Today neoliberals argue that we should let ourselves be guided by market forces and that there is little we can do to stem the flow of economic globalization. On the other hand, thinkers on the left continue to denounce domination and claim to speak in the name of victims who are powerless to change the circumstances of their lives. Despite the differences between these two political positions, they suffer from a common weakness: they underestimate the role of autonomous social actors who are capable of influencing political decision-making.


In this important new book...

Today neoliberals argue that we should let ourselves be guided by market forces and that there is little we can do to stem the flow of economic globalization. On the other hand, thinkers on the left continue to denounce domination and claim to speak in the name of victims who are powerless to change the circumstances of their lives. Despite the differences between these two political positions, they suffer from a common weakness: they underestimate the role of autonomous social actors who are capable of influencing political decision-making.


In this important new book...

• Touraine is one of the leading social thinkers in the world today and many of his books have been published in English.
• In this book Touraine presents a new theoretical framework for understanding the contemporary world. It is a broad theoretical work which seeks to make sense of everyday experience at the beginning of the 21st century.
• This is a major new theoretical work by one of the leading sociologists in the world today.
• A great reference book for those studying sociology and social theory at any level.

First published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In this book, a leading French social thinker grapples with the gap between the tendency toward globalization of economic relations and mass culture and the increasingly sectarian nature of our social identities as members of ethnic, religious, or national groups. Though at first glance, it might seem as if the answer to the question -Can we live together?- is that we already do live together--watching the same television programs, buying the same clothes, and even using the same language to communicate from one country to another--the author argues that in important ways, we are farther than...

In this sequel to A Critique of Modernity, Alain Touraine questions the social and cultural content of democracy today. At a time when state power is being increasingly eroded by the economic might of transnational capital, what possible value can we ascribe to a democratic idea that is defined merely as a set of guarantees against the totalitarian state?If democracy is to survive in the postcommunist world, Touraine argues, it must accomplish two urgent goals: It must somehow protect the power of the nation-state at the same time as it limits that power (for only the state has...

Modern social thought ranges widely from the social sciences to philosophy, political theories and doctrines, cultural ideas and movements, and the influence of the natural sciences.

• Provides an authoritative overview of the main themes of social thought.
  
• Long essays and entries give full coverage to each topic.
  
• Covers major currents of thought, philosophical and cultural trends, and the individual social sciences from anthropology to welfare economics.
  
• New edition updates about 200 entries and includes new entries,...

In this provocative and timely new book, Alain Touraine explores the question of how we might live together in a truly globalized world society. Rejecting the seductive metaphor of a global melting pot, Touraine mounts a powerful attack on the idea that we now live together as equals, sharing the same social and cultural values. If anything, he argues, our differences are being heightened, as communities increasingly define their identities against the encroaching forces of globalization.


Touraine argues that the twin processes of globalization and particularization are...

In this provocative and timely new book, Alain Touraine explores the question of how we might live together in a truly globalized world society. Rejecting the seductive metaphor of a global melting pot, Touraine mounts a powerful attack on the idea that we now live together as equals, sharing the same social and cultural values. If anything, he argues, our differences are being heightened, as communities increasingly define their identities against the encroaching forces of globalization.


Touraine argues that the twin processes of globalization and particularization are...

In his previous books Alain Touraine analysed the great changes that have transformed our personal and collective lives; in this new book he shows that we need to transform our ways of thinking about these changes.