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When rituals go wrong : mistakes, failure and the dynamics of ritual /
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The present volume is entirely dedicated to the investigation of the implications and effects of breaking ritual rules, of failed performances and of the extinction of ritual systems. While rituals are often seen as infallible mechanisms which 'work' irrespective of the individual motivations of the performers, it is clearly visible here that rituals can fail, and that improper performances do in fact matter. These essays break new ground in their respective fields and the comparative analysis of rituals that go wrong introduces new perspectives to ritual studies. As the first book-length study on ritual mistakes and failure, this volume begins to fill a significant gap in the existing literature. Contributors include: Claus Ambos, Christiane Brosius, Johanna Buss, Burckhard Dücker, Christoph Emmrich, Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin, Maren Hoffmeister, Ute Hüsken, Brigitte Merz, Axel Michaels, Karin Polit, Michael Rudolph, Edward L. Schieffelin, Jan A.M. Snoek, Eftychia Stavrianopoulou, and Jan Weinhold.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047419884 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Handbook of new religions and cultural production /
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The cultural products of new religions and spiritualities are frequently ignored or dismissed within academia, often stemming from a hesitation to acknowledge these movements as genuine. This volume explores the impact of new religions upon cultural production, exemplifying the theological and spiritual principles of particular movements and demonstrating their substantial impact on wider society. Contributions explore the realms of music, architecture, food, art, books, films, video games, and more. This scholarship will be of interest to those who wish to explore the gamut of modern religious expression, and those who wish to broaden their knowledge of the spiritual origins of human culture.
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Includes index. :
1 online resource (xxix, 789 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004226487 :
1874-6691 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ecological economics /
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A textbook about the nature of economics and the economics of nature Is economic growth the cause of or the solution for biodiversity loss? Why do we keep drilling for oil and gas when green energy sources are cheaper? And is it possible to protect nature without government intervention? The answer to these and other questions lies in economic knowledge. But in an age when the boundaries between nature and society are becoming increasingly vague, ecology and economics are still worlds apart. Not only should economists find out more about ecology, ecologists should acquire a better understanding of economic principles and concepts: from Adam Smith's invisible hand to the Gini coefficient and from diminishing marginal utility to the Hedonic Pricing method. The aim of this book is to provide students with knowledge and an understanding of economic science and to offer them a mindset for tackling the important ecological issues of our time. The book demonstrates that economic theories are sometimes part of an ecological problem but can also offer valuable insights in the search for a solution. The textbook is intended for use on ecology courses at institutes for professional education and on science courses. A strange combination at first glance but, having read this book, I am convinced of the inextricable link between ecology and economics. This book is an eye-opener not just for professional and science students but also for policymakers and land managers. My interest increased with every page and my knowledge about the interfaces and connections between two interesting disciplines grew considerably. Hans van Rooijen, Former director of Woodland and Nature Conservation course, Hogeschool Van Hall Larenstein, the Netherlands 'Old-fashioned' administrators and economists have a tendency to regard economics and ecology as counter-forces. And many nature conservationists don't think that nature should be discussed in terms of (economic) utility. In all honesty, both visions are fairly blinkered. It goes without saying that nature has a value in itself, which is why Natuurmonumenten has worked in this area for more than 110 years. But nature also has economic significance - and needn't be an obstacle to economic development. It can even be an economic multiplier. The thinking around synergies between economics and ecology must be intensified, to make the world a better place. This book can only help! - Marc van den Tweel, Chief Executive Natuurmonumenten (Dutch conservation organisation), the Netherlands.
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1 online resource (260 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789086868681
Memories of a Malabar Lady : M. Sreekumari Vasudevan's Reminiscences of Life with Justice K.S. Menon 1926-1956 /
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Memories of a Malabar Lady: M. Sreekumari Vasudevan's Reminiscences of Life with Justice K.S. Menon, 1926-1956 , emerged from conversations between a mother and son spanning a decade. It recalls Sreekumari Vasudevan's early life in the company of her father, K.S. Menon, whose career in the law took them from Mamballikalam, the matrilineal family estate in Malabar, to Madras, other places in Madras Presidency, and the princely state of Jodhpur. It is a story of smaller units and individuals in a sprawling joint family and a young woman's widening arc of experience. The book is remarkable for how Hari Vasudevan combines the skills of a professional historian and the empathy of a son to fashion the story of an era through the personal, modest and smaller scenes of historical change. This book was in manuscript form when Hari passed away, and was finalized for publication by Ravi Vasudevan.
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1 online resource (272 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004752764
Arabic humanities, Islamic thought : essays in honor of Everett K. Rowson /
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This volume brings together studies that explore the richness of the Arabic literary tradition and of Islamic intellectual life, from the beginnings of Islam to the present. The contributors cover an unusually wide range of subjects, including such topics as guile in the Quran, marriage in Islamic law, early esoterica, commentaries on al-Ḥarīrī's Maqamāt , Hellenistic philosophy in Arabic, medieval music and song, scurrilous poetry, Arabic rhetoric, cursing, the modern social and legal history of the Middle East, al-Kharrat's modernist project, and contemporary Islamic thought and responses to it. The volume's range reflects the enormous breadth of Everett Rowson's scholarship and his impact over a lifetime of publishing, editing, teaching, and mentoring in the many fields that constitute the Arabic humanities and Islamic thought. Contributors: Ali Humayun Akhtar, Thomas Bauer, Hans Hinrich Biesterfeldt, Kevin van Bladel, Marilyn Booth, Michael Cooperson, Kenneth M. Cuno, Geert Jan van Gelder, Hala Halim, Lara Harb, David Hollenberg, Matthew L. Keegan, David Larsen, Joseph E. Lowry, Zainab Mahmood, Jon McGinnis, Jeannie Miller, John Nawas, Bilal Orfali, Alex Popovkin, Dwight F. Reynolds, Susan A. Spectorsky, Tara Stephan, Adam Talib, Sarra Tlili, Shawkat M. Toorawa, James Toth, Mark S. Wagner.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004343290 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Millennium Kabīr Vāṇī : A Collection of Pad-s /
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When around 1500 the Muslim weaver Kabīr sang his songs in Banaras, nobody could imagine that at the end of the twentieth century he would he most frequently quoted bhakti saint in north India. Five hundred years after Kabīr was born in Banaras and after at least 80 years of scholarship, do we have any certainty that the songs attributed to him and published in critical and uncritical editions and translations, are by Kabīr? I doubt it more and more. Between Kabīr and our computer age lie 150 years of oral transmission (which never stopped) and nearly 400 years of scribal transmission. We have no oral recordings of Kabīr scolding his audiences and I take it for granted that he did not write down his compositions. What we have are manuscripts in which his popular repertoire was written down, first by travelling singers, and later, in a more respectful and professional way, by devoted scribes. But what do we have of Kabīr in those repertoires? I argue that with certainty we can only say that the version of Kabīr's songs found in the seventeenth century manuscripts is the version commonly used and sung by singers then. Among the pad-s in the Vā]nī of Kabīr we can earmark those that may have been popular in the repertoires around 1550, that is two generations after the death of Kabīr and one generation before the first manuscripts still preserved now were written. The norm is 'occurrence' in Punjab and/or Rajasthan. When everything is said and done, one question remains: How could Kabīr become so charismatic that many devotees, possibly during his lifetime and definitely after his death, were happy to insert his name as bha]nitā in their own compositions and let those songs circulate with his name, not their own? What was his genius that eventually was changed into a social consciousness strongly influencing later generations?
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1 online resource (640 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004752214
Living water : images, symbols, and settings of early Christian baptism /
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This general survey of early Christian baptismal iconography and architecture integrates visual depictions and physical settings of baptism with textual evidence for its practice and purpose. An opening overview of pictorial art (paintings, relief sculpture, mosaics, and ivories) prompts questions about components of the actual ritual which are treated in the literary sources. The study's second half considers selected baptismal structures, examining the symbolism, purpose, and possible meaning of their spatial design and decorative programs. In most instances the synthesis of documentary and material evidence is enriching and complementary. However, even when physical and textual data diverge, their discontinuity demonstrates the variability of ritual performance and the perennial distinction between ideal and actual practice..
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1 online resource (xxiv, 305 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-297) and index. :
9789004189089 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religious perspectives on religious diversity /
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Religious Perspectives on Religious Diversity addresses fundamental and controversial questions raised by religious diversity. What are members of religious traditions to say about outsiders, their views, and their salvific status? And what are they to say about the religions of outsiders - about, say, whether those religions are inspired or salvifically effective or worthwhile or legitimate? Discussion of some Muslim, Christian, and Jewish perspectives is combined with more methodological work. The authors of these ground-breaking and original, yet readable and accessible, essays include established scholars and younger scholars whose reputation is growing. Contributors are: Imran Aijaz, David Basinger, Paul Rhodes Eddy, Jerome Gellman, Mohammad Hassan Khalil, Eugene Korn, Daniel A. Madigan, Robert McKim, John Sanders, and Diego R. Sarrió Cucarella. \'Judaism, Christianity and Islam's attitudes to other religions are thoughtfully examined in this collection, both with fine historical sensibility as well as original constructive contributions from leading scholars in the field. A series of helpful meta-reflections follow on: typologies in theology of religions; the act of comparison between traditions; and a plea for informed tolerance when difference is confronted. A rare treat: an edited collection that is of uniformly high quality, throwing immense light on the subject. It will help specialists and undergraduate students approaching the subject of religious pluralism.\' - Professor Gavin D'Costa, University of Bristol, September 2016.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004330436 :
2452-2953 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Cutting through the surface : philosophical approaches to bioethics /
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This book examines the role of philosophy and philosophers in bioethics. Academics often see bioethical studies as too practical while decision makers tend to see them as too theoretical. The purpose of this collection of new essays by an international group of distinguished scholars is to explore the troubled relationship between theory and practice in the ethical assessment of medicine, health care, and new medical and genetic technologies. The book is divided into six parts. In the first part, philosophers consider the definition of bioethics, the nature of applied ethics more generally, and the possibility of combining utilitarian and liberal strands of thinking in moral and political studies. In the second part, authors discuss the place and justification of principles in bioethics and the significance of medical and nursing experience in moral decision making. The third part addresses the complementary (or contradictory, as the case may be) principles of dignity, autonomy, precaution, and solidarity, and their use in theoretical and practical settings. In the fourth part, public health measures and experimental research are defended against traditional moral concerns. Part five scrutinizes parental responsibilities in bearing and rearing children, especially the reasons for and against human reproduction in individual cases. In part six, enhancements to human nature by various means are analyzed. Following in the footsteps of four previous collections in the Values in Bioethics special series by the same editorial team- Scratching the Surface of Bioethics , Bioethics and Social Reality , Ethics in Biomedical Research , and Arguments and Analysis in Bioethics -this book, compiled in honor of Professor Matti Häyry's 50th birthday, drills into the core of the discipline to show the philosophical depths that lie under the polished surface of policy-driven everyday bioethics.
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1 online resource (xii, 258 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789042027404 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Early Greek poets' lives : the shaping of the tradition /
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This book examines the formation and development of the biographical traditions about early Greek poets, focusing on the traditions of Hesiod, Stesichorus, Archilochus, Hipponax, Terpander and Sappho. The study provides a detailed overview of the traditions and chronographical material about these poets and seeks to clarify who were the creators of the particular traditions; what were the sources; when the traditions were formed; and to what extent they are shaped by formulaic themes and story-patterns. It challenges several mainstream assumptions on the subject, for example, that the traditions were formed mainly in the Post-Classical period; that the only significant source for the legends is the works of the particular poet; and that the poets were perceived as "new heroes."
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004193284 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Handbook of religion and the authority of science /
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There has been a significant but little-noticed aspect of the interface between science and religion, namely the widespread tendency of religions to appeal to science in support of their truth claims. Though the appeal to science is most evident in more recent religions like Christian Science and Scientology, no major faith tradition is exempt from this pattern. Members of almost every religion desire to see their 'truths' supported by the authority of science - especially in the midst of the present historical period, when all of the comforting old certainties seem problematic and threatened. The present collection examines this pattern in a wide variety of different religions and spiritual movements, and demonstrates the many different ways in which religions appeal to the authority of science. The result is a wide-ranging and uniquely compelling study of how religions adapt their message to one of the major challenges presented by the contemporary world.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004216389 :
1874-6691 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Revolt and resistance in the ancient Classical world and the Near East : in the crucible of empire /
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This collection of essays contains a state of the field discussion about the nature of revolt and resistance in the ancient world. While it does not cover the entire ancient world, it does focus in on the key revolts of the pre-Roman imperial world. Regardless of the exact sequence, it was an undeniable fact that the area we now call the Middle East witnessed a sequence of extensive empires in the second half of the last millennium BCE. At first, these spread from East to West (Assyria, Babylon, Persia). Then after the campaigns of Alexander, the direction of conquest was reversed. Despite the sense of inevitability, or of divinely ordained destiny, that one might get from the passages that speak of a sequence of world-empires, imperial rule was always contested. The essays in this volume consider some of the ways in which imperial rule was resisted and challenged, in the Assyrian, Persian, and Hellenistic (Seleucid and Ptolemaic) empires. Not every uprising considered in this volume would qualify as a revolution by this definition. Revolution indeed was on the far end of a spectrum of social responses to empire building, from resistance to unrest, to grain riots and peasant rebellions. The editors offer the volume as a means of furthering discussions on the nature and the drivers of resistance and revolution, the motivations for them as well as a summary of the events that have left their mark on our historical sources long after the dust had settled.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004330184 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Sacred tropes : Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an as literature and culture /
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Contemporary sacred text scholarship has been stimulated by a number of intersecting trends: a surging interest in religion, sacred texts, and inspirational issues; burgeoning developments in and applications of literary theories; intensifying academic focus on diverse cultures whether for education or scholarship. Although much has been written individually about Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an, no collection combines an examination of all three. Sacred Tropes interweaves Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an essays. Contributors collectively and also often individually use mixed literary approaches instead of the older single theory strategy. Appropriate for classroom or research, the essays utilize a variety of literary theoretical lenses including environmental, cultural studies, gender, psychoanalytic, ideological, economic, historicism, law, and rhetorical criticisms through which to examine these sacred works.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047430964 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
ha-Ish Moshe : studies in scriptural interpretation in the Dead Sea Scrolls and related literature in honor of Moshe J. Bernstein /
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The eighteen studies in this volume in honor of Moshe Bernstein on the occasion of his 70th birthday mostly engage with Jewish scriptural interpretation, the principal theme of Bernstein's own research career as expressed in his collected essays, Reading and Re-Reading Scripture at Qumran (Brill, 2013). The essays develop a variety of aspects of scriptural interpretation. Although many of them are chiefly concerned with the Dead Sea Scrolls, the significant contribution of the volume as a whole is the way that even those studies are associated with others that consider the broader context of Jewish scriptural interpretation in late antiquity. As a result, a wider frame of reference for scriptural interpretation impinges upon how scripture was read and re-read in the scrolls from Qumran.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004355729 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Sex, love, and friendship : studies of the Society for the Philosophy of Sex and Love, 1993-2003 /
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The joke is that all the prostitutes go on vacation when the philosophers come to town. The reason that the other conventioneers do it; philosophers just talk about it. And talk about sex and love, and friendship is what the contributors to this volume do! They talk and argue, split hairs and clarify, all trying to advance our understanding of this most interesting practice of the human species. Some of the best minds on three continents, from four nations, and eighteen of the United States discuss such topics as adultery, commitment, cross dressing, gender politics, date rape, family, friendship, friends as lovers, gayness, love, marital pluralism, marriage, prostitution, religiously motivated anti-queer sentiments, same sex marriage, seduction, and self-respect. Rather than preach, participants probe our attitudes and practices involving these issues with the aim of better understanding the broad range of sexual practices of our species. The result is a collection of stimulating essays that can enliven class discussions as well as provide guidance for the sexually perplexed. The work is accessible to readers from high school through college and beyond.
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1 online resource (xvi, 552 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789401200684 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Codex Judas papers : proceedings of the International Congress on the Tchacos Codex held at Rice University, Houston, Texas, March 13-16, 2008 /
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This book contains the proceedings from the Codex Judas Congress, the first international conference held to discuss the newly-restored Tchacos Codex. Given that the Tchacos Codex is a newly-conserved ancient book of Christian manuscripts which had yet to be discussed collaboratively by a body of scholars, the research conducted and published within this book by the members of the Codex Judas Congress is nothing less than a landmark in Gnostic studies. Scholars address issues of identity and community, portraits of Judas, astrological lore, salvation and praxis, text and intertext, and manuscript matters. Although the contributions show a variety of interpretations of the Tchacos texts, several points of agreement emerge, including the assessment that the Codex belonged to early Christians in conflict with other Christians who belonged to the apostolic or conventional church. Contributors include: Grant Adamson, Johanna Brankaer, Fernando Bermejo Rubio, Serge Cazelais, April D. DeConick, Ismo Dunderberg, Niclas Förster, Wolf-Peter Funk, Simon Gathercole, Matteo Grosso, Lance Jenott, Karen King, Nicola Denzey Lewis, Alastair Logan, Antti Marjanen, Marvin Meyer, Elaine Pagels, Birger A. Pearson, Pierluigi Piovanelli, James M. Robinson, Gesine Schenke Robinson, Kevin Sullivan, Franklin Trammel, Johannes van Oort, Bas van Os, Louis Painchaud, Tage Petersen, John D. Turner, and Gregor Wurst.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004181403 :
0929-2470 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Muslim Subjectivities in Global Modernity : Islamic Traditions and the Construction of Modern Muslim Identities /
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With critical reference to Eisenstadt's theory of "multiple modernities," Muslim Subjectivities in Global Modernity discusses the role of religion in the modern world. The case studies all provide examples illustrating the ambition to understand how Islamic traditions have contributed to the construction of practices and expressions of modern Muslim selfhoods. In doing so, they underpin Eisenstadt's argument that religious traditions can play a pivotal role in the construction of historically different interpretations of modernity. At the same time, however, they point to a void in Eisenstadt's approach that does not problematize the multiplicity of forms in which this role of religious traditions plays out historically. Consequently, the authors of the present volume focus on the multiple modernities within Islam, which Eisenstadt's theory hardly takes into account.
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1 online resource. :
9789004425576
9789004425569