In instituting its prospective studies the European Cultural Founda tion has to some extent gone against tradition. Until now those who were deeply committed to the idea of a European Community looked into the past rather than into the future for bases on which the com munity could be integrated. However, if we want a European society to become a reality it must be built on the basis of shared fundamental values. The majority of publications dealing with a unified or inte grated Europe have until now accepted that this foundation guarantee ing the stability of a future European society should be found in certain common elements of the history of the European nations. The futurological studies instituted by the European Cultural Foun dation have not rejected this mode of approach outright. They have respected the historical framework indispensable to any futurological undertaking. But the research and discussions of the groups working within the framework of Plan Europe 2000 offer increasing support to the conviction expressed by Gaston Deurinck in the first words of his introduction to the present study: "The future does not exist .. thf> future is to be created, and before being created, it must be conceived, it must be invented, and finally willed" .."

Cet ouvrage se propose d'explorer de facon critique le concept de culture, au sens anthropologique, au travers de ses differents impacts dans la vie sociale et politique. En partant de la definition de l'etre humain et de la separation entre nature et culture, Albin Wagener evoque de facon progressive les problemes sociaux, ethniques et politiques poses par un concept de culture qui ne fait que dissimuler des enjeux de pouvoir et representer une version plus politiquement correcte de la notion de race. Au fur et a mesure de cette exploration critique, qui s'appuie sur des travaux varies, l'auteur propose d'abandonner purement et simplement le concept de culture et d'envisager une theorie permettant de remplacer le vide ainsi laisse, grace a une theorie des systemes d'existence, capable d'embrasser la complexite de la vie quotidienne tout en evitant les ecueils de discrimination.

Bruxelles, Bern, Berlin, Frankfurt/M., New York, Oxford, Wien. The Research Support Scheme (RSS) operated for over a decade as a programme to help researchers from Central and Eastern Europe and from Central Asia. With the conclusion of the programme in 2002 the opportunity presented itself to take stock and reflect on how academic research had evolved in the immediate post-socialist period. In this book, former RSS grantees have been invited to discuss what they see as the main changes and challenges that emerged in their fields during the process of social and economic transformation. Some basic issues like the deideologisation of research, the impact of the Western influx of ideas on particular research fields, and the question of "importing" new ideas and policies from abroad are discussed. Selected researchers present the outcome of their own work as examples of the progress and changes which took place during the last decade of the century. The result is a look at the East-West dialogue on ideas that is emerging, as well as a discussion on where academic research is heading in the future. This book proposes a panoramic view of the trends in thought and research going on today in the region related to some important fields of social sciences. Contents: Gabriel Fragniere: Research and Political Change: A Philosophical Perspective - Gyorgy Enyedi/Karel Kouba/Tibor Vamos/Andrzej Rychard: Research in Central Europe before 1989: The Experience of the Research Support Scheme - Four Points of View - Elvio Baccarini: New Values for New Societies - Marina Sorokina: A Response to Elvio Baccarini - Nadezhda Platonova: Old and New Values in a Period of Crisis - Neven Sesardic: Liberalism andIts Troubles with Nationalism - Vahur Made: A Response to Neven Sesardic - Iveta Todorova-Pirgova: National Myths and Folklore in the Balkans after 1989 - Tatiana Tsyrendorjieva: "Enemies" and "Defenders" in Political Discourse - Aija Priedite: A Response to Tatiana Tsyrendorjieva - Bogdan Nadolu: Multicultural Dimensions of Social Integration in "e-Europe" - Krassimira Baytchinska: A Response to Bogdan Nadolu - Iuliana Precupetu: Reshaping the Social Landscape in Eastern Europe - The Case of Community Development in Romania - David Melua: A Response to Iuliana Precupetu - Ekaterina Scherbakova: Socio-Economic and Political Mechanisms of Population Migration in the Republics of the Former Soviet Union - Viachaslau Nasevich: A Response to Ekaterina Scherbakova - Tomasz Zarycki: Political Landscape of Central and Eastern Europe: Challenges and Dilemmas of the Comparative Study of Political Scenes and Geographies - Krisztina Keresztely: A Response to Tomasz Zarycki - Milan Sojka: Research on Transformation Alternatives - Galina Koleva: A Response to Milan Sojka - Nada Stropnik: Research on Poverty: Trends, Challenges, and the Impact of the RSS Grant - Marina Kolesnikova: Research on Privatisation: What Is to Follow? - Inese Vaidere: Illustrative Research: Monetary Stabilisation and Banking Reform in Latvia - Lidia Starodubtseva: Memory and Culture - James Aulich: Political Posters in Central and Eastern Europe 1945-2000 - Kazmer Kovacs: A Response to James Aulich - Andras Zwickl: Neoclassicism in the 1920s: Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland - Martina Pachmanova: A Response to Andras Zwickl - Ekaterina Dmitrieva: The Country Estate as the Subject of Cultural Studies in Russia - NormundsPrieditis: Sustainable Utilisation of Natural Forests: Lessons to Be Learned - Khasan Karimov: Renewable Energy Resources and Rural Communities - Nicolae Opopol: Environment, Health and Sustainable Development in Transition Countries - Tatyana Laktionova: Assessing the Quality of Agricultural Land in Ukraine - Yehuda Elkana: Some Thoughts on the Future of Research.

In a world society ruled by economic globalisation, by political interests and theories such as Huntington's « clash of civilisations that widen the gap between the North and the South, the question should be asked of the role of the religion. To what extent religion and politics can work together? Can faith still be thought as a mean of saving the world? Considering that Christianity, Islam and Judaism have much in common, this collection of miscellanies wonders if these religions can join their forces for public benefit. Senior and junior scholars from all over the world, gathered for an interdisciplinary seminar, analyse the contemporary international relationships and geopolitics through the prism of religion, discussing whether it can provide practical solutions to solve conflicts and increase the respect of human rights.

In an epoch in which religion has explicitly and sometimes violently returned to the forefront of the global public scene, the process of secularization that has fundamentally marked Western and particularly European societies demands attention and analysis. This book, written from a sociological perspective, takes up that challenge. The author distinguishes three levels of secularization. Societal secularization which is a typical consequence of the processes of modernity, and of programmes of � laicisation promoted by political parties. Individual secularization that is manifested in the decline of church commitment; occurring as individuals re-compose their personal beliefs and practices in a � religion a la carte; and as the individual's meaning system becomes compartmentalized and religion is separated from other areas of life. A third level, organizational secularization, covers the incidence of the adaptation of religious bodies to secularized society. The entire work is marked by meticulous description and analysis of numerous theoretical and empirical studies, and by due recognition of the intricate relationship between levels of secularization and the impact of various actors in the many conflicts over religion's roles.