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In this chapter, Alei Hazayit and Bustan Abraham serve as contrasting instances of small networks that formed and functioned within a particular set of circumstances. But first, three caveats regarding omniscience, representativeness, and balance. To document completely the microdynamics of these two bands, their members, and their interactions over a period of twelve years would be a gargantuan task, demanding omnipresence and omniscience, positions that are unattainable. Each band was a unique entity with a distinctive character, yet from a macroscopic viewpoint they represented different positions within a single field of cultural production and consumption that draws on local musical resources, and more geographically and culturally distant ones, to synthesize new means of musical expression. Taken together, these bands present a pair of contrasting possibilities for collaborations involving musicians coming from disparate social and musical backgrounds in the convoluted intersections of various Israeli and Palestinian worlds.

Like most of the greatest equations in science, the Boltzmann equation is not only beautiful but also generous. Indeed, it delivers a great deal of information without imposing a detailed knowledge of its solutions. In fact, Boltzmann himself derived most if not all of his main results without ever showing that his equation did admit rigorous solutions. This Chapter illustrates one of the most profound contributions of Boltzmann, namely the famous H-theorem, providing the first quantitative bridge between the irreversible evolution of the macroscopic world and the reversible laws of the underlying microdynamics.

This chapter takes a walk into the Jurassics of LBE, namely the earliest Lattice Boltzmann model that grew up out in response to the main drawbacks of the underlying LGCA. The earliest LBE was first proposed by G. McNamara and G. Zanetti in 1988, with the explicit intent of sidestepping the statistical noise problem plaguing its LGCA ancestor. The basic idea is simple: just replace the Boolean occupation Numbers with the corresponding ensemble-averaged population. The change in perspective is exactly the same as in Continuum Kinetic Theory (CKT); instead of tracking single Boolean molecules, one contents himself with the time history of a collective population representing a “cloud” of microscopic degrees of freedom.

This chapter introduces the concept of civil action. Beginning with an explanation of its roots in the literature on civility, it moves on to demonstrate how civil action fits logically with analyses of microdynamics and contentious politics. Civil action can be undertaken by a wide variety of social actors, and the chapter charts those actors and the authority claims and capabilities that affect their potential for taking civil action. It then explores three ways in which civil action might matter for conflict dynamics: through its effects on relationships, on levels of local violence, and on the overall conflict. Next, it elaborates on how civil action matters—through process and relationships—and when it should be most likely to work. Finally, the chapter outlines the structure of the book and the case studies it includes.