The 22 essays in this volume discuss contemporary trends in democratization, nationalism, political socialization, authoritarianism, and other topics such as conflicting loyalties in Europe and the US. Since there are seven different countries represented among the authors who have contributed to this volume, they have produced a unique, international, comparative and cross-national research perspective on significant issues in contemporary politics, socialization, and education. This book provides an interesting collection of empirical research findings and scholarly syntheses of quantitative and qualitative research efforts. Major emphasis in these studies is on the impact of socialization forces and political socialization of youth from various sources. Some research studies are quasi-longitudinal, treating different regions in Europe, and emphasizing significant themes such as racism, intolerance, xenophobia, the European Union, and democratic political philosophy and citizenship.

Democracy, Authoritarianism and Education reviews the most recently published empirical research findings on these subjects as well as results from a survey of the attitudes of 10,000 college and university students in 44 counteries towards authority, democracy, nationalism, militarism, internationalism and educational policy choices. One interesting finding is that (cross-nationally) higher authoritarianism levels translate into lower scores on democratic attitudes and internationalism, higher nationalism and militarism scores, and support for more conservative and provincial (and monocultural) educational policy options.

This book builds on the criticism of development theory eminent in mainstream European and American sociology and anthropology by identifying and describing the processes at work in the critical transformation of religious fundamentalism today. Raising themes such as development and intersectionality and bringing together scholars from across the globe, it considers how these processes are seen in the Muslim, Christian and Jewish-Zionist world and in China.

This rich source book informs its reader in a comparative perspective about the political and social-economic past and present of fifteen Western, Central and Eastern European countries. This includes the economic and social aspects of the development of the nation state, descriptions of the current political structures and institutions, an account of the types of ethnic composition of the populations, definitions of citizenship and a background to the existing political parties and preferences. The countries involved are: the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, Britain, France, Spain and Italy. The authors are scholars in the fields of nationalism and ethnic conflict and they were invited to write their country chapters along the lines of a common format, paying special attention to the notion of state and nation building processes, citizenship definitions and minority issues. This book is a comprehensive reference guide for students and scholars in the fields of social sciences, European studies, history and other related disciplines and generally to those who are interested in the past and present of any one of the large number of countries described.

This volume is based on papers presented on ethnic minorities and inter-ethnic relations in Hungary and The Netherlands, which were presented and discussed in three conferences and a series of meetings from 1997-1999. This work builds on comparative studies of the rise of a radical right and the mobilization of anti-immigrant feelings. It presents cross-national comparative research, due to the creedence that shifting national angles is a powerful strategic tool with which to correct national bias and to uncover submerged or overlooked aspects of specific national cases. The book brings together contributions from Hungarian and Dutch scholars in the field of ethnic minorities and inter-ethnic relations. The two countries are used as exemplary cases of distinct ethno-political patterns in Central and Western Europe. Combining complementary configurational and dimensional approaches to cross-national comparison, the diverse forms of ethnic relations in Hungary and The Netherlands are analyzed, and competing explanations of ethno-political conflict (or co-ordination) are tested in both national contexts.

This book uses international and interdisciplinary approaches to the comparative study of education in its political, sociological, and economic contexts. Major topics include critical theory, hegemony, postmodernism, oppression, disabilities, emancipation, corporatism, meritocracy, democracy, socialization, reproduction, pluralism, inequality, social analysis, postindustrialism, predatory culture, pragmatism, and 'subversion'. Educators from the US, UK, Canada, Netherlands, FRG, Israel, and Sweden survey the current educational scene in the US and Western Europe, major policy debates, and possible solutions for current public policy dilemmas.

When the future of mankind is at stake the question of Bildung has to be brought to the fore. Because Bildung, a term which has no equivalent in English is dealing with the foundations of emancipation and liberation in both meanings an individual and a societal one.