A NEW PARADIGM FOR UNDERSTANDING TODAY'S WORLD

* Touraine is one of the leading social thinkers in the world today and many of his books have been published in English. * In this book Touraine presents a new theoretical framework for understanding the contemporary world. It is a broad theoretical work which seeks to make sense of everyday experience at the beginning of the 21st century. * This is a major new theoretical work by one of the leading sociologists in the world today. * A great reference book for those studying sociology and social theory at any level.

* Touraine is one of the leading social thinkers in the world today and many of his books have been published in English. * In this book Touraine presents a new theoretical framework for understanding the contemporary world. It is a broad theoretical work which seeks to make sense of everyday experience at the beginning of the 21st century. * This is a major new theoretical work by one of the leading sociologists in the world today. * A great reference book for those studying sociology and social theory at any level.

A.Touraine, Director, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales Translated by G.Elliot

* Contents * Introduction: A New Paradigm * Part One: When We Referred to Ourselves in Social Terms * 1 The Break * 9/11 * Fear * A world in decline * Where is meaning to be found? * 2 Globalization * From the post-war states to the globalization of the economy * An extreme capitalism * The rupturing of societies * Alter-globalism * From society to war * A globalized world * 3 Europe: A State without a Nation * The decline of the national state * Is European unity possible? * The EU and the USA * The European state * European powerlessness * The absence of a European consciousness * 4 The End of Societies * The social representation of societies * The European mode of modernization * Society and modernity * The crisis of representation * The three deaths of European society * The irruption of democracy * The return of the political * Farewell to society * The war above us * When system and actors separate off * The rupturing of the social bond * Are we witnessing the end of social movements? * Conclusion * 5 Revisiting the Self * What is modernity? * The victory of modernity * The end of social thinking * Emancipatory individualism * Forms of social determinism * From focusing on the world to focusing on the self * The awakening of the subject * Part Two: Now that We Refer to Ourselves in Cultural Terms * 6 The Subject * The subject and identity * Sources of the subject * Defence of sociology * The individual subject * Rights * Are we all subjects? * The negation of the subject * A related note * The subject, social movements and the unconscious * Proximity * The subject and religion * The subject and the school * The experience of being a subject * The anti-subject * Between gods and societies * 7 Cultural Rights * Political rights and cultural rights * Minorities, multiculturalism, communitarianism * Redistribution and recognition * The new social movements * Modernizations * Entry into the post-social world * Sexual rights * The limits of cultural mixing * About the ‘veil’ * Communities and communitarianisms * Liberals and communitarians * Secularism * Inter-cultural communication * Return to new ideas * 8 A Society of Women * An altered situation * Equality and difference * Sexuality and gender * The woman-subject * The role of men * Post-feminism * The Argument: By Way of Conclusion * Bibliography * Name Index * Subject Index