Social Transformations and Revolutions: Reflections and Analyses - Paperback

by Johann P. Arnason (Editor), Marek Hrubec (Editor)

Prompted by the 25th anniversary of the Soviet collapse, this volume reflects on revolutions and transformations around the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, the political transformations after 9/11, the important changes following the global economic crisis, and the revolutionary transformations of India and China.
The authors stress that the United States' military actions after the 9/11 terrorist attacks have had a major transformative impact on the global arena. More recently, the economic crisis that began in 2007/8 caused a series of breakdowns and provoked demands for social and political transformation, so far unfulfilled. The repercussions of the Arab Spring and transformations linked to the rise of BRICS are altering the patterns of international and global relations. All these processes have unfolded within the framework of global capitalism, whose reproduction on an expanding scale involved multiple economic, political ecological and civilizational transformations.

Back Jacket

Annual of European and Global Studies Editors: Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski, Johann P. Arnason and Peter Wagner An annual collection of the best research on European and global themes, the Annual of European and Global Studies publishes issues with a specific focus, each addressing critical developments and controversies in the field. Problems of social revolutions and transformations belong to the classical agenda of social inquiry, as well as to the most prominent real and potential challenges encountered by contemporary societies. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Soviet collapse prompts a timely reflection on the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, the political transformations after 9/11, the important changes following the global economic crisis, and the revolutionary transformations of India and China. This volume illustrates the extent to which military actions of the United States in the wake of 9/11 have had a major transformative impact on the global arena. It examines how the economic crisis that began in 2007/8 caused a series of breakdowns and provoked demands for social and political transformation, so far unfulfilled. The volume also surveys how the repercussions of the Arab Spring and transformations linked to the rise of BRICS are altering the patterns of international and global relations. All these processes have unfolded within the framework of global capitalism, whose reproduction on an expanding scale involved multiple economic, political, ecological and civilizational transformations. The book highlights social revolutions and transformations from the viewpoints of philosophy, sociology, history and political science, with reference to interdisciplinary and transdiciplinary perspectives. Johann P. Arnason is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at La Trobe University, Melbourne, and Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Human Studies, Charles University, Prague. Marek Hrubec is Director of the Centre of Global Studies in the Institute of Philosophy at the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague. He also teaches at Charles University, Prague. Cover image: (c) Marek Hrubec Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-1534-7 Barcode

Author Biography

Johann P. Arnason is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at La Trobe University, Melbourne, and Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Human Studies at Charles University, Prague. He taught sociology in Heidelberg and Bielefeld from 1972 to 1975, and at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, from 1975 to 2003. He has been a visiting professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, and at the University of Leipzig, and a research fellow of the Alexander v. Humboldt-Stiftung, the Swedish Institute of Advanced Studies, the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut (Essen), the Lichtenberg-Kolleg in Göttingen and the Max-Weber-Kolleg in Erfurt. His research interests centre on social theory and historical sociology, with particular emphasis on the comparative analysis of civilizations.

Marek Hrubec, philosopher and social and political theorist, is Director of the Centre of Global Studies in the Institute of Philosophy at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. He also teaches at Charles University in Prague. He focuses on justice, development, and social and political changes in the macro-regional and global contexts. His latest work is Justice and Recognition which he co-edited with N. De Oliveira, E. Sobottka and G. Saavedra (2015).