Fighting Hunger, Dealing with Shortage (2 vols)


Book Description

This collection of primary sources for the first time gives a pan-European insight into the experiences of ordinary people living under German occupation during World War II, their everyday life, their search for supplies and their strategies to fight scarcity.




Living with the Land


Book Description

For a long time agriculture and rural life were dismissed by many contemporaries as irrelevant or old-fashioned. Contrasted with cities as centers of intellectual debate and political decision-making, the countryside seemed to be becoming increasingly irrelevant. Today, politicians in many European countries are starting to understand that the neglect of the countryside has created grave problems. Similarly, historians are remembering that European history in the twentieth century was strongly influenced by problems connected to the production of food, access to natural resources, land rights, and the political representation and activism of rural populations. Hence, the handbook offers an overview of historical knowledge on a variety of topics related to the land. It does so through a distinctly activity-centric and genuinely European perspective. Rather than comparing different national approaches to living with the land, the different chapters focus on particular activities – from measuring to settling the land, from producing and selling food to improving agronomic knowledge, from organizing rural life to challenging political structures in the countryside. Furthermore, the handbook overcomes the traditional division between East and West, North and South, by embracing a transregional approach that allows readers to gain an understanding of similarities and differences across national and ideological borders in twentieth-century Europe.




Samuel Hirsch


Book Description

Rabbi Samuel Hirsch (Thalfang 1815 – Chicago 1889) was instrumental in the development of Reform Judaism in Europe and the USA. This volume is the first lengthy publication devoted to this striking personality whose significance was no less than that of his contemporaries Abraham Geiger and David Einhorn. En route from Thalfang via Dessau and Luxembourg to Philadelphia, Hirsch left his mark on societal, religious, and philosophical developments in manifold ways. By the time he was appointed Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Luxembourg in 1843, he had already written many of his most important works on the philosophy of religion. In them he engaged in debate with the Young Hegelians on the importance of Judaism, the religion that, more than any other, enabled the human actualization of freedom so central to Hegel’s philosophy. Over time Hirsch took an increasingly radical stance on issues such as Jewish rituals and mixed marriage. The goal of his reforms was not assimilation. He strove to strengthen Judaism to meet the demands of modernity and enable its survival in the modern era. Hirsch’s story is key to understanding the transnational history of Reform Judaism and the struggle of Jews to secure a place in history and society.




Food, Scarcity and Power in Southeastern Europe during the Second World War


Book Description

The experience of all occupied countries during the Second World War was characterised by severe material shortages. Food, most noticeably, became a scarcity in everyday life; and that food grew into a major stake for all political groups at this time. This book shines a much-needed spotlight on the political role of food in Southeastern Europe from 1939 to 1945. Controlling food was a key strategy adopted by all actors – be they occupiers, state institutions, resistance organizations, international humanitarian organizations or private interest groups – in substantiating their bid for power. As a predominantly agrarian area with a substantial peasant population, investigating this topic is particularly poignant for Southeastern Europe. From discussions of searching for and fighting for food to offering relief and instrumentalising of food politically, the chapters in this volume add nuance to discussions on the complex intertwined political and social dynamics of war and occupation. In so doing, this sophisticated study fills an important gap in our understanding of the Second World War, food policy, and the social history of Europe more broadly.




Natural Hazards and Disasters [2 volumes]


Book Description

This two-volume encyclopedia provides the science behind such heart-pumping geophysical hazards as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, cyclones, and floods, as well as authoritative entries on notable natural disasters around the world and the agencies that help those they impact. Natural Hazards and Disasters explores the sometimes harsh effects of nature on human life. The set discusses the physical science behind specific types of hazards and disasters (such as blizzards and tsunamis), their impact on our lives, how damage is mitigated or prevented, recovery and reconstruction, and the current research and technology used for managing or even eliminating the hazards. Written by experts in the field, the set also explores a variety of extreme events from around the world, including the 2010–2011 Christchurch Earthquakes (New Zealand), the 2017–2018 Thomas Fire (United States), and the 2018 Kerala Floods (India). Also covered are the world's major international and nonprofit aid agencies, like the Salvation Army and Oxfam, that assist disaster victims.




Hunger 1992


Book Description

Bread for the World Institute on Hunger & Development. The report, co-sponsored by other anti-hunger groups, illustrates through ten case studies of specific projects & programs "ideas that work" to alleviate U. S. & world hunger, or that have shown enough promise to justify further pursuit. Each essay examines the pitfalls involved & whether success can be duplicated elsewhere. Topics include the "green revolution," sustainable & participatory development, U. S. domestic food programs, international food aid, reforming economies without hurting poor people, demilitarization, & citizen advocacy. The report updates information presented in the previous volume, "Hunger 1990," on hunger in North & South America, Africa, Asia, & the Middle East, & features statistical tables, bibliography, glossary, & topical index. A new section examines the Soviet Union & Eastern Europe. Contributors include John Mellor, Patricia Kutzner, Don Reeves, Remy Jurenas, Gayle Smith, Barbara Murock, Patience Elabor-Idemudia, the editors, & other Bread for the World Institute Staff. Intended for concerned citizens, secondary school & college instructors & students, opinion-shapers, & policy-makers.




Popular Protest and Ideals of Democracy in Late Renaissance Italy


Book Description

Popular Protest and Ideals of Democracy in Late Renaissance Italy is the first study to analyse popular protest across the Italian peninsula and the Venetian colonies during the early modern period, 1494 to 1559. Drawing on over 100 contemporary chronicles and diaries, the fifty-eight volumes of Marin Sanudo's diplomatic dispatches, mercantile letters, and commentary, and 586 collective supplications scattered through archival sources from towns and villages in the Grand duchy of Milan, Samuel K. Cohn, Jr. places these incidents and their patterns in comparative perspectives, first with the late medieval heyday of popular revolt and then with regions north of the Alps. Cohn finds new developments during the early modern period such as an increase in women rebels, mutinies of soldiers, and new tactics of revolts such as shop closures, peaceful demonstrations of strength, and use of religious processions for discussions of tactics and strategies for obtaining logistic advantage. At the same time, these protests show convergences with the medieval Italian past, with leaders coming almost exclusively from the ranks of nonelites, religious ideology playing a surprisingly minor role, and the majority of revolts centring overwhelming in towns and cities. Finally, this study demonstrates that democracies do not just die under the duress of military occupation and growing powers of autocratic regimes. Ideals of representation and equality not only persisted; they could emerge in new forms and with greater sophistication.




Sustainable Development Goals for Society Vol. 2


Book Description

This book profiles various cases that are emerging in addressing global challenges in the context of SDGs for society in the era of climate change and covers case studies of projects being undertaken to tackle biodiversity, food security, climate change, energy and water security. The book is written by 37 authors, and will appeal to various stakeholders including academics working within the identified thematic areas, policy planners, development agencies, governments and United Nations agencies. The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 ushered a new era in the global development agenda as the world transitioned from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The new era of SDGs that are all-inclusive, unlike the MDGs with the focus now being on ensuring human success that is predicated on environmental protection. The year 2020 marked five years post the adoption of the SDGs with increased calls for stock-taking of progress made amid strong calls for a decade of action to accelerate the delivery of the SDGs by 2030. These calls have been louder now given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which reset the global economy and increased intensity of extreme weather events across the world. Since climate change has emerged as one of the biggest threats to the achievement of the SDGs, there has been growing concerns on its impact on biodiversity loss and the extinction of some species. There are also concerns regarding increased food insecurity at the household level in some parts of the world, particularly in Asia and Africa. With the demand for climate change action on the increase, there have also been growing calls for the big carbon emitters to drastically cut their emissions and invest in clean energy to save the planet by following development pathways making emissions stay under the 1.5°C increase in temperature.




A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2


Book Description

This book contains selected articles in English language by Timo Schmitz, which were reviewed and (if necessary) updated for this edition. They include mainly political and philosophical topics, but also display his seek for God and understanding the Creation. In the second volume, he presents his insights on Judaism and indigenous religions. Besides his series "The Key to the Gate of Religion", the articles included in this selection are among others: "Rights and duties as basis for laws - Forgiving as man's strength" (2019), "The interaction of Judaism and Buddhism into Judeo-Buddhism" (2019), "Understanding the Jewish Revolution of the 18th century - the Rise of Chassidism" (2019), "A dream reality or a real dream?" (2020), "A dialogue about true friendship" (2020), "The aim for reaching the paradise - a tricky quest" (2020), "The establishment of the Jewish denominations in the dawn of the Neuzeit" (2020) and "Good and bad reshaped: A harmonious society as balance between collective requirements and individuality" (2021).




Peace, Literature, and Art - Volume II


Book Description

Peace, Literature, and Art is the component of Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and Humanities in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. Culture is the essence of individual and national identity. What children and people read and watch and the kind of Culture, Literature and Media, they are exposed to, through home, education and society - provide them with basic values, attitudes and norms which affect and motivate them throughout their lives. It is of crucial importance therefore, that those stories we are exposed to, at the socio-cultural and educational levels, which we watch on television, in films and on the Internet, and which we read - should be peaceful ones, which open our eyes to a humane world that can prosper from peace and harmony. This Theme on Peace, Literature, and Art deals, in two volumes and cover several topics related to Peace Education: Definition, Approaches, and Future Directions; Importance of a Literature and a Culture of Peace These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers, NGOs and GOs.