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What is Sci-Fi?

Science fiction is a non-realist genre that foregrounds a sense of material plausibility, insisting that despite seeming outlandish, it is consonant with history and the laws of nature. By turns subtle and bombastic, sci-fi revels in discovery and revelation, whether through human ingenuity or world-altering paradigm shifts. The same impulse informs both the idealism of Star Trek and the existential terror of Frankenstein.

Each chapter of this book examines a specific trope or theme through a different critical lens – including eco-criticism, feminism and historicism – while also providing a historical overview of the genre, from its disputed origins to the pulp era, the New Wave, and the exponential growth of Afrofuturism and Indigenous Futurisms. Revered masters such as Isaac Asimov, Octavia Butler and Iain M. Banks are considered alongside newer talents, including Rebecca Roanhorse, N. K. Jemisin and Kameron Hurley. Other chapters provide overviews of different media, from television (Doctor Who, Westworld) to comics/manga (2000AD, Métal Hurlant, Attack on Titan), video games (Deus Ex: Human Revolution) and theatre (Alistair McDowall’s X).

Sci-Fi: A Companion not only provides an accessible introduction to sci-fi for general readers and researchers alike, but also illuminates new approaches to a familiar genre.

Our world is becoming smaller day-by-day due to the effects of technological advances and improvements in transportation. On the other hand, in spite of this world’s apparent shrinkage, issues such as economic growth, unemployment, inequalities in several levels and poverty are getting bigger. The societies have struggled with these issues since their first existence, but nowadays there are no borders or limits to contain a certain problem inside a certain area. A disaster, shortage, conflict, bankruptcy, strikes, etc. in any region affects everyone worldwide in real time. This book includes various analyses of these global issues from different expert perspectives in order to enlighten the readers and make recommendations to policymakers.

The book deals with the problems of media communication and its formation in the Slovak Republic in and after 1993. It focuses on the social function of the media in the sense of journalistic communication. The authors also address the problems of gender stereotypes presented through social networks and advertising in all kinds of media in Slovakia and abroad. This book also explores the question of forming a theoretical basis for the creation of mass media communication (print media, film, photography, literature, works in marketing communication, books). This book does not elaborate on all problems of the mass media in the Slovak Republic, but it attempts to examine the key issues.

In the book, authors from eleven post-communist countries analyse the specific legal and political character of the organs of the control of law constitutionality in post-Soviet states. This is done through explaining the legal and political character of those bodies as well as their place in the system of the state power. The authors also examine tasks assigned to those bodies, the manner of their establishment, the course of their work, the legal force of their decisions and the legal status of their members. In the conclusions, the authors refer to the optimisation of the political status of the organs controlling the constitutionality of law as organs of the protection of the constitution.

Research findings, conclusions and recommendations formulated in the book can be applied with a view to changing the mechanisms of the protection of constitutionality in post-Soviet states or presenting lawmakers in other countries with consequences of adopting particular legal solutions.

Language as an essential and constitutive part of national identity is what obviously gets lost in translation, being substituted by the language of another nation. For this reason, one could perceive national identity and translation as contradictory and proclaim a total untranslatability of the former. However, such a simplified conclusion would clearly deny the actual translation practice, where countless successful attempts to preserve the element of national identity can be testified. The authors of the book focus on the possibilities of various approaches to national identity as a research subject within Translation Studies. The authors hope that the variety of topics presented in this book will inspire further research.

Depuis son adoption de la «　Convention pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine culturel immatériel　» en 2003, la Chine a lancé au niveau national, le répertoire de son patrimoine culturel immatériel, et a élaboré, mis en action des mesures pour sa sauvegarde. Pékin, ancienne capitale des cinq dynasties, possède une source abondante du patrimoine culturel immatériel. Les vieilles enseignes pékinoises représentent un vecteur particulier du patrimoine oral, l’art de la dénomination, l’art de l’enseigne, la culture traditionnelle à travers le Confucianisme ainsi que des savoir-faire. Cependant, par rapport à la valorisation économique, la valorisation culturelle de ces entreprises a été longtemps négligée. En recourant à la formulation du patrimoine culturel immatériel, le présent travail a voulu explorer et étudier la pluralité du patrimoine immatériel des vieilles enseignes pékinoises, afin de montrer son enjeu dans le développement et la pérennité de ces enseignes ainsi que pour la préservation de la culture locale de Pékin.

The main theme of this book is to evaluate U.S. foreign policy patterns towards Kurdish movements in Turkey and Syria and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In the first section of the collection, U.S. foreign policy approaches are examined by comparing multiple U.S. administrations and their responses to Kurdish demands for autonomy. While Kurds have been used to advance particular policy interests, several contributors also identify challenges to Kurdish independence movements linked to ideological divisions and patronage structures. However, Kurds could benefit from political changes even if U.S. policy preferences favor maintaining established borders.

In the second section, several contributors explore the Kurdistan Regional Government’s unfulfilled expectations and the fallout from the 2017 independence referendum. Consecutive U.S. administrations have been reluctant to destabilize the region, supported efforts by Turkey to co-opt the KRG, and impeded Kurdish movements in Syria and Turkey.

Finally, the third section analyzes the ways in which Kurdish movements have responded to long-standing patterns of U.S. foreign policy preferences. Here contributors examine Kurdish lobbying efforts in the U.S., discuss Kurdish para-diplomacy activities in a comparative context, and frame the YPG/J’s (People’s Protections Units/Women’s Protections Units) and PYD’s (Democratic Union Party) project in Syria. Broader power structures are critically examined by focusing on particular Kurdish movements and their responses to U.S. foreign policy initiatives.

La médiation internationale est à la fois un art et une science. Cette étude se concentrera sur la médiation politique en tant que moyen de réglement d’un conflit violent, mettant ainsi fin au conflit et en permettant à la tierce partie mandatée d'aider les parties à trouver des structures et des stratégies nouvelles ou de différents mécanismes pour traiter leurs griefs sous-jacents. Sur la base de 5 phases distinctes, le guide tentera d’illustrer et de démontrer les mécanismes généraux du processus de médiation, démarrant avece le début du processus de médiation jusqu’à l’atteinte d’un résultat satisfaisant et obtenu par le biais de la médiation. Enfin, une étude de cas complexe sur la médiation au Soudan sera utilisée pour valider le modèle de médiation présenté dans ce guide. Einfin, Le manuel se terminera avec des leçons clés tirées du cas et par des réflexions finales d’ensemble. En tant que tel, il est dédié à informer le curieux, à servir en tant que tôme de réflexion pour le praticien plus érudit et à stimuler la conception et l'innovation de l’analyste politique pour contribuer à l'établissement d'une épistémologie fondamentale de la médiation.

A mediação internacional é tanto uma arte quanto uma ciência. A fim de lançar alguma luz e aprender com instâncias de mediação política, este estudo se concentrará na mediação política como um meio de regulação de conflitos, pelo qual um conflito violento é terminado e o terceiro mandatado auxilia as partes a encontrar estruturas novas ou diferentes e mecanismos para resolver suas queixas subjacentes. Com base em 5 fases distintas, o manual tentará ilustrar e demonstrar os mecanismos gerais do processo de mediação, desde o início do processo de mediação até o alcance de um resultado mediado. Finalmente, um estudo de caso complexo das mediações do Sudão será usado para dar sentido ao modelo de mediação apresentado. O manual terminará com algumas lições importantes aprendidas com o estudo de caso e com os pensamentos finais gerais. Como tal, dedica-se a informar o curioso, a servir como um companheiro de pensamento para o praticante mais instruído, e para estimular mais design conceitual e inovação com o formulador de políticas, a fim de continuar trabalhando para o estabelecimento de uma epistemologia básica de mediação.

In der Unternehmenswirklichkeit ist der gesetzliche Normalfall einer Einzelgesellschaft zur Ausnahme geworden. Trotz zunehmender internationaler Verflechtung von Unternehmen fehlt es bis heute an besonderen Regelungen zur gerichtlichen Zuständigkeit bei Klagen mit Konzernbezug. Der Autor beleuchtet umfassend, welche Gerichtsstände der EuGVVO im Rahmen von Streitigkeiten mit Konzernbezug eröffnet sind. Er untersucht dabei ausführlich Ansprüche im Konzernaußen- und Konzerninnenverhältnis. Er hat dabei besonders im Fokus, die Schuttzwecke des materiellen Konzernrechts (insbesondere Abwehr von Gefahren für beherrschte Unternehmen, Gläubiger und Minderheitsaktionäre bzw. -gesellschafter) auch im Kompetenzrecht besser zu verwirklichen und gibt wertvolle Reformanstöße.