What Holds Asian Societies Together?


Book Description

The study provides an analysis and review of social cohesion in 22 Asian countries in a comparative perspective. It presents a valid and reliable measurement of current and past levels of social cohesion and explores its most important determinants and outcomes. As an extension of the Social Cohesion Radar series the study will be of interest and value to policy makers, academics, think tanks and civil society organizations.




What Holds Asian Societies Together?


Book Description

Social cohesion has become an important public goal in many countries across the globe, not only in the Western hemisphere, but also in Asia. Despite the growing political and academic interest in the concept, there is no generally accepted definition of social cohesion. As a result, empirical insights are lacking. Against this backdrop, the Bertelsmann Stiftung has initiated the "Social Cohesion Radar" which now, for the first time, presents empirical findings on South, Southeast and East Asia. The study provides an analysis and review of social cohesion in 22 Asian countries in a comparative perspective. It presents a valid and reliable measurement of current and past levels of social cohesion and explores its most important determinants and outcomes. As an extension of the Social Cohesion Radar series the study will be of interest and value to policy makers, academics, think tanks and civil society organizations.




Social Cohesion in Asia


Book Description

This book explores the historical origins, contemporary dynamics and future challenges of social cohesion in South, Southeast and East Asia—one of the most dynamic and at the same time heterogeneous regions in the world, in terms of economic, political and human development. The comparative case studies in this volume develop a better understanding of social cohesion in Asia by exploring how social cohesion is understood, analyzed and sometimes politically instrumentalised. Examining different dimensions and qualities of social cohesion and how they are linked together, it also discusses the challenges of social cohesion in individual societies. The case studies include examples from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, South Korea and Mainland China and building on the conceptual work and empirical findings of the Asian Social Cohesion Radar, this book provides detailed cross-country analyses over the past 15 years. Combining rigorous conceptual and theoretical reasoning with a systematic empirical analysis of trends across the region, Social Cohesion in Asia will be of great interest to students and scholars of Asian politics, international relations, political sociology, comparative politics and Democratization Studies.




Religiosity in East and West


Book Description

​The book discusses the theoretical and methodological challenges of an interculturally valid sociology of religion and provides insights into the autochthonous socio-religious research in Muslim societies and Asian countries. In this way, it links discourses that have so far taken place primarily independently of one another. The book goes back to a conference in Münster that questioned the Western foundation of empirical religiosity research, which reaches its limits in the non-American and non-European context, but also with regard to orthodox forms of faith in the Western context.




Knowledge Society and Education in the Asia-Pacific


Book Description

This book explores recent trends in the knowledge-based society and education field in Asia-Pacific and discusses future challenges in the region. It presents studies on the development of scientific thought in the field on the knowledge-based society in the Pacific Circle. This book explores the theoretical framework of the knowledge-based society framed by the borders imposed by the Pacific Ocean, particularly from the perspective of the Pacific Circle Consortium (PCC), in the face of a paradigm shift to satisfy the human needs that must be preserved to guarantee economic and human conditions that future development requires. It analyzes how education relates to the knowledge society in the Asia Pacific region, and considers global issues such as environmental degradation, climate change, pollution, soil erosion, growth of the population. It discusses how these issues concerns parents, educators, civil societies and governments of the countries around the Pacific Circle. This book explores the necessity of changing the current transformative paradigm to one that ensures environmental sustainability, with the support of scientific education and research, as an issue that must be integrated into the curricula in schools at all educational levels.







The order of the world in house and state


Book Description

In the world, the home and the state prove themselves and change as basic institutions of human coexistence. They are the subject of a comparative study on an ecotheoretical basis. In the global context, the modes of social control have developed differently in the home and the state. In and with them, order is created in the world and for the individual and collective conduct of life. The institutional frameworks of house and state in the world are ways of shaping existence that are juxtaposed in their European-Occidental and East Asian forms: Their discussion takes place along the ancient Greek basic concepts and forms of thought of the oikos, the polis and the cosmos on the one hand and the ancient Chinese categories jia, guo and tianxia on the other. They are discussed with their ethical, political and economic references in their traditional and contemporary meaning and with regard to their ecological sustainability. The interest in a discursive understanding of sustainable, life-serving orders in the face of global challenges is the guiding principle




Encyclopedia of Happiness, Quality of Life and Subjective Wellbeing


Book Description

This comprehensive Encyclopedia delves into the underpinnings, approaches, and recent advancements in the dynamic global landscape of happiness and wellbeing research. Laying out the foundational concepts and disciplinary perspectives in the field, international leading and diverse authors survey the determinants and mechanisms which are associated with happiness, quality of life and subjective wellbeing. This title contains one or more Open Access entries.




Social Policy in a Development Context


Book Description

Drawing upon both conceptual and empirical evidence, this volume argues the case for the centrality of social policy in development, focusing particularly on the message that social policy needs to be closely intertwined with economic policy. It is argued that social policy can provide the crucial link between economic development poverty eradication and equity. This volume is a significant contribution to thinking about social policy in a development context.




Rethinking National Identity in the Age of Migration


Book Description

Greater mobility and migration have brought about unprecedented levels of diversity that are transforming communities across the Atlantic in fundamental ways, sparking uncertainty over who the "we" is in a society. As publics fear loss of their national identity and values, the need is greater than ever to reinforce the bonds that tie communities together. Yet, while a consensus may be emerging as to what has not worked well, little thought has been given to developing a new organizing principle for community cohesion. Such a vision needs to smooth divisions between immigration's "winners and losers," blunt extremism, and respond smartly to changing community and national identities. This volume will examine the lessons that can be drawn from various approaches to immigrant integration and managing diversity in North America and Europe. The book delivers recommendations on what policymakers must do to build and reinforce inclusiveness given the realities on each side of the Atlantic. It offers insights into the next generation of policies that can (re)build inclusive societies and bring immigrants and natives together in pursuit of shared futures.