Der demographische Wandel hat in allen postindustriellen Gesellschaften unubersehbare okonomische, kulturelle und soziale Folgen; sie zeigen sich nicht zuletzt in der Entgrenzung von "Familie," "Jugend(lichkeit)" und "Generation(alitat)." Begleitet von Verunsicherungen und Risiken, aber auch Chancen und Moglichkeiten werden familiare Lebensformen, (Geschlechter-)Identitaten und Altersrollen neu ausgehandelt. Als Reaktion darauf deuten sich in globaler Perspektive diverse Anforderungen und Handlungsstrategien an. Dies nehmen die AutorInnen zum Anlass, "Familie" "Jugend" "Generation" im japanischen sowie europaischen/deutschen Kontext interdisziplinar zu betrachten und (mogliche) Veranderungen sowohl diskursiv als auch konkret lebensweltlich zu untersuchen."

For almost half a century, the Iron Curtain had separated Americans and Russians by barriers of misunderstanding, suspicion and alienation. The accession of Mikhail Gorbachev to power in the mid-1980s signalled the beginning of a revolutionary stage in American-Soviet relations. In the course of the following two decades Americans and Russians would interact to an extent never anticipated and come to call each other partners, or even friends. The word friendship, however, is often used superficially. This book provides a more profound answer to the question of how, from the American perspective, the image of, and the relationship to, Russia have changed since the former adversary "opened its doors" to the West. Ullmann not only reveals how the American public's attitudes toward Russia or the scope of people-to-people contacts have changed, she also analyses to what extent Americans have been able to learn about Russia in the mass media and to what extent they have been interested in studying Russian culture and language.