The growing academic literature on ‘food sovereignty’ has elaborated a food producer-driven vision of an alternative, more ecological food system rooted in greater democratic control over food production and distribution. Given that the food sovereignty developed with and within producer associations, a rural setting and production-side concerns have overshadowed issues of distribution and urban consumption. Yet, ideal types such as direct marketing, time-intensive food preparation and the ‘family shared meal’ are hard to transcribe into the life realities in many non-rural, (...) non-farming households, and it is unclear, in turn, how such realities can fit into models of food sovereignty. A particular practical and research gap exists in how to engage the overwhelming need for food options served under time constraints and (often) outside of the home or a full-service restaurant. The over-generalized vilification of ‘fast food’ should be replaced by a framework that allows us to distinguish between unhealthy, corporate fast foods and both traditional and emerging alternatives that can serve to extend the tenets of food sovereignty further into food processing, distribution and consumption. This article analyzes existing conceptualizations of fast food, explores fast food historically, and studies how food sovereignty can operationalize its tenets and priorities in situations where fast food is an unquestionable necessity. (shrink)

Can belief be taken for granted when the modern self is now so thoroughly cut off from the transcendent? The philosopher Charles Taylor has argued, in his influential work A Secular Age, that it cannot. But theologian Ronald F. Thiemann, likewise a prominent public intellectual, asserts - against Taylor - that people can yet find divine significance in the ordinary and everyday as much as in structured faith and worship. Thiemann's subtle idea of the humble sublime hinges on (...) a notion of sacred immanence, or what he calls 'sacramental realism': of holiness present in the hidden. Finding continuity between theological and overtly 'secular' writers, he shows that the late medieval and early modern eras gave rise to the persistent idea that God may be found not just where he might be expected to be, but also in his opposite. Discussing in turn Luther, realistic painting and Charles Taylor's overarching narrative in A Secular Age, the author then pursues the theme of the humble sublime in the literary and social critical works of Anna Akhmatova, Langston Hughes, George Orwell and Albert Camus. He argues passionately in favour, even in a secular context, of the idea of sacred worth as a vital component of modern identity. This powerful melding of secular and sacred has a strong ethical and political dimension, especially in resisting tyranny. Thiemann's final book will appeal to all those committed to sacred value, whether agnostics, atheists or believers. (shrink)

Der Autor behandelt die Frage, welche öffentliche Rolle Religion und Theologie unter den kulturellen Bedingungen des Pluralismus spielen können. Zwar muß eine demokratische Gesellschaft, die eine Pluralität von religiösen Bekenntnissen zulassen will, zwischen Politik und Religion eine Trennlinie ziehen. Nach der Überzeugung des Autors kommen aber die Demokratie und ihre öffentlichen Arenen nicht ohne ethische Bindungen aus, auch und gerade solche, die aus religiösen Wertüberzeugungen gespeist werden. Der Autor stellt sein in den USA lebhaft diskutiertes Konzept einer »Öffentlichen Theologie« vor.

On Islam and state, and Islamic philosophy.

Previous studies on international reconciliation have focused on the security and economic interests of the countries involved, treating reconciliation as an end-goal rather than an ongoing process. This study divides the process of reconciliation into three stages., which refers to the mending of international relations through institutional change, is the most basic. In the phase, the perpetrator provides the victim with economic compensation for inflicting harm. The third stage,, is reached when the perpetrator acknowledges past wrongdoings and when civil and (...) cultural exchanges are carried out smoothly. (shrink)

Dieses Handbuch bietet erstmals einen umfassenden und systematischen Zugang zu den Theorien des Krieges. Der erste Teil des Werkes ist interdisziplinär angelegt und es werden verschiedene Kriegstheorien dargestellt – von anthropologischen bis hin zu religiösen Ansätzen. Der zweite Teil stellt zentrale Theoretiker des Krieges vor. Der dritte Teil enthält empirische Fallstudien vom Mittelalter bis in die Gegenwart zu Teilaspekten der Kriegstheorien. Insgesamt stellt der Band die Dynamik der theoretischen Entwicklung dar. Dabei berücksichtigt er die jeweiligen politischen, sozioökonomischen und technologischen Faktoren.

Collected articles on spiritual life based on the life of Bābu Rāṇapurā, mystic-saint poet from Gujarat; previously published in Kacchamitra, a Gujarati daily.

Collected articles on spiritual life based on Bābubhāī Raṇapurā, 1940, Hindu saint; previously published in Kacchamitra, a Gujarati daily.

The social aspects of modern science and technology; The cultural aspects of science; The sociology of the research process; The planning of science: bernal versus polanyi.