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European Modernity and Beyond
The Trajectory of European Societies, 1945-2000
- Göran Therborn - University of Gothenberg, Sweden
June 1995 | 416 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
The European community has evinced dramatic changes since the conclusion of the second World War; both individually and collectively, its nations have experienced continuous shifts in political, cultural, and economic climes. Has this process resulted in greater solidarity among European nations--and with others on the globe--or has it only strengthened disparities? To what extent has the period 1945-2000 produced fundamental differences or revealed areas of continuity? Through his broad-ranging analysis of the profile of contemporary European societies, Göran Therborn assays the development and outcome of such crucial issues as mass consumption, collective memory and identities, modes of collective action, and the two great steering projects of the times: socialism in the East and European union in the West.
Combining theoretical depth with empirical data, this volume will be essential reading for all students of the politics and sociology of Europe and of contemporary industrial societies.
PART ONE: THEORY AND HISTORY
Structure, Culture and Modernity
Europe in Modern History
PART TWO: STRUCTURATIONS
The Boundaries and the Peopling of Europe
Tasks
Rights to Claim
Rights to Act
Means
Risks and Opportunities
PART THREE: SPACING
Cities and States
The European Economic Space
Europe's Cultural Space
PART FOUR: ENCULTURATIONS
Issues of Identity
Horizons of Knowledge and Times of Belief
Values of Contemporary Modernity
PART FIVE: COLLECTIVE ACTION AND SOCIAL STEERING
Civil Societies and Collective Action
Eastern Socialism and Western Union
PART SIX: MODERNITY AND EUROPE: SIX QUESTIONS AND THEIR ANSWERS