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René Descartes is famous as the philosopher who was prepared to doubt everything - even his own physical existence. Most people also know that he said 'I think, therefore I am', even if they are not always sure what he really meant by it. Introducing Descartes explains what Descartes doubted, and why he is usually called the father of modern philosophy. It is a clear and accessible guide to all the puzzling questions he asked about human beings and their place in the world.

Specialist housing for older people is an important welfare service and integral part of the housing offer in many countries. An extensive evidence base details the relative merits of different modes of provision, but little light has been cast on the forces shaping provision and the interests served. Drawing on a new model of demand and supply of specialist provision in England at the local authority level, this study addresses this lacuna. Two key contributions are made to knowledge and understanding. First, the uneven landscape of specialist housing provision is charted and the extent to which this maps onto need is revealed. Second, this condition is explained by situating specialist housing within wider debates about the reimagining of housing systems driven by the neoliberal transformation of housing politics, and recognising that these processes can have uneven effects embedded in the nature of places.

China's presence in Africa has grown rapidly over the past two decades, as Africa's oil and minerals have become increasingly important for China's resource-hungry economy. China's network of relations with developing states began its expansion during the 1990s, and by the early Twenty First Century had become an increasing cause for concern amongst Western commentators. Critics of Chinese influence in Africa argue that China's economic relations are self-serving, and that their actions might detrimentally affect progress for democratisation, human rights, and sustainable development in Africa. Others argue that, in fact, Chinese policies aim to create long-term stability and development in African nations, on a mutually beneficial basis. This article will assess Chinese policies as implemented in the period up to 2011, in the two African nations of Sudan and Mozambique. Criticisms of Chinese relations with Africa will be considered, which commonly include that those relationships will hurt African economies, encourage corruption and authoritarianism, and threaten the security of African civilians. This article concludes that there is some truth to each of these criticisms, but that the reality is more complex, varies substantially from case to case, and does not preclude positive outcomes from these growing relations. © 2017 African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific.

The Localism Act 2011 granted social landlords in England the right to award fixed-term (flexible) tenancies, thereby ending the right of new tenants to a secure tenancy. Reform was justified via reference to a revisionist critique of social housing, which accused security of tenure of promoting dependency, undercutting social mobility and preventing the effective operation of the sector as a welfare service. This article draws on empirical evidence from qualitative interviews with more than 140 social tenants to explore the legitimacy of these claims and consider the potential impact of ending security of tenure on the well-being of tenants. Analysis reveals security of tenure to be a source of stability that helps mediate the precariousness of life on low incomes. In conclusion, it is argued that policy should be looking to extend, rather than curtail, these benefits through an improved rental housing offer.