Tim Summers – författare

The rise of China has been shaped and driven by its engagement with the global economy during a period of intensified globalization, yet China is a continent-sized economy and society with substantial diversity across its different regions. This means that its engagement with the global economy cannot just be understood at the national level, but requires analysis of the differences in participation in the global economy across China’s regions.

This book responds to this challenge by looking at the development of China’s regions in this era of globalization. It traces the evolution of regional policy in China and its implications in a global context. Detailed chapters examine the global trajectory of what is now becoming known as the Greater Bay Area in southern China, the globalization of the inland mega-city of Chongqing, and the role of China’s regions in the globally-focused belt and road initiative launched by the Chinese government in late 2013.

The book will be of interest to practitioners and scholars engaging with contemporary China’s political economy and international relations.

The rise of China has been shaped and driven by its engagement with the global economy during a period of intensified globalization, yet China is a continent-sized economy and society with substantial diversity across its different regions. This means that its engagement with the global economy cannot just be understood at the national level, but requires analysis of the differences in participation in the global economy across China’s regions.

This book responds to this challenge by looking at the development of China’s regions in this era of globalization. It traces the evolution of regional policy in China and its implications in a global context. Detailed chapters examine the global trajectory of what is now becoming known as the Greater Bay Area in southern China, the globalization of the inland mega-city of Chongqing, and the role of China’s regions in the globally-focused belt and road initiative launched by the Chinese government in late 2013.

The book will be of interest to practitioners and scholars engaging with contemporary China’s political economy and international relations.

In 1997, Hong Kong became a special administrative region of China under the “one country, two systems” framework. In this new edition, Tim Summers brings his analysis of the politics of Hong Kong fully up to date and discusses the ramifications for the city of the mass demonstrations of 2019–20 and the city’s intensifying confrontational politics that have culminated in China’s new national security law for Hong Kong.

In the process, Hong Kong has lost the sweet spot it occupied for four decades in a world of intensifying economic globalization and decent US–China relations, all the more so after Covid-19. Instead it finds itself at the frontline of US–China strategic rivalry. Summers explores how the city’s future will be shaped by the interaction of these global tensions with Hong Kong’s polarized local politics and its relationship with Beijing.

Some 22 years after its creation, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is still held in high critical regard as one of the finest examples of the video game medium. The same is true of the game’s music, whose superlative reception continues to be evident, whether in the context of the game or in orchestral concerts and recordings of the game’s music.

Given music’s well-established significance for the video game form, it is no coincidence that music is placed at the forefront of this most lauded and loved of games. In Ocarina of Time, music connects and unifies all aspects of the game, from the narrative conceit to the interactive mechanics, from the characters to the virtual worlds, and even into the activity of legions of fans and gamers, who play, replay and reconfigure the music in an enduring cultural site that has Ocarina of Time at its centre. As video game music studies begins to mature into a coherent field, it is now possible to take the theoretical apparatus and critical approaches that have been developed in antecedent scholarship and put these into practice in the context of an extended concrete game example.

The most extensive investigation into the music of a single game yet undertaken, this book serves three important primary purposes: first, it provides a historical-critical account of the music of an important video game text; second, it uses this investigation to explore wider issues in music and media studies (including interactivity, fan cultures, and music and technology); and third, it serves as a model for future in-depth studies of video game music.

Some 22 years after its creation, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is still held in high critical regard as one of the finest examples of the video game medium. The same is true of the game’s music, whose superlative reception continues to be evident, whether in the context of the game or in orchestral concerts and recordings of the game’s music.

Given music’s well-established significance for the video game form, it is no coincidence that music is placed at the forefront of this most lauded and loved of games. In Ocarina of Time, music connects and unifies all aspects of the game, from the narrative conceit to the interactive mechanics, from the characters to the virtual worlds, and even into the activity of legions of fans and gamers, who play, replay and reconfigure the music in an enduring cultural site that has Ocarina of Time at its centre. As video game music studies begins to mature into a coherent field, it is now possible to take the theoretical apparatus and critical approaches that have been developed in antecedent scholarship and put these into practice in the context of an extended concrete game example.

The most extensive investigation into the music of a single game yet undertaken, this book serves three important primary purposes: first, it provides a historical-critical account of the music of an important video game text; second, it uses this investigation to explore wider issues in music and media studies (including interactivity, fan cultures, and music and technology); and third, it serves as a model for future in-depth studies of video game music.