Der Band vermittelt einen Uberblick der Soziologie in Japan. Ausgewiesene Soziologen aus Japan stellen zentrale Arbeitsfelder vor und zeigen die Relevanz der dortigen Forschung auf."

This book is about the making and unmaking of socio- cultural differences, seen from anthropological, sociological, and philosophical perspectives. Some contributions are of a theoretical nature, such as when the "problem of translation," "the enigma of alienity," or "queer theory" are addressed; others shed light on contemporary issues, such as the integration of Muslims in Norway, identity-forming processes in Creole societies or neo-traditionalist movements and identity in Africa. Moreover, the book deals with strangers looked at from an "anthropology of the night" perspective. Special emphasis is placed on how globalization and the rapid spread of increasingly new technologies of information have generated new patterns of inclusion and exclusion, and how these can be theorized.

Richard Rottenburg and Burkhard Schnepel are both professors of cultural anthropology. Shingo Shimada holds a chair in Intercultural Sociology at the newly founded Institute for Ethnology (Cultural Anthropolgy) at Martin-Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg. The editors areas of interest include: anthropology of law, organization, science and technology in Africa, diaspora-migration-transculture, and intercultural comparison/translation/intercultural understanding.