The current political conflicts in Somalia and Russia make the reappearance of this book as relevant as ever. Politics and Culture in International History illumines world politics by identifying the causes of conflict and war and assessing the validity of schemes for peace and unity. Bozeman maintains that political systems are grounded in cultures; thus, international relations are by definition hitercultural relations. She deals exclusively with the thought patterns of the world's literate civilizations and societies between the fourth millenium B.C. and the fifteenth century A.D. In a substantial new introduction, Bozeman analyzes world politics over the last half century, showing how the interplay of politics and culture has intensified. She notes that the world's assembly of states is no longer held together by substantive accords on norms, purposes, and values, but by loose agreements on the use offorms, techniques, and words. The causes and effects of these changes between the 1950s and 1990s are assayed by Bozeman.

Combining the perspectives of 18 international scholars from Europe and the United States with a critical discussion of the role of culture in international relations, this volume introduces recent trends in the study of Culture and International History. It systematically explores the cultural dimension of international history, mapping existing approaches and conceptual lenses for the study of cultural factors and thus hopes to sharpen the awareness for the cultural approach to international history among both American and non-American scholars. The first part provides a methodological introduction, explores the cultural underpinnings of foreign policy, and the role of culture in international affairs by reviewing the historiography and examining the meaning of the word culture in the context of foreign relations. In the second part, contributors analyze culture as a tool of foreign policy. They demonstrate how culture was instrumentalized for diplomatic goals and purposes in different historical periods and world regions. The essays in the third part expand the state-centered view and retrace informal cultural relations among nations and peoples. This exploration of non-state cultural interaction focuses on the role of science, art, religion, and tourism. The fourth part collects the findings and arguments of part one, two, and three to define a roadmap for further scholarly inquiry. A group of" commentators" survey the preceding essays, place them into a larger research context, and address the question "Where do we go from here?" The last and fifth part presents a selection of primary sources along with individual comments highlighting a new genre of resources scholars interested in culture and international relations can consult.

Culture and International Relations contextually re-examines the history of international relations in order to explore how the discipline has imported and employed the concept of culture. The author challenges the notion that IR has only been interested in culture since the end of the Cold War by tracing different understandings of culture throughout its history.

Class has always played a role in American religion. Class differences in religious life are inevitably felt by both those in the pews and those on the outside looking in. This volume starts a long overdue discussion about how class continues to matter - and perhaps even ways in which it does not - in American religion. Class is indeed important, whether one examines it through analysis of events and documents, surveys and interviews, or participant observation of religious groups. The chapters herein examine class as a reality that is both material and symbolic, individual and corporate. "Religion and Class in America" examines the myriad ways in which class continues to interact with the theologies, practices, beliefs, and group affiliations of American religion.

Ten essays from a June 1991 conference in Dedham, Massachusetts explore the political cultures that shape both the agenda and the content of scholarship on foreign areas, and how such political cultures have been the subject of both study and public policy. No index. Annotation copyright Book News,