This book aims to link the Communist experience to the theoretical debates on modernity. The most influential theories of modernity have taken surprisingly little interest in the problematic of Soviet-type societies, and recent events have highlighted the lack of conceptual framework for the interpretation of their history.

A systematic study of the sociological debate on postmodernity in the Japanese context. The volume consists of a collection of 12 papers that explore the idea of postmodernity primarily from sociological perspectives, covering a wide range of domains including work, feminism and communication.

The award of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1981 has seemingly assured Elias Canetti's place in literary history. But his significance as a cultural critic has not been adequately recognized. The present study redresses this situation in two ways: by mapping the counter-image of human existence, history, and society that informs Canetti's critique of the modern world and its sciences; and by opening up Canetti's hermetic oeuvre by tracing his cryptic and often concealed dialogue with major figures within the Western tradition such as Hobbes, Durkheim, and Freud and contemporaries such as...

The overarching theme of the book is the historical meaning of the Axial Age, commonly defined as a period of several centuries around the middle of the last millennium BCE, and its cultural innovations. The civilizational patterns that grew out of this exceptionally creative phase are a particularly rewarding theme for comparative analysis.
The book contains essays on cultural transformations in Ancient Greece, Ancient Israel, Iran, India and China, as well as background developments in the core civilizations of the Ancient Near East. An introductory section deals with the history of the...

Dieser Band enthält drei Studien: "Die Mehrdeutigkeit des Produktionsparadigmas"; "Kultur und Rationalität. Defizite und Desiderate der neuen Weber-Rezeption"; "Verständigungsformen und imaginäre Bedeutungen". Der gemeinsame Bezugsrahmen dieser Studien ist ein Gesellschaftskonzept, das sich einerseits auf den Praxisbegriff stützt und aus ihm Korrektive gegen einige Kurzschlüsse der dominanten Handlungstheorie gewinnen möchte, andererseits aber ökonomische, kulturelle und politische Strukturen als prinzipiell gleichrangige und wechselseitig irreduzible, wenn auch in geschichtlich...

Through a series of original essays by leading international scholars, The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives offers a comparative historical analysis of the Roman empire's role and achievement and, more broadly, establishes Rome's significance within comparative studies.

• Fills a gap in comparative historical analysis of the Roman empire's role and achievement
• Features contributions from more than a dozen distinguished scholars from around the world
• Explores the relevance of important comparativist themes of state, empire, and...

Prompted by the 25th anniversary of the Soviet collapse, this volume reflects on revolutions and transformations around the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, the political transformations after 9/11, the important changes following the global economic crisis, and the revolutionary transformations of India and China.

Prompted by the 25th anniversary of the Soviet collapse, this volume reflects on revolutions and transformations around the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, the political transformations after 9/11, the important changes following the global economic crisis, and the revolutionary transformations of India and China.