Europeans promoted many alternatives to what became in the 1990s ‘neoliberal globalisation’. In the 1970s and 1980s, they promoted a vision of globalisation that was a compromise between liberty capitalism, solidarity capitalism, and community capitalism with its STABEX programme in 1975, which aimed to stabilise export revenue for some associated countries in the Global South. Thatcher’s policy with Nissan or shipyards shows that even a neoliberal leader such as she could practice neomercantilism, but in a much less systematic and showy manner than in Colbertist France. For all that, there was no common promotion of ‘European preference’, despite numerous talks. A minimal promotion of community capitalism emerged through the notion of ‘normative power’. The failure of the most ambitious projects should not obscure the weight of (often EC-level) protectionist regulations in numerous international markets during the 1970s and 1980s. This came in sectors such as agriculture, steel, textiles, and automobiles, before the advent of a more neoliberal form of globalisation after the completion of the Uruguay Round of the GATT (1986–1994).

The essay explores pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Dodona, in Epirus, through a phenomenological lens, aiming to reconstruct the experience of ancient pilgrims. The study highlights the significance of landscape, movement, and motivation, on the basis that Dodona’s natural features and architectural layout deeply influenced pilgrims’ perceptions. The phenomenological approach draws on landscape archaeology, analyzing human interaction with sacred spaces. The analysis examines not only motivations behind oracular activity, but also other purposes, such as attending the Naia festival, and emphasizes the interplay of visibility and movement as pilgrims approached the sanctuary. Although reconstructing individual experiences is challenging, common patterns in collective behavior, such as rituals, processions, and religious practices, offer insights into the ancient pilgrimage experience. In short, the study uses literary, epigraphic, and material evidence to discuss how Dodona’s sacred landscape shaped its visitors’ religious and emotional experiences, contributing to a broader understanding of Greek pilgrimage traditions.

Chapter 5 examines the distinctive characteristics of Nordic leadership at the individual level, highlighting how cooperation and consensus-building form its core. It introduces the concept of “wicked problems” to demonstrate why Nordic leadership approaches – characterized by humility, collaboration, and democratic engagement – are particularly well-suited for addressing complex sustainability challenges. The chapter identifies key Nordic leadership norms including cooperation, modesty, humanism, and democracy, contrasting them with more hierarchical approaches common in American business. Through analysis of how Nordic leaders navigate complex challenges, it demonstrates why these leadership practices are increasingly relevant for addressing global sustainability challenges. The chapter concludes by arguing that while Nordic leadership may not suit every situation, its emphasis on cooperation and stakeholder engagement offers valuable lessons for tackling the complex, interconnected problems represented by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Paul has often been cast as someone who sought to abolish or transcend ethnic identities based on his adamantly held view that Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews) could become adherents of the God of Israel. This chapter examines Paul’s statements about Gentiles, argues that it is apt to think of these statements in terms of stereotyping, and establishes that Paul was capable of thinking in generalizing and essentializing ways about this large swath of the human population.

This essay pursues an ontological understanding of consultations at Dodona. The premise of this investigation is that if we are to understand a divinatory consultation as the Greeks themselves did, then we need to put aside our own Western Post-Enlightenment (largely secular) ontological assumptions concerning the existence of supernatural beings and view the world through the ontological assumptions of the Greeks themselves. This is a much more radical suggestion than the traditional injunction of putting on the cultural filters of the ancient Greeks, in as much as that step is then invariably followed by an act of cultural translation (which all too often is a ‘mistranslation’). The practice of divination, therefore, should be analysed in emic terms and then described in those terms as well, rather than being re-described in our own terms. Nevertheless, the emic understanding of a consultation can be enhanced by the application of Actor-Network Theory and an Object-Oriented Ontology, since they reveal the implicit social dynamics involved in consulting and interpreting oracles.

Chapter 8 critically examines key critiques and limitations of Nordic capitalism, with particular focus on its fundamental contradiction: While celebrated as sustainability leaders, Nordic nations consume resources at rates requiring multiple Earths’ worth of regenerative capacity – a reality that fundamentally undermines their global reputation and demands urgent action. Through systematic analysis of common “Yeah, but” dismissals, the chapter explores how Nordic societies navigate tensions between sustainability ambitions and consumption practices, immigration and welfare state maintenance, and racial equality and social cohesion. While acknowledging these serious challenges, particularly the urgent need to address overconsumption, it demonstrates how Nordic societies’ democratic institutions enable constructive responses to complex problems. It argues that examining Nordic shortcomings yields valuable insights for other nations seeking to advance sustainable development through democratic means. The chapter concludes that maintaining curiosity and openness to learning from others’ experiences – both successes and failures – is essential for addressing global sustainability challenges.

In 1957 the Europeans created the European Economic Community, which is the basis for today’s European Union. Despite its name, this Community has not been able to promote communitarianism in the sense used in this book, namely a policy seeking to bolster the group. Creating a European organisation based on community capitalism has involved grappling with complex questions: who is a partner and who is a foe? Should Europeans companies be favoured or not? Should Europeans be capable of defending themselves independently, or through the US alliance? This chapter will show first that during the Cold War (1947–1991) defence and diplomacy were largely coordinated on a North Atlantic scale through NATO, despite numerous attempts to create a ‘European power’ (including with a nuclear arsenal). Second, some form of European protectionism nevertheless thrived in specific areas, such as agriculture and aeronautics, but surprisingly not in energy. Third, the ubiquity of national industrial policies led European institutions to counterbalance these policies through free-market rules rather than the creation of Europe-wide industrial policy.

The conclusion brings together the various threads of this study and discusses the manifold roles that ethnic stereotypes play in the context of the Pauline corpus. Informed by the reception-historical sections in the preceding chapters, it explores the complicated and problematic history of interpretation of these moments in the Pauline letter archive and their impact on more recent NT scholarship. It concludes with reflections on possible ways to respond to these texts in the twenty-first century.

In Chapter 5, I move to consider some of the challenges of waiting lists and associated targets that configure clinical psychology. Taking the position that targets operate as what Nikolas Rose calls a ‘technology of government’, the chapter indicates some of the affective and material consequences of their instantiation. In particular, I show how clinical psychologists rework processes of entry into therapy, and the aims and character of care, in order to meet – and sometimes accommodate – targets. While professional autonomy is often regarded as being constrained through these technologies of government, practitioners nevertheless find ways of performing autonomous action in a matter that can advantage some patients over others. I illuminate how shifts in psychological care in response to targets could recast clinical psychologists’ relationships to their work and with patients, with implications for the subjectivities that are (not) assembled through therapy.

Transitions research has gained traction in sustainability studies for its systemic approach to environmental challenges. A central tenet is that the persistence of these challenges can be attributed to ‘system failures’, and that system innovation is needed, i.e. a multitude of innovations that co-evolve into system-wide transformations. However, many contrasting views of ‘systems’ and ‘systemic frameworks’ are seemingly always clamouring for attention, whilst it is not always clear what they’re referring to. Taking a reflexive methodology approach, this chapter addresses recurring questions: Transforming ‘systems’: Which? How? Whose? Why? Whither? Whence? For instance, is transitioning the ‘mobility system’ a matter of electrification or of unlearning car dependency? In transitioning the ‘energy system’, is importation of rare minerals a central part or an externality? The chapter presents a methodological overview of systems analysis in transitions research. It brings out how transitions research has developed a fine sense of Critical Systems Thinking. On the other hand, it also shows the need for further methodological reflection on the study of transitioning ‘systems’.

In socio-technical transitions research, growing attention is given to politics and governance. However, there remains significant scope to deepen analyses of power relations to understand who wins, who loses, how, and why under prevailing governance arrangements and socio-technical configurations. Political economy approaches can be refined to reveal how dominant socio-technical systems reflect broader social and economic structures, while disruptions from transitions reshape power dynamics. Using India’s energy transition, we examine jurisdictional power struggles, resource conflicts, and producer coalitions that influence transition speed and inclusivity. The chapter concludes by outlining future research directions, emphasizing the need to account for different forms of state power, justice implications, global-local political economies, ecological perspectives, and the everyday expressions of power in knowledge, cultures, and ideologies.