To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
This Element examines Tian Qinxin (1969– ), one of the most prominent theatre directors in contemporary China, and her significant contribution to the development of mainstream Chinese theatre in the 21st century. Since her debut productions in the late 1990s, Tian has cultivated a distinctive directorial style, marked by a syncretic fusion of Western and traditional Chinese theatrical elements. While she has worked across a variety of genres, her primary focus has been on stage adaptations. Adaptation is not only a defining feature of her theatrical practice but also a central aspect of her professional life, where shifting political and cultural contexts necessitate her “performance” of various expressions of both femininity and masculinity. Tian's remarkable adaptability enables her to skillfully navigate the evolving landscape of Chinese theatre, the demands of state cultural policy, and the requirements of the commercial theatre sector.
Past climate fluctuations significantly shaped human ways of life. This Element reconstructs the Southern Levant climate (ca. 1300–300 BCE) using high-resolution, well-dated paleoclimate records. Results show a 150-year arid phase ending the Late Bronze Age, likely driving the collapse of eastern Mediterranean complex societies. The Iron Age I saw a return to humid climate conditions, fostering highland settlement expansion and supporting the rise of the biblical kingdoms. This was one of the region's most profound cycles of collapse and revival. During Iron Age II, climate conditions were moderate, similar to today. The Achaemenid period began with brief aridity, followed by renewed humidity. Pollen evidence, along with additional data such as charcoal remains, was employed to trace environmental changes, including variations in the composition of natural vegetation. Human impacts on the environment were also identified, including fruit tree cultivation, deforestation, overgrazing, the introduction of new plant species, and landscape terracing.
'Transfiction' refers to the phenomenon of language mediators portrayed as characters in literature. Research investigating this phenomenon has developed through a long series of case studies. While providing in-depth analyses of different instances of transfiction, case studies have produced findings that are anchored to specific texts, consequently precluding theoretical observations at a higher level of abstraction. Thus, this Element constructs a concentrated profile of transfiction. It asks about the state of the art of this research area and its potential to inform other subfields of translation studies. By adopting a meta-analytical research style, the Element retraces the development of transfiction studies, identifying patterns and lacunae. It then goes on to thread transfiction together with previously disconnected research strands, such as translator studies, suggesting new research questions and methodologies. Ultimately, Charting Transfiction provides a reference point for future research in this area, as well as other subfields of translation studies.
Investigates the 2016 installation of Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language) toponym signs throughout the White Earth Reservation, reflecting an ongoing tradition of Ojibwe linguistic preservation rooted in environmental knowledge of waters. Drawing on ethnographic interviews with White Earth citizens, descendants, and personnel, this work addresses how these public markers make Anishinaabemowin visible in the world for Ojibwe youth and other White Earth Anishinaabeg, while marking the reservation as an Ojibwe space. These place name signs, along with youth language programs, intervene in the legacy of imposed language loss of Anishinaabemowin on the White Earth Reservation caused by mission, day, and boarding schools. Examines Ojibwe people's intergenerational efforts to document place names, responses to these signs, and how they relate to toponymic authority and spatial belonging. Focuses on historic and contemporary stories of Ojibwe geographic relationships grounded in fishing, hunting, ricing, and gathering within and surrounding Gaa-waabaabiganikaag. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
One of the most significant innovations in international industrial organization over the past half-century has been the vertical disintegration of production, with different stages carried out in different countries-a process widely known as the Global Manufacturing Value Chain (GMVC). Trade based on global production sharing within GMVC has been the primary driver behind the dramatic shift in world manufacturing exports from developed to developing countries. However, there are growing concerns in policy circles about whether the GMVC is beginning to lose momentum. This study examines this issue with reference to Southeast Asian countries, which serve as an ideal laboratory for such an analysis. Engagement in GMVC has played a major role in the economic dynamism of these countries, although their levels of participation vary significantly. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
Solar geoengineering (SG) is a set of highly controversial emerging technologies proposed to address climate change by reflecting sunlight away from the planet to reduce temperatures. SG may reduce climate risks, however it also presents novel risks, uncertainties, and challenges, necessitating broad and inclusive public engagement. This Element presents a briefing book and methods toolkit to build capacity for public engagement on SG. Part I of the Element explains the need to build capacity to enable public engagement on solar geoengineering, and presents three methods for doing so: capacity building workshops, participatory Technology Assessment, and Deliberative Polling. Part II presents a briefing book that provides accessible, balanced, and evidence-based information on critical topics including climate science, climate policy, SG science, SG governance and policy, and SG ethics and justice. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
Sincerity is essential to communication: without a norm of sincerity, we could hardly trust what other people tell us. But what does it take to be sincere, exactly? And why is sincerity so important? Sincerity and Insincerity offers a comprehensive review of existing philosophical work on the nature of sincerity and its epistemic value. It puts forward a novel, fine-grained account of what sincerity and insincerity are, and dives into the grey area between the two, identifying various ways in which speakers can be partially sincere. Integrating ideas from different philosophical subfields and traditions, it offers an updated perspective on what makes sincerity epistemically valuable, giving serious consideration to the idea that sincerity is the norm of assertion. Overall, this Element provides a novel, informed perspective on what sincerity is, how it works, and why it matters.
Explores how scientific meaning and decision-making are filtered through the stories we tell about science and through our social, cultural, and personal identities. Focusing on mothers as a prominent and important identity in science communication, this Element explores both the obstacles and the opportunities for public engagement with scientific topics. After providing an overview of the nexus of science communication, stories, and identities, the author applies key insights from these topics to the case study of motherhood in the climate change and vaccination controversies. They then offer science communication strategies based on these insights for science communicators, mothers, and other caregivers. This analysis is original research that demonstrates the value of understanding stories and identities in mobilizing mothers for both science skepticism and science advocacy.
This Element aims to examine how language operates as power across the ecosystem of language teacher education (LTE). It maps how language-as-power (LaP) works at three layers: microsystem (teachers and classrooms), mesosystem (institutions), and macrosystem (socio-politics). Chapter 1 surveys LaP historically, tracing its historical evolution from Plato to contemporary theorists and showing how these ideas shape LTE. Building on this history, Chapters 2–4 unpack LaP across ecological layers: microsystem, mesosystem, and macrosystem. Chapter 5 looks forward, analyzing AI's redistribution and intensification of power at each scale, and applying a 3Ps (possible, probable, preferable) futurology to chart equitable pathways. Anchored in experiences from the Global South, the Element argues that LaP in LTE needs awareness and action. It offers ideas on how to address these issues in LTE by solutions such as widening epistemic access, contesting monolingual norms, and institutionalizing dialogic, justice-oriented professionalism and trans-speakerism, to name a few.
Classical mechanics provided the conceptual and methodological foundations of neoclassical economics, which has its roots in economic individualism. Since the early twentieth century, statistical mechanics has underpinned a lesser-known approach to economics and finance, one that focuses on aggregates and the interactions between individuals. This has led to the emergence of a new field of research, known as econophysics, which brings to the fore concepts such as emergent properties, power laws, networks, entropy, and multifractality, thereby reshaping economic enquiry.
Across the world, most people are religious or spiritual, and many have a strong relational-emotional bond (attachment relationship) with God(s). This Element summarizes social-scientific theory and research on these relationships. Part I outlines basic principles of attachment and religion/spirituality. Part II describes normative (human-universal) processes and patterns. It explains how God and other supernatural beings often serve as irreplaceable relational caregivers (attachment figures), safe havens, and secure bases for people. Then it examines how religious/spiritual development interacts with attachment maturation across the lifespan. Part III explores individual differences in human and religious/spiritual attachment. After describing human-attachment differences, it examines how such differences can manifest jointly in forms of emotionally/socially correspondent or emotionally compensatory human attachment and religion/spirituality. Part IV discusses applied theory and research on religious/spiritual attachment. It explores the relationship between religious/spiritual attachment and health/well-being and concludes discussing how transformation in religious/spiritual attachment can occur through psychospiritual intervention or healthy relationships.
Intra-dural spinal tumours are a rare, yet diverse group of neoplasms, which may occur anywhere along the spinal neuroaxis. Their clinical presentations are typically slow and progressive in nature. Signs and symptoms are dictated by tumour location and size, and occur due to the sequalae of mass effect, oedema, ischaemia and subsequent metabolic dysfunction of neural tissue occurring secondary to compression of neural elements and neural vasculature. Back/neck pain and stiffness are the most common presenting complaint for patients presenting with intra-dural spinal tumours. Further symptoms are dependent on the location of the tumour. Lesions that compress or develop within the spinal cord are associated with upper motor neuron (myelopathic) signs and symptoms, whilst lesions compressing spinal nerves alone are associated with lower motor neuron (radicular) signs and symptoms. In some circumstances, a mixed picture of both upper and lower motor neuron symptoms may also be observed.
Concerns around misinformation and disinformation have intensified with the rise of AI tools, with many claiming this is a watershed moment for truth, accuracy and democracy. In response, numerous laws have been enacted in different jurisdictions. Addressing Misinformation and Disinformation introduces this new legal landscape and charts a path forward. The Element identifies avoidance or alleviation of harm as a central legal preoccupation, outlines technical developments associated with AI and other technologies, and highlights social approaches that can support long-term civic resilience. Offering an expansive interdisciplinary analysis that moves beyond narrow debates about definitions, Addressing Misinformation and Disinformation shows how law can work alongside other technical and social mechanisms, as part of a coherent policy response.
This Element traces the history of Shakespearean bibliography from its earliest days to the present. With an emphasis on how we enumerate and find scholarship about Shakespeare, this Element argues that understanding bibliographies is foundational to how we research Shakespeare. From early modern catalogs of Shakespeare plays, to early bibliographers such as Albert Cohn (1827–1905) and William Jaggard (1868–1947), to present-day digital projects such as the online World Shakespeare Bibliography, this Element underscores how the taxonomic organization, ambit, and media of enumerative Shakespearean bibliography projects directly impact how scholars value and can use these resources. Ultimately, this Element asks us to rethink our assumptions about Shakespearean bibliography by foregrounding the labor, collaboration, technological innovations, and critical decisions that go into creating and sustaining bibliographies at all stages. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
This Element offers a critical exploration of institutional health communication in an era marked by information overload and uneven content quality. It examines how health institutions can navigate the challenges of false, misleading, and poor-quality health information while preserving public trust and scientific integrity. Drawing from disciplines such as health communication, behavioral science, media studies, and rhetoric, this Element promotes participatory models, transparent messaging, and critical health literacy. Through a series of thematic sections and practical examples, it addresses the role of science, politics, media, and digital influencers in shaping public understanding. Designed as both a conceptual guide and a strategic toolkit, this Element aims to support institutions in fostering informed, engaged, and resilient communities through communication that is clear, ethical, and responsive to the complexities of today's health discourse. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
The aim of this Element is to explore borders in ancient Egypt – both the territorial and ideological boundaries of the state as well as the divisions such lines draw between 'Egyptians' and 'Others.' Despite the traditional understanding of ancient Egypt as an insular society isolated by its borders, many foreigners settled in Egypt over the course of the longue durée, significantly impacting its culture. After examining the applicability of territorial state borders to the ancient world, the boundaries of ancient Egypt are investigated, questioning how they were defined, when, and by whom. Then a framework is presented for considering the reflexive ontological relationship between borders and immigrants, grappling with how identity is affected by elements like geography, the state, and locality. Finally, case studies are presented that critically examine ancient Egypt's northern, eastern, western and southern 'borders' and the people who crossed them.
Iris Murdoch challenged the intellectual climate of her day. She transcended the reductive, behavioristic view of consciousness, sought to transcend the theory of values that focuses on will and desire, and defended instead a transcendent understanding of goodness and the Good that can transform us, leading us to renounce our egocentric nature. Her positive view of individual freedom and value led her to oppose strict gender roles and structuralism. Murdoch proposed that, ideally, our lives may be a pilgrimage toward the Good. She believed that the experience of beauty and art can enhance the pursuit of the Good. And yet Murdoch shunned the quest to discover some meaningful, transcendent reality (God or an impersonal, purposive force) to understand ourselves and the cosmos. In her words, 'we are simply here.' The authors ask whether Murdoch's foregoing a search for a broader transcendent reality to understand why we are here is compelling.