Sociology in Central and Eastern Europe: Transformation at the Dawn of a New Millennium

(Hardback)

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In this unique collection, more than 20 sociologists assembled from across Central and Eastern Europe chronicle the impact political transformation has had upon sociology during the last decade of the 20th century. Contributors investigate the general patterns this process has taken across the region, as well as the differences from one country to the next. Also examined is the extent to which sociology has contributed to or participated in the transformation, i.e., helped the societies of Central and Eastern Europe identify, understand, and respond to the challenges and opportunities offered by it. Of particular interest is the extensive bibliography of sociological research in Central and Eastern Europe carried out during this period of transition.

Reviews

"The most thorough account of the fate of sociology in East-Central Europe after the fall of communism that exists in the literature. Each of the fifteen countries covered in the volume are represented by well informed experts who discuss the developments in the discipline from the insider's perspective. Each analysis is thrown against the background of rich historical facts relating to the region. The message of the book is two-fold. First, it shows tremendous diversity of the countries, and the variety of tendencies in sociology, quite contrary to the simplified image of some grey, undifferentiated area typical for the standard approaches to East-Central Europe. Second, it shows great richness and vitality of sociology in this part of the world, which has a lot to contribute to the worldwide developments in the discipline. The book may play an important role in opening up this potential and incorporating it more fully into the mainstream of contemporary sociology."-Piotr Sztompka President, International Sociological Association

Author Bio

MIKE FORREST KEEN is Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, South Bend. He is the author of Stalking the Sociological Imagination: J. Edgar Hoover's FBI Surveillance of American Sociology (Greenwood Press, 1999), winner of the North Central Sociological Association's 2000 Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award. JANUSZ L. MUCHA is Professor of Sociology and Head of the Cultural Studies Section of the Institute of Sociology at Nicholas Copernicus University in Torun, Poland, and Professor at the Warsaw School for Social Psychology. His most recent book is Dominent Culture as Foreign Culture.