The Agony of the Russian idea / / Tim McDaniel

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910969343903321
• Autore: McDaniel Tim
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Princeton, N.J., : Princeton University Press, c1996
• ISBN: 9786612753169; 9781400805297; 1400805295; 9781400822157; 1400822157; 9781282753167; 1282753169; 9781400812660; 1400812666
• Edizione: [Course Book]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (212 pages)
• Disciplina: 947.08
• Soggetti: Post-communism - Russia (Federation); Political culture - Russia (Federation) - History; Communism - Soviet Union; Public opinion - Russia (Federation); Russia (Federation) Civilization; Russia (Federation) Politics and government; Russia (Federation) Social conditions; Soviet Union Social conditions; Russia (Federation) Civilization Public opinion
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [195]-197) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- INTRODUCTION: Cycles of Breakdown in Russia -- CHAPTER ONE. The Russian Idea -- CHAPTER TWO. The Dilemmas of Tsarist Modernization -- CHAPTER THREE. The Logic of Soviet Communism -- CHAPTER FOUR. A Viable Form of Modern Society? -- CHAPTER FIVE. The Failure of Yeltsin's Reforms -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Boris Yeltsin's attempts at democratic reform have plunged a long troubled Russia even further into turmoil. This dramatic break with the Soviet past has left Russia politically fragmented and riddled with corruption, its people with little hope for the future. In a fascinating account for anyone interested in Russia's current political struggles, Tim McDaniel explores the inability of all its leaders over the last two centuries--tsars and Communist rulers alike--to create the foundations of a viable modern society. The problem then and now, he argues, is rooted in a cultural trap endemic to Russian society and linked to a unique sense of destiny embodied by the "Russian idea."In its most basic sense, the Russian idea is the belief that Russia can forge a path in the modern world that sets itself apart from the West through adherence to shared beliefs, community, and equality. These cultural values, according to McDaniel, have mainly reversed the values of Western society rather than having provided a real alternative to them. By relying on the Russian idea in their programs of change, dictatorial governments almost unavoidably precipitated social breakdown. When the Yeltsin government declared war on the Communist past, it broke with deeply held Russian values and traditions. McDaniel shows that in cutting people off from their pasts and promoting the West as the sole model of modernity, the reformers have simultaneously undermined the foundations of Russian morality and the people's sense of a future. Unwittingly, the Yeltsin government has thereby annihilated its own authority. McDaniel lived in Russia for three years during both the Communist and post-Communist periods. Basing his analysis on broad historical research, extensive travels, countless interviews and conversations, and friendships with Russians from all walks of life, McDaniel emphasizes the perils of assuming that Russians understand the world in the same way that we do, and so can and should become like us. Challenging and provocative in its claims, this book is intended for anyone seeking to understand Russia's attempts to create a new society.

Waterfront regeneration : experiences in city-building / / edited by Harry Smith and Maria Soledad Garcia Ferrari

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910962682203321
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Abingdon, Oxon [England] ; ; New York, NY, : Earthscan, 2012; Abingdon, Oxon [England] ; ; New York, NY : , : Earthscan, , 2012
• ISBN: 1-136-47899-X; 0-203-13337-4; 1-136-47900-7
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (xv, 236 p.) : ill
• Altri autori (Persone): SmithHarry (Harry C.); Garcia FerrariMaria Soledad
• Disciplina: 711/.42
• Soggetti: Waterfronts - North Sea Region; Communication in city planning - North Sea Region
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Part 1: Context and Key Issues for Waterfront Regeneration; 1. Introduction: Sustainable Waterfront Regeneration around the North Sea in a Global Context: Harry Smith and Maria Soledad Garcia Ferrari; 2. Negotiating City-Building in Waterfront Communities around the North Sea: An Analytical Framework: Harry Smith and Maria Soledad Garcia Ferrari; Part 2: Case Studies of Waterfront City-Building Processes Around the North Sea; 3. Physical and Institutional Resources in Sustainable Waterfront Regeneration: Landownership, Land-Use Control and Leadership: Maria Soledad Garcia Ferrari and Harry Smith; 4. Urban Vitality: Social Supervision in Schiedam, The Netherlands: Kees Fortuin and Freek de Meere; 5. On Dialogues and Municipal Learning in City-Building: Examples from Waterfront Development in Gothenburg: Joakim Forsemalm and Knut Strömberg; 6. Experiences in Participation in the Port City of Hamburg: Harry Smith and Maria Soledad Garcia Ferrari; 7. Harbourscape Aalborg: Design-Based Methods in Waterfront Development: Hans Kiib; 8. How Visions of a Living City Come Alive: The Case of Odense, Denmark: Solvejg Beyer Reigstad; 9. Successful Place-Making on the Waterfront: Maria Soledad Garcia Ferrari, Paul ; Jenkins and Harry Smith; 10. Design Strategies for Urban Waterfronts: The Case of Sluseholmen in Copenhagen's Southern Harbour: Maria Soledad Garcia Ferrari and Derek Fraser; Part 3: Conclusions; 11. Lessons from Shared Experiences in Sustainable Waterfront Regeneration around the North Sea: Harry Smith and Maria Soledad Garcia Ferrari; References; Index.
• Sommario/riassunto: Waterfront regeneration and development represents a unique opportunity to spatially and visually alter cities worldwide. However, its multi-faceted nature entails city-building with all its complexity including the full range of organizations involved and how they interact. This book examines how more inclusive stakeholder involvement has been attempted in the nine cities that took part in the European Union funded Waterfront Communities Project. It focuses on analyzing the experience of creating new public realms through city-building activities. These public realms include negotiation arenas in which different discourses meet and are created - including those of planners, urban designers and architects, politicians, developers, landowners and community groups - as well as physical environments where the new city districts' public life can take place, drawing lessons for waterfront regeneration worldwide.The book opens with an introduction to waterfront regeneration and then provides a framework for analyzing and comparing waterfront redevelopments, which is followed by individual case study chapters highlighting specific topics and issues including land ownership and control, decision making in planning processes, the role of planners in public space planning, visions for waterfront living, citizen participation, design-based waterfront developments, a social approach to urban waterfront regeneration and successful place making. Significant findings include the difficulty of integrating long term 'sustainability' into plans and the realization that climate change adaptation needs to be explicitly integrated into regeneration planning. The transferable insights and ideas in this book are ideal for practising and student urban planners and designers working on developing plans for long-term sustainable waterfront regeneration anywhere in the world.