As much as any other nation, Germany has long been understood in terms of totalizing narratives. For Anglo-American observers in particular, the legacies of two world wars still powerfully define twentieth-century German history, whether through the lens of Nazi-era militarism and racial hatred or the nation's emergence as a "model" postwar industrial democracy. This volume transcends such common categories, bringing together transatlantic studies that are unburdened by the ideological and methodological constraints of previous generations of scholarship. From American perceptions of the Kaiserreich to the challenges posed by a multicultural Europe, it argues for-and exemplifies-an approach to German Studies that is nuanced, self-reflective, and holistic.

As much as any other nation, Germany has long been understood in terms of totalizing narratives. For Anglo-American observers in particular, the legacies of two world wars still powerfully define twentieth-century German history, whether through the lens of Nazi-era militarism and racial hatred or the nation's emergence as a "model" postwar industrial democracy. This volume transcends such common categories, bringing together transatlantic studies that are unburdened by the ideological and methodological constraints of previous generations of scholarship. From American perceptions of the Kaiserreich to the challenges posed by a multicultural Europe, it argues for-and exemplifies-an approach to German Studies that is nuanced, self-reflective, and holistic.

Talcott Parsons ist der letzte klassische Theoretiker der Soziologie. "Heute ... kann keine Gesellschaftstheorie ernst genommen werden, die sich nicht zu der von Parsons wenigstens in Beziehung setzt." (Jurgen Habermas) Parsons Theorie wurde zu einem Markstein, der aus der oeffentlichen Diskussion um die Integrationsfahigkeit der modernen Gesellschaft und erst recht aus der gegenwartigen Debatte uber die Erneuerung der grossen Theoriesynthesen in der Soziologie nicht mehr wegzudenken ist. Der Band enthalt einen bisher unveroeffentlichten Ruckblick arsons auf das Problem der Konvergenz in der soziologischen Theorie sowie Beitrage von Andreas Balog, Keith Doubt, Renee Fox, Josef Langer, Max Haller, Victor M. Lidz/Harold J. Bershady, Tamas Meleghy, Gerald Mozetic, Denes Nemedi, Jeremy Tanner, Bryan S. Turner.