In Nietzsche's first book The Birth of Tragedy (1872), cultural renewal is paramount among his concerns. In the person of Richard Wagner, Nietzsche saw someone who might bring together a fragmented and directionless modern society through the creation of tragic festival that, through its mythic content, would allegedly give renewed meaning and purpose to human life. The standard story about Nietzsche's philosophical development is that he becomes disillusioned with this project and his mature philosophy undergoes a radical shift. Instead of reposing his hopes in a broader culture, he comes to occupy himself instead with the fate of a few great individuals, or, at the extreme, perhaps mainly with his own quasi-artistic self-cultivation. On these readings, to the extent that he remains concerned with culture at all, it is only as something whose noxious influence threatens this cadre of elite individuals. Nietzsche on the Decadence and Flourishing of Culture questions this individualist reading that has become prevalent, and develops an alternative interpretation of Nietzsche as a more social thinker who sees collective cultural achievements as no less important. Great individuals are not all that matter. Andrew Huddleston uses Nietzsche's perfectionistic ideal of a flourishing culture and his diagnostics of cultural malaise as a point of departure for reconsidering many of the central themes in Nietzsche's ethics and social philosophy, as well as for understanding the interconnections with the form of cultural criticism that was part and parcel of his distinctive philosophical enterprise.

Proceedings of the EC Contractors' Meeting held in Copenahgen, 23-24 June, 1981

The contributors to this volume encourage a re-thinking of the very notion of culture by examining the experiences, situations and the representations of those who chose – or were forced – to change cultures from the nineteenth century to the present day. Beyond a simple study of migration, forced or otherwise, this collective work also re-examines the model of integration. As recent entrants into new social settings may be perceived as affecting the previously-accepted social equilibrium, mechanisms encouraging or inhibiting population flows are sometimes put in place. From this perspective, “integration” may become less a matter of internal choice than an external obligation imposed by the dominant political power, in which case “integration” may only be a euphemism for cultural uniformity. The strategies of cultural survival developed as a reaction to such a rising tide of cultural uniformity can be seen as necessary points of departure for an ever-growing shared multiculturalism. A long-term voluntary commitment to make cultural boundaries more flexible and allow a more engaged individual participation in the process of defining the self and finding its place within a culture in movement may represent a key element for cultural cohesion in a globalized world.

This l:::ook comes as part of a new series on Solar Energy R+D, includlng Biomass which is carried out by the Euro:pean Community.. The commission of the European Comrmmities' Directorate General (XII) for Science, Research and Developnent is currently implementing, on a cost-sharing basis, a solar energy R+D pro;Jranune through contracts with European industry, research institutions and uni versi ties. This prcgrarrrrne includes a very strong acti vi ty on Biomass. Besides general R+D work on all aspects of Biomass growth and utilization which is reported elsewhere in this series, the Canmission is currently starting a new activity on Pilot Plants based on the use of Biomass for energy purp:Jses, and in particular on methanol prcx:luction from wood. The commission considers that the subject of methanol prcxiuction from wood offers llnp:Jrtant prospects for application wi thin the European Canmilllity and in other parts of the world, in particular some of the developing countries & The state of art in Europe In this field is still considered to be very high as a result of related work which was performed in Europe during ~vorld War II and the time before.