"Fictional Practices of Spirituality" provides critical insight into the implementation of belief, mysticism, religion, and spirituality into worlds of fiction, be it interactive or non-interactive. This first volume focuses on interactive, virtual worlds - may that be the digital realms of video ga
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mes and VR applications or the imaginary spaces of life action role-playing and soul-searching practices. It features analyses of spirituality as gameplay facilitator, sacred spaces and architecture in video game geography, religion in video games and spiritual acts and their dramaturgic function in video games, tabletop, or LARP, among other topics. The contributors offer a first-time ever comprehensive overview of play-rites as spiritual incentives and playful spirituality in various medial incarnations." (Publisher description)
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"This book showcases the online activism of women's groups around the world in the post-#MeToo era, and presents an overview of the diversity of its current expressions. The focus of this book extends beyond campaigns against rape culture to include women's struggles on other political and environme
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ntal issues, such as the campaign against the radical right-wing in Austria. Moreover, the book's chapters highlight the genuine complexity of the efforts of women activists who are not only challenging the patriarchal order within male-controlled digital platforms but are also challenging the hegemonic voices within the women's movements. The book's case studies attest to the proliferation of digital campaigns aimed not only against discrimination of women but against discrimination based on their color, age, ethnicity, and nationality. The internet helps them to voice their agenda and strive for social change as well as to create both connective and collective identities." (Publisher description)
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"This article investigates citizen’s views on women’s empowerment as a process of change in Niger, the lowest country on the Human Development Index where women suffer widespread gender inequality. It draws on semi-structured interviews with radio and civil society organisation (CSO) representat
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ives and on focus group discussions with radio listeners. By discussing how empowerment is perceived by the three groups, it examines which aspects of life disempower women and what could contribute to an empowering environment. It goes on to analyse how these responses can be used to shape radio broadcasts, to promote further female empowerment. Contributing to journalism, development, and women’s studies, the article provides valuable and transferable insights into the understanding of female dis/empowerment, which can be used in other similar developing countries." (Abstract)
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"The Routledge Handbook to the Culture and Media of the Americas charts the pervasive, asymmetrical flows of cultural products and capital and their importance in the development of the Americas. The volume offers a comprehensive understanding of how inter-American communication is constituted, fram
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ed and structured, and covers the artistic and political dimensions that have shaped literature, art and popular culture in the region. Forty-six chapters cover a range of inter-American key concepts and dynamics, divided into two parts: 'Literature and Music' deals with inter-American entanglements of artistic expressions in the Western Hemisphere, including music, dance, literary genres and developments. 'Media and Visual Cultures' explores the inter-American dimension of media production in the hemisphere, including cinema and television, photography and art, journalism, radio, digital culture and issues such as freedom of expression and intellectual property." (Publisher description)
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