The Cecils were the dominant noble family in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. William, Lord Burghley rose to power and great wealth under Elizabeth I, then used his extensive patronage and exceptional breadth of interests to advance the Cecils' remarkable political and cultural pre-eminence. This wide-ranging collection of essays draws on architectural and art history, court studies, English literature, garden history, musicology, economic history, and women's studies. The extensive building programme of William, Lord Burghley and his son Robert, Earl of Salisbury was the most spectacular of the 16th and early 17th centuries, and much of it, particularly Burghley House and Hatfield House, still survives. Their encouragement of new processes of manufacturing was, like their splendid houses, innovative, forward-looking and highly influential. The Cecils were also innovative patrons of the arts. They were pioneers in the vogue for collecting paintings; patrons of musicians such as John Dowland and writers such as Ben Jonson; and introduced new styles of Renaissance design into gardens and interiors. The Cecil women, too, were influential in both political and cultural spheres. The no

Power and Patronage examines the unwritten rules and inner workings of contemporary China's local politics and government. It exposes how these rules have helped to keep the one-Party state together during decades of tumultuous political, social, and economic change. While many observers of Chinese politics have recognized the importance of informal institutions, this book explains how informal local groups actually operate, paying special attention to the role of patronage networks in political decision-making, political competition, and official corruption. While patronage networks are often seen as a parasite on the formal institutions of state, Hillman shows that patronage politics actually help China's political system function. In a system characterized by fragmented authority, personal power relations, and bureaucratic indiscipline, patronage networks play a critical role in facilitating policy coordination and bureaucratic bargaining. They also help to regulate political competition within the state, which reduces the potential for open conflict. Understanding patronage networks is essential for understanding the resilience of the Chinese state through decades of change. Power and Patronage is filled with rich and fascinating accounts of the machinations of patronage networks and their role in the ruthless and sometimes violent competition for political power.

From 1 Corinthians we know that the church at Corinth was beset by all sorts of problems. Some of these problems resulted from contacts with the pagan world - one member of the church cohabited with his stepmother, one brought a suit against another brother before the pagan magistrate, some ate idolatrous feasts at the pagan temple, and others underwent baptism for the dead. This refreshing and stimulating book seeks to understand the significance of these problems from the perspective of the social structures and conditions of this Graeco-Roman city, and places Paul's response to them in the same context.

This book examines the Italy of the 1980s, which represents an unparalleled example of dualistic development - deeply divided between North and South.

David A. deSilva demonstrates in this book how paying attention to the cultural themes of honor, patronage, kinship and purity opens us to new facets of the New Testament documents.

Patronage is a central part of global cultures and the biblical story of God's mission, yet many Westerners misunderstand or ignore this concept. In this resource for ministry practitioners and lay Christians alike, Jayson Georges brings his crosscultural experience and biblical insights to bear on the topic of patronage, with sections on cultural issues, biblical models, theological concepts, and missional implications.

Community and participation have become central concepts in the nomination processes surrounding heritage, intersecting time and again with questions of territory. In this volume, anthropologists and legal scholars from France, Germany, Italy and the USA take up questions arising from these intertwined concerns from diverse perspectives: How and by whom were these concepts interpreted and re-interpreted, and what effects did they bring forth in their implementation? What impact was wielded by these terms, and what kinds of discursive formations did they bring forth? How do actors from local to national levels interpret these new components of the heritage regime, and how do actors within heritage-granting national and international bodies work it into their cultural and political agency? What is the role of experts and expertise, and when is scholarly knowledge expertise and when is it partisan? How do bureaucratic institutions translate the imperative of participation into concrete practices? Case studies from within and without the UNESCO matrix combine with essays probing larger concerns generated by the valuation and valorization of culture.