Barbara Segaert

Ben Derudder

Stijn Oosterlynck

Luce Beeckmans

Luc Braeckmans

David Bassens

This book engages with the thorny question of global urban political agency. It critically assesses the now popular statement that in the context of paralysed and failing nation state governments, cities can and will provide leadership in addressing global challenges. Cities can act politically on the global scale, but the analysis of global urban political agency needs to be firmly embedded in the field of urban studies. Collectively, the chapters in this volume contextualize urban agency in time and space and pluralize it by looking at how urban agency is nurtured through coalitions between a wide range of public and private actors. The authors develop and critically assess the conceptual underpinnings of the notion of global urban political agency from a variety of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives. The second part contains several (theoretically informed) empirical analyses of global urban political agency in cities around the globe. This book geographically expands analysis by looking beyond global cities in diverse contexts. It is highly recommended reading for scholars in the fields of international relations and urban studies who are looking for an interdisciplinary and empirically grounded understanding of global urban political agency, in a diversity of contexts and a plurality of forms.

The City as a Global Political Actor

Jacques Haers

Daniël Cuypers

Daniel Janssen

Since the 1990s we witness a rise in public apologies. Are we living in the 'Age of Apology'? Interesting research questions can be raised about the opportunity, the form, the meaning, the effectiveness and the ethical implications of public apologies. Are they not merely a clever and easy device to escape real and tangible responsibility for mistakes or wrong done? Are they not at risk to become well-rehearsed rituals that claim to express regret but, in fact, avoid doing so? In a joint interdisciplinary effort, the contributors to this book, combining findings from their specific fields of research (legal, religious, political, linguistic, marketing and communication studies), attempt to articulate this tension between ritual and sincere regret, between the discourse and the content of apologies, between excuses that pretend and regret that seeks reconciliation.

Symbolic Excuses on False Pretenses Or True Reconciliation Out of Sincere Regret?

Public Apology Between Ritual and Regret

Raymond Detrez

The enlargement of the EU with the Balkan countries has aroused the skepticism of many. Although EU admission is primarily a matter of economic and political concerns, questions of cultural import are readily brought into play: Does the country in question conform sufficiently to «our» standards of a «European identity»? The problematic status of the Balkans in this respect largely consists in their common Byzantine and Ottoman legacies. By focusing on Bulgaria and its neighbours Romania, Greece and Turkey, the authors of this collection attempt to elucidate how mutually incompatible the «cultural identity» of the Ottoman «successor states» and that of Europe are. Ample attention is devoted not only to the perception of the Balkans in the West, but also to the self-image of people in the Balkans and perceptions they hold of the West. If anything like a Balkan identity can be said to exist, what is its relation to the various ethnic, national, religious and linguistic communities? Notably, what was and is the role played by religion in nation state formation? The relationship with Europe forms the thread that runs through the discussion of these issues.

Europe and the Historical Legacies in the Balkans

Alexander Dhoest

Steven Malliet

This book aims to revisit the notion of subculture for the 21st century, reinterpreting it and extending its scope. On the one hand, the notion of resistance is redefined and applied to contemporary practices of cultural production and entrepreneurship. On the other hand, contributors reconsider the connection of subcultures to everyday culture, exploring more mainstream forms of cultural production and consumption across a wider range of social groups. As a consequence, this book extends the scope to look beyond the white, male, adolescent, urban cultures identified with earlier subcultural studies. Contributors also examine fusions and crossovers between Western and non-Western cultural practices.

Resistance and the Mainstream

The Borders of Subculture

Christiane Timmerman

Noël Clycq

De samenleving en het onderwijspubliek worden steeds meer divers. Ouders van verschillende etnische achtergronden voeden hun kinderen in Vlaanderen en Nederland op. Ze hechten veel belang aan onderwijs, maar toch doen zich conflicten voor. Waar de thuiscultuur sterk afwijkt van de schoolcultuur, kunnen spanningen ontstaan die door de leerling moeten worden overbrugd en impact hebben op de schoolloopbaan. Hoewel ons onderwijssysteem bekend staat als één van de beste ter wereld, is de kloof tussen leerlingen die zeer goed en zeer slecht presteren groot. Een meerderheid van de slechtst presterende leerlingen zijn jongeren met migratieachtergrond. De etnisch-culturele en sociaaleconomisch heterogene samenstelling van de schoolpopulatie stelt nieuwe uitdagingen aan ons democratisch onderwijsproject. In dit boek maken gevestigde onderzoekers kanttekeningen bij het maatschappelijk debat en presenteren jonge wetenschappers resultaten van onderzoek naar ervaringen van ouders van verschillende etnisch-culturele achtergronden en invloed van schoolomgeving.

Cultuuroverdracht en onderwijs in een multiculturele context

Bassens David

Dimitri Mortelmans

Koenraad Matthijs

Elisabeth Alofs

Whether considered from an American or a European perspective, the past four decades have seen family life become increasingly complex. Changing Family Dynamics and Demographic Evolution examines the various stages of change through the image of a kaleidoscope, providing new insights into the field of family dynamics and diversity.

The Family Kaleidoscope

Changing Family Dynamics and Demographic Evolution

Michel Walrave

Ellen Vanderhoven

Koen Ponnet

This book grasps the duality between opportunities and risks which arise from children’s and adolescents’ social media use. It investigates the following main themes, from a multidisciplinary perspective: identity, privacy, risks and empowerment. Social media have become an integral part of young people’s lives. While social media offer adolescents opportunities for identity and relational development, adolescents might also be confronted with some threats. The first part of this book deals with how young people use social media to express their developing identity. The second part revolves around the disclosure of personal information on social network sites, and concentrates on the tension between online self-disclosure and privacy. The final part deepens specific online risks young people are confronted with and suggests solutions by describing how children and adolescents can be empowered to cope with online risks. By emphasizing these different, but intertwined topics, this book provides a unique overview of research resulting from different academic disciplines such as Communication Studies, Education, Psychology and Law. The outstanding researchers that contribute to the different chapters apply relevant theories, report on topical research, discuss practical solutions and reveal important emerging issues that could lead future research agendas.

Connecting, Sharing and Empowering

Youth 2.0: Social Media and Adolescence

Since the 1990s we witness a rise in public apologies. Are we living in the ‘Age of Apology’? Interesting research questions can be raised about the opportunity, the form, the meaning, the effectiveness and the ethical implications of public apologies. Are they not merely a clever and easy device to escape real and tangible responsibility for mistakes or wrong done? Are they not at risk to become well-rehearsed rituals that claim to express regret but, in fact, avoid doing so? In a joint interdisciplinary effort, the contributors to this book, combining findings from their specific fields of research (legal, religious, political, linguistic, marketing and communication studies), attempt to articulate this tension between ritual and sincere regret, between the discourse and the content of apologies, between excuses that pretend and regret that seeks reconciliation.

Symbolic Excuses on False Pretenses or True Reconciliation out of Sincere Regret?

Public Apology between Ritual and Regret.

Barbara Segaert

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