Books published by Transcript Verlag

New knowledge, created in international cooperation, is essential for global sustainability. Set against this background, this study focuses on German science policy for research cooperation with developing countries and emerging economies in sustainability research. Based on interviews with policy makers and researchers, the book scrutinizes the actors, processes and contents of science policy in Germany. The author argues that science policy mainly aims at German economic benefits and technology development. This, however, negatively influences global sustainability. To counter existing path dependencies, the author provides recommendations for sustainability-oriented scientific practice and science policy.

American Mobilities investigates representations of mobility - social, economic, geographic - in American film and literature during the Depression, WWII, and the early Cold War. With an emphasis on the dual meaning of "e;domestic,"e; referring to both the family home and the nation, this study traces the important trope of mobility that runs through the "e;American"e; century. Juxtaposing canonical fiction with popular, and low-budget independent films with Classical Hollywood, Leyda brings the analytic tools of American cultural and literary studies to bear on an eclectic array of primary texts as she builds a case for the significance of mobility in the study of the United States.

When talking about monuments, size undeniably matters - or does it?But how else can we measure monumentality?Bringing together researchers from various fields such as archaeology, museology, history, sociology, Mesoamerican studies, and art history, this book discusses terminological and methodological approaches in both theoretical contributions and various case studies. While focusing on architectural aspects, this volume also discusses the social meaning of monuments, the role of forced and free labour, as well as textual monumentality. The result is a modern interdisciplinary take on an important concept which is notoriously difficult to define.

The Brazilian Constitution provides a remarkable set of social rights, including the right to housing. Despite this fact, struggles for decent living conditions have become key issues in the daily urban lives of many people in Brazil. Contesting the differentiated access to housing, social movements occupy empty buildings in the cities to challenge historically-rooted and excluding urban politics. Exploring the occupants' agency, Bea Wittger draws attention to the important role of female actors within the buildings. Through oral histories of participants of two squats in Rio de Janeiro, the book delivers a deep insight "e;from below"e; into their own perspectives on citizenship and gender.

This first in-depth study of Miranda July's work reveals some of its major motives and consequently provides fascinating insights into the lifestyle of the contemporary white Californian middle class. Through an analysis of July's award-winning intermedial work, the author lays open how July takes individualism and self-help as constitutive for the creative class. Although a member of the creative class herself, July's voice oscillates between irony and approval. July thus paints a fascinating portrait of neurotic hipsterism, which triggers self-reflection in the general reader and critical thinking in the cultural analyst.

This volume is a response to the growing need for new methodological approaches to the rapidly changing landscape of new forms of performative practices. The authors address a host of contemporary phenomena situated at the crossroads between science and fiction which employ various media and merge live participation with mediated hybrid experiences at both affective and cognitive level. All essays collected here move across disciplinary divisions in order to provide an account of these new tendencies, thus providing food for thought for a wide readership ranging from performative studies to the social sciences, philosophy and cultural studies.