The dominant shareholder-value model has led to mismanagement, market failure and a boost to regulation, as spectacularly demonstrated by the events surrounding the recent financial crisis. Stakeholders Matter challenges the basic assumptions of this model, in particular traditional economic views on the theory of the firm and dominant theories of strategic management, and develops a new understanding of value creation away from pure self-interest toward mutuality. This new 'stakeholder paradigm' is based on a network view, whereby mutuality enhances benefits and reduces risks for the firm and its stakeholders. The understanding of mutual value creation is operationalized according to the license to operate, to innovate and to compete. The book develops a vision for a strategy in society in which, rather than the invisible hand of the market, it the visible hands of the firm and the stakeholders that lead to an overall increase in the welfare of society.

No social life is possible without order. Order being the most constituent element of society, it is not surprising that so many theories have been developed to explain what social order is and how it is possible, as well as to explore the features that social order acquires in its different dimensions. The book leads these many theories of social order back to a few main matrices for the use of theoretical and practical reason, which are defined as 'paradigms of order'. The plurality of conceptual constructs regarding social order is therefore reduced to a manageable number of theoretical patterns and an intellectual map is produced in which the most significant differences between paradigms are clearly outlined. Furthermore, the 'paradigmatic revolutions' are addressed that marked the most relevant turning points in the way in which a 'well-ordered society' should be understood. Against this background, the question is discussed on the theoretical and practical perspectives for a cosmopolitan society as the only suitable possibility to meet the global challenges with which we are all presently confronted.

Much of our concept of society has been defined by sociology's dual focuses: individuals, and groups. In this eagerly awaited book, Donati shifts focus to the relationships between people, and explains this new 'relational sociology' in detail.

Introduction: A New Paradigm p. 1 Part 1 When We Referred to Ourselves in Social Terms 1 The Break p. 9 9/11 Fear A world in decline Where is meaning to be found? 2 Globalization p. 19 From the post-war states to the globalization of the economy An extreme capitalism The rupturing of societies Alter-globalism From society to war A globalized world 3 Europe: A State without a Nation p. 33 Decline of the national state? Is European unity possible? European Union and United States of America The European state European powerlessness The absence of European consciousness 4 The End of Societies p. 44 The social representation of society The European mode of modernization Society and modernity The crisis of representation The three deaths of European society Irruption of democracy The return of the political Farewell to society The war above us When system and actors separate off The rupturing of the social bond Are we witnessing the end of social movements? Conclusion 5 Revisiting the Self p. 71 What is modernity? The victory of modernity The end of social thought Emancipatory individualism Forms of social determinism From focusing on the world to focusing on the self The awakening of the subject Part 2 Now that We Refer to Ourselves in Cultural Terms 6 The Subject p. 101 The subject and identity The sources of the subject Defence of sociology The individual subject Rights Are we all subjects? The negation of the subject A related note The subject, social movements and the unconscious Proximity The subject and religion The subject and the school The experience of being a subject The anti-subject Between gods and societies 7 Cultural Rights p. 144 Political rights and cultural rights Minorities, multiculturalism, communitarianism Redistribution and recognition The new social movements Modernizations Entry into the post-social world Sexual rights The limits of cultural mixing About the 'veil' Communities and communitarianisms Liberals and communitarians Secularism Intercultural communication Return to new ideas 8 A Society of Women p. 184 An altered situation Equality and difference Sexuality and gender The woman-subject The role of men Post-feminism Argument: By Way of Conclusion p. 208 Bibliography p. 211 Index p. 216.