These papers show how new research in the classic areas and Germany, but particularly in Eastern Europe, is radically altering views of the stratigraphy and palaeocology of the early-middle Pleistocene period, showing that major glaciations did not begin only in the late- middle Pleistocene.

Wilhelm 'Gi' Baldamus (1908-1991) was one of the most distinctive voices in British sociology in the second half of the twentieth century. He made major contributions to both industrial sociology and sociological theory, yet many of his central concerns remain under-explored. This volume is the first of its kind to engage with these questions and Baldamus' responses, in combination with the publication of two of Baldamus's own later writings never before printed in English. A substantial biographical introduction by the editors situates this work within the context of Baldamus's life both before and after his exile from Nazi Germany, adding background to the exploration of his concerns that research should be underpinned by meticulous theoretical and conceptual work. It will be of interest to sociologists, social theorists, intellectual historians, and those working in the field of social science research methods.'

This rich and assured book is a major contribution to the growing Weber industry. It reveals Weber's theory of modernity in a new and unexpected light.

Wilhelm 'Gi' Baldamus (1908-1991) was one of the most distinctive voices in British sociology in the second half of the twentieth century. He made major contributions to both industrial sociology and sociological theory, yet many of his central concerns remain under-explored. This volume is the first of its kind to engage with these questions and Baldamus' responses, in combination with the publication of two of Baldamus's own later writings never before printed in English. A substantial biographical introduction by the editors situates this work within the context of Baldamus's life both before and after his exile from Nazi Germany, adding background to the exploration of his concerns that research should be underpinned by meticulous theoretical and conceptual work. It will be of interest to sociologists, social theorists, intellectual historians, and those working in the field of social science research methods.'

Problems of individual moral choice have always been closely bound up with the larger normative concerns of political theory. There are several reasons for this continuing connection. First, the value conflicts involved in private moral choice often find themselves reproduced on the public stage: for example, states may find it difficult to do right by both justice and mercy in much the same way individuals do. Second, we frequently find conflicts among the values at stake in individual life and public life, such that the moral choice we must make is between private and public goods. Loosely speaking, choices which express these conflicts are what philosophers call moral dilemmas: choices in which no matter what one does one will be forfeiting some important moral good; in which wrongdoing is to some degree inescapable; in which one is (perhaps literally) damned if one does and damned if one doesn't. The eight essays collected in this volume explore the philosophical problem of moral dilemmas as that problem finds expression in ancient drama, classic and contemporary novels, television, film, and popular fiction. They consider four main types of dilemmas. In the first section, the authors examine dilemmas associated with political stability and regime change as expressed in the HBO television series Deadwood and in Stephen King's novels and short stories. The second section confronts dilemmas associated with public leadership, considering the ethical conflicts in Aeschylus's classical dramas The Suppliants, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and in the contemporary FOX television series 24. In the volume's third section, the authors examine dilemmas of institutional evil, specifically slavery, as they emerge in Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels. Finally, the collection considers dilemmas of community and choice in Toni Morrison's novel Paradise and in the contemporary film A Simple Plan.

In the last decade an increasing amount of Anglo-American scholarship has been devoted to the centrality of politics within Max Weber's work. There has been a radical shift away from the Parsonian view that Weber was a mainstream sociologist. While sympathetic to these approaches, Charles Turner argues that none of them have adequately dealt with Weber's "concept" of the political. In particular, Turner argues that in order to demonstrate the importance of Weber's politics other scholars have read him as neo-Aristotelian, playing down the role of neo-Kantian value philosophy. Turner argues that while Weber's work certainly bears comparison with themes specific to the neo-Aristotelian critique of modernity, an appreciation of the analytical centrality of politics is quite consistent with his appeal to the neo-Kantian philosophy of his own day. The key to this is an understanding of what Weber means by the tragedy of "culture."
One of the most distinctive features of "Modernity and Politics in the Work of Max Weber" is that it encourages Weber specialists to situate themselves in a wider range of debates about "modernity."

'Secularization' sounds simple, a decline in the power of religion. Yet, the history of the term is controversial and multi-faceted; it has been useful to both religious believers and non-believers and has been deployed by scholars to make sense of a variety of aspects of cultural and social change. This book will introduce the reader to this variety and show how secularization bears on the contemporary politics of religion. Secularization addresses the sociological classics' ambivalent accounts of the future of religion, later and more robust sociological claims about religious decline, and the most influential philosophical secularization thesis, which says that the dominant ideas of modern thought are in fact religious ones in a secularized form. The book outlines some shortcomings of these accounts in the light of historical inquiry and comparative sociology; examines claims that some religions are 'resistant to secularization'; and analyzes controversies in the politics of religion, in particular over the relationship between Christianity and Islam and over the implicitly religious character of some modern political movements. By giving equal attention to both sociological and philosophical accounts of secularization, and equal weight to ideas, institutions, and practices, this book introduces complicated ideas in a digestible format. It will appeal to students and scholars interested in making unusual connections within sociology, anthropology, philosophy, theology, and political theory.

The European Union and European identity were until recently the objects of separate branches of scholarship and inquiry. With the entry of Central and Eastern European members into the EU, it has become clear that the future of the European Union can no longer be considered in isolation from the future of European identity. Taking Jurgen Habermas's plea for a European constitution and a normative foundation for the European Union as its starting point, this volume brings together the ideas of distinguished scholars in philosophy, political science, sociology, history, law and theology in order to address the shifting relationship between constitutionality, political culture, history and collective identity. The book argues that the future shape of Europe will not only result from external processes of globalisation but from the interaction between these social spheres within Europe.

'Secularization' sounds simple, a decline in the power of religion. Yet, the history of the term is controversial and multi-faceted; it has been useful to both religious believers and non-believers and has been deployed by scholars to make sense of a variety of aspects of cultural and social change. This book will introduce the reader to this variety and show how secularization bears on the contemporary politics of religion. Secularization addresses the sociological classics' ambivalent accounts of the future of religion, later and more robust sociological claims about religious decline, and the most influential philosophical secularization thesis, which says that the dominant ideas of modern thought are in fact religious ones in a secularized form. The book outlines some shortcomings of these accounts in the light of historical inquiry and comparative sociology; examines claims that some religions are 'resistant to secularization'; and analyzes controversies in the politics of religion, in particular over the relationship between Christianity and Islam and over the implicitly religious character of some modern political movements. By giving equal attention to both sociological and philosophical accounts of secularization, and equal weight to ideas, institutions, and practices, this book introduces complicated ideas in a digestible format. It will appeal to students and scholars interested in making unusual connections within sociology, anthropology, philosophy, theology, and political theory.

The European Union and European identity were until recently the objects of separate branches of scholarship and inquiry. With the entry of Central and Eastern European members into the EU, it has become clear that the future of the European Union can no longer be considered in isolation from the future of European identity. Taking Jurgen Habermas's plea for a European constitution and a normative foundation for the European Union as its starting point, this volume brings together the ideas of distinguished scholars in philosophy, political science, sociology, history, law and theology in order to address the shifting relationship between constitutionality, political culture, history and collective identity. The book argues that the future shape of Europe will not only result from external processes of globalisation but from the interaction between these social spheres within Europe.