These original articles relate to major themes in the comparative study of the dynamics of cultures, modernization, and social and political change. The authors, ranking scholars in their fields, provide fresh and important insights to the study of topics such as the interface of anthropological and sociological theory, the dynamics of Latin Americ

Personal pronouns have a special status in languages. As indexical tools they are the means by which languages and persons intimately interface with each other within a particular social structure. Pronouns involve more than mere grammatical functions in live communication acts. They variously signal the gender of speakers as parts of utterances or in their anaphoric roles. They also prominently indicate with a range of degrees the kind of social relationships that hold between speakers from intimacy to indifference, from dominance to submission, and from solidarity to hostility. Languages greatly vary in the number of pronouns and other address terms they offer to their users with a distinct range of social values. Children learn their relative position in their family and in their society through the “correct” use of pronouns. When languages come into contact because of population migrations or through the process of translation, pronouns are the most sensitive zone of tension both psychologically and politically. This volume endeavours to probe the comparative pragmatics of pronominal systems as social processes in a representative set from different language families and cultural areas.

Darwin famously described special difficulties in explaining social evolution in insects. More than a century later, the evolution of sociality - defined broadly as cooperative group living - remains one of the most intriguing problems in biology. Providing a unique perspective on the study of social evolution, this volume synthesizes the features of animal social life across the principle taxonomic groups in which sociality has evolved. The chapters explore sociality in a range of species, from ants to primates, highlighting key natural and life history data and providing a comparative view across animal societies. In establishing a single framework for a common, trait-based approach towards social synthesis, this volume will enable graduate students and investigators new to the field to systematically compare taxonomic groups and reinvigorate comparative approaches to studying animal social evolution.

Social Dynamics: Models and Methods focuses on sociological methodology and on the practice of sociological research. This book is organized into three parts encompassing 16 chapters that deal with the basic principles of social dynamics. The first part of this book considers the development of models and methods for causal analysis of the actual time paths of change in attributes of individual and social systems. This part also discusses the applications in which the use of dynamic models and methods seems to have enhanced the capacity to formulate and test sociological arguments. These models and methods are useful for answering questions about the detailed structure of social change processes. The second part explores the formulation of the continuous-time models of change in both quantitative and qualitative outcomes and the development of suitable methods for estimating these models from the kinds of data commonly available to sociologists. The third part describes a stochastic framework for analyzing both qualitative and quantitative outcome of social changes. This part also discusses the sociologists' perspective on the empirical study of social change processes. This text will be of great value to sociologists and sociological researchers.

"Over the past two decades the study of social movements, revolution, democratization and other non-routine politics has flourished. And yet research on the topic remains highly fragmented, reflecting the influence of at least three traditional divisions. The first of these reflects the view that various forms of contention are distinct and should be studied independent of others. Separate literatures have developed around the study of social movements, revolutions and industrial conflict. A second approach to the study of political contention denies the possibility of general theory in deference to a grounding in the temporal and spatial particulars of any given episode of contention. The study of contentious politics are left to 'area specialists' and/or historians with a thorough knowledge of the time and place in question. Finally, overlaid on these two divisions are stylized theoretical traditions - structuralist, culturalist, and rationalist - that have developed largely in isolation from one another." http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/cam021/2001016172.html.

When John Harsanyi came to Stanford University as a candidate for the Ph.D., I asked him why he was bothering, since it was most un likely that he had anything to learn from us. He was already a known scho lar; in addition to some papers in economics, the first two papers in this vol ume had already been published and had dazzled me by their originality and their combination of philosophical insight and technical competence. However, I am very glad I did not discourage him; whether he learned any thing worthwhile I don't know, but we all learned much from him on the foundations of the theory of games and specifically on the outcome of bar gaining. The central focus of Harsanyi's work has continued to be in the theory of games, but especially on the foundations and conceptual problems. The theory of games, properly understood, is a very broad approach to social interaction based on individually rational behavior, and it connects closely with fundamental methodological and substantive issues in social science and in ethics. An indication of the range of Harsanyi's interest in game the ory can be found in the first paper of Part B -though in fact his owncontri butions are much broader-and in the second paper the applications to the methodology of social science. The remaining papers in that section show more specifically the richness of game theory in specific applications.

The work contains seventeen articles reflecting scholarship in traditional and emerging areas of social psychology. Major topics addressed include the subjective evaluation of emotions; the psychology of values; self-definition; priming and racial stereotyping; selfrepresentation; self-harming; negative communications; visual communication and emotion recognition; comparative studies of values; duration of romantic relationships; interpersonal attraction; social psychological antecedents of burnout; social integration and language effects on bilinguals. "The diverse set of chapters in this unique volume speaks to the question of whether social psychological theories and principles are universal. The authors take the reader on a fascinating tour, highlighting some of the many domains and places in which social psychology has been applied. Some answers are provided, but equally richly many questions are raised. The approaches taken, notably the comparative approach adopted in several of the chapters, will challenge social psychologists to think about both how they conceptualize social problems and how they do and should research them." --Miles Hewstone, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Oxford "This volume offers a truly panoramic picture of how scientific social psychology can address timely social issues. The editors recruited outstanding scientists spanning eleven nations to produce a collection that is as impressive in its remarkable diversity of nations as well as topics and methods. An ideal reader for a course in methods or social psychology." --Harold Takooshian, Past President, APA division of International Psychology

Taken together, the thirteen chapters of thisbook shed light on the factors leading individuals into self-employment.The volume examines the impact of economic change on the character,composition, and stability of self-employment.A theoretical framework fora cross-national study of self-employment dynamics is presented, as is a reviewof the changing employment structures and the opportunities and constraintsassociated with self-employment. (SAA) Table of Contents Trends in Self-Employment in Germany: Different Types, DifferentDevelopments? Henning Lohmann and Silvia Luber Entries and Exits from Self-Employment in France over the Last Twenty Years,Thomas Amossé and Dominique Goux Dutch Self-Employment between 1980 and 1997, Boris F. Blumberg and PaulM. de Graaf Self-Employment in the United Kingdom during the 1980s and 1990s, NigelMeager and Peter Bates Entrepreneurs and Laborers: Two Sides of Self-Employment Activity in theUnited States, Richard Arum Self-Employment in Australia, 1980-1999, M.D.R. Evans and JoannaSikora Winners or Losers? Entry and Exit into Self-Employment in Hungary: 1980s and1990s, Péter Róbert and Erzsébet Bukodi Three Forms of Emergent Self-Employment in Post-Soviet Russia: Entry andExit Patterns by Gender, Theodore P. Gerber Self-Employment in Italy: Scaling the Class Barriers, Paolo Barbieri andIvano Bison Entry into and Exit from Self-Employment in Japan, Hiroshi Ishida On One's Own: Self-Employment Activity in Taiwan, Wei-hsin Yu andKuo-Hsien Su The Reemergence of Self-Employment: Comparative Findings and EmpiricalPropositions, Richard Arum and Walter Müller.

Pempel contrasts the political economy of Japan during two decades: the 1960s ̧when the nation e¡perienced conservative political dominance and high growth ̧and the early 1990s ̧when the "bubble economy" collapsed and electoral politics changed. The different dynamics of the two periods indicate a regime shift in which the present political economy deviates profoundly from earlier forms. This shift has involved a transformation in socioeconomic alliances ̧political and economic institutions ̧and public policy profile ̧rendering Japanese politics far less predictable than in the past. Pempel weighs the Japanese case against comparative data from the USA ̧Great Britain ̧Sweden and Italy ̧to show how unusual Japan's political economy had been in the 1960s. The te¡t suggests that Japan's present troubles are deeply rooted in the economy's earlier success.

This book includes a comprehensive survey of the theories and principles employed by sociologists, anthropologists, and other social scientists in the study of sociocultural change. Employing these tools, the later chapters examine the major trends and challenges that face today's rapidly globalizing world. Students are asked to consider how they can participate actively in shaping the events that affect their lives. Among the book's pedagogical features are well over one hundred Web sites, organized by chapter and topic, which connect the text with contemporary events and commentary. Visit our website for sample chapters!