La 4e de couv. indique : "Allier densité urbaine et développement sain et durable : voilà un défi pour la ville de Hà Nội. Les auteurs de cet ouvrage analysent le cas de Bùi Thi Xuân, quartier planifié par le pouvoir colonial au tournant du XXe siècle, qui, depuis le Đõi Mói, fait l'objet d'une importante densification et d'une forte croissance commerciale. Ils examinent les continuités et les ruptures dans l'évolution de ce quartier et explorent diverses avenues pour en comprendre les caractéristiques, en conserver l'identité, répondre aux aspirations de ses habitants et améliorer la performance bioclimatique, constructive et fonctionnelle de son cadre bâti. Résultat d'un projet de partenariat entre l'Ecole nationale supérieure de génie civil de Hà Nội (Đai Hoc Xây Dung) et l'Université Laval de Québec, cet ouvrage montre quels rôles l'université peut jouer dans un contexte de développement."

The book examines the power of nationalism to solder nation-states back together rather than break them apart. In this innovative, cross-continental comparison of nation-building in Germany and Vietnam, the focus is on their shared experience of division, communism and regional integration, offering original insights into how governments go about maintaining nation-state legitimacy in the twenty-first century. Neither German nor Vietnamese governments have succeeded in effacing national division, for a host of historical, economic, psychological, sociological and even climatic reasons. Yet their efforts tell us a great deal about how national identity is negotiated today. The study offers a fresh perspective on nationalist ideology which will be of interest to specialists and students in comparative politics, European and Southeast Asian studies as well as nationalism studies. For the general reader, it provides a fascinating introduction to contemporary nation-building in a unique combination of cases across two continents.

In this bilingual publication, (English and French), academics from various disciplines and countries -- including Vietnam -- have been brought together to discuss agricultural engineering, economic development, religion, education, and gender in colonial and post-colonial Vietnam. Most of them are taking an insiders' position. The emphasis of the book lies on the postwar societal and cultural transformations in the country. A better understanding of new social and cultural ways in contemporary Vietnam entails excursions into the past and sound comparison. For the first time in the history of Vietnamese studies chapters are devoted to the position of women in colonial and post-colonial settings and on the legitimacy of state intervention in women's bodies under different regimes on the one hand and on religion and religious revival on the other. What makes this book special is the way the authors, stemming from such heterogene domains, provide an in-depth analysis of the development of this modern socialist state. Their approach and analysis of Vietnamese society can only be called unparalleled.

Traces the story of India's expansion that is woven into the culture of Southeast Asia.

"Barthes's most popular and unusual performance as a writer is "A Lover's Discourse," a writing out of the discourse of love. This language primarily the complaints and reflections of the lover when alone, not exchanges of a lover with his or her partner is unfashionable. Thought it is spoken by millions of people, diffused in our popular romances and television programs as well as in serious literature, there is no institution that explores, maintains, modifies, judges, repeats, and otherwise assumes responsibility for this discourse . . . Writing out the figures of a neglected discourse, Barthes surprises us in "A Lover's Discourse" by making love, in its most absurd and sentimental forms, an object of interest." Jonathan Culler

The ancient ruins of Southeast Asia have long sparked curiosity and romance in the world’s imagination. They appear in accounts of nineteenth-century French explorers, as props for Indiana Jones’ adventures, and more recently as the scene of Lady Lara Croft’s fantastical battle with the forces of evil. They have been featured in National Geographic magazine and serve as backdrops for popular television travel and reality shows. Now William Chapman’s expansive new study explores the varied roles these monumental remains have played in the histories of Southeast Asia’s modern nations. Based on more than fifteen years of travel, research, and visits to hundreds of ancient sites, A Heritage of Ruins shows the close connection between “ruins conservation” and both colonialism and nation building. It also demonstrates the profound impact of European-derived ideas of historic and aesthetic significance on ancient ruins and how these continue to color the management and presentation of sites in Southeast Asia today. Angkor, Pagan (Bagan), Borobudur, and Ayutthaya lie at the center of this cultural and architectural tour, but less visited sites, including Laos’s stunning Vat Phu, the small temple platforms of Malaysia’s Lembah Bujang Valley, the candi of the Dieng Plateau in Java, and the ruins of Mingun in Burma and Wiang Kum Kam near Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, are also discussed. All share a relative isolation from modern urban centers of population, sitting in park-like settings, serving as objects of tourism and as lynchpins for local and even national economies. Chapman argues that these sites also remain important to surrounding residents, both as a means of income and as continuing sources of spiritual meaning. He examines the complexities of heritage efforts in the context of present-day expectations by focusing on the roles of both outside and indigenous experts in conservation and management and on attempts by local populations to reclaim their patrimony and play a larger role in protection and interpretation. Tracing the history of interventions aimed at halting time’s decay, Chapman provides a chronicle of conservation efforts over a century and a half, highlighting the significant part foreign expertise has played in the region and the ways that national programs have, in recent years, begun to break from earlier models. The book ends with suggestions for how Southeast Asian managers and officials might best protect their incomparable heritage of art and architecture and how this legacy might be preserved for future generations.

This report presents the biological results and conservation recommendations of a 2003 expedition into the forests of southeast Guinea, whose plant and animal species have been little-known. Researchers, led by a team from the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, found 540 species of plants and over 400 animal species with particular diversity among birds.