Neighborhoods are a universal feature of sedentary societies. Despite differences in meaning functionality, their inherent qualities derive from the sheer amount of lifetime individuals spend in them. In premodern societies, they often demarcate the radius of quotidian agency. Ryan Abrecht approaches the vibrant cities of Rome and Chang’an, microcosms of the respective empires they represented, through the decentered lens. In the shadow of polished public places, typically modeled to serve as monumental stages for the conduct and the performance of politics, he explores the lived experience in less shiny places of town. The academic quest for neighborhoods is not confined to archaeohistorical endeavors. Rather, turning to Henry Lefebvre’s groundbreaking work on rhythmnanalysis, Abrecht demonstrates the value of tracing daily patterns within cities – the places people navigate in their quotidian lives – and the sensory experience this generates among those who share a neighborhood space. In doing so, the article brings to life the perspective of tenants in insulae (“blocks”) and vici (“villages”), and in Chang’an residential districts respectively. Abrecht diagnoses a deep difference in neighborhood experience as such: Rome’s open community structures, with porous and permeable boundaries between vici, are contrasted with circumstances in Chang’an, where affiliations mattered more and were also regulated through official controls. The concluding discussion of poems from the Hanshu and Liu Yiqing reveals how corresponding patterns of behavior played out over time to shape unique neighborhood experiences and local cultures.

The Illusion-Motivation Model of Revolution is presented in this chapter. The term “illusion” is not used here to suggest anything negative; it is simply referencing the normal human tendency to be influenced by illusions in everyday life. Five major illusions characterize the behavior of people engaged in a revolutionary movement. The supreme revolutionary illusion is the shared belief among those in a revolutionary movement that all of them will benefit in equal ways from the coming to power of the new revolutionary government. The illusion of unity results in differences within the revolutionary movement being overlooked. The illusion of rationality is in effect after regime change, and it is based on the assumption that a rational approach will yield the necessary positive results. The illusion of control characterizes the extremists who in the post-revolution period topple the moderates and come to power, believing that they can control and change mass behavior in line with their goals. Finally, the illusion of permanence is shared by extremist leaders and their regimes, in the belief that their revolutionary society will last forever.

Many in the field of international relations have long viewed international law and regimes of international justice as epiphenomenal. But what explains the dramatic rise of international courts not only in terms of their numbers but also in terms of their relevance and the widening of their jurisdiction and competency? In other words, why would states, whether democratic or not, favor establishing or joining international regimes whose main purpose is to constrain their domestic sovereignty? Chapter 2 argues that a utilitarian frame explains states’ behavior in shaping, reshaping, and sometimes subverting norms of international justice, which they use strategically in pursuit of their interests. States – including those presumed to be weaker in the international system – use the ICC to advance their security and political interests. This argument provides a critique of the so-called justice cascade literature.