The Values Surveys reveal the impact of changing values on societal phenomena, demonstrating that a distinctive Islamic culture exists-and it favors democracy. Other analyses examine Gender Equality, Corruption and Democracy; political satisfaction; and Vietnamese, Israeli and South African values.

Amidst the euphoria about the new frontiers of technology sometimes perceived as a panacea for expansion of higher education in developing countries, there is a need to analyze persistent and new grounds of unequal opportunity for access, learning, and the production of knowledge. This volume addresses fundamental questions about the educational process such as: - The use of technology in higher education for a holistic educational system for social development - The actual technological capacity in Africa and possibilities for virtual higher education - Cultural relevance of the curriculum...

This book deals with the ethnic formation among the 1990s immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel, in light of both domestic changes, and developments in the Israel- Arab conflict. Based on a broad variety of quantitative and qualitative methods, the book presents a detailed analysis of identity patterns among these immigrants, their orientation in matters of religion, society, culture and politics, and their relationships with all the constituent groups in Israeli society - including the Palestinian minority. The book provides a new critical perspective on questions of immigration,...

This book addresses, and at the same time reflects, the impact of Max Weber on both the social sciences and on critical theory's critique of the social sciences. Weber's conception of 'vocation' is a guiding thread unifying concerns about the nature, scope and limits of theoretical thinking among social scientists, whether supportive or critical of Weber. Not surprisingly, the source of many of these concerns, whether intended or unintended, biographical or situational, is the ambiguous legacy of Weber himself. Wilson's interrogation of Weber's thought in articles and essays over the past 30...

This international collection of essays on globalization and health examines the global health issues associated with the economic, technological, political, social, cultural and environmental effects of globalization--the increasing movement of capital, people, technology, goods, information, environmental pollution, and disease around the globe. These essays analyze the complex linkages between globalization and health, the health effects of globalization at all levels (global, national, and local), and the policy and institutional responses associated with the health consequences of...

Why is it that French chefs tend to develop a syndrome of professional nostalgia? Educated to work in the most prestigious restaurants, they soon discover another reality in common foodservices and are viewed as having made an egotistical professional choice. Regardless of the improvement in their working conditions, their identity is distorted. This book describes foodservices as a whole, including international and inter-industry comparisons in the sociological field of gastronomical professionals, in an attempt to analyze their identities in different stages and diversities.

This anthology brings together studies of post-colonial, post-Cold War Central Eurasia. This part of the world is in transition from Soviet institutions to independent statehood, nation building, resistance against state expansion, cultural change and the release of market forces. The theoretical framework of the study is called 'critical geo-politics.' The objective of the work is to better comprehend the nature of the post-colonial 'Great Game'. Part I studies US power projection activity in the region. America is extending its World War II trans-oceanic 'defense perimeter into the fossile...

According to mainstream economic thinking, inspired by the ideas of Smith, Ricardo and others, globalisation of the world economy is profitable. But unlike these classic writers, neoliberal economists pay little attention to the moral and social consequences of economic policies. Despite the fact that present social circumstances differ a great deal from those in the time of Smith and Ricardo they keep maintaining that "an invisible hand" will further social ends. In doing so they ignore growing poverty worldwide and the exclusion of countries from the international legal order and of people...

This book describes how Dutch immigrants became commercial farmers in the Canadian province of Ontario. It addresses the broader question of why the Dutch have an international reputation as successful farmers, and the critical implications of such positive stereotyping.

In the closing years of the 19th century, the Japanese decided they should modernize economically without culturally westernizing, and they succeeded. Following de-colonization, Africans also pursued the goal of achieving economic modernization without cultural westernization. To some extent, however, Africa became westernized culturally, but failed to attain economic modernization. How can we explain Africa's failure and Japan's success? The book addresses these issues from a variety of perspectives also in relation to economic interactions between Africa and Japan and Africa's place in...