This book is a compendium of pragmatism in the social sciences. While addressing several distinct spheres, it carries a common message: the future of the social sciences depends on a shared understanding of society based on the knowledge of various disciplines and transcending the currently forbidding borders between scientific knowledge and the other forms of knowledge. Looking back at the social science traditions this is nothing new. To ensure a fruitful future for the social sciences a paradigm shift is unavoidable. The consequence of the increase of knowledge in the last two centuries was the specialization of the sciences. The nineteenth century saw the separation of humanities and social sciences; the twentieth century is even characterized by specialization within the disciplines and the occurrence of competing schools of thought. This book tries to overcome the barriers that are built between and within the disciplines, and to counteract the unnecessary barriers created by the emergence of "schools of thoughts" that distrust each other and the social sciences as a whole. This book was originally published as a special issue of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research.

This book is a compendium of pragmatism in the social sciences. While addressing several distinct spheres, it carries a common message: the future of the social sciences depends on a shared understanding of society based on the knowledge of various disciplines and transcending the currently forbidding borders between scientific knowledge and the other forms of knowledge. Looking back at the social science traditions this is nothing new. To ensure a fruitful future for the social sciences a paradigm shift is unavoidable. The consequence of the increase of knowledge in the last two centuries was the specialization of the sciences. The nineteenth century saw the separation of humanities and social sciences; the twentieth century is even characterized by specialization within the disciplines and the occurrence of competing schools of thought. This book tries to overcome the barriers that are built between and within the disciplines, and to counteract the unnecessary barriers created by the emergence of "schools of thoughts" that distrust each other and the social sciences as a whole. This book was originally published as a special issue of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research.

In the aftermath of the Maastricht Treaty, Europe saw tremendous integration, but the last few years have seen a new power game between federalist and confederalist actors. Although the Lisbon Treaty increased the power of the federalist-inclined European Parliament, the politics of the European Council are marked by a confederalist approach that re-affirms the power of the individual member states. As the European Council gains in strength, it supports the idea that EU policies should act as a means to protect individual national interests rather than as a positive-sum game to the benefit of all member states. This 'national egoism' as a political strategy is paralleled by the rise of nationalism in many member states, as a result of which we are faced with an increase in social inequality due to unequal social rights and social exclusion of minorities, an increase of social control disguised as security policy, nostalgic cultural policies that emphasize the national cultural heritage, and migration control that threatens the Schengen Agreement. These developments pose a challenge for European social science scholars, both theoretically and based on practical experience from their research activities. International cooperation has improved theoretical and methodological knowledge in a major way, and academic exchange and migration have led to innovation in science and research. Since academic communities support further internationalization and Europeanization, and are opposed to all types of barriers between the nation states, there is a need to theoretically, conceptually, and empirically research the idea of a 'European society'. This book was originally published as a special issue of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research.

In the aftermath of the Maastricht Treaty, Europe saw tremendous integration, but the last few years have seen a new power game between federalist and confederalist actors. Although the Lisbon Treaty increased the power of the federalist-inclined European Parliament, the politics of the European Council are marked by a confederalist approach that re-affirms the power of the individual member states. As the European Council gains in strength, it supports the idea that EU policies should act as a means to protect individual national interests rather than as a positive-sum game to the benefit of all member states. This 'national egoism' as a political strategy is paralleled by the rise of nationalism in many member states, as a result of which we are faced with an increase in social inequality due to unequal social rights and social exclusion of minorities, an increase of social control disguised as security policy, nostalgic cultural policies that emphasize the national cultural heritage, and migration control that threatens the Schengen Agreement. These developments pose a challenge for European social science scholars, both theoretically and based on practical experience from their research activities. International cooperation has improved theoretical and methodological knowledge in a major way, and academic exchange and migration have led to innovation in science and research. Since academic communities support further internationalization and Europeanization, and are opposed to all types of barriers between the nation states, there is a need to theoretically, conceptually, and empirically research the idea of a 'European society'. This book was originally published as a special issue of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research.

Privacy and data protection are recognized as fundamental human rights. Recent developments, however, indicate that security issues are used to undermine these fundamental rights. As new technologies effectively facilitate collection, storage, processing and combination of personal data government agencies take advantage for their own purposes. Increasingly, and for other reasons, the business sector threatens the privacy of citizens as well. The contributions to this book explore the different aspects of the relationship between technology and privacy. The emergence of new technologies threaten increasingly privacy and/or data protection; however, little is known about the potential of these technologies that call for innovative and prospective analysis, or even new conceptual frameworks. Technology and privacy are two intertwined notions that must be jointly analyzed and faced. Technology is a social practice that embodies the capacity of societies to transform themselves by creating the possibility to generate and manipulate not only physical objects, but also symbols, cultural forms and social relations. In turn, privacy describes a vital and complex aspect of these social relations. Thus technology influences people's understanding of privacy, and people's understanding of privacy is a key factor in defining the direction of technological development. This book was originally published as a special issue of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research.