46622 research outputs found
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Knowledge in Modern Transimperial History
No full textThis volume intervenes in the growing field of transimperial history, which explores interactions across empires—European and non-European—between the mid-1800s and mid-1900s, a period of heightened imperial entanglement. It focuses on how actors from one empire came to know, interpret, and position themselves in relation to actors from other empires, emphasizing the role of socio-professional profiles, informal networks, and formal institutions. The volume is structured around three themes. First, it examines actors, including both individuals (e.g. a Chinese diplomat in Europe) and professional groups (e.g. journalists, military officers). Second, it analyzes formations of transimperial knowledge through diverse textual objects such as bank chops and travelogues, highlighting processes of commensurabilization. Third, it explores causes, noting how specific inter-imperial junctures and enabling factors—like language skills and institutional access—facilitated knowledge creation. Altogether, the volume sheds light on the concrete, situated ways in which transimperial knowledge was produced, mediated, and made meaningful in a competitive imperial world
Behind Office Doors
No full textA transdisciplinary history of the 20th-century office, exploring how its spatial forms, technological systems and managerial ideologies were constructed, challenged and lived with. Throughout the twentieth century, office buildings became central to the organisation of societies – yet what went on inside them has remained remarkably understudied. Behind Office Doors explores this history by focusing on users and everyday practices. It examines how office spaces were conceived by architects, designers and managers, and how they were inhabited, experienced and contested by workers. From filing cabinets and air conditioning to EU offices and colonial bureaucracies, the chapters trace how design, technology and organisational thinking shaped office life. Alongside case studies on Europe, North America, Asia and colonial Africa, the contributions reflect on how the office has been approached in historiography. Drawing on cross-disciplinary research, this book argues for the development of historical office studies, showing how the design and management of offices have shaped cultures of work
Microfinance in Cambodia
No full textThis book summarizes the history, system, and current situation of microfinance in Cambodia, examining how microfinance institutions have evolved from the 1990s to the present day. It then looks at the remaining challenges for financial inclusion, and the future directions for microfinance institutions in the country. The book begins with an overview of the microfinance sector in Cambodia, covering key events, the regulatory framework, and key stakeholders. It evaluates the role of microfinance institutions in poverty reduction, as well as the current state of financial literacy amongst microfinance borrowers. Reviewing key policies such as the 2017 interest rate ceiling imposed by the National Bank of Cambodia, as well as government measures and programmes aimed at improving household financial literacy and protecting borrowers, the book provides readers with evidence-based insights into current developments and prospects in Cambodia’s microfinance sector. The role and impact of FinTech on Cambodia’s microfinance sector is also explored. Providing a comprehensive picture of the reality of microfinance in Cambodia, this book will interest students, researchers, and policymakers concerned with economic development in Southeast Asia
Citizen Sensing for Risk Response
No full textThis open access book provides novel insights into the field, exploring the potential for the 'sensing citizens' to concretely influence risk governance by filling - intentional or accidental - official informational gaps. Grassroots-driven environmental monitoring based on own senses or on sensor technology, i.e., 'citizen sensing', can be considered a constructive response to crises. When lay people distrust official information or just want to fill data gaps, they may resort to sensors and data infrastructures to visualize, monitor, and report risks caused by environmental factors to public health. Although through a possible initial conflict, citizen sensing may ultimately have the potential to contribute to institutional risk governance. Citizen sensing proves to be a practice able to address governance challenges with the way data over an (environmental) risk problem are gathered and provided to the public. This essentially unveils the issue of a perceived legitimacy gap in current (environmental) risk governance. Nonetheless, it also opens avenues for a more inclusive and transparent governmental response to pressing and complex risks, affecting first and foremost local people
Stealing from the Gods
No full textStealing from the Gods investigates how authors writing between the first century BCE and second century CE addressed the issue of temple robbery or sacrilegium. As a self-proclaimed empire of pious people, the Romans viewed temple robbery as deeply un-Roman and among the worst of offenses. On the other hand, given the constant financial pressures of warfare and administration, it was inevitable that the Romans would make use of the riches stored in sanctuaries. In order to resolve this dilemma, the Romans distinguished sharply between acceptable and unacceptable removals of sacred property. When those who conducted themselves as proper Romans plundered the property of the gods, their actions were for the good of the state. In contrast, the temple robber was viewed as a stranger to the norms of Roman society and an enemy of the state. Ancient authors including Cicero, Caesar, Livy, Appian, and Pausanias present isolated, grotesque individuals whose actions have no bearing on the conduct of Romans as a whole, rendering temple robbery not a matter of collective responsibility, but of individual moral failure. By revealing how narratives of temple robbery are constructed from a literary perspective and how they inform discourses about military conquest and imperial rule, Isabel K. Köster shines a new light on how the Romans coped with the more pernicious aspects of their empire
Researching a Rigged Game: Digital Approaches to Tracing the Illicit Trade in Cultural Objects
No full textThis open access book on open-source data and the trade in cultural heritage is foundational for object biography, provenance research studies, and social science methodological education. Interest in studying the (illicit) trade in cultural objects, as well questions around ownership, access and protection, have grown in recent years. However, this interdisciplinary field requires a range of methodological skills in order to trace an object's ownership history and the social network underpinning its trade. Drawing from a diverse group of researchers and practitioners, this edited volume brings together methodological, ethical and disciplinary considerations in the use of open source data to research the trade and transfer of cultural objects. As such, it will serve as the paramount guide to anyone who is interested in doing research on this topic
A Democracy, If We Can Teach It
No full textThe Laurence and Lynne Brown Democracy Medal, awarded by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State University, recognizes outstanding individuals, groups, and organizations that produce innovations to further democracy in the United States or around the world. The Rendell Center for Civics and Civic Engagement advances nonpartisan civic learning by working with K–12 teachers and students. Founded in 2014 by Judge Marjorie O. Rendell and former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, the center's programs include statewide read-alouds, where judges, lawyers and other professionals read books to elementary school students across the state, as well as the Citizenship Challenge, an essay contest for fourth- and fifth-graders with prompts based on Pennsylvania civics standards. This book tells the story of how the center equips young people with knowledge about the workings of our constitutional system and prepares them to step into public life as leaders and active, engaged citizens. For this important work, the Rendell Center for Civics and Civic Engagement is the recipient of the 2025 Brown Democracy Medal from the McCourtney Institute for Democracy