Rethinking Progress provides a challenging reevaluation of one of the crucial ideas of Western civilization; the notion of progress. Progress often seems to have become self-defeating, producing ecological deserts, overpopulated cities, exhausted resources, decaying cultures, and widespread feelings of alienation. The contributors, from all over the world, present their diversified perspectives on the fate of progress.

Robert K. Merton is unarguably one of the most influential sociologists of his time. A figure whose wide-ranging theoretical and methodological contributions have become fundamental to the field, Merton is best known for introducing such concepts and procedures as unanticipated consequences, self-fulfilling prophecies, focused group interviews, middle-range theory, opportunity structure, and analytic paradigms.
This definitive compilation encompasses the breadth and brilliance of his works, from the earliest to the most recent. Merton's foundational writings on social structure and...

Piotr Sztompka presents a comprehensive theoretical account of trust as a fundamental component of human actions. Professor Sztompka's detailed and systematic study takes account of the rich evolving research on trust, and explains its meaning, foundations and functions. He illustrates and supports his claims with statistical data and his own impressive empirical study of trust, carried out in Poland after the collapse of communism. This conceptually creative and elegant work will be of interest to scholars and students of sociology, political science and social philosophy.

Piotr Sztompka presents a comprehensive theoretical account of trust as a fundamental component of human actions. Professor Sztompka's detailed and systematic study takes account of the rich evolving research on trust, and explains its meaning, foundations and functions. He illustrates and supports his claims with statistical data and his own impressive empirical study of trust, carried out in Poland after the collapse of communism. This conceptually creative and elegant work will be of interest to scholars and students of sociology, political science and social philosophy.

The sociology of social change has always been the product of times of flux, and the unmatched dynamism of our period is already reflected in the revitalization of theories of change. Piotr Sztompka's aim in this volume is to take stock of and to reappraise the whole legacy of sociological thinking about change, from the classical to the contemporary, providing the intellectual tools necessary for a critical and rational grasp of our own turbulent times.
Intended primarily as an advanced textbook for upper-division and graduate students, as well as researchers, this book covers the four...

Rethinking Progress provides a challenging reevaluation of one of the crucial ideas of Western civilization; the notion of progress. Progress often seems to have become self-defeating, producing ecological deserts, overpopulated cities, exhausted resources, decaying cultures, and widespread feelings of alienation. The contributors, from all over the world, present their diversified perspectives on the fate of progress.