As a result of the 1898 war with the United States, the nineteenth century came to a calamitous close for Spain with the loss of its once-vast global empire. And yet, the final decades of that century and the beginning of the next witnessed a cultural fluorescence in Spanish art, literature, and especially music. This chapter examines the contributions made by leading composers in a wide variety of genres, including virtuosic solo pieces, art song, orchestral and choral works, opera, ballet, zarzuela (operetta), and opera. It places this repertoire in its relevant historical context and helps the reader to comprehend its enduring significance and popularity. These composers and their works sought to redefine Spanish identity in the post-imperial era by drawing on the country’s rich heritage of classical music, going back to the Middle Ages, as well as its conspicuous wealth of regional folklore, especially but not exclusively Andalusian flamenco.

President Biden’s Executive Order 14110, ‘Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence’, set a comprehensive policy for the US government to address concerns arising from AI technologies aiming to harness them for the public good. Despite its revocation by the current administration, we argue that the work completed under this Executive Order remains highly relevant for AI governance in civil litigation and beyond. Its deliverables – such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Generative Artificial Intelligence Profile – continue to serve as critical resources for courts, law and policymakers, the private sector, and state and local governments. As AI increasingly permeates civil litigation, legal practitioners and courts are turning to these resources to establish evidentiary standards, assess algorithmic accountability, and navigate ethical concerns surrounding AI use. In the absence of federal governance, the revoked Executive Order’s focus on risk management, civil rights, and adaptive oversight may influence state law, judicial reasoning, and corporate self-regulation, indirectly becoming foundational tools for AI’s responsible integration into justice and society.

The three editors provide an overview of the book where they describe key issues, summarize progress since Sotaro Kita’s (2004) edited volume on pointing, and situating each contributor(s)’ chapter within the context of the book.

Language is the primary mode of communication for humans. However, nonverbal communication, such as gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions, also play a crucial role. In some cases, these nonverbal forms are even more important than spoken language. For example, pointing is a social behavior observed from early infancy and is documented not only in humans but also in other primates like chimpanzees. This chapter explores how Artificial Intelligence can offer a unique perspective on pointing.

Unless the Intellectual Property Protocol and its Annexes within the African Continental Free Trade Area succeed in establishing a unified framework, the IP landscape across Africa will remain fragmented and siloed. This is demonstrated by the existence of two separate regional IP organizations operating along the Francophone/Anglophone divide – the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) – alongside the national laws of ARIPO Member States, and to some extent OAPI, as well as eight subregional economic communities and countries that are not members of either organization. Therefore, the framework for the doctrine of exhaustion in Africa is a patchwork and somewhat disjointed, much like the overall IP landscape. The chapter examines the complex norms governing copyright in Africa and argues that, until the Intellectual Property Protocol (which introduces a regional exhaustion framework) and its Annex on copyright are rectified and properly enforced, upcycling remains a neutral concept within copyright circles. This situation could generate uncertainty for upcycling initiatives or present an opportunity to revalue waste in ways that support the circular economy across Africa.

Suyogbir and Sakambari, though they look well-matched, are worlds apart. Shirishko Phool (translated as Blue Mimosa), a critically acclaimed novel by Bishnu Kumari Waiba (1937–1993), who went by her literary sobriquet “Parijat,” revolves around a one-sided love entanglement between two characters with radically different personalities. Suyogbir, an ex-Gurkha1 in his mid-forties, falls in love with Sakambari, an alpha female half his age. He is a deeply troubled womanizing hedonist full of self-doubt. Sakambari, on the other hand, is a young, strong-willed rebel in her mid-twenties. She is the antithesis of a cliched Nepali woman – she is assertive, smokes a lot, has short hair, and is sharp-tongued – in short, a woman without the normative feminine grace. Although Sakambari is out of Suyogbir's league, he gets attracted to her. Over time, his feelings toward her evolve into an all-consuming obsession, making him confess his love with a “kiss” that leads to Sakambari's subsequent death.

Within the linearity of this deceptively simple unrequited love, Shrishko Phool weaves a complex tapestry of passion and desire, and questions on the twisted realities of life. The text has been able to garner mixed critiques – praised as a compelling text providing an astute observation on the absurdities typical of modern life and criticized as a depressing text lacking originality with heavy Western influence. Nevertheless, the novel has established itself as an existentialist classic in the Nepali canon.

This introductory chapter outlines the central premise of The Cultural Shaping of Emotion: Emotions vary across cultures in meaningful ways as they are shaped by the meanings and practices of the social worlds we inhabit. It introduces working definitions of both “emotion” and “culture” and reviews the historical debate between universalist and constructionist approaches to emotion. It advocates for a nuanced view that can accompany the reader throughout the rest of the book. This first chapter also situates the book’s next eleven chapters in three parts that explore i) a cultural logic to emotion; ii) how cultural differences in emotions come about; and iii) emotion dynamics in multicultural societies. As such, it sets out a coherent narrative for understanding how culture and emotion shape one another. In closing, it sketches how we can employ this book’s insights via a “culturally-informed not-knowing approach” in both research and daily life.

We have previously encountered miracles in New Spain, where depictions of Ignatius provided medical and maritime aid. These intercessions occurred throughout the Viceroyalty with consistent reports surfacing after 1603 when Martín Fernández elaborated on the events in Guadiana (Chapter 3) and when the narration in the Account of the Philippine Islands by Pedro Chirino (Chapter 4) ends. In subsequent years, especially between the beatification of 1609 and the canonization of 1622, instances of Ignatian likenesses credited with cures and other healings proliferated in both peripheral regions of the Viceroyalty and its metropoles: Mexico City and Manila. Although the sources often used the generic term ‘image’ (imagen, effigies), references to portable representations, including engravings and medals, predominated as the cultic media in the region. Unlike other religious objects, impressed images could be produced and controlled directly by Jesuits and reproduced as needed, particularly when circumstances for local manufacture permitted. They were thus mobile and easy to deploy in the mission field, whether in remote regions without a college or when devotees came to a Jesuit institution to obtain an image for supernatural assistance.

Narcissism has garnered a great deal of attention in the early twenty-first century. Because sociology has dominated much thinking in criminology, personality styles including narcissism have not received as much attention. Analysts can conceive of narcissism more broadly and, in doing so, attempt to explain the various forms of unfairness that take the form of crimes.

Epistemic bubbles are informational structures that restrict a thinker’s access to a full range of relevant sources, giving rise to a narrow and one-sided doxastic perspective. Here, I introduce the parallel concept of an affective bubble: a socio-informational structure that impinges in distinctive ways upon its occupants’ emotional states. Affective bubbles, which arise in both online and offline space, can undermine the fittingness, justification and authenticity of an agent’s emotions by harnessing psychological mechanisms of attention, self-regulation and imagination.

This chapter examines the legitimacy and sustainability of sanctions against media outlets as a tool to counter foreign propaganda, focusing on the European Union’s restrictive measures against state-controlled Russian media following the invasion of Ukraine. While acknowledging the pressing need to address harmful disinformation and propaganda, particularly in times of war, we argue that the EU’s current sanctions model raises significant concerns regarding media freedom and freedom of expression. The chapter critically analyses the conceptual ambiguity surrounding ‘propaganda’ and ‘disinformation’ in international law, highlighting the tensions between content-based restrictions and fundamental rights. Drawing on comparative analysis of national approaches, particularly from Eastern European states, the chapter proposes an alternative tripartite framework for assessing media sanctions. This framework focuses on: (1) behaviour and content of media outlets; (2) adherence to principles of independent media and quality journalism; and (3) the relationship with ‘aggressor states’. We contend that this approach provides more objective criteria for identifying bona fide news media and propaganda channels, while better aligning with international human rights standards and the liberal understanding of media freedom.