In modern Japan, anti-establishment ideas have related in many ways to Japan’s capitalist development and industrialisation. Activist and intellectual Ishikawa Sanshirō exemplifies this imagination... Show moreIn modern Japan, anti-establishment ideas have related in many ways to Japan’s capitalist development and industrialisation. Activist and intellectual Ishikawa Sanshirō exemplifies this imagination, connecting European and Japanese thought during the first decades of the twentieth century. This book investigates the emergence of a strand of non-violent anarchism, reassessing in particular the role of geographical thought in modern Japan as both a vehicle of political dissent and a basis for dialogue between Eastern and Western radical thinkers. By tracing Ishikawa’s travels, intellectual interests and real-life encounters, Nadine Willems identifies a transnational ‘geographical imagination’ that valued ethics of cooperation in the social sphere and a renewed awareness of the man-nature interaction. The book also examines experiments in anarchist activism informed by this common imagination and the role played by the practices of everyday life as a force of socio-political change. The new and now unabridged translation of the original text captures the impact of Huizinga’s deep scholarship and powerful language. The translation is based on the Dutch edition of 1941 – the last edition Huizinga worked on. It features English renderings of the Middle French poems and other contemporary sources, and its colour illustrations include over three hundred paintings and prints, illuminated manuscripts, and miniatures pertinent to Huizinga’s discourse. A complete bibliography of Huizinga’s sources will facilitate further research, while an epilogue addresses the meaning and enduring importance of this classic work. Show less
In de tweede helft van de 20e eeuw werd de Nederlandse politiek gedomineerd door drie ideologische hoofdstromen. Het CDA en zijn voorgangers ARP, CHU en KVP representeerden het... Show moreIn de tweede helft van de 20e eeuw werd de Nederlandse politiek gedomineerd door drie ideologische hoofdstromen. Het CDA en zijn voorgangers ARP, CHU en KVP representeerden het christendemocratische gedachtegoed, de PvdA het sociaaldemocratische en de VVD het liberale denken. In de eerste decennia van de 21e eeuw is het echter voorbij met hun gezamenlijke dominantie. De hoofdstromen zijn smaller geworden, enkele lijken soms op te drogen, en links en rechts ervan zijn diverse nieuwe politieke stromen en stroompjes ontstaan. Het politieke driestromenland van weleer is veranderd in een door variëteit gekenmerkte delta. In Van driestromenland tot delta? onderzoekt een verscheidenheid aan auteurs hoe Nederland zich in deze periode politiek-ideologisch en organisatorisch heeft ontwikkeld. Tevens wordt beschreven wat zoal de mogelijke gevolgen zijn van het verdwijnen van het vertrouwde driestromenland en de ontwikkeling van de politieke delta voor democratie, bestuur en regeerbaarheid van Nederland. Show less
In the historiography of the period of Dutch rule in the Cape of Good Hope, from 1652 until 1795, Cape burghers are represented as the perpetual underdogs bristling against the rule of a... Show moreIn the historiography of the period of Dutch rule in the Cape of Good Hope, from 1652 until 1795, Cape burghers are represented as the perpetual underdogs bristling against the rule of a restrictive Dutch East India Company (VOC). But was this relationship really so antagonistic? The author places Cape colonial society in the wider context of the Dutch Republic and, in doing so, compares the political structures, institutions and dynamics of the Republic and its overseas settlement. He shows that Cape residents in the middle and upper layers of society took their cues from the Dutch political world and that connections between Company administrators and burghers were fashioned in much the same way as regent families in the Dutch Republic formed political factions. Cape burghers were, in fact, able to influence policies in their favour by using the means open to them within the Dutch tradition of politics. The author offers new evidence, new interpretations and a new narrative about well-known events in Cape history, based on an exploration of where the burghers came from, what their position was, and how the Cape political world operated. The picture that emerges is not a conflict between burghers and government per se but rather a fight for power between factions, consisting of both VOC officials and burghers, within the ruling elite. Show less
Gum Arabic has been seen as a symbol of the “noble Orient” and later as a symbol of trouble. It is the hardened sap of varieties of acacia trees which grow exclusively in the Sahel, an area... Show moreGum Arabic has been seen as a symbol of the “noble Orient” and later as a symbol of trouble. It is the hardened sap of varieties of acacia trees which grow exclusively in the Sahel, an area stretching across the African continent just south of the Sahara. From the time of the Crusades, when Europeans purchased it in Arab countries, it has played an ever-growing role in the global economy. It is now a common ingredient in foods, sodas, and cosmetics. Combining cultural history with travel writing, Dorrit van Dalen follows the fascinating history and shifting meanings assigned to gum Arabic from Shakespeare to Bin Laden and from the Industrial Revolution to a veteran of a recent coup d’état in Chad. She shows that both African and Western civilisations would not be the same without these tears of the acacia. Show less
Liefaard, Ton; Rap, Stephanie; Rodrigues, Peter 2019
This first volume in the Monitoring Children’s Rights in the Netherlands series pays tribute to the 30th anniversary of the CRC and includes a report on the rights of children in the Netherlands,... Show moreThis first volume in the Monitoring Children’s Rights in the Netherlands series pays tribute to the 30th anniversary of the CRC and includes a report on the rights of children in the Netherlands, presenting key facts and figures relating to the rights of children. The report shows that there are significant concerns relating to discrimination, exclusion and disparities in the implementation of children’s rights in the Netherlands. It also demonstrates that there are reasons for concern with regard to the protection of children against violence, including child abuse and neglect. Children living in poverty are disproportionately affected by this. Moreover, children’s participation rights have increasingly received attention in the past years. At the same time, it is concluded that there are some persistent challenges, among others, in citizenship education, and that it is remarkable that the Dutch government has, as of yet, neither signed nor ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on a Communications Procedure. The book also includes an editorial highlighting the significance of children’s rights monitoring, and an in-depth study on the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and its implications for children’s rights Show less
Big Books in Times of Big Data examines recent trends of size and scale in the novel in terms of the shift from the bound book to the newer materialities of the digital. Using a wide-ranging... Show moreBig Books in Times of Big Data examines recent trends of size and scale in the novel in terms of the shift from the bound book to the newer materialities of the digital. Using a wide-ranging international archive of hefty tomes by authors such as Mark Z. Danielewski, Roberto Bolaño, Elena Ferrante, and Karl Ove Knausgård, George R.R. Martin, Jonathan Franzen, and William T. Vollmann, Van de Ven takes us into a contested bookish terrain beyond the 1,000-page mark, where issues of scale and readerly comprehension clash with authorial aggrandizement and the pleasures of ‘binging’ and serial consumption. Show less
Nimwegen, Olaf van; Prud’homme van Reine, Ronald; Sicking, Louis; Vliet, Adri van 2019
The Eighty Years War offers an insight into the military factors at play in the creation of the Dutch Republic. In 1648 the Spanish empire agreed to a peace treaty that ended decades of fighting... Show moreThe Eighty Years War offers an insight into the military factors at play in the creation of the Dutch Republic. In 1648 the Spanish empire agreed to a peace treaty that ended decades of fighting and resulted in the division of the Low Countries and the birth of the Republic. From the outset, the conflict between the Dutch insurgents and their Spanish sovereign lord captured the imagination. As a result of eighty years of warfare, the provincial States and the Calvinists gained the upper hand in the north and the Spanish rulers and the Catholic church in the south. Against all expectations, Philip II and his successors failed to win a conclusive victory over their rebellious Dutch subjects; in the end Spain was compelled to admit military defeat at the negotiating table in Münster and recognise the breakaway Dutch provinces as a sovereign state. The birth of the new state was to no small degree determined by the balance of military power on land and at sea, and this book, illustrated in colour throughout, brings together all aspects of our country’s military history for the first time. Filling a gap in current scholarship, The Eighty Years War investigates the relationship between maritime and land-based developments in the fields of weapons technology, tactics and organisation in the period from 1568 to 1648. Show less
Walt Whitman, a world poet and the father of American free verse, has been read by diverse audiences from around the world. Literary and cultural scholars have studied Whitman’s interaction with... Show moreWalt Whitman, a world poet and the father of American free verse, has been read by diverse audiences from around the world. Literary and cultural scholars have studied Whitman’s interaction with social, political and literary movements of different countries. Despite his continuing presence in Iran, Whitman’s reception in this country has remained unexplored. Additionally, Iranian reception of Western literature is a field still in its infancy and under-researched, particularly due to contemporary political circumstances. The Persian Whitman examines Whitman’s heretofore unexplored reception in Iran. It is primarily involved with the “Persian Whitman,” a new phenomenon born in diachronic and synchronic dialogue between the Persian culture and an American poet. Show less
During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln’s administration engaged in protracted negotiations with representatives of the Netherlands to aid in the voluntarily colonization of free... Show moreDuring the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln’s administration engaged in protracted negotiations with representatives of the Netherlands to aid in the voluntarily colonization of free African Americans to Suriname. Scores of diplomatic letters in Dutch, English, and French, dating to the period 1862 to 1866 attest to the very real possibility that such a migration stream could have become a reality. They also indicate reasons why this scheme failed: it was bogged down by differences of opinion, mail delays, and ultimately the reluctance of African Americans to migrate. Previously unpublished and unknown, these letters have been transcribed and translated here for the first time. The sources provide a rare look inside the minds of liberal government officials during the age of emancipation in the Atlantic World. They demonstrate the officials’ humanitarian concerns, their racial prejudices, respect for legal order and process, and faith in governments to solve international problems. Show less
This handbook describes the process of training community-based sociotherapy in four geographically and politically diverse areas where war had left deep scars. The training is aimed at developing... Show moreThis handbook describes the process of training community-based sociotherapy in four geographically and politically diverse areas where war had left deep scars. The training is aimed at developing three skills in targeted groups: the ability to facilitate sociotherapy groups in their own region, to recruit and train more sociotherapists and set up and maintain an appropriate sociotherapy organisation. Dialogue proved to be a suitable tool for arriving at the right training content and form. Dialogue brought about enthusiasm, but also caused confusion and uncertainty. Family-like feelings developed without the presence of a ‘strictly controlling father’. Playing games on a daily basis facilitated participants to give meaning to these experiences. A variety of inter-referring methods proved to be the route to a participatory process of increasing safety, trust, care, respect and having a say in collective affairs. These concepts were used as the subject of further conversation. Training in this group-oriented way at the same time brought about change in the sociotherapists themselves: in their perception of role definitions, in their expectations and thoughts on the meaning of values that always play a role in social change. Their regained dignity was thus, ultimately, the result of their own participation. Mutual trust and social assistance returned thousandfold and were perceived as reliable and sustainable. Show less
Based on exclusive access to both the personnel and the archives of the Royal Netherlands Army Special Forces Regiment (Korps Commandotroepen), this book tells the unique history of the Dutch Green... Show moreBased on exclusive access to both the personnel and the archives of the Royal Netherlands Army Special Forces Regiment (Korps Commandotroepen), this book tells the unique history of the Dutch Green Berets and their operations in the post-Cold War era. With a focus on the Special Forces' secret missions abroad – especially in Iraq, Afghanistan and West Africa – this narrative provides exceptional insides into the Dutch commando community, into the use of Special Forces in modern coalition warfare and into the challenges facing contemporary counter-insurgency campaigns. Callsign Nassau primarily conveys the story of how the Netherlands transformed its Army Special Forces Regiment after 1989 for use in international interventions. How this was done, along with where the Dutch commandos were deployed, is described in detailed reconstructions. Show less
The concepts of democratic legitimacy and the separation of powers have played vital roles in the evolution of many modern states. In recent decades, however, some national governments have begun... Show moreThe concepts of democratic legitimacy and the separation of powers have played vital roles in the evolution of many modern states. In recent decades, however, some national governments have begun to cede portions of their oversight to international or supranational power holders, as can be seen with the example of the European Union. Considering this new context, can the combination of democratic legitimacy and the separation of powers still prove useful outside of the framework of a traditional state—and if so, in what form? The Powers That Be explores this question in essays that address legislative, executive, and judicial concerns through groundbreaking theoretical discussions and explorations of legal cases and developments. Show less
