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Hierarchies of Power: Evangelical Christianity and Adat Transformation in Indonesian Borneo (Contestations in Contemporary Southeast Asia)
by Imam ArdhiantoThis book focuses on a Pentecostal-Evangelical Kenyah community in central Borneo, a region that crosses the border between Malaysia and Indonesia. The book argues that the Pentecostal-Evangelical (P/e) mode of religious authority and organization has the capacity to adapt to both the pre-existing hierarchical traditional institution such as Adat and modern egalitarian social forms. It has been necessary within the context of Kenyah’s experience of religious change as it enabled many actors from various social classes to obtain and perceive religious authority in a specific local and regional political-religious situation while promoting their identity as egalitarian and autonomous modern subjects. In contrast with other studies on the P/e church that emphasize its egalitarian spirit as a factor that supports its impressive growth, the book contends that its adaptive structural characteristics have enabled the development of this specific Christian denomination to expand rapidly and play a dominant position in contemporary social life in various parts of the world. The book thus provides novel findings in the study of religious change in Southeast Asia by enriching the discussion of historical transformation in the region, and analyzing the articulation of global and regional Christian movements, with the socio-political characteristics of Bornean society.
Hierarchy In The Forest: The Evolution Of Egalitarian Behavior
by Christopher BoehmAre humans by nature hierarchical or egalitarian? Hierarchy in the Forest addresses this question by examining the evolutionary origins of social and political behavior. Christopher Boehm, an anthropologist whose fieldwork has focused on the political arrangements of human and nonhuman primate groups, postulates that egalitarianism is in effect a hierarchy in which the weak combine forces to dominate the strong. The political flexibility of our species is formidable: we can be quite egalitarian, we can be quite despotic. Hierarchy in the Forest traces the roots of these contradictory traits in chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, and early human societies. Boehm looks at the loose group structures of hunter-gatherers, then at tribal segmentation, and finally at present-day governments to see how these conflicting tendencies are reflected. Hierarchy in the Forest claims new territory for biological anthropology and evolutionary biology by extending the domain of these sciences into a crucial aspect of human political and social behavior. This book will be a key document in the study of the evolutionary basis of genuine altruism. Table of Contents: The Question of Egalitarian Society Hierarchy and Equality Putting Down Aggressors Equality and Its Causes A Wider View of Egalitarianism The Hominoid Political Spectrum Ancestral Politics The Evolution of Egalitarian Society Paleolithic Politics and Natural Selection Ambivalence and Compromise in Human Nature References Index Reviews of this book: This well-written book, geared toward an audience with background in the behavioral and evolutionary sciences but accessible to a broad readership, raises two general questions: 'What is an egalitarian society?' and 'How have these societies evolved?'. . . [Christopher Boehm] takes the reader on a journey from the Arctic to the Americas, from Australia to Africa, in search of hunter-gatherer and tribal societies that emanate the egalitarian ethos--one that promotes generosity, altruism and sharing but forbids upstartism, aggression and egoism.
Hierarchy and the State: State-Building in the Shadow of American Economic Power
by Patrick E. SheaDoes American influence help or hinder the capacity-building of partner states? In Hierarchy and the State, Patrick E. Shea challenges the conventional wisdom that US influence undermines state-building in developing countries, instead arguing that US support has actually enhanced state capacity over the past forty years. The book asserts that American economic power plays a pivotal role in enhancing a state's ability to build and sustain itself. Tracing the evolution of US property rights promotion from 1782 to the present, it reveals the complex interplay of economic and security interests that shape American foreign policy. Through cutting-edge quantitative techniques and original data on US hierarchy, Hierarchy and the State provides robust evidence for the mechanisms linking international influence, property rights, and state-building outcomes. Its novel framework will change the way scholars examine the international politics of state-building.
Hierarchy in International Relations (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)
by David A. LakeInternational relations are generally understood as a realm of anarchy in which countries lack any superior authority and interact within a Hobbesian state of nature. In Hierarchy in International Relations, David A. Lake challenges this traditional view, demonstrating that states exercise authority over one another in international hierarchies that vary historically but are still pervasive today. Revisiting the concepts of authority and sovereignty, Lake offers a novel view of international relations in which states form social contracts that bind both dominant and subordinate members. The resulting hierarchies have significant effects on the foreign policies of states as well as patterns of international conflict and cooperation. Focusing largely on U.S.-led hierarchies in the contemporary world, Lake provides a compelling account of the origins, functions, and limits of political order in the modern international system. The book is a model of clarity in theory, research design, and the use of evidence. Motivated by concerns about the declining international legitimacy of the United States following the Iraq War, Hierarchy in International Relations offers a powerful analytic perspective that has important implications for understanding America's position in the world in the years ahead.
Hierarchy, Information and Power: Cities as Corporate Command and Control Centers
by Hongmian GongThis book is a collection of selected papers presented in the 2012 annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers in New York honoring James O. Wheeler (1938-2010). The eight papers are informed and inspired by James O. Wheeler's many contributions to urban geography, particularly in the areas of urban hierarchy, information flows, cities in the telecommunications age, and cities as corporate command and control centers. They adopt and extend Jim Wheeler’s corporate and/or hierarchical approaches to discuss institutional investment in the U.S., corporate interlocking directorates and fast-growing firms in Canada, corporate intangible assets in South Korea, urban development in Beijing and Macau, and social and cultural diversity of global cities such as New York. Although these two approaches are not the fanciest ones in today's urban geography, they are essential to the understanding of how urban areas are connected and what drives this interconnectedness in this age of globalization. This book was previously published as a special issue of Urban Geography.
High Cost of Free Parking
by Donald ShoupOff-street parking requirements are devastating American cities. So says the author in this no-holds-barred treatise on the way parking should be. Free parking, the author argues, has contributed to auto dependence, rapid urban sprawl, extravagant energy use, and a host of other problems. Planners mandate free parking to alleviate congestion, but end up distorting transportation choices, debasing urban design, damaging the economy, and degrading the environment. Ubiquitous free parking helps explain why our cities sprawl on a scale fit more for cars than for people, and why American motor vehicles now consume one-eighth of the world's total oil production. But it doesn't have to be this way. The author proposes new ways for cities to regulate parking, namely, charge fair market prices for curb parking, use the resulting revenue to pay for services in the neighborhoods that generate it, and remove zoning requirements for off-street parking.
High Courts and Economic Governance in Argentina and Brazil
by Diana KapiszewskiHigh Courts and Economic Governance in Argentina and Brazil analyzes how high courts and elected leaders in Latin America interacted over neoliberal restructuring, one of the most significant socioeconomic transformations in recent decades. Courts face a critical choice when deciding cases concerning national economic policy, weighing rule of law concerns against economic imperatives. Elected leaders confront equally difficult dilemmas when courts issue decisions challenging their actions. Based on extensive fieldwork in Argentina and Brazil, this study identifies striking variation in inter-branch interactions between the two countries. In Argentina, while high courts often defer to politicians in the economic realm, inter-branch relations are punctuated by tense bouts of conflict. Brazilian courts and elected officials, by contrast, routinely accommodate one another in their decisions about economic policy. Diana Kapiszewski argues that the two high courts' contrasting characters - political in Argentina and statesman-like in Brazil - shaped their decisions on controversial cases and conditioned how elected leaders responded to their rulings, channeling inter-branch interactions into persistent patterns.
High Courts in Global Perspective: Evidence, Methodologies, and Findings (Constitutionalism and Democracy)
by Tom Ginsburg Sunita Parikh Diana Kapiszewski Melinda Gann Hall Amanda Driscoll Chris Hanretty Russell Smyth Aylin Aydin-Cakir Tanya Bagashka Clifford Carrubba Joshua Fischman Joshua Fjelstul Lori Hausegger Lewis A. Kornhauser Dominique H. Lewis Chien-Chih Lin Christopher ZornHigh courts around the world hold a revered place in the legal hierarchy. These courts are the presumed impartial final arbiters as individuals, institutions, and nations resolve their legal differences. But they also buttress and mitigate the influence of other political actors, protect minority rights, and set directions for policy. The comparative empirical analysis offered in this volume highlights important differences between constitutional courts but also clarifies the unity of procedure, process, and practice in the world’s highest judicial institutions.High Courts in Global Perspective pulls back the curtain on the interlocutors of court systems internationally. This book creates a framework for a comparative analysis that weaves together a collective narrative on high court behavior and the scholarship needed for a deeper understanding of cross-national contexts. From the U.S. federal courts to the constitutional courts of Africa, from the high courts in Latin America to the Court of Justice of the European Union, high courts perform different functions in different societies, and the contributors take us through particularities of regulation and legislative review as well as considering the legitimacy of the court to serve as an honest broker in times of political transition. Unique in its focus and groundbreaking in its access, this comparative study will help scholars better understand the roles that constitutional courts and judges play in deciding some of the most divisive issues facing societies across the globe. From Africa to Europe to Australia and continents and nations in between, we get an insider’s look into the construction and workings of the world’s courts while also receiving an object lesson on best practices in comparative quantitative scholarship today.Contributors:Aylin Aydin-Cakir, Yeditepe University, Turkey * Tanya Bagashka, University of Houston * Clifford Carrubba, Emory University * Amanda Driscoll, Florida State University * Joshua Fischman, University of Virginia * Joshua Fjelstul, Washington University in St. Louis * Tom Ginsburg, University of Chicago * Melinda Gann Hall, Michigan State University * Chris Hanretty, University of London * Lori Hausegger, Boise State University * Diana Kapiszewski, Georgetown University * Lewis A. Kornhauser, New York University * Dominique H. Lewis, Texas A&M University * Chien-Chih Lin, Academia Sinica, Taiwan * Sunita Parikh, Washington University in St. Louis * Russell Smyth, Monash University, Australia * Christopher Zorn, Pennsylvania State UniversityConstitutionalism and Democracy
High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton (Americana Ser.)
by Ann CoulterIn this New York Times bestseller, Coulter mercilessly pillories Clinton and examines the abuses and excesses of Bill Clinton point by point. She also shreds every conceivable defense of the Clintons to bits as she probes the major Clinton scandals, including Monica, Filegate, the China connection, the travel office snafu, and the fundraising fiascos. In the last chapter, Coulter reviews the history of the impeachment process and makes an emotional case for Clinton's impeachment.
High Crimes: The Corruption, Impunity, and Impeachment of Donald Trump
by Michael D'Antonio Peter EisnerTwo award-winning journalists offer the most comprehensive inside story behind our most significant modern political drama: the House impeachment of Donald Trump. Having spent a year essentially embedded inside several House committees, Michael D'Antonio and Peter Eisner draw on many sources, including key House leaders, to expose the politicking, playcalling, and strategies debated backstage and to explain the Democrats' successes and apparent public failures during the show itself.High Crimes opens with Nancy Pelosi deciding the House should take up impeachment, then, in part one, leaps back to explain what Ukraine was really all about: not just Joe Biden and election interference, but a money grab and oil. In the second part, the authors recount key meetings throughout the run up to the impeachment hearings, including many of the heated confrontations between the Trump administration and House Democrats. And the third part takes readers behind the scenes of those hearings, showing why certain things happened the way they did for reasons that never came up in public.In the end, having illuminated every step of impeachment, from the schemes that led Giuliani to the Ukraine in 2016 to Fiona Hill's rebuking the Republicans' conspiracy theories, High Crimes promises to be Trump's Final Days.
High G Flight: Physiological Effects and Countermeasures
by David NewmanThis book provides a unique, authoritative and detailed examination of the physiological and clinical consequences of human exposure to high G forces. Pilots of military fast jets, civilian aerobatic pilots and astronauts during the launch and re-entry phases of spaceflight are frequently and repetitively exposed to high G forces, for which the human body is not fundamentally designed. The book examines not only the nature of the high G environment, but the physiological effects of exposure to high G on the various systems of the human body. In particular, the susceptibility of the human cardiovascular system to high G is considered in detail, since G-Induced Loss of Consciousness (G-LOC) is a serious hazard for high G pilots. Additionally, the factors that influence tolerance to G and the emerging scientific evidence of physiological adaptation to high G are examined, as are the various countermeasures and techniques that have been developed over the years to protect pilots from the potentially adverse consequences of high G flight, such as the G-suit and positive pressure breathing. The accumulated knowledge of human exposure to high G is drawn together within High G Flight, resulting in a definitive volume on the physiological effects of high G and their countermeasures.
High Hopes
by Stanley A RenshonThe Clinton presidency is pivotal, occurring at a particularly sensitive time in American and world history. The Cold War has ended; yet Americans face daunting social and economic problems and are increasingly divided about how to address them. In this perceptive psychological portrait of Clinton and his presidency, expert Stanley Renshon investigates whether Clinton has demonstrated the requisite qualities of judgment, vision, character, and skill to meet the challenges he faces, domestically and internationally, and whether he merits another term. Renshon incisively analyzes Clinton's sweeping ambitions, his enormous confidence in himself and his goals, and his success in convincing people that he genuinely cares about them. He reveals a Bill Clinton whose capacity for political success is often undermined by the very traits for which many praise him. His unusually high self-confidence, for instance, leads him to believe that he can accomplish what others have not, that he can, for instance, reconcile polar opposites such as liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. Remarkably persistent throughout Clinton's career are certain character traits which have defined him to the public--his tendency to make promises he can't keep, his ability to win people over in person, his sudden blind rages. Renshon traces the development of Clinton's character from his early family experiences to his highly successful adolescence and long political career. He illustrates how each step along the way--Clinton's inconsistent experiences as an adored but disregarded child, his attempt to avoid the draft and the consequences of doing so, his marriage to Hillary Rodham whose own psychology has both helped and hurt him, and his tenure as governor during which his character first became a political issue--is crucial to understanding his erratic and controversial presidency. Renshon explores the nature of the Clinton marriage as a political partnership and looks at Hillary Clinton as an associate president. High Hopes gives us a new understanding of why a man with so many talents has become a president whose performance has not measured up to his promise.
High Hopes: Bill Clinton and the Politics of Ambition
by Stanley A RenshonThe Clinton presidency is pivotal, occurring at a particularly sensitive time in American and world history. The Cold War has ended; yet Americans face daunting social and economic problems and are increasingly divided about how to address them. In this perceptive psychological portrait of Clinton and his presidency, expert Stanley Renshon investigates whether Clinton has demonstrated the requisite qualities of judgment, vision, character, and skill to meet the challenges he faces, domestically and internationally, and whether he merits another term. Renshon incisively analyzes Clinton's sweeping ambitions, his enormous confidence in himself and his goals, and his success in convincing people that he genuinely cares about them. He reveals a Bill Clinton whose capacity for political success is often undermined by the very traits for which many praise him. His unusually high self-confidence, for instance, leads him to believe that he can accomplish what others have not, that he can, for instance, reconcile polar opposites such as liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. Remarkably persistent throughout Clinton's career are certain character traits which have defined him to the public--his tendency to make promises he can't keep, his ability to win people over in person, his sudden blind rages. Renshon traces the development of Clinton's character from his early family experiences to his highly successful adolescence and long political career. He illustrates how each step along the way--Clinton's inconsistent experiences as an adored but disregarded child, his attempt to avoid the draft and the consequences of doing so, his marriage to Hillary Rodham whose own psychology has both helped and hurt him, and his tenure as governor during which his character first became a political issue--is crucial to understanding his erratic and controversial presidency. Renshon explores the nature of the Clinton marriage as a political partnership and looks at Hillary Clinton as an associate president. High Hopes gives us a new understanding of why a man with so many talents has become a president whose performance has not measured up to his promise.
High Hopes: The Clinton Presidency and the Politics of Ambition
by Stanley A. RenshonNow in paperback, this perceptive psychological portrait of Clinton and his presidency investigates whether Clinton has demonstrated the necessary qualities of judgment, vision, character and skill, as well as his ambition and extreme self-confidence. Renshon traces the development of Clinton's character from his early family experiences to his adolescence and long political career, including the controversy surrounding Clinton's draft-dodging and marriage.
High Ideals and Noble Intentions
by Peter R. ElsonThe relationships between governments and the voluntary sector in Canada are long-standing and complex. Beginning with an historical overview of developments in voluntary sector-government relations from 1600 to 1930, High Ideals and Noble Intentions goes on to explore more recent events and to bring present day policy and practice into focus.Peter R. Elson examines critical historical events in the relationship between the federal government and the voluntary sector which continue to exert their influence. He demonstrates through in-depth case studies that these events are critical to understanding contemporary voluntary sector-government relations. Elson explores the impact of the regulation of charities based on amendments to the 1930 Income War Tax Act; the shift from citizen-based program funding to service-based contract funding in the mid-1990s; and advocacy regulation changes in the 1980s. Elson's case is strengthened by an important and timely comparison between voluntary sector and central government relations in Canada and England. This historically informed comparative analysis provides the basis for practical recommendations meant to improve the future of voluntary sector-government relations across Canada.
High Life of Oswald Watt: Australia's First Military Pilot
by Chris Clark‘Father of the Flying Corps’ and ‘Father of Australian Aviation’ were two of the unofficial titles conferred on Oswald (“Toby”) Watt when he died in tragic circumstances shortly after the end of the First World War. He had become the Australian Army’s first qualified pilot in 1911, but spent the first 18 months of the war with the French Air Service, the Aéronautique Militaire , before arranging a rare transfer to the Australian Imperial Force. Already an experienced combat pilot, he rose quickly through the ranks of the Australian Flying Corps, becoming a squadron leader and leading his unit at the battle of Cambrai, then commander of No 1 Training Wing with the senior AFC rank of lieutenant colonel. These were elements in a colourful and at times romantic career long exciting interest and attention—not just during Wat’s lifetime but in the interval since his death nearly a century ago. His name had been rarely out of Australian newspapers for more than a decade before the war, reflecting his wealthy lifestyle and extensive and influential social and political connections. But this focus has enveloped Watt’s story with an array of false and misleading elements verging on mythology. For the first time, this book attempts to establish the true story of Watt’s life and achievements, and provide a proper basis for evaluating his place in Australian history.
High Politics in the Low Countries: An Empirical Study of Coalition Agreements in Belgium and The Netherlands (Routledge Revivals)
by Arco I. TimmermansThis title was first published in 2003.This informative text deals with the emergence of coalition agreements, their contents, the problem of enforcement and with the question of whether or not the functions are performed in practice. It explores the idea that policy bargaining in government formation is not just an isolated process, but that it is a real chance for parties to deal with substantive and controversial issues at an early stage. The coalition agreements in which these issues are incorporated have become important in most multiparty systems, but they have received little attention in political science research. This book argues that more systematic attention for these institutional variables is highly useful in coalition research because it helps to explain processes and outcome in coalition politics.
High Rise Stories
by Audrey PettyIn the gripping first-person accounts of High Rise Stories, former residents of Chicago's iconic public housing projects describe life in the now-demolished high-rises. These stories of community, displacement, and poverty in the wake of gentrification give voice to those who have long been ignored, but whose hopes and struggles exist firmly at the heart of our national identity.
High Speed Rail in the US: Super Trains for the Millennium
by Thomas LynchAn original approach for dealing with High Speed Rail (HSR) transportation development in the United States, this book serves as a blueprint for such development by providing an in-depth evaluation of the different systems and their inherent linkage to other transportation modes, their potential costs, financing options, system benefits, the curren
High Stakes Education: Inequality, Globalization, and Urban School Reform (Critical Social Thought)
by Pauline LipmanNoted scholar Pauline Lipman explores the implications of education accountability reforms, particularly in urban schools, in the current political, economic, and cultural context of intensifying globalization and increasing social inequality and marginalization along lines of race and class.
High Stakes and Stakeholders: Oil Conflict and Security in Nigeria
by Kenneth OmejeNigeria is Africa's largest oil producing country. Oil generates enormous wealth but also extensive and devastating conflict in the country. High Stakes and Stakeholders critically explores the oil conflict in Nigeria, its evolution, dynamics and most significantly, the interplay and consequences of high stake politics for the reproduction and persistence of the conflict. It presents a conceptual anatomy of state-oil industry-society relations and demonstrates how the embedded material interests and accumulation patterns of different stakeholders underlie, shape and complicate both the oil conflict and security. In addition, the book provides key insights into comparable conflicts elsewhere in the global south, developing a logical framework for resolving the oil conflict in Nigeria and for reforming the security sector. This book is valuable reading material for courses in international political economy, social ecology, development studies, African politics, conflict and security studies, and environmental law and management. It will also be of interest to policy practitioners, civil societies and the oil industry.
High Stakes: Britain's Air Arms in Action, 1945–1990
by Vic FlinthamAfter the dust of World War II had settled, the military position of the UK was far from straightforward. It was of course allied to the USA and part of NATO, but it was at odds with the former in maintaining an Empire and the two nations also had competing oil interests in the Middle East. The UK's engagement in war after 1945 was thus a strange mixture ranging from homeland security through insular actions within the colonies or protectorates to preserve empire - to playing a major role in confronting the USSR. The types of active involvement of the RAF, Fleet Air Arm and Army Air Corps between 1945 and 1995 include the following, with examples.Maintaining Local Stability - Greece, Netherlands East Indies. Maintaining Empire - Malaya, Kenya. Defending Empire - Borneo. Defending Interests - Suez, Kuwait. Homeland Security - Northern Ireland, air defence. Confrontation - Berlin Airlift, Korea. Covert Action - Albania, strategic reconnaissance. Humanitarian and Peacekeeping- Jordan, Cyprus. Development of Deterrent - Bombs, bombers and missiles.
High Stakes: Florida Seminole Gaming and Sovereignty
by Jessica R. CattelinoIn 1979, Florida Seminoles opened the first tribally operated high-stakes bingo hall in North America. At the time, their annual budget stood at less than $2 million. By 2006, net income from gaming had surpassed $600 million. This dramatic shift from poverty to relative economic security has created tangible benefits for tribal citizens, including employment, universal health insurance, and social services. Renewed political self-governance and economic strength have reversed decades of U. S. settler-state control. At the same time, gaming has brought new dilemmas to reservation communities and triggered outside accusations that Seminoles are sacrificing their culture by embracing capitalism. In High Stakes, Jessica R. Cattelino tells the story of Seminoles' complex efforts to maintain politically and culturally distinct values in a time of new prosperity. Cattelino presents a vivid ethnographic account of the history and consequences of Seminole gaming. Drawing on research conducted with tribal permission, she describes casino operations, chronicles the everyday life and history of the Seminole Tribe, and shares the insights of individual Seminoles. At the same time, she unravels the complex connections among cultural difference, economic power, and political rights. Through analyses of Seminole housing, museum and language programs, legal disputes, and everyday activities, she shows how Seminoles use gaming revenue to enact their sovereignty. They do so in part, she argues, through relations of interdependency with others. High Stakes compels rethinking of the conditions of indigeneity, the power of money, and the meaning of sovereignty.
High Stakes: The Rising Cost of America's Gambling Addiction
by Sam SkolnikAmerica is becoming hooked on gambling. From the millions of dens and dorm rooms lit by online poker games to the neighborhoods transformed by new casinos and slot machine parlors, legalized gambling has become an integral part of our lives. With a singular blend of investigative journalism and poignant narratives of gambling addiction, award-winning journalist Sam Skolnik provides an in-depth exploration of the consequences of this national phenomenon. The result is High Stakes, an unflinching look at the explosive growth of legalized gambling in our country, the concurrent rise of addicted gamblers, and what it all means. Thirty-five years ago, casinos were legal in just one state, Nevada. Today, legalized gambling has morphed into a $92 billion industry established in all but two states. As elected officials are urging voters to expand gambling's reach, the industry's supporters and their equally impassioned detractors are squaring off in prolonged state-by-state battles. Millions of Americans are being asked to decide: Are the benefits worth the costs? Industry officials and their political allies assert that gambling is an effective way to raise revenue and create jobs. But these rewards come at a steep price. Fast-rising numbers of addicted gamblers are causing higher indebtedness and bankruptcy rates, as well as increased divorces, suicides, and gambling-related crime. Skolnik shows how the gambling industry is targeting Asian Americans--and why this population, more than any other ethnic group, is likely to develop gambling problems. He also illustrates how gambling has helped turn Las Vegas into America's most dysfunctional community, and how the upsurge of poker and Internet gambling has created a new generation of gambling junkies. In High Stakes, we meet politicians eager to promote legalized gambling as an economic cure-all, scientists wrestling with the meaning of gambling addiction, and ensnared players so caught up in the chase that they've lost their livelihoods and their minds. Throughout it all, Skolnik--an avid poker player--never loses sight of the human side of these struggles.From the Hardcover edition.
High Street: How our town centres can bounce back from the retail crisis
by David Rudlin Vicky Payne Lucy MontagueThe high street is in crisis. How did we get here and what happens next? The global pandemic has made the crisis immeasurably worse but it wasn’t the cause. The crisis was already raging in 2019 with thousands of store closures. Large retailers became complacent and failed to respond to changing consumer behaviour. Town centres are the victims of these changes rather than the cause of them. To understand the current crisis and how it might be addressed, this book takes a long view of retailing based on a hundred case studies. It looks at the way town centres responded to previous crises and explores current trends affecting town centres and how places are responding. The message is optimistic: adaptable town centres can once more become the diverse, characterful, independent places that existed before they were homogenised by big retail. Explore the past – understand the present – find a better future.