The study of state formation and nation building is a proud tradition. Currently, however, it is difficult to discern a unified research frontier in this field, due to a persistent gap between the more case-based historical focus seen in area studies, and more generalizing approaches inspired by the natural sciences.

Showcasing the legacy of Norwegian political scientist and sociologist Stein Rokkan, this volume explores the potential of his work to address this gap. Featuring Rokkan's lecture skeleton methodology, given in Paris 1976, but included here as the first ever English language translation, this collection brings into sharp focus how Rokkan developed a set of methodological tools that allowed the construction of regional models and typological maps for guiding paired or clustered comparisons of state formation and nation building in any world region. Acknowledging Rokkan's key argument that relevant models and maps need to be developed through knowledge about a region's history rather than through formal concepts alone, contributors draw on the full potential of Rokkan's innovations by calibrating them with empirical material from a world region not analysed by Rokkan himself: the Middle East.

Thoughtfully reconstructing and upgrading Rokkan's methodology, A Comparative Historical and Typological Approach to the Middle Eastern State System ushers in a new vision in the field of state formation and nation building.

This edited collection brings together theoretical and empirical reflections on the role played by new technology and digital platforms in the provision of food. The way food is produced, distributed, consumed and disposed has significant consequences for the environment, affecting soil fertility, water and air quality, the state of the climate and the loss of biodiversity. Such negative effects are strictly related to the agro-industrial system of production and consumption, based on logic of low prices, high availability and high waste.

This book provides an analysis of social media and women's resistance in Iran with relevance to similar polities. The author examines how Iranian women continue to fight against the regime's gender discriminatory laws and protest the government in public squares and in virtual spaces. The book presents a critical approach to technology's role in politics and society and an in-depth analysis of authoritarianism and its relationship to social media harms and state violence. With a particular focus on images, hashtags, and other digital content, it calls for a rethinking of the concepts of crime, culture, and control in the technosocial world. The author draws on conceptual contributions from the fields of criminology, philosophy, psychology, technology and media studies.

This book highlights the changing dynamics of Muslim identity and integration in Britain, focusing on the post-9/11 era. Historically, Muslims faced discrimination based on ethnicity rather than religion. However, contemporary discrimination against Muslims is rooted in different reasons, with events like the Rushdie affair significantly impacting multicultural relations. This study analyzes the evolving multicultural landscape in Britain, exploring the shift from predominantly assimilationist policies to a more mutual process of integration. It delves into the emergence of interfaith dialogue as well as the complexities surrounding the intersection of race, religion, gender, and identity. The research examines two key themes: the discursive positioning of Islam beyond integration and terrorism narratives, and the operationalization of identity by Muslims in various contexts. The study employs empirical methods and cultural studies theories to understand how individual and social practices intersect in this context. By doing so, it contributes to Islamic studies, socio-political studies, and cultural studies, shedding light on the discourses that shape and are shaped by Muslim lives in Britain. The analysis encompasses diverse perspectives, from macro-level societal discourses to micro-level individual actions, thus providing a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted experiences of Muslims in Britain.

How have eating habits changed in recent decades? What does it mean to eat well?

This fascinating book examines continuity and change in food consumption and eating patterns since the 1950s. The culinary landscape of Britain is explored through discussion of commodification, globalisation and diversification enabling an understanding of both developing trends and enduring habits.

The author's research undertaken over 40 years offers fresh insights into such practices as everyday meals, shopping, cooking and dining out and how these are shaped by demographic, social and cultural processes. The book provides a comprehensive and engaging analysis of eating in Britain today and of the many controversies about how this has changed.

Winner of the Triennial Conference of the History of Women Religious Distinguished Book Award 2025

This book charts the history of how Irish-born nuns became involved in education in the Anglophone world. It presents a heretofore undocumented study of how these women left Ireland to establish convent schools and colleges for women around the globe. It challenges the dominant narrative that suggests that Irish teaching Sisters, also commonly called nuns, were part of the colonial project, and shows how they developed their own powerful transnational networks. Though they played a role in the education of the 'daughters of the Empire', they retained strong bonds with Ireland, reproducing their own Irish education in many parts of the Anglophone world.

Grounded in more than a decade of field research, this book uses empirical examples, quantitative data, and qualitative interviews with young music consumers as well as music industry professionals to understand how the platforms behind music production, distribution and listening work in our digital society. Bringing together the perspectives from science and technology studies, media studies, and the political economy of digital platforms, the book outlines the process of mutual construction between music digital platforms and the cultural value of music in today's society, and also reflects on the complicated relationship between the power of platforms and the agency of listeners.

This project offers an original contribution to the interpretation of the documents of the Second Vatican Council that constitute the most authoritative doctrinal teaching within the Catholic Church. The chapters in this volume, published during the 60^th anniversary of the Council (2022-2025), discuss three types of stumbling blocks: 'Stumbling Blocks for Ecumenism', 'Stumbling Blocks for Interfaith Dialogue,' and 'Stumbling Blocks for Church-world Relations'. Eight specialists of ecclesiology, comparative theology, intercultural theology, and theological ethics have each written chapters on a selected line of Vatican II that constitutes a 'stumbling block' or 'hard saying' for believers and theologians today. The views expressed in these chapters have been discussed in three response essays. The stumbling blocks have been selected from Lumen Gentium, Unitatis Redintegratio, Nostra Aetate, and Gaudium et Spes. The selected lines discuss the difficulties the Catholic Church has with atheism and with the Eucharist as celebrated by Protestant ministers; how appreciation of other churches and religions goes hand in hand with defending the need of mission; and why the Council assigns different roles to priests and laity, making a distinction between the holiness of the Church and the sinfulness of its believers.

This book sheds light on the overall description and explanation of the current socio-political, economic and cultural environment concerning the development of video (especially short video). It interprets the emergence of the "Social Videolization" through the subjects of media psychology, communication studies and cultural criticism, media industrial studies, sociology and anthropology.

This book focuses on the impact of teachers' leadership identity on their pedagogical and class management choices and proposes a new pedagogical framework, leaderful classroom practices which emerged through collective, concurrent, collaborative, and compassionate interactions between the teacher and students. The interdisciplinary aspect of the book appeals to a wide range of readers from different disciplines and gives readers the opportunity to take a moment and reflect on their leadership identity, recognize the limitations of their practices, and adopt a leaderful pedagogy in their respective disciplines. Establishing an open, democratic, and participatory learning environment for all learners is a major leadership responsibility of teachers, and this book demonstrates how to accomplish this mission both in theory and practice.