Through the looking-glass of Russian national cinema, Pride and Panic explores Russia’s anxious adjustment towards the expansion of Western culture. Russian film is shown, in both its creation and perception, to expose the intriguing dynamics of societal psychological conditions. Using specific film examples, the book delves into the subterranean recesses of Russian national consciousness, exposing an internal ambivalence and complex cultural reaction towards the rise of the West. These fears, fantasies and tremulous anxieties are examined through the representation of the West in films by both established and lesser-known Russian directors. Using a highly original and unorthodox approach, the author parallels the shifting dynamics of attitudes and identity in Russia, caused by globalization, to stages of development in an individual human psyche. The book cohesively unveils the psychological turmoil experienced by Russia towards a change in global relations. A text of particular interest to scholars, students and readers involved with contemporary film and, in particular, Russian cinema and culture.

Long before a politician opens his mouth to speak in public, his words have been filtered through a team of public relations experts, communications consultants, and campaign assistants. When did politicians’ speeches stop being their own? And who are these professional communicators who fine-tune messages to suit the demands of electoral strategy? In The Professionalization of Political Communication, renowned contributors explore the effect of such consciously manipulated discourse on European politics; the resulting volume is essential for anyone interested in the changing political dialect.

This definitive book provides a conceptual context for cultural quarters through a detailed discussion concerning the principles of urban design and planning. To examine these issues, the book presents several case studies drawn from Northern England, Ireland and Vienna to position the emergence of specific cultural areas within a historical and social context and the economics of maintaining the respective districts.<br xmlns="http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/"/> <br/> Extending this investigation, the author provides an explicit analysis of Bolton Borough Council’s moves towards establishing a cultural sector in the town centre, with references to previous funding models employed by Birmingham City Council and the British Museum. The book offers a concise illustration of how cultural practice is maintained and expanded within an urban environment. This single volume, packed with detail, can be used in higher education courses to support the study of cultural policy, management and regeneration.

The Potentials of Spaces interrogates the relationship between scenography and performance in contemporary dramatic activities. The book provides an illuminating platform for discussion concerning the interrelations between theatrical movement and gesture in physical space. In exploring territories of performance, the author equally combines theoretical research with details of dramatic methods and performances, thus providing a valuable insight into working practices. Avant-garde and experimental approaches towards sensory, spatial and visual aspects of the stage are described and explored.



Through a discussion regarding the performance possibilities viable through technological development and new media in recent years, the book aims to challenge tradition and inspire new creative directions upon the stage. The book breaks new ground on dramatic and spatial awareness within the tropics of theatre. An essential text for those interested in, or studying, theatrical practice and scenography.

We are witnessing a dynamic reshaping of the European 'mediascape'. This has been underway for more than a decade since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the growing impact of globalisation, and the birth of new technologies and new media, or the convergence between old and new media. A new and more intense 'mediatisation' of society and everyday life is emerging. This is happening alongside the rapid reconstruction of the cultural and economic landscape of Europe itself. In this transformation the communicative and ideological dimensions, the digitalisation of technology, and changes in culture - 'the imaginary', the discursive universe of politics and communication, are all crucial areas for research. The cultural industries, (film, television, books, magazines, entertainment and music), but also the world of news, actuality, 'infotainment' and the internet, are key areas for the study of what we may begin to understand as a changing European culture in all its complexity and with all its differences and conflicts. The media and the cultural industries are among the fastest growing sectors in the global economy.

This book is the result of a conference organised by the Contemporary Portuguese Political History Research Centre (CPHRC) and the University of Dundee that took place during September 2000. The purpose of this conference, and the resulting book, was to bring together various experts in the field to analyse and debate the process of Portuguese decolonisation, which was then 25 years old, and the effects of this on the Portuguese themselves. For over one century, the Portuguese state had defined its foreign policy on the basis of its vast empire – this was the root of its 'Atlanticist' vision. The outbreak of war of liberation in its African territories, which were prompted by the new international support for self determination in colonised territories, was a serious threat that undermined the very foundations of the Portuguese state. This book examines the nature of this threat, how the Portuguese state initially attempted to overcome it by force, and how new pressures within Portuguese society were given space to emerge as a consequence of the colonial wars.

This is the first book that takes a multidisciplinary look at both the causes and the consequences of Portuguese decolonisation – and is the only one that places the loss of Portugal's Eastern Empire in the context of the loss of its African Empire. Furthermore, it is the only English language book that relates the process of Portuguese decolonisation with the search for a new Portuguese vision of its place in the world.

This book is intended for anyone who is interested in regime change, decolonisation, political revolutions and the growth and development of the European Union. It will also be useful for those who are interested in contemporary developments in civil society and state ideologies. Given that a large part of the book is dedicated to the process of change in the various countries of the former Portuguese Empire, it will also be of interest to students of Africa. It will be useful to those who study decolonisation processes within the other former European Empires, as it provides comparative detail. The book will be most useful to academic researchers and students of comparative politics and area studies.

"Nano" denotes a billionth; a nanometer is a billionth of a meter. New instrumentation and techniques have for the first time made possible materials research and engineering at this level, the scale of individual molecules and atoms.

Extraordinary visions of material abundance, unprecedented materials, and powerful engineering capabilities have marked the arrival of nanotechnology, as well as dystopian scenarios of self-replicating devices running amok and causing global catastrophe. Largely a future possibility rather than present actuality, nanotechnology has become a potent cultural signifier.



NanoCulture explores the ways in which nanotechnology interacts with, and itself becomes, a cultural construction. Topics include the co-construction of nanoscience and science fiction; the influence of risk assessment and nanotechnology on the shapes of narratives; intersections between nanoscience as a writing practice and experimental literature at the limits of fabrication; the Alice-in-Wonderland metaphor for nanotechnology; and the effects of mediation on nanotechnology and electronic literature.



NanoCulture is produced in collaboration with the nano art exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (December 2003-September 2004), created by an interdisciplinary team led by media artist Victoria Vesna and nanoscientist James Gimzewski. NanoCulture is richly illustrated with images from the nano exhibit, which also provides the basis for an ethnographic analysis of collaborative process and an exploration of changing concepts of museum space.



The dynamic uniting these diverse perspectives is boundary crossing: between art, science, and literature; cultural imaginaries, scientific facts, and technological possibilities; actual. virtual, and hybrid spaces; the science of fictions and the fictions of science; and utopian dreams, material constraints, and dystopian nightmares.



The first book-length study focus on cultural implications of nanotechnology, NanoCulture breaks new ground in showing the importance of the new technoscience to contemporary culture and of culture to the development, interpretation, and future of this technoscience.

This volume considers the making of a settlement as a process of identity formation. Taking the position that a culture signifies a way of life, it asks how cultural frameworks inform patterns of settlement, and how the built environment, as process and design, conditions cultural production and reception. The disciplinary fields this intersects include architecture, urban design, sociology, cultural and human geography, cultural studies and critical theory. Contributors work in a range of such fields, in Europe and Latin America.