SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

A Zoroastrian Liturgy. The Worship in Seven Chapters (Yasna 35-41)

This volume offers an edition and translation of the Avestan text of the Yasna Haptanghaiti, together with an introduction, commentary and dictionary. The commentary surveys and summarizes the scholarly debate about individual Avestan words and expressions, while the introduction offers an analysis of the composition of the YH. The book should interest scholars in Iranian, Vedic, Indo-European and Religious Studies.

Afghan Women. Identity & Invasion

Through years of Taliban oppression, during the US-led invasion and the current insurgency, women in Afghanistan have played a hugely symbolic role. This book looks at how women have fought repression and challenged stereotypes, both within Afghanistan and in diasporas in Iran, Pakistan, the US and the UK. Looking at issues from violence under the Taliban and the impact of 9/11 to the role of NGOs and the growth in the opium economy, Rostami-Povey gets behind the media hype and presents a vibrant and diverse picture of these women's lives. The future of women's rights in Afghanistan, she argues, depends not only on overcoming local male domination, but also on challenging imperial domination and blurring the growing divide between the West and the Muslim world. Ultimately, these global dynamics may pose a greater threat to the freedom and autonomy of women in Afghanistan and throughout the world.

About the Author
Elaheh Rostami-Povey is a Development Studies lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Under her pen name Maryam Poya, she is the author of Women, Work and Islamism (Zed Books, 1999 9781856496827). She has also written on feminisms and women's NGOs in Iran and on Afghan women in diaspora and their experience of war, conflict and foreign invasion.

African History: A Very Short Introduction

You will finish this book better informed, with a better understanding of Africa and a clearer idea of the questions. (Robert Giddings, Tribune )

This small book is a smart and stimulating essay exploring issues of history, sources and methods, Africa in the world, colonialism and postcolonialism, and the past in the present as a means of introducing students and others to academic thinking about African history. (Tom Spear, Journal of African History )

Product Description

Essential reading for anyone interested in the African continent and the diversity of human history, this Very Short Introduction looks at Africa's past and reflects on the changing ways it has been imagined and represented. Key themes in current thinking about Africa's history are illustrated with a range of fascinating historical examples, drawn from over 5 millennia across this vast continent.

Table of Contents

1. The idea of Africa
2. Africans: diversity and unity
3. Africa's past: historical sources
4. Africa in the world
5. Colonialism in Africa
6. Imagining the future, rebuilding the past
7. Memory and forgetting, past and present

About the Authors

John Parker teaches African history at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He specializes in the history of Ghana and is the author of Making the Town: Ga State and Society in Early Colonial Accra (2000) and (with Jean Allman) Tongnaab: The History of a West African God (2005). He is currently researching a book on the history of death and burial in Ghana.
Richard Rathbone, Honorary Professor of History, University of Aberystwyth

Afrophone Philosophies: Reality and Challenge

The point of departure of this publication is philosophy, more precisely African philosophy and the question of the possibility of using African languages in philosophical discourse. The book sees Afrophone literatures as a prominent locus of philosophical discourse in African cultures. Thus, it investigates literary works in six African languages (Ndebele, Shona, Lingala, Swahili, Bambara, Yoruba) and reads them with respect to their contribution to philosophy.

Aspiring towards an intercultural exchange, the author has tried to bring various literatures and cultures closer to a mutual exchange of ideas. Individual chapters show Swahili writers in dialogue with Western thought, existentialist novels in the Swahili and Shona languages, Ndebele ethnic and cultural identity as portrayed by Ndebele intellectuals and by Shona writers, Ndebele and Bambara historiographies, various approaches to Yoruba, Shona, and Ndebele oral literatures, and analyses of Swahili, Shona, and Lingala imaginative writing.

Alena Rettová is Lecturer in Swahili Literature and Culture at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

And Sails the Boat Downstream. Malay Sufi Poems of the Boat

...And Sails the Boat Downstream. Malay Sufi Poems of the Boat 

by Prof. Vladimir Braginsky, South East Asia Department

Purgstalls Hafis-Uebersetzungen Anmerkungen zu Josef von Hammer

In 1812 the orientalist and later president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Josef von Hammer-Purgstall published a two volume edition of the poetry of the 14th century Persian poet Hafis. This translation was based on a 17th century commented Ottoman Turkish edition of Hafis’ poetry by the Bosnian philologist Sudi, which Hammer found during a diplomatic mission to Constantinople in the early years of the 19th century. Hammer’s German translation later became the main source for one of Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s best known later works, the West-oestlicher Divan. Goethe himself described his Divan as a productive literary response to the the medieval Persian poet Hafis and acknowledged the role of Hammer-Purgstall as a literary mediator, without whom this literary encounter would not have taken place. While Goethe’s Divan has been the topic of numerous studies since its publication in 1819, Hammer-Purgstall’s work as translator of Hafis’ poetry has never been studied systematically. Throughout the past 180 years, Hammer-Purgstall has been criticized, mainly by Goethe specialists with no knowledge of Persian, for the stylistic archaism of his Hafis translation. This monograph is the first attempt to critically analyze and revaluate Hammer-Purgstall’s translation work with direct reference to the source and target texts and their cultural historical contexts. It implicitely employs the methodological approach of descriptive-historical translation studies. The monograph starts with a reconstruction of Hammer-Purgstall’s reading of Hafis and his concept of translation. In the text analytical part, eight translations by Hammer-Purgstall are put in relation to the Ottoman commented edition by Sudi and the Persian original versions according to the historical, critical Hafis edition by Qasem Ghani and Mohammad Qazini. The monograph was published by the University of Graz in the series “Grazer Morgenländische Studies” in Hammer-Purgstall’s home province of Steiermark in commemoration of the150th anniversary of his passing.

Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur'anic Usage

The Qur'an is the living source of all Islamic teaching, and is of singular importance to those interested in Islam and the study of religions. Despite this, there exists a long-felt lack of research tools for English first-language speakers who wish to access the Qur'an in the original Arabic.

The Dictionary of Qur'anic Usage is the first comprehensive, fully-researched and contextualised Arabic-English dictionary of Qur'anic usage, compiled in accordance with modern lexicographical methods by scholars who have a lifelong immersion in Qur'anic Studies. Based on Classical Arabic dictionaries and Qur'an commentaries, this work also emphasises the role of context in determining the meaning-scatter of each vocabulary item. Illustrative examples from Qur'anic verses are provided in support of the definitions given for each context in which a particular word occurs, with cross-references to other usages. Frequently occurring grammatical particles are likewise thoroughly explained, insofar as they are used in conveying various nuances of meaning in the text.

Art, Performance and Ritual in Benin City

Product Description
This book explores the roles of contemporary urban shrines and their visual traditions in Benin City. It focuses on the charismatic priests and priestesses who are possessed by a pantheon of deities, the communities of devotees, and the artists who make artifacts for their shrines. The visual arts are part of a wider configuration of practices that include song, dance, possession and healing. These practices provide the means for exploring the relationships of the visual to both the verbal and performance arts that feature at these shrines. The analysis in this book raises fundamental questions about how the art of Benin, and non-Western art histories more generally, are understood. The book throws critical light on the taken-for-granted assumptions which underpin current interpretations and presents an original and revisionist account of Benin art history.

About the Author
Charles Gore is an artist and Lecturer in the History of African Art, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Blogs, Cyber-Literature and Virtual Culture in Iran

As the adversarial relationship between the Islamic regime and the international community becomes more antagonistic, the Iranian people are increasingly losing their voice and are deprived of their right of self determination. The Iranian people are treated as identical with the dictatorial regime which has, many would argue, taken them hostage for the past 28 years. They are now in danger of becoming the real losers of a conflict provoked by the regime’s political and ideological agenda, which is being carried out without the people’s consent and against their interest. The Iranian people would be the primary victims of a military action against the Islamic Republic. Compared to other countries of the Middle East, the Iranian people have a high level of political maturity; an organized popular movement for democratic socio-political change in Iran has a history of more than 100 years. Despite the regime’s claim of total social control, Iranian civil society seems to have thrived since the mid 1990s and has succeeded in reclaiming certain critical areas of social life. Some observers of Iran, particularly those with an insider’s perspective, are convinced that the problem of the Islamic Republic can only be effectively solved in the interest of the international community if the initiative for a social and political change comes from within Iranian civil society. In order to estimate the possibilities and limitations of Iranian civil society in bringing about social and political change, it is helpful to observe its effectiveness in a sensitive area, namely that of independent public information. The beginning of the internet era in Iran has given Iranian civil society the possibility to create and defend alternative spaces for intellectual and political discourse, outside the realm of the regime-controlled established media. This paper deals with the internet as the vehicle and instrument of the new, independent Iranian information society.

British Muslim Converts. Choosing Alternative Lives

When the Western mass-media talk of conversion to Islam, we are bombarded with accounts of vulnerable people brainwashed into a culture of extremism. However, in reality, the vast majority who convert are well-educated, and doing so as the result of a long-considered and heartfelt decision. What is more, their numbers are multiplying.

The only exploration of this unique group in British society, this well-argued and powerful book investigates the fascinating contribution that Western converts to Islam are making to a distinctive take on Islamic thought and discourse. Informed by interviews with British converts as well as published and internet material, Zebiri asks whether converts could act as much-needed mediators in the growing divide between Islam and the West.

Kate Zebiri is Senior Lecturer of Arabic & Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. She is the author of Muslims And Christians Face To Face.

“Sensitive and insightful, and fills an important gap. Genuinely enlightening and yet an enjoyable ‘pageturner’ to read, it will make an important contribution to the understanding of British Muslims in all their diversity.” Gwen Griffith-Dickson – Founder of the Lokahi Foundation, and the first woman to hold the Gresham Chair in Divinity

“Required reading for anyone interested in British Muslims. The most recent example of Kate Zebiri's well deserved reputation for timely scholarship that is insightful and accessible.” John L. Esposito – Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and editor-in-chief of the four-volume The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World

Cairo of the Mamluks. A History of Architecture and Its Culture

Cairo of the Mamluks was "a city beyond imagination", wrote the Arab philosopher Ibn Khaldun. The Mamluk sultans originated as a slave-based caste who took advantage of the mid-13th century power vacuum to establish themselves as rulers. They designed their capital to be the heart of the Muslim world. It became the focus of their enormous patronage of art and architecture, the stage for their ceremonial rituals, and a memorial to their achievements. This history of Mamluk architecture examines the monuments of the Mamluks in their social, political and urban context during the period of their rule between 1250-1517. The book displays the multiple facets of Mamluk patronage, and also provides a succint discussion of sixty monuments built in Cairo by the Mamluk sultans. This is a richly illustrated volume with colour photographs, plans and isometric drawings. It will form an essential reference work for scholars and students of the art and architecture of the Islamic world as well as art historians and historians of late medieval Islamic history.

About the Author
Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology at SOAS, University of London

Collectors, Collections and Museums. The Field of Chinese Ceramics in Britain, 1560-1960

This book presents the first comprehensive study of the collecting, consumption and display of Chinese porcelain in Britain from the 16th to the 20th century, as well as the impact of this activity on British culture. Beginning with the early porcelains acquired as objects of exotica and vessels for the consumption of tea and coffee, followed by porcelains for display in the country house interior, the first part of this book reveals the role of porcelain in Britain's developing economic relations with China and the impact of this material on both daily life and interior design. The subsequent diplomatic and political conflicts of the 18th and 19th centuries provide a framework for an examination of British consumption of Chinese porcelain as both spoils of war and iconic representations of China, material which helped to shape and influence British perceptions of China. The final section demonstrates how these perceptions of China and its porcelain began to change significantly in the 20th century with porcelains acquired as works of art and displayed publicly in museums. Collectors in Britain began to specialise in this area and actively invented a 'field' of Chinese ceramics that was promulgated by learned societies and culminated in the founding of a museum of Chinese ceramics in London by one of the foremost British collectors, Sir Percival David, who donated his world class collection to the University of London in 1950.

Colonial Legacies. Economic and Social Development in East and Southeast Asia

“Excellent. . . . Highly recommended.” —Choice (45:8, April 2008)

It is well known that Taiwan and South Korea, both former Japanese colonies, achieved rapid growth and industrialization after 1960. The performance of former European and American colonies (Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines) has been less impressive. Some scholars have attributed the difference to better infrastructure and greater access to education in Japan’s colonies. Anne Booth examines and critiques such arguments in this ambitious comparative study of economic development in East and Southeast Asia from the beginning of the twentieth century until the 1960s.
Booth takes an in-depth look at the nature and consequences of colonial policies for a wide range of factors, including the growth of export-oriented agriculture and the development of manufacturing industry. She evaluates the impact of colonial policies on the growth and diversification of the market economy and on the welfare of indigenous populations. Indicators such as educational enrollments, infant mortality rates, and crude death rates are used to compare living standards across East and Southeast Asia in the 1930s. Her analysis of the impact that Japan’s Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and later invasion and conquest had on the region and the living standards of its people leads to a discussion of the painful and protracted transition to independence following Japan’s defeat. Throughout Booth emphasizes the great variety of economic and social policies pursued by the various colonial governments and the diversity of outcomes.

Lucidly and accessibly written, Colonial Legacies offers a balanced and elegantly nuanced exploration of a complex historical reality. It will be a lasting contribution to scholarship on the modern economic history of East and Southeast Asia and of special interest to those concerned with the dynamics of development and the history of colonial regimes.

Anne E. Booth is professor of economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Early Landscapes of Myanmar

This book describes the emergence of the Buddhist landscapes of Myanmar. The authoritative text is framed by the artefacts, sites and ecology of Upper and Lower Myanmar, with coverage of the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Bronze-iron chiefdoms that preceded Hindu-Buddhist walled polities of the first millennium AD. Views and descriptions of sites, many not published in English before, include Letpanchibaw, Htaukmagon-Moegyobyin, Badigon,Tagaung, Halin, Sriksetra, Thaton and Dawei.

The author's extensive fieldwork with Myanmar academics over the last decade brings an original perspective on the catalysts that structure landscape interaction, enabling expansion of agriculture, resource utilization and international trade networks. While the book's primary focus is the archaeology of Myanmar, this is linked to Yunnan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Asia. The central theme, however, remains the relationship between man and the environment; flexibility was the norm as seasons changed, rivers meandered and seasonal lakes formed, creating the shallow flooded terrain conducive to the early development of wet-rice cultivation, bronze-iron technology and brick-walled sites. Social changes later accelerated with the rise of the state but the author concludes that the most profound transformations were already in place in the first millennium AD landscape of Upper and Lower Myanmar.

Profusely illustrated with site plans, site views, maps and artefacts, this book is aimed at encouraging research into the many new areas thrown up by its ground-breaking text.

Edo no dai-fushin: Tokugawa toshi keikaku no shigaku

This book takes an entirely new look at the history of Edo (Tokyo), defining its approach as spatial ‘poetics’ (shigaku). Edo has been assessed physically - land reclamation, supply, etc – and in terms of popular culture - via printed materials, as novels and pictures; there are also oral traditions of ‘stories’. This is a departure in taking five distinctive topoi, and investigating them via inter-disciplinary methods, by chapter. The first addresses the centre of state, Nihon-bashi; images, historical documents are adduced, with the metaphysical meaning of bridges, to construct a novel interpretation. Chapter 2 assesses generation of sacred spaces. This new town needed points of worship; one ancient temple did exist, with a wonderworking image, which was integrated into shogunal religions. Chapter 3 looks at how new-rising Edo modelled itself on antique cities, such as Chinese capitals, to elevate itself; Edo never was a capital (Kyoto was), but as shogunal seat it required buildings of grace, and also magical protection, through geomancy. The immediate model was mediaeval castle towns, but Edo also drew on Kyoto itself, often in hidden or covert ways, replicating site of toponyms, to add to its aura. Chapter 4 considers creation of ‘famous sites’. Again, as a new city, Edo lacked points of poetic and historical value (meisho), indeed, in the classical period, what became Edo stood for all that was raw and uncouth. This had to be changed, and it was, through diligent search, and some invention; the presence of Mt Fuji was important. Chapter 5 looks at the celebrated ‘floating world’ of pleasure, and particularly at how people (men) travelled there; boats took them, through the night, on a route composed so as to distance them from ‘fixed’ daily life, and prepare them for the alterity of pleasure that law ahead.

Esmail Khois Rueckkehr nach Borgio Verezzi

Esmail Khoi’s poem Return to Borgio Verezzi (written in March 1983 and first published in 1984) belongs to the key texts of post-revolution Persian exile literature. Esmail Khoi is one of the leading voices of Persian poetry in the second half of the 20th century. His literary works since the beginning of his exile in London in 1982 include more than 20 books of poetry, translations of classical Persian literature (particularly the 14th century satirical poet Obey-e Zakani of Shiraz) into English and numerous articles and contributions to Iranian press in exile. Khoi was a founding member of the Iranian Writers’ Association and the Iranian PEN Center in exile. In 1989, after the annoncement of Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa (death sentence) against the British author Salman Rushdie, Khoi was among the founding members of the international committee for the defence of Salman Rushdie. Return to Borgio Verezzi is a long narrative poem which reflects many key aspects and features of Khoi’s work and personality as a modern poet with strong ties to the tradition of classical Persian poetry and as a politically and socially engaged exile. My paper consists of an introductory essay about the poem. Initially it uses the methodology of “explication de texte” with a text immanent approach. In the further development of the essay the historical and intertextual references to the poetry of Hafis, Forugh Farrokhzad and Nasser-e Khosro are also discussed. The essay is followed by my translation of the poem into German. The booklet is accompanied by an audio CD with an original recoding of Esmail Khoi reading his poem in Persian. Literary critics generally consider Esmail Khoi as one of the best voices to recite poetry by himself and also by other classical and modern Persian poets.

Ethnographic Sorcery

According to the people of the Mueda plateau in northern Mozambique, sorcerers remake the world by asserting the authority of their own imaginative visions of it. While conducting research among these Muedans, anthropologist Harry G. West made a revealing discovery - for many of them, West's efforts to elaborate an ethnographic vision of their world was itself a form of sorcery. In "Ethnographic Sorcery", West explores the fascinating issues provoked by this equation. A key theme of West's research into sorcery is that one sorcerer's claims can be challenged or reversed by other sorcerers. After West's attempt to construct a metaphorical interpretation of Muedan assertions that the lions prowling their villages are fabricated by sorcerers is disputed by his Muedan research collaborators, West realizes that ethnography and sorcery indeed have much in common. Rather than abandoning ethnography, West draws inspiration from this connection, arguing that anthropologists, along with the people they study, can scarcely avoid interpreting the world they inhabit, and that we are all, inescapably, ethnographic sorcerers.

Review

 "At its core, this very significant book is a meditation on how to understand discourses on and around sorcery on the Mueda plateau in Mozambique. Here, Harry West is concerned with the question of how Muedans use sorcery discourse, both 'to speak about the world and to act within it.' I found this book consistently fascinating, subtle, and deeply grounded in local understandings of a complex and ambiguous world and in anthropological theory." - Donald Brenneis, University of California, Santa Cruz"

Fusions. Masquerades and Thought-Style East of the Niger-Benue Confluence, West Africa

Fusions takes the masks of West Africa's Upper Benue River region out of the museums and private collections, where many accumulated in the twentieth century, and restores their cultural and social contexts. The book argues that Benue masquerades deserve appreciation as the materialized forms taken by the thought styles of their original creators and users. Masquerades are 'theranthropic': they fuse characteristics of animals with those of living and dead human beings to create entities to perform the powers and dangers inherent in people's lives. The subtle variety of the ways that different masquerades, and other performances, achieve this, reveals facets of an understanding of the human condition: of relations between the genders, the living and the dead, animals and people, kings and commoners...By demonstrating the similarities in both their conceptions and uses, Fusions will change the way readers look at, and understand, the masquerades of the entire Benue River.
"Longer blurb: Fusions" takes the masks of West Africa's Upper Benue River region out of the museums and private collections, where many accumulated in the twentieth century, and restores their cultural and social contexts. The book argues that Benue masquerades deserve appreciation as the materialized forms taken by the thought styles of their original creators and users. Masquerades are 'theranthropic': they fuse characteristics of animals with those of living and dead human beings to create entities to perform the powers and dangers inherent in people's lives.The subtle variety of the ways that different masquerades, and other performances, achieve this, reveals facets of an understanding of the human condition: of relations between the genders, the living and the dead, animals and people, kings and commoners, colours, seasons and so forth, shared by the peoples of the Benue.

Part One provides an intensive analysis of Chamba masquerade (of the Cameroon/Nigeria border area), based in fieldwork experience stretching over three decades, as well as accounts both of the history of collection of Chamba masquerades from the earliest colonial times, and of their local formal variation, based on research in museums, private collections and archives. Attention moves westwards in Part Two to an analysis of Mumuye masquerade, and a bold revisionist reading of the many forms of Jukun masks, before surveying the significance of the now-defunct masquerade traditions of the Jos Plateau of Nigeria.Part Three moves eastward from the Chamba to demonstrate that peoples who had no masquerades in the strict sense, nonetheless materialized a similar thought style through their use of actual skulls and animals. By showing the similarities in both their conceptions and uses, "Fusions" will change the way readers look at, and understand, the masquerades of the Benue River region. Profusely illustrated, and with numerous tables and diagrams, the account guides the reader through what is, in art-historical terms, one of the most celebrated of West Africa's style regions.Like its companion volume on statuary (Column to Volume, Afriscopes, 2005), "Fusions" demonstrates the scholarly dividends that come from blending long-term ethnographic familiarity with particular cultures, research in museums and archives, and anthropological comparison based upon a critical rereading of previous writers.

The subject and method of this inter-disciplinary endeavour will interest social anthropologists, art historians and collectors, as well as providing the state-of-the-art account of Upper Benue masquerades.

Gods on the Move. Architecture and Ritual in the South Indian Temple

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Society for South Asian Studies (2007)
ISBN-10: 0955392411
ISBN-13: 978-0955392412

Heroes and Martyrs of Palestine: The Politics of National Commemoration

The history of the Palestinians since the middle of the twentieth century has been one of turmoil, a people living under occupation or exiled from their homeland. Theirs has been at times a tragic story, but also one of resistance, heroism and nationalist aspiration. Laleh Khalili's book is based on her experiences in the Lebanese refugee camps, where commemorations of key moments in the history of the struggle have helped forge a sense of nationhood. She also observes how, as discourses of liberation have evolved in recent years within the international community, there has been a shift in the representation of Palestinian nationalism from the heroic to the tragic mode. This trend is exemplified through the elevation of martyrs to iconic figures in the Palestinian collective memory. This book will appeal to students and scholars of the Middle East, and to those interested in the politics of nationalism, commemoration and conflict.

Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Transnational movements and discourses; 3. Palestinian lives and local institutions in the camps of Lebanon; 4. Forms of commemoration; 5. Contents of commemoration: narratives of heroism, suffering, and Sumud; 6. Guerrillas and martyrs: evolution of national ‘heroes’; 7. Between battles and massacres: commemorating violent events; 8. Commemoration in the occupied Palestinian territories; 9. Conclusions; Bibliography.

In the Shadow of the King.

Zill al-Sultan was the notorious Qajar prince who ruled Isfahan, Iran's former capital during the Safavid era, as governor from 1874 to 1907. He is remembered as a Qajar anti-hero - even a villain - to this day, based largely on his apparent exercise of absolute power and pursuit of intrigue to further his own political interests. But late 19th-century Iran was a complex place: the Anglo-Russian great power rivalry, the assertive Shi'ite militancy of leading clerics, the growing power of the merchant classes, the entrenched and jealously guarded control of the landowners and tribal leaders, the halting attempts to reach out to modernity - all of these helped to create a climate of instability through which Zill al-Sultan navigated with almost Machiavellian skills and deft ruthlessness. Heidi Walcher has produced the first, extraordinarily important study which is both a biography of one of the most colourful individuals in the history of modern Iran and a study of the social and political circumstances of late 19th-century Iran. In the process, she examines the difficult relationships between the secular and Islamic elites, the impact on Isfahan of the pivotal Tobacco Protests in 1890-92, the open trade wars against the British, suspicion of the Jews, the persecution of local Babis and Bahais, the confontation with European missionaries and the events leading up to the Constitutional Revolution of 1906. This book is a major contribution to a proper understanding of modern Iran.

About the Author
The author is a Lecturer in the History of the Middle East as SOAS.

Indian Secularism. A Social and Intellectual History 1890-1950

Many of the central issues in modern Indian politics have long been understood in terms of an opposition between ideologies of secularism and communalism. Observers have argued that recent Hindu nationalism is the symptom of a crisis of Indian secularism and have blamed this on a resurgence of religion or communalism. Shabnum Tejani unpacks prevailing assumptions about the meaning of secularism in contemporary politics, focusing on India but with many points of comparison elsewhere in the world. She questions the simple dichotomy between secularism and communalism that has been used in scholarly study and political discourse. Tracing the social, political, and the intellectual genealogies of the concepts of secularism and communalism from the late nineteenth century until the ratification of the Indian constitution in 1950, she shows how secularism came to be bound up with ideas about nationalism and national identity.

Insider Dealing and Money Laundering in the EU: Law and Regulation

This work presents a comparative study of the provisions relating to insider dealing under the EC Insider Dealing Directive. The volume begins with a discussion of the rationale for regulating financial services in general and controlling insider dealing and money-laundering in particular. It then goes on to examine the definition of an insider and of inside information and the various criminal offenses relating to insider dealing. The role of money-laundering is also recognized and the anti-money laundering regime as well as the considerable impact on the financial sector are discussed in detail. The work assess the efficacy of criminal law in controlling insider dealing and considers the increasing trend to deal with it by means of civil/administrative measures.

Iran in World Politics. The Question of the Islamic Republic

Why is Iran continuously in the news? How has the Islamic Republic developed ideologically since the 1979 revolution? What are the best ways of comprehending the country at this critical juncture in its history? These are some of the questions at the heart of Arshin Adib-Moghaddam's book, which offers novel methodological and theoretical insights in explaining the foreign relations and domestic politics of post-revolutionary Iran. From the nuclear issue, to the perpetual stand-off with the United States, from the future of Iranian democracy to Iranian-Arab relations, from American neo-conservatism to Islamic utopian-romanticism, from Avicenna to Ayatollah Khomeini, the author guides the reader through the complexities that bedevil our understanding of contemporary Iran. In exposing the limitations of mainstream representations of the country and the wider Muslim world, "Iran in World Politics" makes a powerful case for 'critical Iranian studies', for a new system of thought that pluralizes both the way we see Iran, and the international politics enveloping the country.

Iraqi Women. Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present

The war in Iraq has put the condition of Iraqi women firmly on the global agenda. For years, their lives have been framed by state oppression, economic sanctions and three wars. Now they must play a seminal role in reshaping their country’s future for the twenty-first century.

Nadje Al-Ali challenges the myths and misconceptions which have dominated debates about Iraqi women, bringing a much needed gender perspective to bear on the central political issue of our time. She traces the political history of Iraq from post-colonial independence, to the emergence of a women’s movement in the 1950s and Saddam Hussein’s early policy of state feminism. The book also discusses the increases in social conservatism, domestic violence and prostitution, and shows that, far from being passive victims, Iraqi women have been, and continue to be, key political actors. Following the invasion and occupation, al-Ali analyses the impact of Islam on women’s lives and argues that US-led calls for liberation may in the long term serve to oppress the women of Iraq further.

Read Nadje Al-Ali in The Guardian here

New DVD available 'Iraqi Women: An Interview with Nadje Al-Ali' for more information visit here

Commendations

'This is an invaluable book; especially now when the multi-faceted identity and history of Iraqis is increasingly subsumed under crude and simplistic categories which do not relate to the lived experience of the people. With intellectual rigour, a profound sense of empathy and a calm passion, Nadje Al-Ali unearths the stories of Iraq's women, providing thoughtful analysis and reflection on the nature of memory and identity. She refuses any spurious unifying agenda and instead accepts the contradictions and the multiple truths which are the reality of people's lives. This book is also the author's personal story; it is an act of discovery and also the reclamation of an identity, painful layer by painful layer. For both the author, and for the women whose stories she relates, this book exhibits the complex and, often difficult, conjunction between history and personal lives.' - Maysoon Pachachi, Filmmaker

'Iraqi Women is an original and engrossing book that traces the life histories of women over four decades of Iraq's development. It speaks with an immediacy and an authenticity that should put many ersatz histories of Iraq to shame. I recommend it to all those interested in women's contributions to Iraq.' - Hala Fattah, Historian

'In this extraordinary book, Al-Ali deftly weaves together the personal narratives of a wide range of Iraqi women to illuminate the modern history of Iraq ... Particularly sobering is her balanced and sensitive analysis of the negative effects on women's rights and lives of the decade of sanctions and the current US- British occupation.' - Lila Abu-Lughod, Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies, Columbia University

'Nadje Al-Ali draws a vivid picture of Iraqi society and politics using intense personal narratives, and offers alternative visions of modern Iraqi history. An absorbing read.' - Sami Zubaida, Emeritus Professor, Birkbeck College, University of London

'Nadje Al-Ali delivers a nuanced and powerful interrogation of the complex relationships between experience, memory and truth, told through the dynamic narratives of Iraqi women. The result is a compelling critique of contemporary histories of Iraq which project back into the past relatively newly installed notions of religion and ethnicity.' - Suad Joseph, Professor of Anthropology & Women's Studies, University of California, Davis

'Nadje Al-Ali has written a finely nuanced account of the experiences of women in Iraq in the second half of the twentieth century. Her experience of Iraqi society as an insider/outsider, and her understanding of the political background of her informants enables her to explore the relationship between experiences, memory and truth in ways which will intrigue and excite her readers.'
Peter Sluglett, Professor of Middle Eastern History, University of Utah, Salt Lake City

'[A collection of] the thoughts, memories and experiences of more than 100 women who, at one time or another, have joined Iraq's huge diaspora in America, Britain and Jordan....the pattern [Al-Ali] draws of the way that educated women's lives have changed and rechanged since Iraq's 1958 revolution is fascinating.' - The Economist

‘[This] book makes a vital and original contribution to the literature on Iraq's modern history and to the literature on gender and women's studies. But at the same time its rich, fascinating and revealing text is enormously readable and accessible to the non-specialist, and it deserves a wide readership.’ – Al-Hayat

'The women in Nadje Sadig al-Ali's book have some remarkable stories to tell...[she] has performed a vital service in bringing together these testimonies of the human toll for Iraqis of western policy that is never adequately explored in the mainstream media.' - Labour Briefing

'A powerful antidote to the image of Iraqi women as passive victims, promoted by apologists for U.S. imperial policy in order to justify sanctions, war and occupation. It opens a window onto a past all our rulers would rather forget, reminding us that women's struggles for liberation have shaped Iraq's history, even when mere survival would have been achievement enough.' - Anne Alexander, International Socialism

'Moving, reflexive, and deeply felt… both timely and crucial' - Gender and Development

Kazakhstan. Ethnicity, Language and Power

Kazakhstan is emerging as the most dynamic economic and political actor in Central Asia. It is the second largest country of the former Soviet Union, after the Russian Federation, and has rich natural resources, particularly oil, which is being exploited through massive US investment. Kazakhstan has an impressive record of economic growth under the leadership of President Nursultan Nazarbaev, and has ambitions to project itself as a modern, wealthy civic state, with a developed market economy. At the same time, Kazakhstan is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the region, with very substantial non-Kazakh and non-Muslim minorities. Its political regime has used elements of political clientelism and neo-traditional practices to bolster its rule. Drawing from extensive ethnographic research, interviews, and archival materials this book traces the development of national identity and statehood in Kazakhstan, focusing in particular on the attempts to build a national state. It argues that Russification and Sovietization were not simply 'top-down' processes, that they provide considerable scope for local initiatives, and that Soviet ethnically-based affirmative action policies have had a lasting impact on ethnic élite formation and the rise of a distinct brand of national consciousness.

Keilschrifttexte aus Assur literarischen Inhalts II. Rituale und Beschwoerungen gegen Schadenzauber

Keilschrifttexte aus Assur literarischen Inhalts II. Rituale und Beschwoerungen gegen Schadenzauber. [Cuneiform Texts from Assur. Literary Texts II: Anti-Witchcraft Rituals and Incantations]
Schwemer, Daniel (2007) Keilschrifttexte aus Assur literarischen Inhalts II. Rituale und Beschwoerungen gegen Schadenzauber. [Cuneiform Texts from Assur. Literary Texts II: Anti-Witchcraft Rituals and Incantations]. Harrassowitz.

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract
The remains of the 7th century library found at Assur, which belonged to the exorcist Kisir-Aššur and his family, include a large number of tablets relevant to the reconstruction of the so-called Babylonian ‘witchcraft corpus’. Next to the royal library of Nineveh it represents the most important single group of prescriptions, rituals and incantations addressing sufferings that were believed to have been caused by witchcraft. The present volume is an edition of 66, mostly hitherto unpublished tablets and fragments of Babylonian anti-witchcraft rituals and incantations from Assur, housed today in the Vorderasiatische Museum, Berlin. The manuscripts are edited in hand-copy, transliteration and translation with philological notes. The transliterations and translations are, however, not only based on the Assur texts edited in this volume, but take into account, as comprehensively as possible, the many duplicate manuscripts from other Babylonian and Assyrian libraries. These were collated and mostly copied by the author in preparation of the present edition, but will be published elsewhere. A catalogue with technical details and short characterisations of the texts makes the book easily accessible (pp. 9–19). The introduction to the editions (pp. 1–7) provides the reader with a concise overview of Babylonian witchcraft beliefs and the relevant sources. The topics addressed within this section, which is based on a monographic study of the author currently being revised for print (Abwehrzauber und Behexung. Studien zum Schadenzauberglauben im alten Mesopotamien, Harrassowitz 2007/8), include among others the different genres of relevant ritual texts and the question of their serialisation, the stereotype of the agents of witchcraft as documented in anti-witchcraft rituals and especially in the relevant incantations, examples of concrete witchcraft accusations in Babylonia and Assyria, and, last but not least, the logic and function of the diagnosis and therapy of witchcraft-induced illnesses in Babylonia and Assyria.

https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/3800/

Kinsei enpon shiryo shusei IV: Tsukioka Settei 1: 'Onna shimegawa oeshi-bumi. [Collected Erotic Texts of the Early Modern Period IV: Tsukioka Settei 1: ‘Love Letters and a River of Erect Precepts for Women']

(Description not available at present)

Liberalism, Modernity, and the Nation

In this collaboration written over a decade, Peter Robb, an important historian of the Empire identifies links between liberal rhetoric and modern technology and governance and connects them to building of identities, including the nation. The volume investigates the role played by the British Empire in building of modern India.

Readership: This book will interest students, scholars, and researchers of modern Indian history, politics and sociology, as well as general readers.

Literature, Modernity, and the Practice of Resistance. Japanese and Taiwanese Fiction, 1960-1990

This book is a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary study which compares responses to modernity in the literary cultures of Japan and Taiwan, 1960-1990. Moving beyond the East-West framework that has traditionally dominated comparative enquiry, the volume sets out to explore contemporary East Asian literature on its own terms. As such, it belongs to the newly emerging area of inter-Asian cultural studies, but is the first full-length monograph to explore this field through the prism of literature. The book combines close readings of paradigmatic texts with in-depth analysis of the historical, social, and ideological contexts in which these works are situated, and explores the form and function of literary practice within the “miracle” societies of industrialized East Asia.

Lost Goddesses: The Denial of Female Power in Cambodian History

Women had a high status in pre-modern Southeast Asia; this is constantly stated, especially in relation to discussions on the status of women today in the region. Why, then, is it that the position of women there today is far from equitable? Few studies have examined how, when, or even why this change came about. This is the first study ever to address the place of women in Cambodian history. A narrative and visual tour de force, it revises accepted perspectives in the history and geopolitical organization of Cambodia since c. 230 C.E. In so doing, the book examines the relationship between women and power and analyses the extent of female political and economic participation as revealed in historical sources, including the ways in which women were represented in art and literature. By taking an analytical approach through the sequence of chronological periods, it is possible to determine when and why the status of women changed and what factors contributed to these changes. Significantly, although Cambodian women have been represented at different times as powerless in western analyses, they have continued to exercise authority outside areas of concern to western constructs of power. This study will be of interest to scholars working in history, anthropology, gender studies, politics, religion, Cambodian/Khmer studies, and Southeast Asian studies, and to the well-read general public.

Mapping the Path: Vajrapadas in Mahayana Literature

Document Type: Book
Description: ii, 138 p. ; 26 cm.
Series Title: Studia philologica Buddhica., Monograph series ;, 21
Responsibility: Ulrich Pagel.

Multinational Enterprises & the Law

Multinational Enterprises and the Law presents the only comprehensive contemporary and interdisciplinary account of the various techniques used to regulate multinational enterprises (MNEs) at the national, regional and multilateral levels. In addition it considers the effects of corporate self-regulation upon the development of the legal order in this area. Split into four parts the book firstly deals with the conceptual basis for MNE regulation, explaining the growth of MNEs, their business and legal forms and the relationship between them and the effects of a globalising economy and society upon the evolution of regulatory agendas in the field. Part II covers the main areas of economic regulation including the limits of national and regional jurisdiction over MNE activities, controls, and liberalization of entry and establishment, tax, company, and competition law. Part III introduces the social dimension of MNE regulation covering labour rights, human rights, and environmental issues, and Part IV deals with the contribution of international law and organizations to MNE regulation and to the control of investment risks, covering the main provisions found in international investment agreements and their recent interpretation by international tribunals.

New Wine in Old Bottles. The Art of Ren Bonian in Nineteenth-Century Shanghai

Yang, Chia-Ling (2007) New Wine in Old Bottles. The Art of Ren Bonian in Nineteenth-Century Shanghai. Saffron.

Peasants, Political Economy, and Law

In this collection written over a period of almost two decades, Peter Robb, an important historian of the Empire explores the connections between agrarian policy, revenue, and property law, and commercial production; the emergence of political identities. He investigates issues like economic development, tenancy acts, peasant stratification, 'capitalist' agriculture, and definitions of labour in relation to the British Empire.

Perilous Power. The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy. Dialogues on Terror, Democracy, War and Justice

The volatile Middle East is a site of vast resources, profound passions, frequent crises, and long-standing conflicts, as well as a major source of international tensions and a key site of direct US intervention. Two of the most astute analysts of this part of the world are Noam Chomsky, the pre-eminent critic of US foreign policy, and Gilbert Achcar, a leading specialist of the Middle East who lived in that region for many years. In their new book, Chomsky and Achcar bring a keen understanding of the internal dynamics of the Middle East and of the role of the United States, taking up all the key questions of interest to concerned citizens, including such topics as terrorism, fundamentalism, conspiracies, oil, democracy and anti-Arab racism, as well as the war in Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the sources of US foreign policy. Timely, erudite and incisive, Perilous Power provides the best readable introduction for all who wish to understand the complex issues related to the Middle East from a perspective dedicated to peace and justice.

About the Author
Noam Chomsky was recently named the world's number one public intellectual in a poll by Prospect magazine. He is the author of numerous best selling political works, including Hegemony or Survival, Imperial Ambitions and Failed States, all of which are published by Hamish Hamilton and Penguin. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts, and is a professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT. Gilbert Achcar lived for many years in Lebanon and now teaches politics and international relations at the University of Paris. He is a frequent contributor to Le Monde Diplomatique and is the author of several books on contemporary politics.

Pop Culture China! Media, Arts and Lifestyle

This exciting title in ABC-CLIO's Popular Culture series offers the nonspecialist reader the only up-to-date introduction to all facets of popular culture in China. To westerners, Maoist China was a picture of gray homogeneity. As China emerges from drab Maoism, its popular culture presents a bright tapestry of media, entertainment, communications, sports, food, and consumerism. This book displays for the general reader the colorful cloth that is modern Chinese pop culture. China's release from Maoist austerity has produced an explosion in popular culture. The Chinese have embraced such technologies as television and cell phones, and shaped them to their social context. Understanding modern China requires a through knowledge of daily life there. This book presents readers, from high-school and college students to the inquisitive tourist, with that knowledge. The author, a scholar of Chinese culture, draws on his own fieldwork, along with authoritative scholarship and reporting, to give the reader a comprehensive, lively, and accessible introduction to all aspects of Chinese popular culture. The book begins with an introduction to understanding popular culture in China and covers mass media; print media; cinema, film, and video; the Internet; and also discusses the rise of consumption and consumerism. From the modernization of traditional theater to the traditional uses of modern technology, this book presents a guide to the emerging culture of a country that will inevitably become increasingly influential in coming years.

Rezmi. Sair ve Han

This monograph is an edition and commentary of a collection of Turkish poetry based on a manuscript from the 17th century. The manuscript is a single copy in a private collection and contains the poems of Rezmi identified as Bahadir Giray, one of the Crimean Khans (d. 1641). There are a few poets who used the penname Rezmi, but the very limited sources available do not provide any substantial clues as to their identities. Studying and comparing the stylistic features of these poets, particularly the use of Eastern Turkish (Chagatay) in the poems, led to the conclusion that it was only Bahadir Giray who could be identified as the composer of the poems in this manuscript. The monograph includes translation of the poetry into modern Turkish as well as explanation and discussion of the vocabulary and other aspects of the language, in particular the literary allusions, in the context both of Persian, Ottoman Turkish and the Crimean milieu in which Rezmi wrote. A brief history of the Giray dynasty is also included in order to place the poet in the political context of his time.

Ritual and Music of North China. Shawm Bands in Shanxi

The rich local traditions of musical life of rural China are still little known. Music-making in village society is largely ceremonial, and shawm bands account for a major part of such music. This is the first major ethnographic study of Chinese shawm bands in their ceremonial and social context. Based in a poor county in Shanxi province in northwestern China, Stephen Jones describes the painful maintenance of ceremonial and its music there under Maoism, its revival with the market reforms of the 1980s and its modification under the assault of pop music since the 1990s. Part One of the text explains the social and historical background by outlining the lives of shawm band musicians in modern times. Part Two looks at the main performing contexts of funerals and temple fairs, whilst Part Three discusses musical features such as instruments, scales and repertories. The book is accompanied by a 50-minute DVD also in three parts. The first two parts show excerpts from funerals and temple fairs (complementing Part Two of the text), while the third part contains a magnificent 1992 funerary performance of a complete suite. As a package, the book and DVD illuminate the whole ceremonial context of music-making in rural China, illustrating the total ritual-music experience of villagers, with lay Daoist priests, opera troupes, and beggars also making cameo appearances. Indeed, while the modern stage repertories of urban professionals remain our main exposure to Chinesemusic, this publication is all the more valuable in showing the daily musical experiences of the majority of people in China. It will appeal to ethnomusicologists, anthropologists and all those interested in modern Chinese history and society.

About the Author
Stephen Jones is Senior Research Associate in the Department of Music, The School of Oriental And African Studies, University of London, UK.

Securities Dispute Resolution in China

Securities Dispute Resolution in China is a comprehensive and detailed study of the increasingly important issue of how cases involving securities are dealt with by Chinese courts, commissions and other administrative authorities and by arbitration and mediation in the PRC. The work identifies the nature and types of securities disputes and the various procedures, including alternative dispute resolution, used to address them.

This timely, groundbreaking book is particularly relevant at a time of growing foreign investment in China's securities market. The volume will be an invaluable resource for researchers and practitioners in developed as well as emerging markets.

Contents: Preface; Introduction; The legal, regulatory and judicial framework; The share issuing and trading market; Government and enterprise bond markets; The securities repurchase market; Commodity and financial futures markets; Civil litigation arising from false statements on the securities market; The development of securities dispute resolution in China; Conclusion; Bibliography; Indexes.

Reviews: 'At a time when the expansion of China's securities market opportunity is matched by questions over regulations and investor confidence, Dr. Zhu's volume offers an invaluable in-depth study of securities regulation and dispute resolution in the PRC. Drawing on extensive research in regulatory texts and judicial decisions, Professor Zhu adds welcome clarity to a difficult and complex field. This will be a useful volume for practitioners and scholars alike.'
Dr Pitman Potter, University of British Columbia, Canada

'An illuminating account of civil and commercial litigation in China's securities industry. Drawing on a rich canvas of court cases, Professor Zhu shows how the courts play an increasingly important role in fostering the development of the industry.'
Lester Ross, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Beijing, China

Slavery, Emancipation and Colonial Rule in South Africa

This book examines the rural Cape Colony from the earliest days of Dutch colonial rule in the mid-seventeenth century to the outbreak of the South African War in 1899.For slaves and slave-owners alike, incorporation into the British Empire at the beginning of the nineteenth century brought fruits that were bitter-sweet. The gentry had initially done well by accepting British rule but were ultimately faced with the legislated ending of servile labour. To slaves and Khoisan servants, British rule brought freedom, but a freedom that remained limited. The gentry accomplished this feat only with great difficulty. Increasingly, their dominance of the countryside was threatened by English-speaking merchants and moneylenders, a challenge that stimulated early Afrikaner nationalism. The alliances that ensured nineteenth-century colonial stability all but fell apart as the descendants of slaves and Khoisan turned on their erstwhile masters during the South African War of 1899-1902.

About the Author
WAYNE DOOLING is a lecturer in African History at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Surrogates of the State. NGOs, Development, and Ujamaa in Tanzania

In "Surrogates of the State", Jennings explores the delicate relationship between development NGOs and the states they work in using his exhaustive and illuminating case study of Tanzania in the 1960s and 70s. During that time Tanzania instituted the rural socialist Ujamaa program, resulting in the forced resettlement of 6 million people to villages, transforming the map of the country. Rather than questioning this policy, NGOs working in the area (as typified by Oxfam) became surrogates of the state, helping to carry out the program. Jennings argues that the NGO community was seduced by its own interpretations of what Ujamaa represented, and was consequently blinded to the dark realities of resettlement. Bound by ideological chains of their own forging, organizations that in other contexts have criticized over-mighty states and the use of overt force, NGOs committed themselves fully to Tanzania and its development policy. Through this study, the book uncovers not just the story of development in Tanzania in this critical period, but the history of the NGO itself. And in doing so, raises questions about the future direction of this institution which has become so prominent in international development.

About the Author
Michael Jennings is a lecturer and researcher in East African politics, and the politics of development. A major focus of his work has been on the role of voluntary agency activity in development in East Africa, including NGOs, missions and faith-based organizations more widely. He is interested in the multiple roles which "development" as a process and as an idea takes on, and the synergies between power, politics and development in the North and South. He has worked extensively on the role of civil society in development, and has research interests in health issues in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Bhagavadgita: Doctrines and Contexts

The Bhagavadgita is one of the most renowned texts of Hinduism because it contains discussions of important issues such as liberation and the nature of action as well as the revelation of the Krishna as the highest god and creator of the universe. It is included in the ancient Indian Mahabharata epic at one of its most dramatic moments, that is, when the final battle is about to begin. In contrast to many other studies, this book deals with the relationship between the Bhagavadgita and its epic contexts. On the basis of a thorough analysis of the text Angelika Malinar argues that its theology delineates not only new philosophical concepts and religious practices but also addresses the problem of righteous kingship and appropriate use of power. Malinar concludes by considering the Bhagavadgita's historical and cultural contexts and those features of the text that became paradigmatic in later Hindu religious traditions.

• Examines the cultural and historical contexts of the theology of the Bhagavadgita • Discusses philosophical, theological and ethical concepts in the text which are influential in later Hindu religious traditions • Provides a chapter-by-chapter analysis of the text and engages with other scholarly interpretations

Contents
1. Introduction; 2. Debates over war and peace in the Udyogaparvan of the Mahabharata; 3. The doctrines of the Bhagavadgita; 4. The doctrines of the Bhagavadgita: summary and systematic considerations; 5. Historical and cultural contexts.

The Decolonization of International Law: State Succession and the Law of Treaties.

The issue of state succession continues to be a vital and complex focal point for public international lawyers, yet it has remained strangely resistant to effective articulation. The formative period in this respect was that of decolonization which marked for many the time when international law came of age and when the promises of the UN Charter would be realized in an international community of sovereign peoples. Throughout the 1990s a series of territorial adjustments placed succession once again at the centre of international legal practice, in new contexts that went beyond the traditional model of decolonization: the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia, and the unifications of Germany and Yemen brought to light the fundamentally unresolved character of issues within the law of succession. Why have attempts to codify the practice of succession met with so little success? Why has succession remained so problematic a feature of international law? This book argues that the answers to these questions lie in the political backdrop of decolonization and self-determination, and that the tensions and ambiguities that run throughout the law of succession can only be understood by looking at the historical relationship between discourses on state succession, decolonization, and imperialism within the framework of international law

The Great Arab Conquests. How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In

"An exciting story gets extra colour thanks to Kennedy's ease with the sources" THE SCOTSMAN "The story of the Arab conquests is a dramatic one and Kennedy makes a boldly ambitious attempt to tell it" THE SUNDAY TIMES "Mr Kennedy tells a remarkable tale with skill and authority" THE ECONOMIST "The Great Arab Conquests is history at its most vivid and enthralling. a truly magnificent achievement." THE NEW STATESMEN "fascinating and well-written" The GUARDIAN "a superb history" THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Talk about your clash of civilizations. How is it, wonders Kennedy (When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World: The Rise and Fall of Islam's Greatest Dynasty, 2005, etc), that a comparative handful of desert herdsmen could conquer much of the known world and topple several venerable empires in the bargain?In 632 CE, when Muhammad died, Islam was confined to a few parts of the Arabian Peninsula. The dominant power in the region was the Byzantine Empire, with Greek the lingua franca of Egypt and the Holy Land; in much of the Middle East, Arabic was unknown. Yet, notes Kennedy, something unexpected happened; within the next century, Arabic-speaking armies, most smaller than 20,000 men, emerged from the Arabian desert and took down states from Portugal to Pakistan. The Muslim doctrine of jihad fit nicely with this unprecedented expansion, but it seems clear from Kennedy's anecdote-rich narrative that there was more to it than all that; the possibility of leaving the desert for more congenial, better-watered climes beckoned, and so did the prospect for wealth and booty figure. One telling tale, in that regard, concerns a man who tried to enlist, was warned that he might be martyred as a holy warrior and tried to back out - until he dreamed that should he join he would become rich, "which proved more enticing than the spiritual benefits." But the larger explanation for success, as Kennedy observes, is that the Arab armies were just that - armies: "The early Muslim conquests were not achieved by a migration of Bedouin tribesmen with their families, tents and flocks in the way that the Saljuk Turks entered the Middle East in the eleventh century," he writes. "They were achieved by fighting men under orders." Blend discipline, training and ideology with hunger, set all this up against ripe, decadent, even corrupt targets, and the Arab conquest seems nearly inevitable.A little-known history lucidly told, with episodes that might have come out of today's headlines. (Kirkus Reviews)

The Sardar Sarovar Dam Project

The Sardar Sarovar Project has been one of the most debated development projects of the past several decades at the international level and within India itself. Such is the complexity of the project that it has acquired symbolic status in development debates. This volume brings together all the key documents relating to the project. This includes those pertaining to World Bank loans, the judicial pronouncements of the Supreme Court and documents relating to specific local level issues, in particular environment and rehabilitation. The volume also contains a number of documents unavailable in the public domain. The work includes an introductory section focusing on the history of the project, the involvement of the different actors, the impacts on the local population, and a general analysis of the controversy surrounding it. The volume is completed by a comprehensive bibliography. This compilation provides an easily accessible source for all the main documents relating to this landmark project. It will be a valuable resource for researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of International Environmental Law and International Development Law.

The Scroll for the Purging of the Eyes. Sapta d-pisra d-ainia

CORPUS CODICUM MANDAEORUM M. Tarelko, Shapta d-Pishra d-Ainia: The Scroll for the Purging of the Eyes. 175 p., 210 x 297 mm, Brepols, 2001, HB, ISBN 2-503-51216-X, approx. 60 euro The volume edits two copies of the Mandaean scroll, Shapta d-Pishra d-Ainia from the Drower collection of the Mandaean manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Lady Ethel Drower published in 1937-38 a transliteration and translation of DC21, which was copied for her from a text written in 1853. The second scroll of DC 29, dated to 1910, is published here for the first time. Michael Tarelko (Minsk, Belarus) presents a fresh insight into the Mandaeans and their magical literature. Shapta d-Pishra d-Ainia consists of sixteen incantations against the Evil Eye. Many show a rich miscellany of Akkadian and Jewish influences, reflecting the eclectic popular religious beliefs of the Mandaeans in Late Antiquity. The new interpretation of this text casts light onto Mandaean religious literature, including Ginza Rba. This improved translation of Shapta d-Pishra d-Ainia is accompanied by transliterations of the texts, glossaries of Mandaic (including a dictionary of the later vocabulary used in the colophons) and parallel words in Biblical Aramaic, Syriac and Jewish Aramaic dialects. New words and terminology update R. Macuch and E. Drower, A Mandaic Dictionary (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1962), and there is a useful Corrigenda of quotations of DC 21.

The Struggle with the Angel. A Poetics of Lloyd Newson's Strange Fish

In The Struggle with the Angel Janet Adshead-Lansdale makes two major contributions to research in dance.

Firstly, she takes forward arguments about interpretive strategies based on post-structuralist debate, extending those in her much used book Dance Analysis: theory and practice. These arguments place the analysis of movement, the articulation of structures employed to create form, the identification of subject matter and consideration of its treatment, within a meaning-making framework which locates Lloyd Newson's Strange Fish, created for DV8 Physical Theatre, in the cultural frame of dance and art in the late twentieth century in Europe, bringing the spectator's role to the forefront.

Secondly, she shows the depth that it is possible to achieve through a sustained and extended analysis of a particular work, extending the chapter-length examples in her Dancing Texts. Intertextuality in Interpretation to a full length account. Her own intertextual and creative engagement with the work is balanced by a sense of the uniqueness and integrity of Strange Fish. Drawing on texts related to Greek and Christian histories, to psychoanalytic thinking of recent times and to feminism and queer theory, Lansdale presents cogent interpretations which are critical of, yet in sympathy with, the work.

This text shows how dance research can aspire to, and equal, the much longer-standing analytic accounts of individual works in music, theatre and the visual arts, to penetrate the many layers of meaning that interpreters construct.

Janet Adshead-Lansdale is a Distinguished Professor of Dance Studies at the University of Surrey.

Things Modern Material Culture and Everyday Life in China

How do people relate to things? Much has been written about social movements in modern China, but next to nothing is known about the revolution which transformed the texture of everyday life. This is the first book to map the many changes in the material landscape of China from the mid nineteenth century to the advent of communism in 1949. In the late nineteenth century anything local was increasingly rejected as a signifier of backwardness, while imported goods were embraced as prestige symbols. Modernity had to be brought home to propel the country into the world of 'civilised' nations and join a universal march towards progress. But contrary to other parts of the world, for instance Africa and Latin America, the material goods and technological innovations associated with foreign modernity were not merely imported for elite consumption; they were copied locally and rapidly made available to much larger sections of the population. Debunking the myth of 'hostility toward alien things' which is claimed to have slowed down China's inclusion in the global economy, Dikotter in this richly illustrated book analyses how a very pragmatic attitude towards material goods prevailed, as most consumers bought the new and discarded the old without misgivings. They not only embraced new commodities, but rapidly started producing them for an export market in the twentieth century: cheap goods made in China can be found everywhere today, just as porcelain made in China pervaded the world several centuries ago. If an essential element of a rapidly changing world is the capacity to innovate, could China be more in tune with modernity than Europe?

Reviews

'Once again Dikotter reveals himself as an historian with real vision ... this is one of his best books.'
—William T. Rowe, Johns Hopkins University

'Writing as a historian of consumption rather than production, Frank Dikötter, in Things Modern, attacks the myth that the conservative Chinese rejected foreign consumer goods. On the contrary, he insists, they embraced modernity and consumer goods with extraordinary enthusiasm. ... Dikotter's account of the growth of modern consumption in China is vivid, lively and compelling. His descriptions evoke the noise and bustle of Chinese markets and the eye-catching colour of their goods. ... Things Modern is beautifully produced on heavy paper with wide margins.'
—Delia Davin, Times Literary Supplement

Traditional Folk Song in Modern Japan. Sources, Sentiment and Society

The Japanese say that 'folk song is the heart's home town'. Traditional folk songs (min'yo) from the countryside are strongly linked to their places of origin and continue to play a role there. Today, however, they are also taught as a quasi-art music, arranged for stage and television, quoted in Westernized popular songs and so forth. This book is the first in English to take a holistic view of this genre. The study moves from tradition to modernity, explores a range of topics such as: song life in the traditional village; rural-urban tensions; local min'yo 'preservation societies'; the effects of national and local min'yo contests; the 'new folk song' phenomenon; min'yo and tourism; folk song bars; recruitment of professionals; min'yo's interaction with enka popular songs and with Western-derived foku songu; the impact of mass mediation; and, min'yo's role in maintaining or creating local identity. This book contains a plate section, musical examples, and a compact disc.

Vedic Ideals of Sovereignty and the Poetics of Power

This monograph examines a number of motifs central to the expression of the ideal of sovereignty as it is articulated in Vedic liturgical poetry. It argues that, because the qualities and privileges of a sovereign leader were coveted even by those for whom there was no possibility of attaining royal station, the language proper to the domain of kingship was gradually generalized and used to express aspirations towards a freedom and self-determination that became progressively more mystical in nature. Thus, the study is not primarily concerned with the political history of the Vedic period or the constitutional organization of a Vedic polity. Rather, it focuses on the poetic form of Vedic political discourse within its liturgical context, and upon the ways it was adapted to express new ideas.https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/4078/

War in Pre-Colonial Eastern Africa. The Patterns and Meanings of State-Level Conflict in the Nineteenth Century

This title examines the nature and objectives of violence in the region in the 19th century. It is particularly concerned with highland Ethiopia and the Great Lakes. It will be of interest to those interested in pre-colonial African history, military history, and anyone involved in modern development and conflict resolution seeking to understand the deeper historical roots of African warfare.

What Do Zionists Believe?

Zionism was a movement of national liberation. It sought to establish a permanent home for the Jewish people where they could attain political independence and instigate a national renaissance. Some Zionists were inspired by a vision of religious redemption and the onset of the messianic age. For others it represented the construction of a perfect society. Others aspired to the more modest creation of a modern technological, capitalist state. The Hebrew Republic which came into being in May 1948 embellished all these possibilities. Today thirty-eight per cent of all Jews live in Israel. The tragedy of Zionism was that it arose during the same period of history as Arab nationalism - and in the same land. Our perception of what it stood for and how it came about has been shaped and distorted by the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Colin Shindler explains the evolution of Zionism as a unique ideology and provides a clear and perceptive analysis of its ideas.

About the Author
Colin Shindler teaches at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and is a former editor of the Jewish Quarterly and of Judaism Today. His most recent book is The Triumph of Military Zionism - a study of the Zionist right. He lives in London with his wife and family.

Women and Muslim Family Laws in Arab States. A Comparative Overview of Textual Development and Advocacy

A number of Arab states have recently either codified Muslim family law for the first time, or have issued amendments or new laws which significantly impact the statutory rights of women as wives, mothers and daughters. In Women and Muslim Family Laws in Arab States Lynn Welchman examines women's rights in Muslim family laws in Arab states across the Middle East while also surveying the public debates surrounding the issues. The author considers these new laws alongside older statutes to comment on the patterns and dynamics of change both in the texts of the laws, and in the processes through by which they are drafted and issued. She draws on original legal texts and explanatory statements as well as on extensive secondary literature particular to certain states for an insight into practice, and on; interventions by women's rights organizations and other parties to the debate in the press and in advocacy materials. The discussions are set in the contemporary global context that 'internationalises' the domestic and regional debates.The book considers laws in states from the Gulf to North Africa in regard to their approaches to issues of codification processes and issues of and of registration, capacity and guardianship in marriage, polygyny, the marital relationship, divorce and child custody. It has a full bibliography and includes an annex providing translated extracts of the laws under examination.