Melee Weapons in Early Records of the Yakut Olonkho: Historical and Comparative Perspectives

Islamic banking is generally reduced and marginalised to ‘interest-free banking’. While the restrictions against riba form the very foundation of Islamic finance, debates still persist as to the exact significance of the word. Since the early days of Islam, the majority of scholars have adopted a restrictive definition: any form of interest constitutes riba. However, to date, the debate is still lively. This chapter focuses on riba, gharar and the moral economy of Islamic banking, beginning with the riba debate and determining its origin and significance. It then discusses gharar, which is a lesser-known, yet, in the contemporary world of finance, equally significant prohibition. The moral economy of Islam is also discussed from the perspective of spirit versus the letter of Islam, and the religious versus the secular. The chapter ends with a discussion on money and religious debate in comparative and historical perspective.

Offers new insight in the case of educational evaluation in Greece by presenting the history and the current state of school effectiveness research (SER). From an historical perspective, presents the beginnings and the two generations of SER. A number of essential studies are reviewed. From a comparative perspective, examines the current advances of SER in many other parts of the world. Using these approaches, a number of theoretical and statistical issues are clarified. Examines the policy implications of SER in France, England and Greece. Expresses a number of thoughts for the future of SER and its contribution to the issue of educational evaluation.

At a time of increased societal urgency surrounding ecological crises from depleted fisheries (Longo, Clausen, and Clark 2015) to mineral extraction (Bunker and Ciccantell 2005) and potential pathways toward environmental justice (Martinez-Alier et al. 2016; Smith, Plummer, and Hughes 2016), this collection of papers re-examines ecologically unequal exchange (EUE) in historical and comparative perspective. The theory of EUE, grounded in Wallerstein’s (1974–2011) world-systems perspective and the work of Amin (1976), Bunker (1985), and Emmanuel (1972), posits that core or northern consumption and capital accumulation are based on peripheral or southern environmental degradation and extraction. In other words, structures of social and environmental inequality between the Global North and Global South are founded in the extraction of materials from, as well as the displacement of hazardous production processes and wastes to, the Global South (Frey, Gellert, and Dahms 2017; Hornborg and Martinez-Alier 2016; Jorgenson 2016a, 2016b; Jorgenson and Clark 2009a). These unequal relations underscore a large ecological debt owed to the periphery by the core countries; this debt is a key source for many of the previous and current environmental distribution conflicts that have taken place and continue to take place throughout the world-system (Hornborg and Martinez-Alier 2016; Martinez-Alier et al. 2016).

Contents: M.W. Riley, Foreword. Part I:Introduction. D.I. Kertzer, Comparative and Historical Perspectives on Age Structuring. Part II:Age and Power. W.H. Sangree, Age and Power: Life Course Trajectories and Age Structuring Power Relations in East and West Africa. J. Keith, Cultural Commentary and the Culture of Gerontology. D.L. Featherman, L.K. Selbee, K.U. Mayer, Social Class and the Structuring of the Life Course in Norway and West Germany. D.P. Hogan, Institutional Perspectives on the Life Course: Challenges and Strategies. Part III:Ideological Aspects of Age Structuring. C. Ikels, Becoming a Human Being in Theory and Practice: Chinese Views of Human Development. C. Usui, The Ideology of Individualism Versus the Ideology of Corporate Groupism: Japanese Conceptions of Human Relations. F.O. Ramirez, Reconstituting Children: Extension of Personhood and Citizenship. C. Schooler, Levels and Proof in Cross-Disciplinary Research. Part IV:Comparative Perspectives on Retirement. A. Plakans, Stepping Down in Former Times: A Comparative Assessment of in Traditional Europe. A.B. Sorensen, Old Age, Retirement, and Inheritance. M.A. Vinovskis, Stepping Down in Former Times: The View from Colonial and Nineteenth-Century America. A. Inkeles, C. Usui, Retirement Patterns in Cross-National Perspective. K.U. Mayer, G. Wagner, D.L. Featherman, Methodological Problems in Doing Cross-National Research on Retirement.

A growing number of jurisdictions have recently granted rights to nature. This article places the potential disruptions generated by this legal development in historical, comparative perspective. The questions that scholars are asking about rights of nature (RoN) are similar to many of those asked by historians and legal scholars about human rightsholders. These questions arise from some of the tensions within liberalism. Placing these tensions in comparative context offers a framework with which to interpret RoN developments. Doing so demonstrates, first, the capacity of the existing liberal order to incorporate challenges into already functioning structures and, second, that such efforts to manage the claims of new subjects of rights nonetheless can transform relations. In our conclusion, we argue that a comparative perspective may allay the tendency to exoticise rights of nature by examining the extent to which their development in sometime contentious and sometimes complementary relationship with democratic institutions is reflected in historical efforts to define and make meaningful the rights of human rightsholders.

A society is analogous in a variety of aspects to an individual. At a particular stage in time, a society contains all the creations it has made since inception with general or specific potentials and potentiality for the future. Around any point over space, a society holds the essential imagery of its existing wholeness with explicit or implicit consequences and consequentiality to the surroundings. In other words, the society encompasses collective differences and similarities in a comparative perspective while from a historical point of view it exhibits human encounters and experiences from commonsense to religion to science to a combination of all. This chapter follows human living comparatively from society to society and historically from stage to stage. With respect to “integration,” it maintains that integration is not only about incorporation, systemization, or universalization, but also about diversification, localization, or particularization. On the one hand, linking then, now, and the later represents integration in historical perspectives. People struggling over one modality can gain insights and assistances naturally from other moments of life. On the other hand, joining here, there, and the larger reflects integration through comparative dimensions. People striving in one style may seek inspirations and supports automatically from other realms of existence.

Part 1 Theoretical, comparative and historical perspectives: introduction - women and identity politics in theoretical and comparative perspective, Valentine M. Moghadam the creation of the world we know - world economy and the recreation of gendered identities, Joan Smith the ideal woman and the ideal society - control and autonomy in the construction identity, Hanna Papanek women of the West imagined - the Frangi Other and the emergence of the woman question in Iran, Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi. Part 2 Country case studies: politics, Islam, and women in Kano, Northern Nigeria, Ayesha Imam gender, religious identity and political mobilization, Sondra Hale feminism and Muslim fundamentalism - the Tunisian and Algerian cases, Alya Baffoun the social representation of women in Algeria's Islamist movement, Cherifa Bouatta and Dorian Cherifati-Merabtine gender activism - feminists and Islamists in Egypt, Margot Badran identity politics and women - fundamentalism and women in Pakistan, Khawar Mumtaz moving away from a secular vision? - women, nation and the cultural contruction of Hindu India, Sucheta Mazumdar identity politics and the contemporary Indian feminist movement, Radha Humar women and fundamentalism - the case of Turkey, Binnaz Toprak Halakha, Zionism and gender - the case of Gush Emunim, Madeleine Tress the role, place and power of middle-class women in the Islamic republic, Shanin Gerami paradoxical politics - gender politics among New Orthodox Jewish women in the US, Debra Renee Kaufman women of the New Right in the US - family, feminism and politics, Rebecca E. Klatch. Part 3 Dilemmas and strategies: the preferential symbol for Islamic identity - women in Muslim personal laws, Marie-Aimelie Lucas identity politics and women's ethnicity, Nira Yuval-Davis international standards of equality and religious freedom - implications for the status of women.

In this article we review theory and comparative and historical research on US social policy. We discuss first the conceptual frameworks used to think about social policy, the changing images of American social policy implied by these different frameworks, and the questions they raise. From there we examine the arguments offered to answer questions about US social policy as well as the research strategies and evidence used to appraise the arguments. We address work that situates US social policy in comparative perspective as well as work that examines the development of American social policy historically or across states. Although many lines of argumentation have some empirical support, we find that some lines of political and institutional analyses provide the best supported answers to the questions and the greatest potential for wide usage in comparative and historical studies. We conclude that scholars would do well not to treat American social policy as so exceptional as to require separate images, explanations, and approaches. We suggest promising new lines of empirical inquiry prompted by new conceptualizations of social policy and other developments in this literature.

Preface Part Theoretical Backdrop Introduction by Metin Heper The State and Public Bureaucracies: A Comparative and Historical Perspective by Metin Heper Part II. Anglo-American Context The United States: The Anti-Statist Society by Ronald Glassman Development of an Unpretentious Bureaucracy: The Case of England by Henry Parris Part III. Continental Europe Context Emergence and Decline of the State in Ancient Rome by Robert J. Antonio France: Polity with a Strong State by Pierre Birnbaum State and Bureaucracy in Prussia and Germany by Hans-Ulrich Derlien Part IV. Non-Western Context Autocracy in Nineteenth- Century Russia by Donald V. Schwartz State, Democracy and Bureaucracy in Turkey by Metin Heper Neo-Patrimonial State in Indonesia by Nico G. Schulte Nordholdt Part V. State, 'Government' and Bureaucracy State and Bereaucracy: The Anglo-American Case Reviewd by C.H. Dodd Strong and Weak States: Some Reconsiderations by S.N. Eisenstadt Conclusion by Metin Heper Select Bibliography Index About the Contributors

Business Interests and the Healthcare State: Medicare and Obamacare in Historical and Comparative Perspective

This volume is the first of its kind to take a comprehensive and comparative historical perspective on labour and disability during the twentieth century. The project started in 2020 when the editors received a Research Initiation Grant from the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond foundation to organise an international symposium. Recognising that historical research on disability varied across regions, with the symposium, we aimed to gather scholars from Eastern and Western Europe as well as North America and to facilitate an academic exchange on this topic. The symposium, which was hosted by Jönköping University and the Swedish Institute for Disability Research, brought together emerging and established scholars from ten countries and explored the nexus between disability and labour from a historical and comparative perspective. We decided early on to publish the conference papers, which eventually gave rise to the present volume.

Part 1 Theoretical, comparative and historical perspectives: introduction - women and identity politics in theoretical and comparative perspective, Valentine M. Moghadam the creation of the world we know - world economy and the recreation of gendered identities, Joan Smith the ideal woman and the ideal society - control and autonomy in the construction identity, Hanna Papanek women of the West imagined - the Frangi Other and the emergence of the woman question in Iran, Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi. Part 2 Country case studies: politics, Islam, and women in Kano, Northern Nigeria, Ayesha Imam gender, religious identity and political mobilization, Sondra Hale feminism and Muslim fundamentalism - the Tunisian and Algerian cases, Alya Baffoun the social representation of women in Algeria's Islamist movement, Cherifa Bouatta and Dorian Cherifati-Merabtine gender activism - feminists and Islamists in Egypt, Margot Badran identity politics and women - fundamentalism and women in Pakistan, Khawar Mumtaz moving away from a secular vision? - women, nation and the cultural contruction of Hindu India, Sucheta Mazumdar identity politics and the contemporary Indian feminist movement, Radha Humar women and fundamentalism - the case of Turkey, Binnaz Toprak Halakha, Zionism and gender - the case of Gush Emunim, Madeleine Tress the role, place and power of middle-class women in the Islamic republic, Shanin Gerami paradoxical politics - gender politics among New Orthodox Jewish women in the US, Debra Renee Kaufman women of the New Right in the US - family, feminism and politics, Rebecca E. Klatch. Part 3 Dilemmas and strategies: the preferential symbol for Islamic identity - women in Muslim personal laws, Marie-Aimelie Lucas identity politics and women's ethnicity, Nira Yuval-Davis international standards of equality and religious freedom - implications for the status of women.

Asia is on the rise. It has shown remarkable developmental dynamism compared to Europe and North America. Despite being one of the late or late-late-developers in terms of industrialization and democratization, some of Asian countries now spearhead the world’s most rapid transformation into the 21st capitalism. I believe that there may be an ideal type of capitalism, but I must admit that there is a variety of capitalism existing in different national forms. Capitalism can take dissimilar forms nationally and regionally, depending on development strategy, state-society relations, class coalition, business-government nexus, labour market structure, industrial relations, corporate governance system, innovative system, and so on. This paper deals with how to study capitalism in Asia from a theoretical and methodological point of view. I propose to approach capitalism as plural forms. I argue that there are some distinct features of capitalism in Asia. Historical perspectives do not tally with the idea of Asian capitalism as being extensions of Western dynamics. It is my contention that Asian capitalism is not homogeneous in that state-interventionist Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia are dissimilar with free market-oriented Singapore and Hong Kong. China is also a special challenge from a comparative capitalism perspective. I also propose to analyse Asian capitalism from a comparative perspective. Comparative analysis of capitalist development will be useful in finding out the similarities and differences across countries in Asia.

The regulation of abortion as a crime has notably changed over the last four decades, from being a prosecuted and criminally punished conduct to being considered a ‘constitutional right’ in the USA (from 1973 to 2022), Spain (from 2023) and France (2024). The aim of this article is to study such a surprising transition, looking at the Spanish case from a comparative and historical perspective, and to make some proposals to safeguard the fundamental rights of every human being without presenting abortion as the only possible solution to the dilemma or conflict of rights between the pregnant woman and the unborn child.

On drawing lessons, in the context of China: when all other conditions are not equal - the context for drawing lessons, Richard Rose the context of social policy reform in China - theoretical, comparative and historical perspectives, Sheying Chen the policy process in contemporary China - mechanisms of politics and government, Bo Peng paradigm shifts in social welfare policy-making in China - struggling between economic efficiency and social equity, Hsiao-hung Nancy Chen. Policy sectors under scrutiny: policies geared to tackling social inequality and poverty in China, Xinping Guan reflections on inequality and poverty in China, David Piachaud labour market construction and labour mobility in urban China, Fenyu Wang and Yandong Zhao the British labour market and labour market policy in comparative perspective, Jochen Clasen pensions reform in China, Yuebin Xu on reforming pensions, Alan Walker financing health care in China's cities - balancing needs and entitlements, G. Bloom, Y. Lu and J. Chen China's health policy - a comparative footnote, Rudolf Klein progress and problems of urban housing reform, Ya Ping Wang housing in China - a view from the West, John Doling women's rights and protection policy in China - achievements and problems, Peiqun He women's rights and gender issues, Jane Lewis social care and voluntary action in China, Chen Tao social care and voluntary action -a response from the UK, Nicholas Deakin and Ann Davis.