Ben Page - Böcker

There are different approaches to modelling the divine, with each raising questions one needs to consider when employing them to produce a model. Outlining some of the most widely used methods is one of the goals of this Element, providing something of an introductory 'how-to' guide for divine modelling. Through discussing what models are, the different sources of data acquisition, how to acquire data via reason, how to sort data, and what we might think a model provides us with, this Element aims to give readers the resources to take on the task of modelling informatively and effectively for themselves.

There are different approaches to modelling the divine, with each raising questions one needs to consider when employing them to produce a model. Outlining some of the most widely used methods is one of the goals of this Element, providing something of an introductory 'how-to' guide for divine modelling. Through discussing what models are, the different sources of data acquisition, how to acquire data via reason, how to sort data, and what we might think a model provides us with, this Element aims to give readers the resources to take on the task of modelling informatively and effectively for themselves.

'Like the city, the nation, life itself, migration has become increasingly diverse. This stimulating, multi-disciplinary edited collection looks at questions about the connections between time, space and migration at a variety of scales and across a range of sites. Rhythms, patterns and scales of permanent, cyclical and temporary migration are explored in fascinating detail, providing new insights into an increasingly important phenomenon in a globalising world. This collection will reset the agenda for migration studies.'- Linda McDowell, University of Oxford, UKSeeking to re-energise debates on the relationship between human mobility and timespace, this book furthers our understanding of how people move by foregrounding both time and space in the analysis of different empirical migration stories. Though migration is often seen as inherently spatial, the way space is being imagined is rarely analysed, whilst questions of time are widely neglected by migration scholars. Here, in contrast, the idea of timespace is used to assert the significance and connections of these two dimensions. The focus is on how timespace intersects with dynamic migrant constructions, negotiations and performances as an integral aspect of the rhythms of mobilities. Highlighting migration journeys and emotions as embedded and embodied in everyday lives, the chapters also examine the intricate and complex ways timespace enters into, and is juxtaposed with, such feelings and practices in different spaces. Migrations and mobilities are not seen as one-off, separate processes, suspended in timespace, but rather need to be theorised and analysed in more innovative and malleable ways which take into account the non-linear, non-teleological, ambivalent, irrational, messy and fluid ways in which people move. Individual chapters engage with these concepts by considering a broad spectrum of migration stories, from youth mobility, to refugee migration, to gentrification, to food and to the political geography of the border. The overall aim of the book is to interrupt and challenge the ways in which migration scholars use time and space within their research.Contributors include: E. Ascensão, J. Carling, A. Christou, F. Collins, M.B. Erdal, M. Griffiths, A. Ma, E. Mavroudi, J. McGarrigle, P. Novak, B. Page, S. Shubin, D. Smith, H. Zaban

There has been much recent celebration of the success of African 'civil society' in forging global connections through an ever-growing diaspora. Against the background of such celebrations, this innovative book sheds light on the diasporic networks - 'home associations' - whose economic contributions are being used to develop home. Despite these networks being part of the flow of migrants' resources back to Africa that now outweighs official development assistance, the relationship between the flow of capital and social and political change are still poorly understood.Looking in particular at Cameroon and Tanzania, the authors examine the networks of migrants that have been created by making 'home associations' international. They argue that claims in favour of enlarging 'civil society' in Africa must be placed in the broader context of the political economy of migration and wider debates concerning ethnicity and belonging. They demonstrate both that diasporic development is distinct from mainstream development, and that it is an uneven historical process in which some 'homes' are better placed to take advantage of global connections than others.In doing so, the book engages critically with the current enthusiasm among policy-makers for treating the African diaspora as an untapped resource for combating poverty. Its focus on diasporic networks, rather than private remittances, reveals the particular successes and challenges diasporas face in acting as a group, not least in mobilising members of the diaspora to fulfill obligations to home.