Despite the growing awareness of globalization, the main bulk of empirical work in the social sciences remains within the frames of what Stein Rokkan termed "national empiricism." The yearbook Comparative Social Research aims at furthering the international orientation in the social sciences.
Each volume is concentrated on a specific topic, mostly of substantive, but also of methodological character. As a rule, the articles present two or more cases for comparison, be they nations, regions, organizations, or social units at different points of time. The volumes embrace a broad set...

How can the existence of elites be compatible with democratic governance? Any democratic society is inevitably confronted by this basic question. This book reviews existing research on elites and their interactions with those around them. How the recruitment to elites changes in the long run according to class and gender is one of the core themes of the present volume. Other topics explored include the relationship between elites and the population, collective action and elite cohesion, and elites and democracy. The approach is multinational, with examples provided from countries around the...

Discusses gender quota reform from an economic, political and philosophical point of view. This title looks at whether the economic performance of companies is influenced, positively or negatively. It provides a comparative study of the access of women to top positions in business in Europe.

This volume of "Comparative Social Research" emphasizes unsolved issues and new developments within class and stratification analysis, discussing both theoretical and methodological innovations and revisions. Studies of social stratification comprises a range of topics, such as social mobility, economic inequality, labor market inequalities, ethnic stratification, gender inequality, family patterns, educational attainment, and health inequality, the stratification of cultural consumption, life styles, values and attitudes. Comparative analysis has also revealed cross-national differentiation...

This book scrutinizes Nordic in particular Norwegian working life and welfare states from the perspective of institutional change. The analyses range from property rights, boardroom politics and wage formation to old-age pensions, care work and childcare policies.

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