This book comes in two parts; the first, consisting of §§1–7, offers an informal axiomatic introduction to the basics of set theory, including a thorough discussion of the axiom of choice and some of its equivalents. The second part, consisting of §§8–14, is written at a somewhat more advanced level, and treats selected topics in transfinite algebra; that is, algebraic themes where the axiom of choice, in one form or another, is useful or even indispensable.

Chapter 4 uses original survey data to test the book’s theoretical claims. The first set of findings focuses on property rights. Disputes over state land takings are concentrated where land values are greatest: close to urban centers. The second set of results focuses on how the legal system channels conflict; grievances of rural residents over state land takings often go unresolved. In the wake of state land takings, rural residents use law to fight village leaders and neighbors in order to get a bigger share of limited state compensation for lost land. The data also reveal which villagers are more likely to take action in the face of land grievances. Possible actions include mediating, petitioning, litigating, protesting, and contacting media or a local People’s Congress deputy. Personal connections to the party-state are key, while legal knowledge and party membership have no effect. The third set of results focuses on the official project of legal construction. Data analysis shows that state legal programming changes citizens’ legal consciousness and increases regime legitimacy, as measured by trust in the party-state, for the majority of citizens. Fourth, for the minority of the population that directly experiences grievances over land, trust in the state declines.

At the vanguard of European constitutionalism is the Legal Service of the European Commission. This chapter reconstructs its role in the history of European law, arguing that its lawyers were central to the promotion of the constitutional practice. It charts the development of the Legal Service’s internal views and positions taken before the European Court of Justice, emphasising the importance of personal leadership of the Service. Here, figures such as Michel Gaudet, Robert Krawielicki, Walter Much and Claus-Dieter Ehlermann shaped in different ways the Service, and by extension the course of the legal history of European integration. The chapter details how Legal Service engaged with the broader community of European lawyers and academics in an attempt to sway opinion towards its constitutional understanding of European law. The evolution of the constitutional practice of European law cannot be fully understood without the key role played by the Legal Service.

This chapter delves into everyday administrative work at the Ministry of Culture, with a specific focus on the Mass Culture Institute, the ancestor of the current General Organisation for Cultural Palaces. Based on the personal papers of Saad Kamel, this chapter provides a brief institutional history of the Institute and the low- and mid-ranking bureaucrats who worked to accomplish its mission of cultivating the rural masses. This mission was influenced by diverging ideas about Arab socialism after the socialist turn of 1961. Thus, this chapter contributes to an intellectual history of Arab socialism, by showing how the Mass Culture Institute enacted a grounded version of ‘the socialism of culture’ (ishtirakiyyat al-thaqāfa). Moreover, the chapter explores the key relationship between responsibility and achievement at the Mass Culture Institute. Low- and mid-ranking bureaucrats are constantly concerned by what falls under their responsibility, which is managed by both avoiding to take responsibility for problems and seeking to take credit for achievements (however small). These everyday achievements embody, on a smaller scale, the postrevolutionary state project.

Despite increasing ethnic diversity and a rising proportion of births to migrant women, inequalities in health and care experiences for racial and ethnic minority groups have been a persistent challenge in the UK, with perinatal mental health being no exception. Whilst it is important to acknowledge that inequities in maternal health are a global phenomenon, there is a clear and alarming pattern of people from racialised groups (i.e. those who, based on their skin colour, are disadvantaged due to normalisation of an array of dynamics that favour white people) experience worse maternal outcomes in many high-income countries. Which specific groups experience worse outcomes is dependent on the sociocultural context rather than biological determinism. Childbirth has both a biological and a cultural definition. It is also a political and social phenomenon shaped by the society we live in. Humans’ actions such as the cultural creation of traditions, customs and rules affect childbirth practices directly. These actions take place through social interactions, communication and exchanges inside social institutions and can often be dismissed in the current culture of medicalisation of birth.

Scholars routinely make claims that presuppose the validity of the observations and measurements that operationalize their concepts. Yet, despite recent advances in political science methods, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to measurement validity. This chapter addresses this gap by exploring four themes. First, the chapter establishes a shared framework that allows quantitative and qualitative scholars to assess more effectively, and communicate about, issues of valid measurement. Second, the chapter underscores the need to draw a clear distinction between measurement issues and disputes about concepts. Third, the chapter discusses the contextual specificity of measurement claims, exploring a variety of measurement strategies that seek to combine generality and validity by devoting greater attention to context. Fourth, the chapter addresses the proliferation of terms for alternative measurement validation procedures and offer an account of the three main types of validation most relevant to political scientists.