Liquid Metal brings together 'seminal' essays that have opened up the study of science fiction to serious critical interrogation. Eight distinct sections cover such topics as the cyborg in science fiction; the science fiction city; time travel and the primal scene; science fiction fandom; and the 1950s invasion narratives. Important writings by Susan Sontag, Vivian Sobchack, Steve Neale, J.P. Telotte, Peter Biskind and Constance Penley are included.

This title was first published in 2002. Portugal experienced rapid and dramatic change over the final decades of the twentieth century. After the turbulence that followed the 1974 revolution, the 1980s and 1990s provided a period of unprecedented political stability and economic modernization during which Portugal converged rapidly with the wealthier member states of the European Union. This important new volume offers a timely focus on this recent period. Written for a wide audience by a multidisciplinary team of experts, the book provides an accessible overview and analysis of the key dimensions of recent economic and political change in Portugal and identifies the tensions and policy challenges that rapid change has produced. In so doing the book reveals something of the complexity of contemporary Portugal: an outward looking modern, democratic and European state, but one where the legacy of its recent traditional, colonial and often inward looking past continues to influence and shape its development in the twenty-first century.

Portugal in the Twenty-First Century: Politics, Society, and Economics, edited by Sebastián Royo, reflects on the legacies of authoritarianism on the democratization process and addresses issues related to Portugal's integration into the European Union, with the perspective offered by its twenty-three years of membership. Portugal in the Twenty-First Century reflects on what has happened in the country and in Europe during the last three decades. The analysis is divided into two sections: political and sociological perspectives, and economic and social perspectives. The contributors identify basic changes in the economy and society of Portugal that occurred as a result of the democratization and European integration processes. They also assess the impact that these changes have had on the quality of Portuguese democracy, and on the country's economic development. Royo's collection reflects on how far Portugal has come since the Carnation Revolution in 1974 in order to better understand where it is headed now, at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Portugal in the Twenty-First Century: Politics, Society, and Economics, edited by Sebastián Royo, provides an original series of analyses of the development of Portuguese politics, sociology, and economics since the transition to democracy and the accession to the European Union. Drawing on the research by established scholars, Royo offers an up-to-date assessment of Portuguese political and economic issues. It is essential reading for those interested in understanding contemporary Portugal.

Showcasing texts by Portuguese and Luso-Brazilian authors, this volume demonstrates the wealth of the political thought of early modern Portugal and its empire. Gathering together important texts on social order, government, and politics by authors who made a significant contribution to the development of early modern Portugal, it demonstrates that Portugal was the setting for vibrant political debate, often shaped by, and emerging in response to, very particular assumptions, circumstances, and concerns. Combining a chronological approach with in-depth thematic sections, the book explores how some controversies that took place in Portugal centred on themes similar to those in other European countries, while others were linked to the specific nature and history of the Portuguese monarchy and its interactions with other polities. It thus offers an overview of the main debates on politics and government and contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the multifaceted history of European political ideas.

This vividly-written book is the first comprehensive assessment of the origins of the present-day democratic regime in Portugal to be placed in a broad international historical context. After a vibrant account of the collapse of the old regime in 1974, it studies the complex revolutionary period that followed, and the struggle in Europe and Africa to define the future role of Europe's then poorest country. International repercussions are examined and comparisons are drawn with the more general collapse of communism in the late 1980s.