​This edited volume discusses critically the social implications of current structural transformations in Europe within the broader context of the global financial crisis. Experts from across Europe and the US discuss challenges and solutions to political and economic stability, security, growth, governance and integration on a country and regional level, especially focusing on vulnerable Southern and Eastern European states. New economic, political and security processes and realities are examined closely, with the aim to describe them in a coherent framework. Drawing on carefully selected interdisciplinary research, this collection offers fresh insights into the social repercussions of the transition from traditionally established practices and perceptions to new forms of collaboration, integration and governance.

Society 3.0: Mastering the Global Transition on Our Way to the Next Step in Human Evolution investigates the myriad of financial crises plaguing our society today, as well as their effects on the future of work and education. Ronald van de Hoff also describes the need for (and emergence of) a knowledge- driven civilization, marked by accelerating change, value networks, and "knowmads," the nomadic knowledge workers of the future. Monetizing on the Mesh is the final theme explored in this book. Open value networks replace value chains, reality and virtuality are blurring. People get what they need from each other and may go around your organization, unless the crowd becomes part of your organization. Business models are changing. How do you connect with potential clients who may never become paying clients in the end? What is social capital? How do you create sustainable monetization with your own Mesh? On the platform www.society30.com, the content of this book is evaluated, contradicted, deepened, and extended.

An enormous acceleration of history has occurred in the current decade, thereby radically changing world society in many respects. The core countries - grouped around the triad formed by the United States, Japan, and the European Union - have experienced successive waves of change marked by phases of ascent, unfolding, and decay of societal models. What seemed stable and predictable in past decades came close to collapse or broke down entirely. As a result, we are now living through a crisis of legitimation characterized by acute contradictions. A new order, with a fresh, basic consensus around an overarching set of norms that allows problems to be solved efficiently, has not yet crystallized.Western Society in Transition examines the succession of societal models of the Western world and indications of its probable shape in the future. Bornschier characterizes the 1985-1995 period as a decade of Third World debt and depression; continued economic decline in the United States; a steady ascent of Japan; Western Europe's move toward political union, and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Against this background, he sketches various elements of a theoretical perspective he calls evolutionary conflict theory. The primary focus of interest of this theory is not on single societies, but on measures of social transformation at the core of world society. Western Society in Transition deals with fundamental questions: How does social order arise and why does it dissolve? What provides social cohesion? What makes society progress? Institutional spheres of Western society such as technology, firms, the market, state building, education, power, conflict, and social movements are analyzed in detail.Peter Lengyel, editor emeritus of the International Social Science Journal says of Western Society in Transition, "I have never seen such a succinct, clear, and persuasive treatment which adroitly draws together elements from economics, history, sociology, and technology into a strictly contemporary kind of political economy." This timely assessment of the Western world will be of interest to social scientists, historians, economists, and international relations scholars.

Framed against the background of educational change, this book proposes to examine the relationship between curriculum change, teacher professional development, policy reform and the processes of educational change. The main aims of the book are to: (1) focus on educational changes and reconstruction in transitional societies that have undergone political, economic and social change in the past two decades, (2) provide a forum for the dissemination of research on education reconstruction and reform in transitional societies, (3) disseminate ideas that enhance both the practical and theoretical aspects of educational changes in these societies, (4) further knowledge and understanding of emerging trends and issues in education in these societies, (5) reflect the realities of educational scenarios in each transitional society. The book presents an in-depth exploration of educational reconstruction in 15 transitional societies. In each chapter, the authors have provided an overview of educational processes in the country, a distillation of education change or reform, and/or reconstruction in each transitional society. Collectively, the chapters in the book have attempted to contribute to a better understanding of the educational system in respective countries by identifying the challenges and obstacles, the policy implications, the teacher professional development needs and curriculum reform efforts.

This open access book examines the role of pilot and demonstration projects as crucial devices for conducting innovation in the context of the energy transition. Bridging literature from sustainability transitions and Science and Technology Studies (STS), it argues that such projects play a crucial role, not only in shaping future energy and mobility systems, but in transforming societies more broadly. Pilot projects constitute socio-technical configurations where imagined future realities are materialized. With this as a backdrop, the book explores pilot projects as political entities, focusing on questions of how they gain their legitimacy, which resources are mobilized in their production, and how they can serve as sites of public participation and the production of energy citizenship. The book argues that such projects too often have a narrow technology focus, and that this is a missed opportunity. The book concludes by critically discussing the potential roles of research and innovation policy in transforming how such projects are configured and conducted.

Addresses the social significance of orthodox Islam during the medieval period in Baghdad.

The second volume of the trans-disciplinary series "Research in Peace and Reconciliation" looks at ways of dealing with the past in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent decades and highlights the variety of peaceful strategies and processes. It asks to what extent this variety fosters the development of alternative methods for the transformation of violent conflict.The contributions focus on different African countries and regions as Chad, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. They take into account the influence of particular cultural contexts on processes of reconciliation. In doing so, they emphasize the importance of religions, rites, and tribal customs as well as the complex legacy of colonialism. They also look at the presentation of the topic in Western media.Many thanks go to the Ernst-Abbe-Foundation (Jena) for its generous support of the publication.

Major account of the fourteenth-century crisis which saw a series of famines, revolts and epidemics transform the medieval world.