Issue 55 - February 2009

New books published

Neera Chandhoke, The Conceits of Civil Society, translation into Arabic by Abdul Hamid Abdul Aaty Mahmoud (Mahrosa, Egypt 2009), supported by the South – South Translation Grants Program

The study problematizes the idea and practices of civil society, which has recently often been prescribed as a panacea of all the ailments of the modern world. The author outlines the risks of the fashionable perspectives and theories that water down the concept of civil society through its ultimate idealizations. The study is particularly useful as it thoroughly analyzes the politics of civil society, the construction of identities, the mechanisms of memory and narrative through well-informed and astute referring to the case of India. Due to the highly specialized language and the complex philosophical subject matter The Conceits of Civil Society has been a challenging text to translate into Arabic but we hope the readers will appreciate the fruit of this hard work.

  Cultural Policy, ed. by Grazina Indrisiuniene and Terese Paulauskyte, translation into Lithuanian by Asta Surviliene, and Austeja Merkeviciute (Baltu lanku,Vilnius 2009), supported by the Cultural Policy Translations Program

The collection gathers key essays, written by some of the leading figures in the field of cultural policy and management in Europe: Armin Klein, Raymond Weber, Anita Kangas, Peter Bendixen, Dragan Klaic, Colin Mercer, Steve Austen, Annemarie Turk, Peter Howard, Joost Smiers, Milena Dragicevic-Sesic. It can be read and applied not only as a manual and reference book, but also as sensitive “lens”, refracting trends and practices from the European experience.