This open access volume is a call to action and a toolbox for educators, administrators, community engagement specialists, and workforce developers who want to make their course content, institutional commitments, and outreach projects relevant to twenty-first century learners. The book demonstrates the impact a higher education institution, its faculty, and community partners can have through education and action for sustainability. By being a sustainability educator and doing sustainability work, individuals can create living and learning labs that make such interdisciplinary activity integral to campus life and regional engagement. This book answers the United Nations' call to universities to step up and address the most urgent crises of our time by marshalling the resources, wisdom and energy of youth and communities to promote active listening, creative expression, greater climate stability, social equity, and, by extension, peace.

This book presents a comprehensive account of how archaeology in Africa evolved, was challenged, and reimagined. Moving from nineteenth-century antiquarianism through independence to today, the book dismantles "dark continent" myths, foregrounds African ways of knowing, and argues for a praxis of archaeologies: multivocal, community-engaged, and methodologically rigorous. Case-led chapters demonstrate how trade, mobility, religion, and the environment have produced diverse African pasts, while contemporary sections address restitution, heritage policy, tourism, and climate risk.

The book begins by clarifying what "Africa" signifies in scholarly and public discourse, then dismantles the enduring "dark continent" trope by setting colonial narratives against African intellectual traditions and evidence. Subsequent chapters track the emergence of archaeology, beginning with collections, amateurs, and missionaries, and progressing to professional excavations, surveys, and archaeological science, as well as the discipline's theoretical shifts, from culture history and processualism to post-processual and postcolonial critique, all examined through African case studies. The closing chapters set out why the past matters now: for identity, education, livelihoods, and environmental stewardship.

Clear prose, focused case studies (spanning deep prehistory to the second-millennium trade horizons), and a continent-wide lens make this volume essential for students and researchers, while its emphasis on ethics and engagement resonates with heritage professionals and the broader public. The result is a clear, compelling account of what African archaeology is, how it differs from older traditions, and why it matters-for scholarship, for heritage stewardship, and for public life.

This Open Access book illuminates the significant transformation processes brought about by economy-wide shifts towards sustainable modes of production, distribution, and consumption. In particular, the accelerating industrial transformations towards sustainability, in response to global warming and planetary boundary constraints, bring a range of new research challenges.

By integrating perspectives from the interdisciplinary fields of innovation, policy, and sustainability transitions studies, the chapters offer novel conceptual and empirical insights into these complex processes, including on multi-system dynamics and digitalization. An essential read for both researchers and policymakers seeking to understand ongoing industrial transformations towards sustainability.

This book presents nature as the fundamental infrastructure for sustainable urban living rather than as an aesthetic afterthought in the face of cities' mounting problems, which range from biodiversity loss and climate change to public health disparities. The first section, Nature and Wellbeing, explores the critical relationship between human health and access to nature, providing evidence-based perspectives on the ways in which urban forests, green spaces, and landscapes rich in biodiversity support mental, physical, and social well-being. In addition to highlighting initiatives that bridge the green divide in marginalized groups and highlighting the pressing need for fair access to nature, it offers case studies that demonstrate how design and policy may incorporate nature as a fundamental factor in determining public health. Nature-based solutions (NBS) that protect urban populations from climate impacts and strengthen ecological integrity are highlighted in the second section, Nature and Climate Resilience. The book highlights nature as a proactive factor in climate resilience planning through examinations of coastal adaptation, wetland regeneration, and urban green infrastructure. It discusses the governance structures, ecosystem services, and policy frameworks that allow cities to strategically incorporate nature into their responses to environmental deterioration, flooding, and heat stress. The book explores how biophilic design, cultural narratives, and technology innovation come together to create urban settings where nature becomes essential to identity, function, and community in its last section, Nature-driven Placemaking. This section highlights how environment can inspire, connect, and economically empower people through everything from participatory planning techniques to imaginative depictions of urban wildlife. Altogether, Nature in Cities, Nurturing Cities presents a strong case for purposefully, inclusively, and resiliently integrating nature into the urban fabric.

This accessible, sweeping survey of Mexican history, from pre-Columbian times to the present, introduces critical political and economic processes that have defined the country.

With ample maps and illustrations, along with historiographical inserts, this book is a guide from the earliest beginnings of a great nation down to the present day. This 2nd edition includes the following changes:

- 2 additional chapters, covering contemporary Mexico in the 21st century
- Fresh and substantial content about the cartels, criminal organizations, and the drug war
- The latest updates on pre-Columbian archaeological discoveries
- 20 new illustrations
- 10 inserts addressing historiography and referencing over 100 scholarly books
- An expanded and updated Suggestions for Further Reading section

To understand this complex and diverse land is to study the splendor of its pre-Columbian cultures, learn the legacies of a violent conquest, and appreciate the fluorescence of 3 centuries of viceregal Spanish rule. The struggle for independence, war with the United States, French Intervention, Benito Juarez, dictatorship under Porfirio Diaz, revolutionary upheaval under "Pancho" Villa - all are laid out in crystal clear narrative. Nor does this book shirk from addressing the darker side of history. Examining the corruption of 20th-century presidents, security apparatuses, and the PRI party, it explores the roots of present-day cartels and rising patterns of social violence.

From colonial rule to revolution and beyond, this concise history of Nicaragua unpacks the political struggles, economic transformations, and social movements that have shaped the modern nation, offering essential insights into a country defined by resilience and change.

Tracing Nicaragua's past from indigenous civilizations to Spanish conquest, dictatorship, and revolution, the book examines key forces that have shaped its destiny. Discover the rise and fall of the Somoza dynasty, the impact of the agro-export economy, the legacy of the Sandinista revolution, and the country's complex path to a democratic interlude from 1990 to 2007.

This revised edition brings Nicaragua's story into the present, analyzing recent years of political and social change-including President Daniel Ortega's shift toward authoritarianism, the contested elections of 2011, 2016, and 2021, the 2018 protests, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and evolving U.S.-Nicaragua relations. Featuring updated timelines, key figures, and essential terms, this book is an indispensable guide to understanding Nicaragua's past, present, and future.

This book explores the multifaceted impact of sports mega-events, from the World Cup to the Olympics, Formula One, and America's Cup. Often celebrated for uniting nations, showcasing culture, and driving economic growth, these events also face increasing scrutiny for their ecological and social consequences. Global Sports Go Green-Or Do They? critically examines claims of environmental responsibility, addressing their effects on ecosystems, communities, and athletes, and interrogates the gap between greenwashing rhetoric, material realities, and grassroots resistance.

The book will be of particular interest to students and scholars of the sociology of sport, mega-events, sociology of culture and sustainability.

The Fundamental Tendency of Our Times (Tendenza) is the Italian philosopher Emanuele Severino's crucial reflection on modern technology and science, in which he articulates his major contribution to the analysis of Western modernity: the claim that, beginning with Greek civilization, a nihilistic spirit of domination informs our conceptual and social systems.

In this book Severino applies his framework to the geopolitical situation before the fall of the Berlin Wall; yet his insights have continuing relevance in light of the current threat of ecological collapse accelerated by an orientation to the world as an object of exploitation.

Significant for its parallels with, and differences from, Heidegger's discussion of technology, this book's explicit discussion of politics gives essential clarification to Severino's notoriously complex philosophical discourse. With a foreword contextualizing the historical moment of its publication, this first English translation will be invaluable for those interested in understanding the thought of one of the most remarkable Italian theorists of the 20th century.

Published with the kind support of SEPS (Segretariato Europeo per le Pubblicazioni Scientifiche).

This book demonstrates how monarchy adjusted to the contours of modernity in remarkably diverse kinds of ways and contexts, preserving a central role in the configuration of the post-revolutionary world. It focuses on three geographically and politically connected frameworks: Spain, Portugal, and the new Latin American countries that emerged from the Iberian colonial territories. It analyses the intense and often conflicting processes and negotiations that characterized the monarchy's adaptation to post-revolutionary modernity and its insertion into a liberal parliamentary and constitutional system. Combining monarchical and post-revolutionary principles was one of the most notable challenges that political regimes faced after 1800. In the Portuguese and Spanish cases, as in others, it was necessary to seek a new place for the crown in constitutional parliamentarism. Liberals managed to do this by uniting king and parliament as elements of national identity and sovereign power respectively. In Latin America, monarchy was seen as a solution to the potential instability of the nascent independent states. In these cases, in addition to crown's adaptation to a constitutional regime, there was also the need to find monarchs and to legitimize them. The cases of Mexico and Brazil were indicative of these challenges and of the difficulties they brought.

Illuminating the impact of archaeology on the culture and politics of Latin America

Since the mid-nineteenth century, archaeology has played a critical role in historicizing space and shaping cultural imaginaries. It has brought modern scientific practices into structured contact with ancient objects and landscapes, on the one hand, and modern Indigenous cultures in their material and historical complexity, on the other. Archaeology has thus served a variety of disciplines and practices, from history and anthropology to literary and social criticism and critical theory, and has actively animated practices quite distinct from itself, such as public policy, tourism, urban planning, art, literature, and nation-building.

This volume provides a unique analysis of a disciplinary formation crucial to the study of cultural history and theory in Latin America. The contributors represent archaeologists and scholars from a variety of disciplines within the humanities, each of whom approaches archaeology as theory and praxis. Collectively, they map the differences and similarities between archaeological interventions and the ways in which the materiality, practice, and discourse of archaeology have been taken up as analytic, metaphor, and discursive strategy.

This book reveals how hermeneutics has experienced unprecedented attention under the leadership of Heidegger, Gadamer and Ricoeur, after long being confined to a restricted field of disciplines focused on understanding discourse. The author confronts the following questions: What is understanding? How to interpret a work of art? Can we decipher nature? How to orient yourself in space?

This monograph reveals how hermeneutics leaves the refuge of erudition to become a new field of philosophical exploration centered on the life of the spirit, on modes of existence and on traditions. It proposes an in-depth renewal of hermeneutics through a close dialogue with semiotics, pragmatism and the social sciences with the aid of three guiding ideas. The first, anthropological, makes interpretation a fundamental activity of humans in their ordinary activities, before making it a set of techniques in the service of scientific knowledge. The second, pragmatist, reserves interpretation for a reflective understanding confronted with problematic meanings. The third, epistemological, extends the field of investigation of hermeneutics beyond the text (nature, others, space, the work of art, the social world, etc.). Alongside researchers, this book serves as an advanced introduction to the field and appeals to upper undergraduates and graduate students.

This book explores the unique trajectory of urbanization in South Asia, from the earliest beginnings of civilization to the present-day mega cities, the life in the cities with its associated issues of inequality, struggle, management of scarce resources, migration and the informal sector of the economy. Contributions from renowned scholars, this book provides fresh insights into the continuity of ancient urban civilizations and their influence on modern cities, making it an essential resource for understanding the region's unique urban landscape. It is a great resource book for students and researchers specializing in urbanism in South Asia, urban history, and urban ethnography, particularly urban anthropology.

An eye-witness account from two key figures in Liberia's struggle with colonial threats and the political, economic, and social changes of five presidential terms of the time of the author.

Chronicling Liberian politics and presidential administrations from the start of the twentieth century through the first half of that century with both historical papers and personal accounts from within the hallowed corridors of Liberia, C. Abayomi Cassell (1906-1986) provides an in-depth view witnessed from the vantage point of a key participant. Dr. Cassell served in multiple capacities including, Attorney General of the Republic and Chairman of the Liberian delegation to the first General Assembly of the United Nations in 1946 and was intimately aware of the intricate details of Liberia's sojourn. Presenting eye-witness accounts from two prominent figures of the time, the author's father, the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Henry Benedict Cassell (1872-1939), and the author himself (1906-1986), this volume starts with Coleman's second term in January 1900, a term that was truncated by his resignation in December 1900, and then continues chronicling to 1952, the end of the first eight-year term of President William V. S. Tubman (1944-1971). The author's immense knowledge is evident in the deep research, historical facts and intimate details illuminated in this book.

This book examines the driving forces that lead to civil wars and revolutions. The authors' approach differs from the familiar historical narrative, as they differentiate between "causes" or 'actions of great men' and "mechanisms" that arise from social activity and behaviour. The latter include early-stage conflicts or outbreaks of violence which, if not checked, can lead to social division and more violent incidents.

The approach rooted in methods used in physical experimentation is illustrated in part one using the Fire of London and American war of Independence. Part two examines narratives for uprisings in a range of occupied countries across both the world. Part three implements the approach developed in part one on a broad basis to explore common features of invasions and conflict. A separate chapter looks at the lifetime of political empires and explores why religious empires have much greater longevity. The scientific methods lead to the possibility of prediction and some observations are made of current events in the middle east and Ukraine.

What if sustainable peace really starts within the human heart and mind?

Psychosocial Peacebuilding places the lived experience of individuals at the center of peace efforts. This timely and engaging book offers a clear, practical, and inspiring guide to understanding and applying psychosocial approaches to peacebuilding theory and practice. It provides both a much-needed conceptual framework to understand and address the broad range of psychosocial factors that shape conflict dynamics and peacebuilding outcomes, and hands-on tools drawn from more than 25 years of global field experience. It looks at how conflict affects psychosocial realities, and how those realities, in turn, influence the trajectory of peace or violence.

Dr. Katrien Hertog explores the what, why, how, and who of psychosocial peacebuilding through case studies, scientific insights, lived experiences, and practical exercises. She introduces an integrated model developed by the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) and the Art of Living as a rare example of a conceptual framework for psychosocial peacebuilding that uses evidence-based practices and is implemented with success around the globe in a variety of settings with huge multiplication possibilities. This model exemplifies intra-personal transformation as the cornerstone and foundation for peacebuilding, while at the same time addressing structural change, engaging with behavioral and relational dimensions of peacebuilding, and strengthening underlying human and peace-promoting values.

Whether you're a seasoned peacebuilder, policymaker, student, or newly exploring the psychosocial dimensions of peacebuilding, this guidebook offers a new lens to make sense of complex, interwoven factors and a structured way to understand these issues as integral to the peace process. It makes the case that psychosocial dimensions are not secondary, but foundational to sustainable peace.

Psychosocial Peacebuilding is poised to become a defining reference in an emerging field, offering not only a roadmap for practitioners, but a vision for a more integrated and effective approach to peace.

The go-to text for understanding both the historical development and contemporary contours of foreign policy analysis.

This comprehensive introduction to Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) is geared toward advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students. Cogently written, clearly organized, and filled with illuminating examples, the fourth edition has been thoroughly revised and updated. Beginning with an overview of this broad field of study, Hudson and Day consider theory and research at multiple levels of analysis, including personality and psychology of foreign policy decision makers, small group dynamics, the organizational process, bureaucratic politics, domestic politics, cultural and societal influences, national attributes, and system-level effects on foreign policy. The authors also examine the promise and frustration of theoretical integration in FPA and overview promising new work by non-North American scholars.

How are congressional norms changing, and what does their evolution mean for how Congress serves American democracy today?

Political scientists have long looked to the role of traditional norms to signal a general attitude among lawmakers that cooperation is part of their identities as members of Congress. But in this age of heightened political and partisan conflict, many "folkways" such as courtesy and reciprocity seem to be eroding, while other new norms are emerging.

This volume brings together leading congressional scholars to examine how norms have changed, what new norms are most prevalent in the modern Congress, and what effects norms have on the functioning of Congress in an era rife with political conflict. These essays address critical questions about how the U.S. Congress functions to serve American democracy and whether the functioning of Congress in the Twenty-first century is fundamentally different today from how the framers of the Constitution imagined it.

How does the high-density urban environment shape the subjective well-being of millions? This book tackles this pressing question in the context of China's unprecedented urbanization. Through a rigorous case study of Guangzhou, it employs quantitative methods to dissect the complex links between the built environment and subjective well-being. Its groundbreaking contribution lies in systematically revealing the underlying mechanisms-via perceived quality, perceived safety, social capital, and health-that mediate this relationship, offering a fresh perspective on the urban "Easterlin Paradox." Bridging theory and practice, the book translates these insights into actionable strategies for urban planners, policymakers, and community managers. Essential reading for scholars, students, and practitioners shaping the future of cities.

This book fulfills a long-standing gap in the global literature on educating for peace. In documenting the reflections of the world's leading teachers of peace, including some of the field's founders, the book sheds light on both the process and the products that have brought the study of peace to its fifty-year mark. The examination of the dynamic connections between peacemaking, education, individual development, and widespread social change is chronicled through examples from the USA, Japan, China, India, Pakistan, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Trinidad, New Zealand, Mexico and more, and charts the words and work of scholar-activists including the late Betty Reardon and the granddaughter of Mohandas Gandhi, South Africa's Ela Gandhi. Together, the essays represent, in the words (from the Foreword) of United Nations University for Peace Rector Francisco Rojas Aravena, "a colossal instrument to reaffirm dialogue over force."

This book by Dalya Cohen-Mor explores the issue of the Other in Arab culture and society as reflected in modern Arabic literature. Drawing on insights from identity studies, cultural studies, and women's studies, and analyzing in depth a large body of works from modern Arabic literature, this book provides a vivid account of how otherness is produced, experienced, and contested in Arab society.


The Other in Contemporary Arab Culture and Society: Longing to Belong offers a comparative study of both internal and external Others in Arab society, uses the concept of the Other to shed light on the parameters of Arab identity and self-definition, and focuses on the relationship with the Other to explore the dynamics of Arab culture and society. The selection of literary works includes autobiographical novels, novels, novellas, short stories, and poems by contemporary Arab writers, both male and female, from across the Middle East. The analysis highlights the ways in which literary texts critique, complicate, or modify stereotypical representations of the Other, illustrates the values and orientations of Arab society, and assesses the agency of literature and its power to raise public awareness and shape reality.

This edited volume offers a bold reimagining of peace studies by placing practice and not just theory, at the center of academic inquiry. It challenges conventional disciplinary boundaries to spotlight peace as an active, lived process rather than a distant ideal. Engaging with the premise that transdisciplinary praxis is inherently countercultural, the volume draws on global, grounded case studies to confront some of the most entrenched narratives surrounding violence, justice, healing, and change.

From exploring the potential of singing and failure as tools for nonviolent transformation, to examining Gandhi's personal letters to Hitler, the chapters reflect a deep commitment to unsettling dominant militaristic discourses and offering creative, practical alternatives. Other contributions delve into pressing questions around environmental justice, politicized healing in the US legal system, peace education through history textbooks, and the symbolic power of photography and interfaith leadership in postcolonial contexts. The result is an anthology that refuses to see peace and violence as abstract concepts, instead treating them as embodied, contested, and dynamic forces.

A must-read for peace scholars, educators, and practitioners alike, this volume not only critiques the status quo but demonstrates how transdisciplinary methods can be used to reshape our understanding of justice, healing, and coexistence. Whether through reclaiming dignity, mobilizing collective strength, or confronting hate on campuses, each chapter underscores the urgent need to reframe peace as both a site of resistance and a roadmap for social transformation.

This book offers a profound examination of how mountain ethnic groups and local communities, particularly those in the Tibetan regions of the Eastern Himalayas, utilize traditional knowledge to confront the growing challenges of climate change. It presents a comprehensive analysis of the ways in which local wisdom-passed down through generations-has informed climate adaptation strategies, ranging from agriculture to disaster management. By systematically categorizing traditional knowledge related to climate patterns, biodiversity, water management, and resource conservation, the book highlights its vital role in enhancing resilience to environmental stresses.

Drawing from field research, the volume addresses the intersection of modern climate science and traditional knowledge, advocating for an integrative approach to climate adaptation. The author demonstrates that traditional knowledge systems, far from being relics of the past, are dynamic and continually evolving to meet new environmental realities. This work provides a valuable theoretical framework and methodological tools for future research, calling for greater recognition of the potential contributions of traditional knowledge in global climate policy and local-level interventions.

By illustrating the enduring relevance of traditional knowledge, this book not only contributes to the academic discourse on climate change but also advocates for the preservation and application of ecological wisdom in creating sustainable climate solutions for the future.