Jens Ivo Engels – författare

A fascinating handbook providing a rare synthesis of the environmental history of northern Europe from the Paleolithic era to the present day.Of interest to students and academics alike, this book provides a much-needed synthesis of the recent literature on northern Europe's environmental history. Beginning with the Paleolithic period and the recolonization of Europe after the Ice Age, this book maps out the key environmental trends in the history of the region's environment and its interaction with the human population.The book also highlights how dramatic events outside Europe, such as the Tomboro volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1815, had dramatic consequences for the region's climate. Given the culturally diverse nature of modern Europe, a vital aspect of the book is its identification of the common themes that unite the interaction of the region's nation-states with the natural environment. Part of ABC-CLIO's Nature and Human Societies series, the book enables readers to better grasp the extent of humanity's effect on our world.

Politische Patronage findet sich in nahezu allen Gesellschaften. Patronage ist dabei nicht nur ein politisches Instrument, sondern eine Kulturform mit eigenen Codes und Werten. Politische Bedeutung entfaltet Patronage vor allem bei der Integration von Gesellschaften und politischen Systemen. Gleichwohl steht sie stets unter kritischer Beobachtung und bedarf der Legitimation. Formuliert wird die Kritik an der Patronage dabei häufig als Korruptionskritik. Integration, Legitimation, Korruption – diese drei miteinander verflochtenen Dimensionen der Patronage werden an Beispielen von der Frühneuzeit bis ins frühe 20. Jahrhundert behandelt. Der international ausgerichtete Band stellt damit auch die sich wandelnden Bedingungen für Patronage zwischen vormodernen und modernen Gesellschaften dar.Political patronage is an almost universal phenomenon. It is not just a tool which actors use to achieve certain objectives but a way of life with its own culture, its own values and codes. Patronage is of importance in particular as a means to integrate societies and give coherence to political systems. Nevertheless, it is always subject to criticism – which tends to argue that patronage amounts to corruption – and needs to be legitimized. Integration, legitimation and corruption, these are the three dimensions of patronage which the authors address in looking at examples from the early modern period to the early 20th century. This volume wants to make a contribution to a comparative history of patronage in an international perspective on the transition from pre-modern to modern societies.

The discussion of critical infrastructures is dominated by the use of the interlinked concepts “criticality”, “vulnerability”, “resilience”, and “preparedness and prevention”. These terms can be detected in public discourse as well as in scientific debates. Often, they are used simultaneously in a normative as well as in a descriptive way. The PhD candidates of the interdisciplinary Research Training Group KRITIS at Technische Universität Darmstadt examine these concepts systematically one by one and discuss the links between them. They give a critical overview over the uses and limitations of these concepts. Informed by the approaches in Science and Technology Studies, they focus on the interrelatedness of technology and society. The book aims at creating a common ground for interdisciplinary infrastructure research. The authors are from history, philosophy, political science, civil engineering, urban and spatial planning and computer science.