Nigeria's Resource Wars

Edited by Egodi Uchendu, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

November 2020 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-831-1
Availability: In stock
900pp. ¦ $66 £49 €56

'Nigeria’s Resource Wars' reflects on the diversity of conflicts over access to, and allocation of, resources in Nigeria. From the devastating effects of crude oil exploration in the Niger Delta to desertification caused by climate change, and illegal gold mining in Zamfara, to mention a few, Nigeria faces new dimensions of resource-related struggles. The ravaging effects of these resource conflicts between crop farmers and Fulani herders in Nigeria’s Middlebelt and states across Southern Nigeria call for urgent scholarly interventions; with the Fulani cattle breeders’ onslaught altering the histories of many Nigerian families through deaths, loss of homes and investments, and permanent physical incapacity. Currently, there is an almost total breakdown of interethnic relations, with political commentators acknowledging that Nigeria has never been so divided as it presently is in its history. The struggles have now degenerated into kidnaps, armed robbery, and incessant targeted and random killings across the country; compounding the already complex problem of insecurity in Nigeria. The chapters in this volume engage with these issues, presenting the different arguments on resource conflicts in Nigeria. They draw insights from similar conflicts in Nigeria’s colonial/post-independence past and events from around the world to proffer possible solutions to resource-related confrontations in Africa. By offering a collection of different intellectual perspectives on resource conflicts in Nigeria, this volume will be an important reference material for understanding the diversity of thought patterns that underpin the struggle and policy approaches towards resolving conflict situations in Africa. This volume will be of considerable interest to scholars of Africa, researchers in the humanities, social sciences, and conflict studies, and policymakers interested in understanding the resource crisis in Africa.

How Law Works: Collected Articles and New Essays

Thomas Hemnes

November 2020 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-826-7
Availability: In stock
556pp. ¦ $73 £55 €62

This book chronicles developments in legal practice, intellectual property, and privacy law from the dawn of the digital age to today’s world of social media and cloud technologies. Part autobiography, part legal history, and part philosophy of law, the volume explores the nature of legal reasoning, property, privacy, and personal identity. Hemnes weaves these large issues into meticulously researched analysis of the legal protection for computer software, the mechanics of software licensing, trademark protection and the use of intellectual property as collateral. Hemnes also considers how and why the promise of the early digital age in the 20th century declined into the rampant factionalism, nationalism, and terrorism of the early 21st century. An indispensable resource for anyone studying the emergence of intellectual property rights as a cornerstone of the modern economy, this book also serves as a foundational reference tool for professors, students, and practitioners of intellectual property. The breadth and value of information contained within its pages, from the very basics of computer software protection to the intricacies of negotiation strategy for indemnification clauses, warrants a place on the library shelves of every practitioner of intellectual property and privacy law and on the reading list of every intellectual property, privacy and jurisprudence course.

The Dynamics of Bride Price in Zimbabwe and the UK Diaspora

Ottis Mubaiwa

May 2020 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-817-5
Availability: In stock
222pp. ¦ $51 £38 €44

The tradition of Bride Price has been at the heart of marriage for many centuries in numerous cultures across the globe. The Dynamics of Bride Price presents new research data from Zimbabwe and the UK highlighting the transnational dimension of the practice, its diversity in different contexts and across generations, and its influence on the structure of gender relationships and inequalities. The transnational element of its investigation into the institution and traditions of African marriage sets this book apart from existing study and offers its readers a nuanced and complex understanding of the perceptions and experiences of Bride Price across diverse contexts. This original contribution will be of great interest to those studying and teaching courses on Gender and Development, as well as researchers and policymakers of cultural practices.

Humor, Psyche, and Society: A Socio-Semiotic Analysis

Arthur Asa Berger, San Francisco State University

May 2020 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-808-3
Availability: In stock
140pp. ¦ $42 £32 €36

It is the age-old saying that “laughter is the best medicine”. Scientific research has substantiated the claim made by this proverb by verifying the positive effects it has on both our mind and body, but what is it about a good joke, comic, or sitcom that makes us laugh? Humor, Psyche and Society is a compilation of Berger’s previously published articles and new chapters on the nature of humour, its importance for our psyches, and its social and political significance. Written in an accessible style, it uses semiotics, psychoanalytic theory, sociological theory, as well as other theories of humour to explore the multifaceted nature of humour, various styles of jokes and sitcoms. Using Berger’s typology of forty-five techniques found in all forms of humour, developed to explain what makes us laugh, this book analyses a variety of humorous texts. Balancing theory, entertaining jokes and other humorous texts, as well as the author’s illustrations, the chapters in this book delve into a diverse range of topics such as humour and the creative process, humour and health, and visual humour; along with an examination of the sitcoms Frasier and Cheers; and finally, the exploration of jokes including Jewish jokes, and jokes on Russia and Communism, and Trump. This book will be of particular interest to university students studying courses in humour, comedy, popular culture, applied semiotics, American politics and culture, and cultural studies. Due to the accessible nature of this book, the general public may find it to be both a fascinating and entertaining read.

Roots and Routes: Poetics at New College of California

Edited by Patrick James Dunagan et al.

May 2020 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-800-7
Availability: In stock
458pp. ¦ $67 £51 €57

'Roots and Routes' gathers essays, talks, interviews, statements, notes, and other prose writings by poets who studied and/or taught at the New College of California’s Masters in Poetics program over the course of its nearly 30-year existence. The collection evokes a much-needed anti-hierarchical, even anarchic, pedagogy in poetry, poetics, and the literary arts, and is part of a general reevaluation of standard higher education models on Creative Writing. As such it will appeal to a wide range of students and scholars interested in America’s recent literary history, as well as to poets outside the academy and the general reader interested in US poetry and poetics.