In 1981, the European and World Values surveys started the empirical investigation of cultural values on a global scale. This volume builds upon the findings of these surveys and analyzes value change in a number of key countries around the globe. The authors track value change and stability in their respective countries during the last decade (the last two decades where data are available) of the 20th century. All authors have been actively involved in value surveys and have a great deal of expertise in countries that they write on. Thus, the volume is a valuable complement to studies that deal with the topic from a global perspective without providing any detail about individual societies. The countries covered are: Argentina, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.

This book is about the ways that traditional cultural practices either change or persist in the face of social and economic development, whether the latter proceeds primarily from internal or external forces.

The Bearlake Athapaskan-speaking Indians of Canada's Northwest Territories have valued industriousness, generosity, individual autonomy, and emotional restraint for many generations. They also highly esteem "control" in human thought and behavior. The latter value integrates the others in a coherent framework of moral responsibility that persists as a central feature of Bearlake culture. Rushforth here provides an ethnographic description and analysis of these beliefs and values, which considers their relationship to examples of Bearlake social behavior.

The social sciences rely more on the comparative method than on experimental data mainly because the latter is difficult to acquire amongst human populations. The International Social Survey Programme has played a pioneering role in creating and sustaining methodologically-sophisticated mass attitude surveys across the globe. Starting in 1984 with five nations, it now encompasses forty-five nations spread over five continents, each administering an identical annual survey to a random sample of their population. Analyses of the data or descriptions of the methodology already appear in over 3,000 publications. This book contains new contributions from three dozen eminent scholars who analyse and compare the perceptions and attitudes of citizens across all five continents, nations and over time. Subjects range from inequality and the role of the state; ethnic, national and global identities; the changing relevance of religion, beliefs and practices; gender roles, family values and work orientations; household and society. Some chapters focus on methodological issues; others focus on substantive findings. This book sets new standards for cross-cultural research.

This book presents a revised version of modernisation theory.

Ethnological study of Anjan, a village in Ranchi District, Bihar.