines whether such sales are inherently stabilising or de-stabilising regarding regional security. Regions reviewed in detail include the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific. Combat aircraft sales are a focus for the volume given both their practical and symbolic importance. The volume focuses on the behaviour and policies of the main arms exporting nations since the end of the Cold War, shifts in their arms export policies, and the tensions that can emerge within or between countries over proposed arms sales. It also considers the impact of countries that were previously only recipients of advanced weapons moving to develop their own defence industrial base.

Xie and Chao present a collection of research on mobile communication in Asian communities and countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, and South Korea. With chapters written by scholars from diverse cultural and institutional backgrounds, this book provides both localized and comparative perspectives on mobile communication research.

Exploring the way mobile apps are used in daily life in Asian countries, Xie, Chao, and their contributors analyze how mobile apps improve lives, help people build relationships, sustain communities, and change society for the better. They look at areas including the role of mobile apps in public service delivery and access, family communication, cultural norms and identities, organizational communication, and intercultural communication. The investigation of these topics elevates the understanding of the cultural, familial, interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural consequences of mobile communication in a global context. Through examining mobile apps use in regard to scale, scope, depth, complexity, and distinctiveness within the Asian context, this book furthers the research agenda of mobile communication and enriches our understanding of current practice and future direction of mobile communication.

This book serves as a useful reference for scholars and students interested to learn more of the development and application of mobile communication from a global and comparative perspective.

This book is the first systematic study on the historiography of the family planning communication process in India. It traces the history of the development of a highly technical health communication process.

It discusses how the discourse on India's population problem was at the heart of the development dialogue which was being promoted by the British colonial administration. The book examines the role of the censuses and the Five-Year plans in the development of the discussion on the population 'explosion' in India. Also, it critically discusses the role of the Ford Foundation's leadership in institutionalising the communication process in India. The book essentially argues that population control communication enabled the ideas of a homogenised nation, an 'ideal' Indian woman and an 'ideal' Indian family. This, in turn, led to the obliteration of cultural, ethnic, geographical and economic specificities of India as a country.

The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of public policy, media and communication studies, Indian politics, modern Indian history and South Asian Studies.

This book considers and examines the concept of a Smart City in the context of improving the quality of life and sustainable development in Central and Eastern European cities.

The Smart City concept has been gaining popularity in recent years, with supporters considering it to be an effective tool to improve the quality of life of the city's residents. In turn, opponents argue that it is a source of imbalance and claim that it escalates the problems of social and economic exclusion. This book, therefore, assesses the quality of life and its unsustainability in Central and Eastern European cities within the context of the Smart City concept and from the perspective of key areas of sustainable development. Using case studies of selected cities in Central and Eastern Europe and representative surveysof Polish cities, this book illustrates the process of creating smart cities and their impact on improving the quality of life of citizens. Specifically, this book investigates the conditions that a Smart City has to meet to become sustainable, how the Smart City concept can support the improvement of the residents' quality of life and how Central and Eastern European countries create smartcity solutions.

Containing both theoretical and practical content, this book will be of relevance to researchers and students interested in smart cities and urban planning, as well as city authorities and city stakeholders who are planning to implement the Smart City concept.

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.

For some people, at some times, in some places, on some drugs, dance music can be a gateway to transformative, even transcendent experiences. With the help of skilled DJs, dancers can reach euphoric states, discard their egos, and feel social barriers dissolve. Dance floors can be sites of openness, subversion, and even small-scale acts of political resistance. At a minimum, dance music lightens the burdens of contemporary life. At its best, dance music offers glimpses of better worlds.

Yet even where dance music communities are built on principles of resistance and liberation, they nevertheless share the grittier realities of the rest of the world.

Dance Music makes the case that dance music is ordinary and that something exceeding the social and spatiotemporal bounds of the dance floor is required for the transformative promise of dance music to be realized.

Communication scholars have taken seriously the call for engaged scholarship, and this book examines the principles, practices, and outcomes of communication activism research for social justice.

Communication activism research differs from other engaged communication scholarship through researchers promoting social justice, intervening collaboratively, and creating or assisting established collective actors that represent marginalized communities. Collective actors examined in this book include Black Lives Matter, the feminist movement, and LGBTQ+ groups. This book provides practical guidance on how to perform communication activism research, offering recommendations for managing its challenges and discussing qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluating research interventions focusing on significant contemporary issues.

This book will appeal to scholars who study and teach communication and social justice activism as well as scholars from disciplines such as sociology, and it is ideal as a text in courses on communication and activism, engaged communication scholarship, communication and social movements, and communication research methods.

Now in its third edition, Grounding Religion explores relationships between the environment and religious beliefs and practices. Established scholars introduce students to the ways religion shapes and is shaped by human-earth relations, surveying a series of key issues and questions, with particular attention to issues of environmental degradation, social justice, ritual practices, and religious worldviews.

Case studies, discussion questions, and further readings enrich students' experience. This third edition features updated content, including revisions of every chapter and new material on religion and the environmental humanities, sexuality and queer studies, class, ability, privilege and power, environmental justice, extinction, biodiversity, and politics.

An excellent text for undergraduates and graduates alike, it offers an expansive overview of the academic field of religion and ecology as it has emerged in the past fifty years and continues to develop today.

Computational media govern our experiences by externalizing our knowledge and memories, mining data from our behaviour to influence our decision-making, and creating emotionally rewarding and sensory pleasures. But does that mean human perception is becoming a product of human-machine symbiosis in this new media ecology?

This ground-breaking collection explores the ways in which digital information technologies form and influence human perception and experience. Examining the relationship between technological reductionism and the body, it takes on board discursive perspectives from the humanities and brings digital media, affect, and body studies into conversation with one another.

Written by pioneering authors in the field, this book expands our understanding of human perception, animation, technology, and the body.

This volume helps us understand the transformations of terrorist organisations, and the conflicts they are involved in, by broadening the perspective on what is considered terrorist learning.

Using a variety of methodological approaches and empirical data, the volume offers a look at the clandestine inner lives of groups from different continents and ideological backgrounds in order to explore from whom they learn and how, and what the outcomes are. Their internal and external interactions are examined within their socio-political contexts to illuminate how they adapt to challenges or fail to do so. Unpacking the question of 'how do terrorists learn' helps us to grasp not only changes of violent means of action but also of operational and strategic approaches and, ultimately, even transformations of the ends pursued. The chapters demonstrate that terrorist learning is not principally different from that of other human organisations. The contributors draw on conceptual frameworks of organizational learning, but also broaden the scope beyond the organizational framework to acknowledge the variety of forms of informal and decentralized learning characteristic of much contemporary terrorism.

This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism studies, violent extremism, organisational studies and International Relations.

Central Europe may be perceived as a homogeneous subunit: a geographic locale that shares similar cultural traits, common histories, and a linked troubled past, and one that has embarked on a joint process of European integration in the past three decades. A closer look reveals that there are significant differences hidden in the cracks and the states of Central Europe exhibit large variety in two key elements that makes regional cooperation uniquely challenging: their strategic cultures and their relations toward Russia. Two major factors determine a state's foreign policy and international ambition - its perception of the security environment and the capabilities it possesses. Policy experts provide an overview of how these two factors, and by extension state-level foreign policies, have varied in the post-Cold War era, up until 2019.

The contributing authors in this volume take a deep dive into nine Central and Eastern European states' policies: Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine. The assessments provided in this book attempt to deconstruct the monolithic regional-level approach through the methodical study of the states of the region. This approach will be particularly useful for scholars and interested individuals who want to understand why and how individual Central European states participate in NATO and EU security and defence initiatives and policies.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Defense & Security Analysis.

Kim and Zoh bring together a team of contributors to analyse the role of heritage studies across Asia, and its impact on Asia and its constituent countries.

Is there such a thing as 'Asian heritage'? Is it more helpful to understand Asia as a single unit, or as a set of sub- regions? What can we learn about Asia's present through its archaeology and heritage? Covering a wide range of countries, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, the contributors to this book address these key questions. In doing so they look at a number of critical issues, such as UNESCO World Heritage status, cultural propaganda, cultural erasure and difficult heritage. While addressing Asia's past they also observe key issues within present- day Asia, further providing conceptual and practical insights into the methods that are being applied to the study of Asia's heritage today.

A valuable resource for scholars and students of Asian history and culture, archaeology, heritage studies, anthropology and religious studies.

This book enriches the evolving concept of soft power, and China's approach to soft power, by considering how aspects of Chinese culture, notably the traditional martial art and health promoting exercise Tai Chi Quan, are being successfully promoted around the world by non-state actors, and how this fits alongside China's state-sponsored soft power promotion. The book contrasts growing soft power promotion by China with the corresponding decline in such activities by Western states, outlines the growth of Tai Chi Quan societies worldwide and explores in detail why Tai Chi Quan appeals so strongly outside China. It shows how Tai Chi Quan introduces many people around the world to Chinese culture and builds links between people inside China and elsewhere in the world. It concludes that Tai Chi Quan achieves what soft power aims to achieve: a good image and long-term friendship.

Insurgency in India's Northeast provides a systematic analysis of every major secessionist group and insurgency in the region within a unified and original explanatory framework, focusing primarily on the postcolonial period.

This book presents a parsimonious analytic narrative involving a rich sequential account of the historical evolution of Mizo, Naga, Meitei, and "ethnic Assamese" identities from precolonial to colonial to postcolonial times. Avoiding essentialist or primordialist arguments, the chapters in the book demonstrate how ethnic/(sub)national identities are dynamic and malleable phenomenon, not immutable natural givens. In particular, it argues that the postcolonial Indian state has attempted to integrate these ethnic/sub-state national groups into the Indian Union through a combination of democratic accommodation/consociationalism and hegemonic/violent control, strategically designed to encapsulate their evolving (sub) national identities into the overarching state-sponsored Indian nationality.

Through this book, readers will gain a rich understanding of the dynamics of ethnicity/ nationality and the nation/state-building process in postcolonial India. It will be of interest to researchers in the fields of Asian studies, ethnicity, nationalism, separatism, security studies, border studies, and international relations.

This book characterises the problematic status of motherhood in present-day Iranian society - that is, problem in the Foucauldian sense of an object of thought and a source of tension, not as a pathological issue - and explains the historical processes contributing to this problematisation.

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the author draws on a cognitive anthropological perspective whilst incorporating ethnographic, historical, and evolutionary viewpoints. By applying this perspective to the current cultural model of motherhood, and considering specific social, political, and economic factors in Iran, the author provides an exhaustive, contextualised understanding of the motherhood problem and its multidirectional changes throughout time. The book follows a multi-method framework and combines qualitative ethnographic and auto-ethnographic data with historical evidence and comparative data. As such, it also contributes to the women's movement in Iran by fostering discussion on women's issues and demystifying women's understandings and experiences.

The book will appeal to those working in a range of disciplines, including gender studies, cognitive anthropology and Iranian history. Written in non-technical language, and providing insights into the problem of motherhood in comparable contexts, the book will also be of interest to general readers.

This book provides an outline for a multidisciplinary research agenda into urban ethics and offers insights into the various ways urban ethics can be configured. It explores practices and discourses through which individuals, collectives and institutions determine which developments and projects may be favourable for dwellers and visitors traversing cities.

Urban Ethics as Research Agenda widens the lens to include other actors apart from powerful individuals or institutions, paying special attention to activists or civil society organizations that express concerns about collective life. The chapters provide fresh perspectives addressing the various scales that converge in the urban. The uniqueness of each city is, thus, enriched with global patterns of the urban. Local sociocultural characteristics coexist with global flows of ideas, goods and people. The focus on urban ethics sheds light on emerging spaces of human development and the ways in which ethical narratives are used to mobilize and contest them in terms of the good life.

This timely book analyses urban ethical negotiations from social and cultural studies, particularly drawing on anthropology, geography and history. This volume will be of interest to scholars, researchers and practitioners interested in ethics and urban studies.

Licence line: The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Metaphysical thought has been excluded from much of the discourse on modern art, especially abstract painting. By connecting ideas about faith with the initiators of abstract painting, Joseph Masheck reveals how an underlying religiosity informed some of our most important abstract painters.

Covering Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, and El Lissitzky, Masheck shows how 'revealed religion' has been an underlying but fundamental determinant of the thinking and practice of abstract painting from its very originators. He contextualizes their art within some of the historical moments of the early 20th century, including the Russian revolution and the Stalinist period, and explores the appeal of certain themes, such as the Passion of Christ.

A radical new theorization of the influence of religion over visual art, Faith in Art asks why metaphysics has been eliminated from the discussion where it might have something to say. This is a new way of thinking about a hundred years of abstract painting.

How is capitalism represented in popular culture today? Are profits seen as a legitimate reward of entrepreneurship? Are thrift and effort still considered a cornerstone of a healthy society? Or is it that inequalities are eliciting scandal and reproach? How is the ecosystem portrayed, vis-a-vis profit seeking companies? Are they irreconcilable, or maybe not? Are there any established trends with respect to the presentation of entrepreneurship, and that complex legal artefact that is the modern limited liability company?

These are questions that will be at the core of this book. But they are not examined through the usual theoretical point of references, but looking at TV series produced in 2000-2020.

Each chapter of this book is a case studies, covering some of the most popular, successful and engaging TV shows of the last 20 years. And showing how deep economic ideas and biases lie, at the roots of some of our times' most successful entertainment products.

Haven't we all seen a Black Panther movie and listened to at least a few Harry Styles tunes? Who hasn't seen a Taylor Swift video? Or can't name an incident or two involving the Kardashians? Popular fascination with the rich and famous is an inescapable part of contemporary consumer culture. Celebrity Culture is a comprehensive yet accessible survey of the pervasive phenomenon. This new edition of the textbook is fully revised and updated, incorporating up-to-date examples, case studies and additional features, including a timeline and retrospections at the end of chapters.

Whilst recognizing that celebrities have existed for centuries, Cashmore argues that celebrity culture in the 21st century is a novel and unique phenomenon driven by rampant consumerism, advertising and the media. He describes the evolution of a new kind of fame, the growth of consumerism, the rise of the paparazzi, the fluctuating value of sex scandals, the transmutation of blackness, the metamorphosis of the British royal family, the emergence of influencers, the appeal of celebrity couples, the increased visibility of queer culture, the transformation of politics, the reconstruction of talent and the attempts of theories to grasp celebrity culture's magnetism.

Celebrity Culture will appeal to a wide undergraduate audience throughout the social sciences and humanities.

This book investigates the experiences of second- and third-generation Italians living in South Africa, exploring how nostalgia for Italy influences their sense of identity and belonging.

The Italian community in South Africa is a unique diaspora, with a complex history, including roots in Italian colonial activities in Africa, and in World War II. This book looks at how the descendants of these early migrants take pride in being Italian and value the Italian language. They also ascribe much importance to their family roots, and have often created a romanticized image of Italy, mostly based on childhood vacation visits. The longing for an imaginary idealized version of Italy is closely linked to their wider search for a sense of identity and belonging against the backdrop of South African society, currently still grappling with its own multicultural identity.

Interdisciplinary by design, this book draws on insights from both cultural studies and psychology in order to shine a light on an important and under-studied diasporic community. The book will be of interest to scholars from across migration studies and the Humanities in general.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

With Agenda 2030, the UN adopted wide-ranging Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that integrate development and environmental agendas. This book focuses on the political tensions between the environmental objectives and socio-economic aspects of sustainable development.

The collection provides an introduction to interlinkages, synergies and trade-offs between the 'green' and other goals, such as gender equality and economic growth. It also considers related goals on cities and partnerships as crucial for implementing environmentally sound sustainability. Identifying governance failures and responsibilities, it advocates for a shift towards cooperative economics and politics for the common good.

Plastics show up in every area of our lives. They are durable, cheap and light, properties that make them attractive but also problematic for the environment. The focus of this book is not just to highlight the problem of plastics, its definition, and how plastic pollution is impacting human health and environment but also to look at some best practices in both nature based solutions and in the field of law and policies. The first section of the book focuses on plastic pollution - it's origin, relationship to climate change, linear/circular economy, followed by sustainable plastics, scientific solutions, and how policies can address plastic pollution. This includes looking at better designs, more sustainable feedstocks, and partnerships between various stakeholders worldwide including USA, China, Canada, South Korea, Thailand. This book will interest those who are associated with the production industry, packaging industry, and waste management industry as well as, academicians, students and policymakers.