By the early eighteenth century Edo (present-day Tokyo) was one of the largest cities in the world. Sex and erotic allure could be found in many guises in this commercialized urban setting, both in... Show moreBy the early eighteenth century Edo (present-day Tokyo) was one of the largest cities in the world. Sex and erotic allure could be found in many guises in this commercialized urban setting, both in the city’s streets and in print. This chapter sets out to argue that sex assumed a multiplicity of meanings in this context that ranged from pleasure and procreation to potential pathology. To this purpose, it begins by tracing various discourses surrounding the three phenomena that have arguably received the most sustained attention in research to date, namely the sex trade, male same-sex desire, and the erotically explicit materials known as ‘spring pictures’ (Japanese shunga 春画/ shunpon 春本). The final sections aim to move beyond the standard narrative of the Edo period’s flourishing erotic culture by focusing on the female reproductive body, as well as medical and health discourses, thus aspiring to unsettle the paradigmatic character of this (male) pleasure-centred mode of sex and repudiate the monolithic view of early modern Japanese sexuality as unregulated. Show less
Delle Donne, F.; Pavoni, M.; Amendola, C.; Cosco, A. 2024
Business concentration matters for European social democracy because it has been correlated with increased income inequality, a declining income share for labour and increased corporate lobbying.... Show moreBusiness concentration matters for European social democracy because it has been correlated with increased income inequality, a declining income share for labour and increased corporate lobbying. Drawing inspiration from the history of social-democratic competition policy and from renewed interest in antitrust in the USA, this contribution calls for a revival of social-democratic ideas of mobilising competition policy in service of environmental, regional and social goals. As industrial policy experiences a comeback in the EU and abroad, it will be essential to ensure greater conditionality and accountability for private businesses that receive exemptions from competition policy. What is at stake is not only the protection of workers, consumers, and small and medium enterprises from monopolies and oligopolies, but the protection of democracy itself from concentrated private economic power. Show less
This chapter introduces the reader to the repertoire of personal names recorded in cuneiform texts from Babylonia in the first millennium BCE. It offers a historical introduction to the text corpus... Show moreThis chapter introduces the reader to the repertoire of personal names recorded in cuneiform texts from Babylonia in the first millennium BCE. It offers a historical introduction to the text corpus and outlines the aims and limitations of the present volume within the current state of research. Show less