Suchergebnisse

This book offers a comprehensive account of the nature and expression of contemporary forms of religion in Western societies. Drawing both on recent original work and classical and contemporary conceptual frameworks, it examines the beliefs, practices, patterns of organisation and significant trends in both mainstream and fringe religions including cults and quasi-religions. Competing arguments and theories about key developments are treated fully and fairly and there is a clear sense throughout of the social context. The approach is broadly sociological and the well-paced, jargon-free writing style and clearly sectioned chapters make this an ideal text for teaching and study purposes, both in sociology and religious studies. Amongst the themes and concerns covered are: * what we mean in the first place by religion * secularisation and new expressions of religiosity * the effect of religion on society and the relationship between religion and social change * the links between belief, belonging and social identity * contemporary Christianity and the religions of ethnic minorities in the West * globalisation, religious pluralism and postmodernity STEPHEN J. HUNT is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of West of England, Bristol. He has written widely on contemporary Christianity and new religious movements

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Preface to the American Edition -- 1. Introduction and Overview -- PART I :THE ARGUMENT SPELLED OUT -- 2.Principles of Social Structures and their institutional Manifestations -- 3. The Regulative Impact of the World Market -- 4. Waves and Cycles as Modes of Change -- PART II: DISCONTINUITIES A N D THEIR LINKS -- 5. Technological Styles -- 6. Politico-Economic Regimes -- 7. The Societal Model and its Career -- PART III: SHAPING INSTITUTIONAL ORDERS -- 8. The Artificial Person and Structures of Economic Power -- 9. Schools and the Myth of Equal Opportunity -- 10. The Tortuous Paths of Capitalist and State Evolution -- PART IV: CONVERGENCE IN THE WEST? -- 11. Convergence and Persisting Differences -- 12. Japan: Any Lessons for the West? -- 13. Legitimacy and Comparative Advantages -- PART V: PRESENT TRANSFORM ATIONS AND FUTURE COMPETITIVE EDGES -- 14. Western European Unification as a Competing Model in the Triad -- 15. Cornerstones of a New Societal Model -- 16. Hegemonic Conditions Without a Hegemon -- List of Tables and Figures -- Bibliography -- Index

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Chapter 1 -- Introduction: The Social Construction of Aging and Old Age -- The Gaze of Functionalist Gerontology -- Disengagement Theory -- Activity Theory -- Political Economy of Old Age and the Politics of Distribution -- Feminist Interpretations of Aging and Gender -- Gender and Marginality in Old Age -- Chapter 2 -- Race and Aging -- Sexuality and Aging -- Conclusion: Deconstructing Modernist Theories of Aging -- Risk, Work and Pensions: A Recalibration -- Population Aging and Risk -- Extending Working Lives -- Conclusion: Aging, Welfare and Risk - Lessons for Critical Understanding -- Chapter 3 -- Theorizing Embodiment, Postmodernism and Aging -- The Development of Postmodern Social Theory -- Theorizing the Aging Body -- Popular Culture and the Aging Body -- The Gendered Aging Body -- Biotechnology and the Body: Reinventing Aging? -- Conclusion -- Chapter 4 -- Towards a Narrative Gerontology -- Neoliberalism, Aging, and the Family -- Social Democracy, Aging, and the Family -- "Grand-Parenting" Policy -- Towards Diverse Narrative Streams? -- Chapter 5 -- Aging, Personalisation and Power Relations -- Introduction -- The Rise of Personalisation and Care -- 'Taking Aim' at Personalisation -- Surveillance, Personalisation and Care -- The Technologies of Care Management to Facilitate Personalisation? -- The Panoptic Culture -- Conclusion -- References -- Author's Contact Information -- Index -- Blank Page

Volume 1. From antiquity to the Enlightenment -- volume 2. From the age of exploration to the present

Critically examining conceptions of freedom of some of the leading contemporary philosophers from Isaiah Berlin to Charles Taylor, Hans Blokland explores the value and significance that freedom has acquired on our political consciousness. He looks specifically at: * positive and negative freedom * freedom of the individual * freedom and society * emancipation and paternalism * freedom and cultural politics.