Provides an international approach including authors from different societies, political systems and research fields. Analyses current developments and challenges in different geographical areas and in inter- and transdisciplinary ways. Includes chapters from practitioners from OECD, UNESCO and other international bodies.

This book describes what an "art of multiculturalism" could be and how in turn multiculturalism could be conceived as a form of art. It focuses on the early and middle work of Indian-born U.S. writer Bharati Mukherjee, in particular on her understanding of the "fusion" of literature and painting as a tool to inspire the creation of a "new global society" by empowering minorities through fostering and multiplying "differences in unity" and "unities in difference". The book includes, in condensed ways, an explanation of Mukherjee's use of ancient Indian painting techniques for postmodern writing; and it provides a short introduction to the relation between multiculturalism, postmodernity and "imaginal politics". The book is written in an easy to read style accessible to all interested in the topic: high school and university students and teachers; those generally interested in the interface between literature, the arts and politics; and specialists in multicultural studies and global and international studies. The book is particularly suited to use in teaching.

This book provides a critical commentary on China's situation and future outlook from the perspective of the 2012-13 generational power transfer. In this power transfer, taking place against the background of an increasingly unstable domestic situation, an apparently outstandingly successful generation of "half-communist" leaders, recently increasingly plagued by scandal, transferred responsibility to a generation confronted by mixed expectations and factional in-fighting. Many international observers doubt that the new leadership will have the will or the power to introduce serious reforms in a country that reports 100,000 riots involving more than 500 persons in public areas per year. The China of 2013 seems to be in the midst of a transition seldom seen since the 1970s. The question is if the resulting hope expressed by Chinese dissidents and Western leaders for a "necessary" development of China's still largely autocratic system towards a kind of context-adequate democracy is plausible or not. Featuring incisive commentary by the authors and interviews with experts on the region's political economy, the volume addresses such timely questions as: Should "rapid democratization" of China be the strategic goal of the West or rather a step-by-step approach towards the "rule of law" first, and "illiberal democracy" to follow? Should the West be more worried about a thriving China, or a China in crisis? Will China's success contribute to the success of the global community and the world order system, or be a threat to it? What can the West do to help China develop more participatory and inclusive approaches in order to secure social stability? And how can the West strengthen its democratic allies on China's borders? Endorsements "This is a book I recommend to students and teachers around the globe. It provides a concise introduction into present China's main problems, questions and perspectives. A must for all who try to understand the rising Pacific giant not through short-term answers, but through long-term questions." Professor Ole Bruun, Institute for Society and Globalization, Roskilde University, Denmark "The rise of China to global superpower calls for clear, condensed, yet comprehensive comments for the broader public. This book accomplishes those goals, providing a quick yet comprehensive introduction into what we may expect as the Middle Kingdom seeks to assert what it increasingly sees as its rightful role as a leading world power." Professor Richard Appelbaum, MacArthur Foundation Chair in Global & International Studies and Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara "The new constellation between China and the West needs inspiring departure points of discussion, which may be sober or provocative. This booklet is both in one. It should be used as a basis for in-depth discussion and I recommend it for classrooms and the global civil society debate." Professor Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Mellichamp Professor of Global Studies and Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara

COVID provoked a multi-dimensional crisis that overwhelmed existing concepts of social resilience that focus on a singular crisis. This volume proposes an alternative. In The Coronavirus Crisis and Its Teachings: Steps towards Multi-Resilience Roland Benedikter and Karim Fathi first describe the pluri-dimensional characteristics of the Coronavirus crisis. Then they draw the pillars for a more "multi-resilient" Post-Corona world including socio-political recommendations on how to generate it. The Coronavirus crisis has proven to be a bundle crisis consisting of multiple, interconnected crisis dimensions. Before Corona, most concepts of a "resilient society" implied a rather isolated focus on only one crisis at a time. Future preparedness in the 21st century will require a multi- and transdisciplinary risk-management concept that the authors call "multi-resilience". "Multi-resilience" means to systematically enhance the universal resilience competencies of societies, such as collective intelligence or overall responsiveness, making them appliable to pluri-dimensional crisis contexts. If the Coronavirus crisis in retrospect will have contributed to implementing multi-resilience, then it will ultimately have contributed to progress. This volume includes a Foreword by Jan Nederveen Pieterse and an Afterword by Manfred B. Steger.

For over 2,000 years, banks have served to facilitate the exchange of money and to provide a variety of economic and financial services. During the most recent financial collapse and subsequent recession, beginning in 2008, banks have been vilified as perpetrators of the crisis, the public distrust compounded by massive public bailouts. Nevertheless, another form of banking has also emerged, with a focus on promoting economic sustainability, investing in community, providing opportunity for the disadvantaged, and supporting social, environmental, and ethical agendas. "Social Banking and Social Finance" traces the emergence of the "bank with a conscience" and proposes a new approach to banking in the wake of the economic crisis. Featuring innovations and initiatives in banking from Europe, Canada, and the United States, Roland Benedikter presents an alternative to traditional banking practices that are focused exclusively on profit maximization. He argues that social banking is not about changing the system, but about improving some of its core features by putting into use the "triple bottom line" principle of profit-people-planet. Important lessons can be learned by the success of social banks that may be useful for the greater task of improving the global financial system and avoiding economic crises in the future.

This book provides a concise introduction into twenty-one trends that are transforming the role of religion and spirituality in "re-globalizing" societies. In referring to processes of "re-globalization", the book draws attention to profound ongoing changes in the patterns and mechanisms of contemporary globalization. Inter- and transdisciplinary in its approach, clearly structured, and easy to read, the book analyzes the impact of religious self-understanding, rhetoric, and practice on five core fields: economics, politics, culture, demography, and technology. In turn, it describes the effects of these five fields on religion and spirituality themselves. This book represents a broad, encompassing overview of the main transformations that religion is undergoing today. Roland Benedikter combines a "big picture" approach with a keen attention to the details of specific case studies. With its clear and accessible structure and timely examples, this book is ideally suited for students of international relations and religious studies, and will also appeal to researchers engaged in those fields and to interested general readers. The book is also apt to serve as an encompassing basis for contemporary debates in civil society, including both grassroots and expert discussions.

This book provides a concise introduction into twenty-one trends that are transforming the role of religion and spirituality in "re-globalizing" societies. In referring to processes of "re-globalization", the book draws attention to profound ongoing changes in the patterns and mechanisms of contemporary globalization. Inter- and transdisciplinary in its approach, clearly structured, and easy to read, the book analyzes the impact of religious self-understanding, rhetoric, and practice on five core fields: economics, politics, culture, demography, and technology. In turn, it describes the effects of these five fields on religion and spirituality themselves. This book represents a broad, encompassing overview of the main transformations that religion is undergoing today. Roland Benedikter combines a "big picture" approach with a keen attention to the details of specific case studies. With its clear and accessible structure and timely examples, this book is ideally suited for students of international relations and religious studies, and will also appeal to researchers engaged in those fields and to interested general readers. The book is also apt to serve as an encompassing basis for contemporary debates in civil society, including both grassroots and expert discussions.

Football in Central-Eastern and Eastern Europe has long functioned as a carrier of the three "non-normal" socio-political drivers that were effective below the surface of modernity, including the official self-image of European political systems, since the second half of the 20th century: Tribal Politics, Imaginal Politics, and Contextual Politics. All three are trends that are currently surfacing prominently on an international and global level. Long before the return of the now proverbial "Political Tribes" by the means of populisms and neo-authoritarianisms in societies around the world, football in Central-Eastern and Eastern Europe worked as a subconscious vehicle of group instincts and political moods that represented, mirrored, informed and influenced political behavior and governmental decisions both in the post-WWII communist and then, after 1989, the neo-capitalist societies located east of the former iron curtain. Football has always been used by both governments and their opponents, including the dissident civil society, to further coherence and to symbolically represent specific readings of power relations, system ideologies and history. Football in Central and Eastern Europe was always able to attract and include large parts of the population, inducing them to symbolically express protest against the government or to sustain the "politics from above". Through football politics, aspects of the area's specific political mechanisms are introduced and explained.

Dieses Buch enthalt sechs Aufsatze von Massimo Cacciari, Antonio Giuseppe Balistreri, Remo Bodei, Salvatore Veca, Roberto Esposito und Ugo Perone. Sie prasentieren Schlusselpositionen der italienischen Politikphilosophie der Gegenwart. Hier fassen einige der wichtigsten Denker Italiens ihre Sichtweise auf "die Politik", "das Politische" und deren in den kommenden Jahren zu erwartende Entwicklung kurz und allgemeinverstandlich zusammen. Den Aufsatzen beigegeben sind eine kurze Einleitung und Wurdigung des gegenwartigen italienischen Denkens des Politischen im europaischen Kontext durch den UEbersetzer und Herausgeber Roland Benedikter.

Dieses Buch enthalt sechs Aufsatze namhafter italienischer Philosophen und Schriftsteller. Sie prasentieren auf klare und allgemeinverstandliche Weise Schlusselpositionen der heutigen italienischen Moralphilosophie. Den Aufsatzen beigegeben sind eine Einleitung sowie eine kurze Wurdigung des italienischen Denkens des Moralischen durch den UEbersetzer und Herausgeber Roland Benedikter.

Das Buch zeichnet das Gesamtbild der Situation und Perspektiven Chinas. Die Machtubergabe von einer im vergangenen Jahrzehnt erfolgreichen an eine noch wenig bekannte und von zahlreichen Umbruchen erschutterte Generation von Eliten innerhalb der herrschenden Einheitspartei in den Jahren 2012-13 weckt Hoffnungen auf Liberalisierung, wenn nicht gar Demokratisierung. Der Optimismus von Dissidenten, Zivilgesellschaftern und Politikern scheint heute so gross wie selten an neueren historischen UEbergangspunkten des Landes. Doch gibt es dem entgegengesetzt auch Tendenzen zur Ruckkehr zu einem neuen Konservativismus und Nationalismus sowie zu einer expansiveren Haltung Chinas, etwa im Pazifik oder in Afrika. Das Buch, geschrieben in der Kaderschmide der amerikanischen Diplomatie, der Stanford Universitat im Zentrum von Silikon Valley, zeichnet ein einmaliges, interdisziplinares Gesamtbild der aktuellen Situation des "mittleren Reiches" im Spannungsfeld zwischen Innen- und Aussenpolitik. Es bezieht dabei Politik, Wirtschaft und Kultur ebenso ein wie den Einfluss von Religion auf die Grundhaltung der Eliten. Anhand zahlreicher Beispiele der aktuellen Gesellschaftsentwicklung stellt es erstens die Frage, ob aus heutiger Sicht Demokratisierung oder Entwicklung zum Rechtsstaat die realistische Perspektive fur Chinas Zukunft ist; und zweitens, wie sich Zukunftsoptionen auf heutige, konkret im Raum stehende Gesellschaftsphanomene des "Reichs der Mitte" aufbauen koennen.