Chapter 4 shows how the emergence of novel policy beliefs led to the adoption of globalized state-led development. It documents the policy beliefs of policy-makers from the Brazilian Workers’ Party regarding the benefits of state support for nationally controlled MNCs for the country’s long-term development. It traces the emergence of these novel policy ideas to the epistemic and policy learning of policy-makers and shows how these ideas guided industrial policy and BNDES reform. To further validate the argument, the chapter addresses competing explanations for policy adoption centered on political coalitions, macroeconomic conditions, and business pressures.

Cities concentrate opportunity and inequality. This chapter shows how rapid urbanization has generated both prosperity and exclusion. It analyses the governance challenges of megacities, including infrastructure gaps, housing crises, and fragmented authority. It advocates for institutional reforms to promote inclusive urban development, where growth does not mean gated prosperity for the few but opportunity for the many.

In Singaporean Chinese funerals, small patches of fabric, pinned to the bereaved’s sleeves, have replaced elaborate mourning gowns. Anthropologists, examining the transformation of ritual in similar contexts – supposedly secularizing, rationalizing, post-industrial, late-capitalist worlds – have read such changes as evidence of the simplification of ritual and of ritual’s declining centrality in the marking of death. In this chapter, however, I argue that the shift from gowns to patches is more complex, inextricably linked to the policies of the Singaporean state regarding identity. Gowns were linked to the complexities of Chinese folk religion, a blend of Buddhism, Taoism, and ancestor worship that linked Singaporeans to their histories in Mainland China. The patch, however, articulates a unified Singaporean Chinese identity, described as “Buddhist bland.” Broadly, I address why, when rituals change, some elements are abandoned, seemingly without regret, while others are retained, becoming orthopraxy. While we might expect that the ritual elements that are retained are those that carry the most meaning, in this example, I suggest, the opposite is the case.

This chapter explores the attitudes and perceptions of fifty-five practitioners engaged in infrastructure-related dispute prevention and resolution in the Asia Pacific region. The aim of the survey and follow-up interview conversations is to provide insights into the dynamics, challenges and lessons learned in engaging with communities to prevent and resolve disputes in the context of infrastructure projects. The principal finding of this chapter, based on survey data and follow-up questions, is that from the perspective of regional practitioners, prior community consultation is considered the most effective approach to preventing infrastructure disputes. This finding is consistent with the results of the data analysis in the prior chapter correlating heightened consultation standards with a reduction in the proportion of project disputes. A number of challenges continue to exist in mitigation efforts with the most challenging being the ‘lack of agreement on shared economic benefits’ and ‘limited communication’. Overall, practitioners advised that most disputes arise because ‘there was no consultation or inadequate consultation with a marginalised part of the community’. The chapter also includes practitioner suggestions on areas for improvement. The findings of this chapter demonstrate the significance of effective prior community consultation and grievance mechanisms for preventing disputes.

Consumed by thoughts of a blue flower, Heinrich leaves his cold homeland and travels south until he meets Mathilde, who opens his eyes to the world’s mysteries. Then a tragic event reveals the secret power of poetry …

Heinrich von Ofterdingen, left unfinished at the time of the author’s death, is a masterpiece of philosophical fiction and a classic of German literature. This highly detailed and original interpretation is the most comprehensive and systematic study of the novel ever written. Developing fresh insights into the philosophical ideas of the novel while also attending to its symbolic, literary, and creative qualities, Owen Ware explores how Novalis probes the core problem of modern life – fragmentation, and our sense of alienation from the world. Ultimately, he shows us, this novel is a timeless expression of the Romantics’ idea that only the imagination, guided by love, can bring us back to our spiritual home.

Chapter 2 examines Kant’s distinction between free and adherent beauty and its implications for artistic beauty. This distinction is controversial because adherent beauty, which presupposes a concept of what the object ought to be, seems at odds with Kant’s demand that judgments of taste be concept-free. These tensions, heightened by his remarks on fine art and genius, have led some to doubt whether artistic beauty qualifies as beauty. The chapter reviews major interpretations – Crawford’s abstraction account, the incorporation view, and the conjunctive view. While Crawford seeks purity through abstraction, the other views show how judgments of perfection can inform aesthetic appreciation without reducing it to rule-governed evaluation. These approaches, rather than rivals, are complementary and reveal the flexibility of Kant’s framework. The chapter concludes that treating artistic beauty as a form of adherent beauty allows for informed, though impure, judgments of taste. These judgments allow descriptive and contextual considerations to guide critical evaluation while preserving Kant’s core commitments.

Inclusion is a term used frequently, but what does it really mean? Inclusion in its simplest term is ‘the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure’ (Oxford Dictionary). This is a fundamental right of all people, but unfortunately when diversity exists, this is not a right afforded to everyone. The Oxford Dictionary has an alternate definition which elaborates on this initial one. Inclusion is also defined as ‘the practice or policy or providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who have physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups’. As recognised in this definition, inclusion is about opportunities for all, including those with disability, developmental delay, neurodivergence, mental health difficulties, cultural diversity, variations in socio-economic status, LGBTQIA+ people, gender diversity, people experiencing trauma, unique family structures, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, just to name a few! While there are differences in what every individual needs to be included, the principles of inclusion and the foundation of everyone having the same rights, should not change.

This chapter concludes the book, which examines why Islamist civil wars are especially resistant to resolution and explores pathways toward their end. It draws out conclusions based on the quantitative analyses as well as the case studies of Afghanistan, Mauritania, Mali, and Syria, showing how conflicts framed in Islamist terms can become strategically embedded within transnational networks, increasing uncertainty about actors’ strength and resolve, thereby adding to their intractability. Importantly, Islamist civil wars are not inherently unresolvable; rather, their persistence stems from external entanglements. Insulating conflicts is key to their resolution. Endings of Islamist conflicts may come with setbacks for women’s rights and minority protections, underscoring the need for third parties to mitigate this. The chapter discusses how our book bridges the conflict resolution literature and strategic studies, emphasizing the role of transnational dynamics over ideology alone. It concludes with policy implications: prioritize localization and discourage external entanglement to create openings for conflict resolution in Islamist civil wars.

This chapter examines the “natural” features of a growing economic system, deriving from its inherent dynamics. It highlights the emergence of “natural” rates of profit as a central characteristic of industrial economies and develops a labour theory of these rates, linking them to the fundamental functions of the price system.

The chapter explores the macroeconomic nature of the real wage rate and provides a historical perspective on the determination of relative prices and physical quantities in a dynamic context. It delves into the asymmetric relationship between total profits and wages, considering the roles of new investments and total consumption in shaping economic growth. Finally, the discussion revisits Adam Smith’s distinction between “labour embodied” and “labour commanded,” framing a compact definition of the natural rates of profit as a cornerstone of the pure labour theory of value.