Sociology is subject to a process of internationalisation. The rapid development of China has provided the ‘China experience’ and shown the emergence of a new sociology. In this book a dialogue between European and Chinese sociologists is opening up new horizons for Western thought in a context of economic and cultural globalisation. The objective is to embark on a process of epistemological reconfiguration, deconstructing reality on the basis of dividing up the world. This book deals with some fundamental sociological issues: modernities and globalisation, class and society, state and democracy, economic change and inequalities in Europe and in China. In the wake of the de-colonial critique of post-colonial studies, the aim of this book is to examine the question of the de-westernisation of knowledge in sociology.

Within a movement towards the circulation and globalisation of knowledge, new centres and new peripheries form and new hierarchies appear - more or less discretely - producing competition and rivalry in the development of “new” knowledge. Centres of gravity in social sciences have been displaced towards Asia, especially China. We have entered a period of de-westernization of knowledge and co-production of transnational knowledge. This is a scientific revolution in the social sciences which imposes detours, displacements, reversals. It means a turning point in the history of social sciences. From the Chinese experience in sociology the author is opening a Post-Western Space where after Post-Colonial Studies, she is speaking about the emergence of a Post-Western Sociology.

This book is rooted in an epistemological approach to sociology in which the boundaries between Western and non-Western sociologies are acknowledged and built on. It argues that knowledge is organised in conceptual spaces linked to paradigms and programmes which in turn are linked to ethnocentred knowledge processes; that until recently Western approaches, including Post-Colonial, French Social Science and American approaches, have dominated non-Western theories; and that Western theories have sometimes seemed incapable of explaining phenomena produced in other societies. It goes on to argue that the blurring of boundaries between Western and non-Western sociologies is very important; and that such a Post-Western approach will mean co-production and co-construction of common knowledge, the recognition of ignored or forgotten scientific cultures and a "global change" in sociology which imposes theoretical and methodological detours, displacements, reversals and conversions. The book brings together a wide range of Western and Chinese sociologists who explore the consequences of this new approach in relation to many different issues and aspects of sociology.

Sociology is involved in a process of internationalisation. The rapid devlopment of China has provided the “China's experience” and the production of a new sociology. In this book a new dialogue between European and Chinese sociologists is opening up new horizons for Western thought.

This major new book tackles key questions on Europe in the context of shifting parameters of East and West. The contributors - sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers and historians - show, from a variety of different perspectives, that the conventional equation of Europe with the West must be questioned. Featuring four thematically organized chapters, the book looks at: a post-Western world Asia in Europe: encounters in history between Europe and Asia otherness in Europe and Asia. Exploring new expressions of European self-understanding in a way that challenges recent ideological notions of the ‘clash of civilizations’, this outstanding work draws on recent scholarship that shows how Europe and Asia were mutually linked in history and in contemporary perspective. It argues that as a result of current developments and the changing geopolitical context, both Europe and Asia have much in common and that it is possible to speak of cosmopolitan links rather than clashes. This book will be of great value to students and researchers in the fields of sociology, European politics and history and cultural theory.

Through an analysis of Chinese migration to Europe, this volume examines the most pressing migration and integration issues facing many societies today, from the political and policy-based challenges of managing increasingly diverse communities, to individual lived experiences of identity and belonging. In addition to chapters on the UK, France and Italy, the book spotlights one of the most extraordinary examples of Chinese migration to Europe: that provided by the city of Prato, just 20km from Florence in Tuscany, Italy. Renowned for its historic textile industry, Prato is now home to one of the largest populations of Chinese residents in Europe, a phenomenon that is remarkable not only for its magnitude but also for the speed with which it has developed. This edited collection, which brings together twenty-seven separate contributors, deepens our understanding of the case of Prato within the context of Chinese migration to the new Europe.

We are living in a world in which the visible and invisible borders between nations are being shaken at an unprecedented pace. We are experiencing a wave of international migration, and the diversity of migrants – in terms of how they identify, their external and self-image, and their participation in society – is increasingly noticeable. After the introduction of the Reform and Opening Up policy, over 10 million migrants left China, with Europe the main destination for Chinese emigration after 1978. This volume provides multidisciplinary answers to open questions: How and to what extent do Chinese immigrants participate in their host societies? What kind of impact is the increasing number of highly qualified immigrants from China having on the development and perception of overseas Chinese communities in Europe? How is the development of Chinese identity transforming in relation to generational change? By focusing on two key European countries, Germany and France, this volume makes a topical contribution to research on (new) Chinese immigrants in Europe.

Beyond hegemonic thoughts, the Post-Western sociology enables a new dialogue between East Asia (China, Japan, Korea) and Europe on common and local knowledge to consider theoretical continuities and discontinuities, to develop transnational methodological spaces, and co-produce creolized concepts. With this new paradigm in social sciences we introduce the multiplication of epistemic autonomies vis-à-vis Western hegemony and new theoretical assemblages between East-Asia and European sociologies. From this ecology of knowledge this groundbreaking contribution is to coproduce a post-Western space in a cross-pollination process where “Western” and “non-Western” knowledge do interact, articulated through cosmovisions, as well as to coproduce transnational fieldwork practices.

Gnnter Dux, Dr. iur., University of Bonn, is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Freiburg University; Germany. He has published mainly on the sociology of culture, sociology of social and cultural change and sociology of politics. --

The Chinese are among Europe's oldest immigrant communities, and are now, in several countries, among the biggest and, economically, the most powerful, drawing increasing interest from other ethnic minorities, governments, and researchers. This volume opens up and delineates this new field of European overseas Chinese studies, reporting on pioneering research on the Chinese in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, and exploring the networks, self-organizations, and migration patterns that are the fabric of the Chinese community in Europe, together with the issues of identity, language, integration, and community building that Chinese throughout the continent face.