Neil Collins – författare

The third edition of Political issues in Ireland today addresses the most important current topics in Irish politics. It fills a major gap in the academic literature on Irish politics, providing students with a comprehensive introduction to the issues dominating debates in both parts of Ireland. The recent emergence of emigration, environmental risk and technological changes on to the political agenda is reflected in this latest edition. It also revisits Ireland's economic performance, the peace process and the policy areas of health, housing and industrial relations. Readers will find this book a valuable resource for keeping up to date with the important policy debates in Ireland and for evaluating the impact of major social changes.

The Chinese political system is the subject of much media and popular comment in part because China supports an economy with an apparently inexorable dynamic and impressive record of achievement. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to China’s political system, outlining the major features of the Chinese model and highlighting its claims and challenges. It explores the central role of the Communist Party in the country’s politics and the way in which the Party controls most elements of the political system. The book also draws parallels with previous historical periods in China’s history. Finally, it addresses the question of what kind of role the People's Republic of China will play in global politics as a whole, the implications for the West and the rebalancing of relations between China and its neighbours.

China’s rise from the poverty, isolation and stagnation of the 1970s to the world’s second largest economy is a transformative event perhaps unequalled in human history. The world today pays more attention to China, looks to it with more admiration than perhaps any other time. Yet, this rise also hides many deep-rooted problems and competing ideologies. Economically, socially and politically China has transformed itself but there is much that remains uncertain. This book aims to give an insight into China by exploring everyday life for her citizens, in their own voices. Providing both an overview of the political situation and context in China with ethnographic insights, The Politics of Everyday China aims to give both the new student of China and those who have encountered the subject before an insight that goes beyond the usual cliché and surface description.

COVID-19 has had massive social, political, and economic consequences, not least in education. Schools and universities globally closed their doors and sought to provide educational services to students in other, alternative ways. This book is a collection of essays about how different institutions and systems of education around the world have attempted to meet the challenges created by COVID-19. It reports the impact of the pandemic in both developed and developing nations and at all levels of education. The collective responses and lessons learned are analyzed to explain the relative success of different coping strategies.

COVID-19 has had massive social, political, and economic consequences, not least in education. Schools and universities globally closed their doors and sought to provide educational services to students in other, alternative ways. This book is a collection of essays about how different institutions and systems of education around the world have attempted to meet the challenges created by COVID-19. It reports the impact of the pandemic in both developed and developing nations and at all levels of education. The collective responses and lessons learned are analyzed to explain the relative success of different coping strategies.

If the story of Wales in the 1990s was a movie plot, it would all seem so far-fetched. Thankfully, it was all true.The 1970s and ‘80s were a bleak time for much of Wales: the closure of steel works and coal mines led to mass unemployment while the country’s culture and language was disregarded by politicians and the music industry alike. Some bands even travelled across the Severn Bridge to make sure their records arrived at the London offices sporting an English postmark.The 1990s changed everything. While Wales was already known for Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Male Voices Choirs, but bands such as Catatonia, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics and Super Furry Animals exploded into the charts and showed the UK population the breadth of what this small but inherently musical nation could offer. Meanwhile, S4C – the Welsh-language television channel – became increasingly prominent and a new Welsh Assembly was on the horizon…Featuring fresh analysis and new interviews, International Velvet charts the UK in a decade in which ‘Cool Cymru’ won over the masses and shows how it inspired the still-vibrant Welsh music scene into the 21st century and beyond.

The Chinese political system is the subject of much media and popular comment in part because China supports an economy with an apparently inexorable dynamic and impressive record of achievement. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to China’s political system, outlining the major features of the Chinese model and highlighting its claims and challenges. It explores the central role of the Communist Party in the country’s politics and the way in which the Party controls most elements of the political system. The book also draws parallels with previous historical periods in China’s history. Finally, it addresses the question of what kind of role the People's Republic of China will play in global politics as a whole, the implications for the West and the rebalancing of relations between China and its neighbours.