Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai is distinguished by its commitment to field-based learning and research. It has been at the forefront of the development of the social sciences and social work education in India for seventy-five years. TISS has benefited from the continuity of leadership and widely shared core values. It has a longstanding commitment to partnering with communities throughout India, and its fieldwork projects develop realistic solution to seemingly intractable social problems.

The History of the Franks of Gregory of Tours, along with his Saints’ lives, show a world of cities that maps with surprising accuracy onto the administrative world of late Roman Gaul. The squabbling Merovingian kings treat cities almost as stocks and shares, something of value worth fighting over, valued for their resources and taxes and manpower. From the perspective of Gregory as bishop, he and his fellow bishops play a central role in city administration. Yet they too are descendants of the local land-holding elite, with whom their interests align. The idea that city councils have disappeared is based on a misinterpretation of the senatores, who are simply Gregory’s way of describing the old landed elite who held office in cities. The bishop, as representative of the church and its land-holdings, proves to be the key figure in the adaptation of the old order.

A Different Kind of ‘Ghar Wapasi’

In March 2018, a significant event occurred in Ranchi that provided the much-needed inspiration to work on this biography. Father Camille Bulcke's remains were brought from Delhi's Nicholson Cemetery and reburied on the premises of Ranchi's St Xavier's College, located on Camille Bulcke Path, named after him. The reburial of his skeletal remains was announced as part of the tribal tradition of hadgadi, where the remains of ancestors are carried as a blessing and reburied as the tribes move from one village to another. The exhumation of dead bodies and remains is also a known practice among Catholics, especially for beatification and canonisation purposes. In several contexts and for various reasons, the family members of the dead can also make personal requests to the Church and local administration to allow them to rebury their loved ones elsewhere. It is not uncommon to witness the exhumation of remains of a family grave at various times when a new member is to be buried at the same site (Parashar 2018).

The Jesuit Society of Jharkhand worked closely with their Delhi counterparts and had to cross several bureaucratic hurdles to bring back the remains of Father Bulcke. They received help from Father Ranjit Tigga, the head of the Department of Tribal Studies at the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, who oversaw the digging of the grave in Delhi, the exhumation of the remains and the logistical arrangements to transport them to Ranchi, where the casket was received in a traditional tribal ceremonial welcome. In the past, another Belgian priest, Father Constant Lievens (1856–1893), known to have officially ‘converted’ a large number of Chhota Nagpur tribals to Catholicism, had his ashes transferred from Belgium and interred at St Mary's Cathedral in Ranchi in 1993. Efforts towards the canonisation of Father Lievens were ongoing, even as we were working on this manuscript.

Speakers at the reburial and commemoration event included Father Bulcke's close associates, noted littérateurs, former students and members of the Jesuit Society who reflected on his life and contributions – ranging from original commentaries on religious texts and high-quality translations to arguably the best English-to-Hindi shabdkosh (dictionary) still found in most Indian homes and offices.

The diagnosis of cytopenic patients suspected of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) can be challenging, particularly when initial laboratory assessments are indecisive. In normal haematopoiesis, the expression of differentiation antigens is tightly regulated. Changes in expression patterns may therefore indicate dysplasia, the hallmark of MDS. Multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) can identify aberrancies in differentiation antigen expression and maturation patterns not recognized by cytology. MFC performed according to recommendations defined by the International and European LeukemiaNet-associated Working Group focusing on standardisation of MFC in MDS (iMDSFlow) may reveal aberrancies in the myeloid progenitor cells, B-cell progenitors, maturing myelomonocytic cells and erythroid cells. Defined abnormalities can be counted in MFC scoring systems to provide a means to determine the extent of dysregulation of the maturation patterns, i.e. dysplasia according to MFC. Ideally, scores should enable a categorization of MFC results from bone marrow assessments in cytopenic patients as ’normal’, ’low probability of’ or ’high probability of’ MDS. Notably, MFC as a single technique is not sufficient for the diagnosis of MDS, and results should always be evaluated as part of an integrated diagnostic workup.

During the Iron IIA, we witness a surprising settlement wave in the Negev Highlands after a millennium during which the area was devoid of occupation. This is accompanied by drastic settlement transformations in the Beersheba Valley and an unparalleled peak in Aravah copper production. The evidence suggests that these changes are connected and can be explained by the expansion of the highland polity into the south. Initially, the Beersheba–Arad valley was taken over, and the groups that were affiliated with Israel flourished, whereas settlements of groups considered hostile were destroyed and their population transferred to other areas. Subsequently, the Israelites took control – directly or indirectly – over the lucrative copper production of the Aravah (Edom), where fortifications were now built, and where many lines of evidence show that the region was now economically connected with the north. The highland polity also took control of the Negev Highlands, building dozens of fortified settlements to control the roads to the copper mines of the Aravah and to secure the taxes from caravans crossing the area with the Arabian trade. The entire system functioned together and was oriented to the north (and many LFS buildings were unearthed there, cf., Excursus 6.1).

This chapter compares the short-lived norm neglect regarding the 2011 no-fly zone over Libya with the longer-lasting, yet fragile, norm neglect of the Philippines and China regarding Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea (SCS). In these entrenched norm disputes, norm neglect was surprising. This chapter shows that social pressure from in-group members in the Libya case and from the arbitral tribunal and domestic compliance constituencies in the SCS case facilitated claim agreement. While these audience reactions continue to uphold norm neglect in the SCS case, key audiences’ perception that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led coalition’s implementation lacked output legitimacy led to a norm impasse on Syria.

Moreover, the missing shared normative basis for the claim agreements rendered them fragile. The blurring of responsibility to protect (R2P) and protection of civilians (PoC) reduced the social strength or precision of R2P, as well as its breadth. The decrease in acceptance, and thus depth, of R2P due to the contested implementation of the no-fly zone further reduced the relative strength of R2P. In the SCS case, norm neglect is ongoing and thus the effect on norm strength remains to be seen. The increasing acceptance of the arbitral award and China’s frame rapprochement have slightly strengthened the applicability of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) norms.