Books published by Lexington Books

"Natural Disasters and Local Resiliency examines the impacts of natural disasters on local government operations and sustainability. Through case studies and interviews of local managers this book discusses action strategies to help local governments be more resilient to natural disasters"--

"This book offers an array of novel essays, each advancing discourse surrounding the nature of disability and Christian vision of life in the world to come. The contributors advance conversations on disability through the lenses of theology, philosophy, psychology/psychiatry, and more"--

"A regional approach to politics in the U.S., Politics of the Rio Grande Valley: An Insider's Perspective to Regional Politics is the first book of its kind to directly address the intricate factors influencing how southern Texas continues to develop politically"--

This book examines Luigi Dallapiccola's groundbreaking works created alongside the masterpieces of many Florentine artists and literati who guided his daily steps and his embrace of twelve-tone serialism as a spiritual dogma.

This book proposes an intellectual focus on the Qur'anic recovery of meaning. Akel Ismail Kahera contends that the Qur'anic exegesis must be recognized if we are to understand its clear representation of the ontological situation, the primordial self, and the life universe from Islam's exegetical standpoint.

The book provides an insightful understanding and conflict transformation analysis of intra-ethnic conflicts in Nigeria and offers a set of recommendations. Drawn from a wealth of knowledge and research, these recommendations are crucial for a more inclusive socio-cultural conflict transformative approach in societies like Nigeria and Africa.

Women's Literary Portraits in the Victorian and Neo-Victorian Novel is a dialogical and intertextual journey through the pages of nineteenth-century novels and their modern, revisionary counterparts. It is the book not only dedicated to the readers associated with academia, but also to all literature enthusiasts, students of literature, and those readers who are fascinated by the Victorian novel, as well as by its current neo-Victorian revival. The focus of this work revolves around the literary portrayals of Victorian and neo-Victorian women who, as the authoress believes, are located in the centre of socio-cultural and historical narratives shaping both the past and the present. Nineteenth-century narratives concerning women's placement and status in the Victorian social landscape are currently revived on the pages of neo-Victorian novels, thus attesting to the unceasing interest in the bygone. While neo-Victorian revisionary fiction endows nineteenth-century women with a redemptive potential, it also exposes modern paradoxes and ambiguities connected with universal expectations towards women, what further approximates our contemporaneity to the Victorian past. While examining these socio-cultural ambivalences, the authoress celebrates Victorian and neo-Victorian women characters in their attempts to thrive as individuals. Consequently, the book studies Victorian and neo-Victorian women characters in relation to their identities, unique voices and textual garments.

This work constitutes a full analysis of Just War Theory in each of its aspects, representing a complete exposition of the corpus of International Law, Jus ad Bellum, and exploring Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflict, Jus in Bello. This comprises the rules that should govern armed conflict, and is called humanitarian precisely because it aims at safeguarding humanitarian values and human rights in times of war. Consequently, this book covers the Law of War in its entirety, both the Jus ad Bellum category - justifications of war - as well as the Jus in Bello category. Extensively analyzed are the following aspects of the use of military force: Self-Defense in International Law, Humanitarian Intervention, National Liberation Wars, Pro-democracy intervention, United Nations Peacekeeping and Peace-enforcement action, Nuclear Weapons, Law of Armed Conflict - International Humanitarian Law, Illegal Use of Force and Statehood.

Forecasting is integral to all governmental activities, especially budgetary activities. Without good and accurate forecasts, a government will not only find it difficult to carry out its everyday operations but will also find it difficult to cope with the increasingly complex environment in which it has to operate. This book presents, in a simple and easy to understand manner, some of the commonly used methods in budget forecasting, simple as well as advanced. The book is divided into three parts: It begins with an overview of forecasting background, forecasting process, and forecasting methods, followed by a detailed discussion of the actual methods in Parts I, II, and III. Part I discusses a combination of basic time series models such as percentage average, simple moving average, double moving average, exponential moving average, double as well as triple, simple trend line, time-series with cyclical variation, and time-series regression, with single and multiple independent variables. Part II discusses some of the more advanced, but frequently used time series models, such as ARIMA, regular as well as seasonal, Vector Autoregression (VAR), and Vector Error Correction (VEC). Part III provides an overview of three of the more recent advances in time series models, namely ensemble forecasting, state-space forecasting, and neural network. The book concludes with a brief discussion of some practical issues in budget forecasting.

Food, Language, and Society: Communication in Japanese Foodways examines the language of food in Japanese through the lens of cognitive science and cultural studies to explore intriguing ways in which language, food, and culture interact in the fabric of Japanese society. The questions of how, where, and by whom food and food experiences are described provide abundant opportunities for investigating relationships between language and culture from multi-disciplinary perspectives. Linguistic analysis of the language of food enables us to understand cognitive information that motivates and influences people's rhetorical choices on foodways. Detailed discussions reveal that loanwords, mimetics, cooking terms, and metaphors serve as lynchpins to enrich the expressive power of the language of food. Food discourse situated in broader social and cultural contexts also reflect social norms and cultural practices deeply embedded within and beyond our gustatory and culinary life. Food narratives as in cookbooks and advertisements are an informative means for virtual interpersonal communication where individual and group identity is indexed, providing a platform for reexamination of gender and other social norms as response to changes in society. Examined from the interaction of linguistic and sociocultural perspectives, Food, Language, and Society illuminates the form, use, and social meaning of the language of food.

Locked in a common fight against Imperial Japan, the United States and Nationalist China became allies, but significant fissures in their relationship soon developed. Neither ally would accommodate each other's core interests in strategies necessary to win the war. This disconnect continued after Japan's surrender, as the United States pressed Chinese Nationalists and Communists to join a coalition government that neither wanted. During the civil war, the United States supported the Nationalists, but never to the degree they thought mattered. After the Communist triumph, America served its national security and anti-Communism, by helping the Nationalists defend Taiwan, but hedged against assisting Chiang Kai-shek to reconquer the mainland. Twice in the 1950's tensions in the Taiwan Strait nearly expanded into nuclear conflict.

In Smallpox in Washingtons Army: Disease, War and Society during the Revolutionary War, the author argues that smallpox played an integral role in military affairs for both the British and Continental armies, and impacted soldiers and civilians throughout the War for American Independence. Due to the Royal army's policy of troop inoculation and because many British soldiers were already immune to the variola virus, the American army was initially at a disadvantage. Most American colonists were highly susceptible to this dreaded disease, and its presence was greatly feared. General George Washington was keenly aware of this disadvantage and, despite his own doubts, embarked on a policy of inoculation to protect his troops. Use of this controversial, innovative, and effective medical procedure leveled the playing field within the armies. However, by 1777, smallpox spread throughout America as soldiers interacted with civilian populations. Once military action moved south, American and British auxiliary troops and the enslaved Southern population all succumbed to the disease, creating a disorderly, dangerous situation as the war ends. Washington's implementation of isolation policies as well as mass troop inoculation removed the threat of epidemic smallpox and ultimately protected American soldiers and civilians from the dangers of this much feared disease.

Every week we read more and more stories of someone who commits suicide, gets fired, gets canceled, abandoned, or worse, because of a conflict or misunderstanding involving social media. Using theories that originated in studies of extremism and terrorism, Jessica Emami analyzes the processes that drive people to punish others using social media. Professor Emami makes a case that cyberpunishment is driven by outrage against our personal sense of morality, and a deep desire for our act of punishment to be acknowledged by others. Moreover, she demonstrates that todays social media platforms are by their very structure unable to curb or resist cyberpunishment.

In Understanding the Boundary between Disability Studies and Special Education through Consilience, Self-Study, and Radical Love, the authors explore what it means to engage in boundary work at the intersection of traditional special education systems and critical disability studies in education. The book consists of fifteen groundbreaking accounts that challenge dominant medicalized discourses about what it means to exist within and around special education systems that create space for new conceptions of what it means to teach, lead, learn, and exist within a conciliatory space driven by radical love and disability justice principles. The book pushes readers to consider how their own personal, professional and programmatic future transformational actions can be driven by disruption and the desire for freedom from the hegemony of traditional special education and White and Ability supremacy.

Afrofuturism in Black Panther: Gender, Identity, and the Re-making of Blackness, through an interdisciplinary and intersectional analysis of Black Panther, discusses the importance of superheroes and the ways in which they are especially important to Black fans. Aside from its global box office success, Black Panther paves the way for future superhero narratives due to its underlying philosophy to base the story on a narrative that is reliant on Afro-futurism. The film's storyline, the book posits, leads viewers to think about relevant real-world social questions as it taps into the cultural zeitgeist in an indelible way. Contributors to this collection approach Black Panther not only as a film, but also as Afrofuturist imaginings of an African nation untouched by colonialism and antiblack racism: the film is a map to alternate states of being, an introduction to the African Diaspora, a treatise on liberation and racial justice, and an examination of identity. As they analyze each of these components, contributors pose the question: how can a film invite a reimagining of Blackness?

This volume is the first book to focus specifically on the topic of comparative glossing. It brings together new research on glossing practices from traditions in both the West and East Asia, with a focus on Japan. It also touches on the relation between glossing in the medieval manuscript tradition and the modern linguistic use of the gloss. Its purpose is to present a sample of the most recent studies on glossing as it is practiced across very different parts of the world, highlighting the many shared features found across space and time.Glosses take many forms and serve numerous functions according to when and where they are produced. They constitute a cross-cultural phenomenon anchored in language, and are the manifestation of hermeneutic processes involved in the transfer of knowledge from one linguistic area to another. Glosses are an integral part of all the stages of this transfer, which is characterized by the necessity to decode and explain the message, encompassing basic grammatical commentary and wider exegetical discussions.

The Kwoma, the subject of this book, are one of a number of peoples in the Sepik River region of northern Papua New Guinea who have created some of the most distinctive visual art in the Pacific. Through case studies of their painting, sculpture, architecture and ritual this book examines in detail how people in this society understand their art as a cultural phenomenon. This includes how they understand its origins in the spirit world, how they judge quality in art and how they understand artistic creativity. The book contrasts Kwoma beliefs with the radically different approach to art found in the modern West. The modern Western concept of art first emerged not in the eighteenth century in the Enlightenment, or even later, as anthropologists and art historians often assume, but several centuries earlier in the Renaissance. The book gives an account of radical changes that took place culturally in Europe between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries in the way human intellectual creativity was understood, and how this gave rise to a new concept of art, one that remains unchanged in the modern West today.

In the Name of the Goddess: A Biophilic Ethic explores a dynamic, holistic ethic of interconnections, ecological sustainability, and eco-justice through goddess worship and eco-feminism. Donna Giancola proposes principles to establish social harmony and ecological balance through moral, political, and spiritual values and practices that provide a comprehensive foundation for integrating wisdom and action in daily life, communities, and international policies.

Turkey and Russia are two of the most significant powerhouses in Eurasia. The foreign policies of two countries directly impact the regional dynamics in Black Sea, Central Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Balkan regions. The changes in the bilateral relations between the two countries go well beyond the Black Sea region. In the past, the Russian Empire played a significant role in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and Turkey took part in containing the USSR during the Cold War by joining the NATO in 1952. In the twenty-first century, however, Turkey and Russia invested in bilateral trade and established significant partnerships in the strategic defense and energy sectors. In the same period, the competition between Turkey and Russia heightened, giving way to military confrontation in multiple fronts. This book argues that the changing balance of power in the region has triggered adjustments in the foreign policies of Russia and Turkey in the twenty-first century. The decline of the US influence in the region have brought about increased engagement between Turkey and Russia in the form of partnerships and competition for influence.

Stigma and Social Support on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program delves into the daily complex lives of individuals on the program and the hardships the program has on participants. The author provides examples of experiencing stigmatization while on SNAP and possible methods to help improve, or lessen, the stigma with the use of positive social support. The chapters include the author's personal experiences on SNAP, factors influencing enrollment, overall views of the program, stigma, disclosure concerns of enrollment, social support, and implications from the findings. Chapters addressing statistical findings and theory application are also included. Stigma and Social Support on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides an in-depth view on the themes of stigma while enrolled in SNAP such as embarrassment, feelings of failure, fear of being perceived as lazy, and feelings of judgment. This book serves as a useful tool for researchers of stigma and welfare programs, as well as for policy makers to improve aspects of the program that are causing some of the most vulnerable populations such as typically unrepresented and exploited groups (e.g., immigrants, migrant/temporary workers, and racial/ethnic minorities) to feel more stigmatized than other groups.

Drawing on qualitative research conducted in the impoverished areas of Manila, Philippines, Fuyuki Makino examines how experimental methods in modern architecture have helped form micro-relationships, social networks, and social structures among the inhabitants and considers whether the architects' aim to promote certain social behaviors was successful or not.

Public Feminism in Times of Crisis examines the public practice of feminism in the age of social media. While their concept of public feminism emerges from a moment of acute crisis (the Trump years and the Covid-19 pandemic), Leila Easa and Jennifer Stager locate its foundations in history, journeying through broad swatches of time looking for connections between the centuries through art and literature and culture. Each chapter focuses on what public feminists do in the world: Public feminists gain control over an archive that otherwise contains or excludes them; they recover their own stories and subjective experiences, sometimes for activist use; they examine images and language that construct women in patriarchal texts; they situate the individual within a collective and the collective within an individual; they confront the limitations of such situating due to the containment of patriarchy and reclaim new systems of power in response; and they resurface a deep history for the alternative strategies of memorializing they employ. In navigating these practices, the authors also attend to the material conditions of writing histories as well as those shaping and enabling public feminist acts and protests more broadly.

At a time when corporations are facing increasing pressures to devise and implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and deal with societal issues, Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility: The Trust Factor explores theoretical frameworks and practical applications for creating trust between organizations and key stakeholders. By examining the effects of corporate social responsibility on social media engagement and purchase intention, Kristie Byrum navigates who should carry the CSR message and offers guidance on appropriate channels for communication. Byrum provides a robust communication model that considers the delicate value of trust in the context of corporate social responsibility communication and delivers insights regarding how organizations can plan and execute corporate communications approaches that consider the appropriate source and channel. Scholars of communication, public relations, and leadership will find this book of particular interest.

Through practical theological and anthro/gynopological methods, Insurrectionist Wisdoms: Toward a North American Indigenized Pastoral Theology offers an analysis of the situation of working-class Maya mexicanas living in Yucatn, Mexico, working on the assembly line of a multinational corporation. Relying on in-depth, firsthand interviews, Marlene M. Ferreras brings to light the exploitation of women of color by large, multimillion-dollar corporations and delves into the ways these women can, and do, fight back. Drawing on a decolonial approach to pastoral theology and feminism, Ferreras proposes Lxs Hijxs de Maz as an image for pastoral care and counseling.