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Social policy in East and West finds itself today in the middle of
a fundamental transition. The former communist countries of Central
and Eastern Europe and the successor states to the former Soviet
Union are attempting to create the institutions needed for a modern
market economy and a modern democratic welfare state. At the same
time, the mature welfare states of Europe are struggling to solve
the contemporary financial crisis of their systems of social
entitlements. Because of fundamental economic and demographic
trends, these systems will become increasingly difficult to sustain
over the coming decades. The contributors overwhelmingly agree that
it would be mistaken policy to simply copy the institutions of
Western welfare states to the eastern economies in transition.
Instead one can learn much from the experience gathered over the
past half century in Western welfare states.
This study of eunuchs guides readers as they travel through various
lands and periods, familiarizing themselves with the duties and
responsibilities, the unspeakable torments and the passions and
joys of these individuals. Eunuchs were not simply ""bedchamber
attendants"", as the Greek term suggests. Nor were they always
slaves. They could just as well be ascetics, priests, magicians,
scholars, physicians, military commanders, admirals or senior
officials at the courts of both eastern and western rulers. In the
Byzantine empire, the only office they were precluded from
attaining was that of emperor. The rich and varied forms of
religious, social and sexual life associated with eunuchs and
castrati embrace a wealth of myths relating to gods and demons,
initiation rites, rituals and magic. They touch on the history of
law and medicine, various systems of government, and secret
societies. And they are presented to us in terms of the cruellest
punishments and tortures. On the one hand, they facilitated unique
developments in the evolution of vocal music, and on the other,
they gave rise to a multiplicity of human behavioural patterns that
reflect every aspect of good and evil. Readers should become
acquainted with various forms of sexuality, such as androgyny,
transvestism, transsexualism and homosexuality, and learn about the
historical, religious and social issues associated with their
characteristic ""life settings"". Whether out of a sense of shame
or because of moral considerations, these phenomena appear only on
the margins of the history of customs and mores.
This study of eunuchs guides readers as they travel through various
lands and periods, familiarizing themselves with the duties and
responsibilities, the unspeakable torments and the passions and
joys of these individuals. Eunuchs were not simply ""bedchamber
attendants"", as the Greek term suggests. Nor were they always
slaves. They could just as well be ascetics, priests, magicians,
scholars, physicians, military commanders, admirals or senior
officials at the courts of both eastern and western rulers. In the
Byzantine empire, the only office they were precluded from
attaining was that of emperor. The rich and varied forms of
religious, social and sexual life associated with eunuchs and
castrati embrace a wealth of myths relating to gods and demons,
initiation rites, rituals and magic. They touch on the history of
law and medicine, various systems of government, and secret
societies. And they are presented to us in terms of the cruellest
punishments and tortures. On the one hand, they facilitated unique
developments in the evolution of vocal music, and on the other,
they gave rise to a multiplicity of human behavioural patterns that
reflect every aspect of good and evil. Readers should become
acquainted with various forms of sexuality, such as androgyny,
transvestism, transsexualism and homosexuality, and learn about the
historical, religious and social issues associated with their
characteristic ""life settings"". Whether out of a sense of shame
or because of moral considerations, these phenomena appear only on
the margins of the history of customs and mores.
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