In this enormously influential book, Jurgen Habermas examines the deep tensions and crisis tendencies which underlie the development of contemporary Western societies and develops a powerful analysis of the legitimation problems faced by modern states.
As we struggle with the legacy of the crisis and with the prospect of accelerating environmental degradation, it is time to ask not what we can do for capitalism but what capitalism can do for us, as citizens of a democratic society.
Recent years have seen an enormous increase in protests across the world in which citizens have challenged what they see as a deterioration of democratic institutions and the very civil, political and social rights that form the basis of democratic life.
In this thought-provoking new book, Anthony Smith analyses key debates between historians and social scientists on the role of nations and nationalism in history.
Capitalism is the only complex system known to us that can provide an efficient and innovative economy, but the financial crisis has brought out the pernicious side of capitalism and shown that it remains dependent on the state to rescue it from its own deficiencies.
In a world of high finance, unprecedented technological change, and cyber billionaires, it is easy to forget that a major source of global wealth is, literally, right under our noses.
The West has long defined the pursuit of happiness in economic terms but now, in the wake of the 2007-8 financial crisis, it is time to think again about what constitutes our happiness.
The concealment of income, wealth and profits in tax havens has brought the topic of offshoring into public debate, but as John Urry shows in this important new book offshoring is a much more pervasive feature of contemporary societies.
At a recent meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, it was reported that a ghost was haunting the deliberations of the assembled global elite - that of the renowned social scientist and economic historian, Karl Polanyi.
If you look carefully at how things are actually made in China - from shirts to toys, apple juice to oil rigs - you see a reality that contradicts every widely-held notion about the world's so-called economic powerhouse.
This new book by two distinguished Italian economists is a highly original contribution to our understanding of the origins and aftermath of the financial crisis.
This new book by two leading economists is a far-reaching analysis of the role and organization of the financial system in the aftermath of the economic crisis.
Much orthodox economic theory is based on assumptions which are treated as self-evident: supply and demand are regarded as independent entities, the individual is assumed to be a rational agent who knows his interests and how to make decisions corresponding to them, and so on.
Once deemed a dysfunctional democracy with a feckless set of political institutions and a drunk economy, today s Brazil has undergone a complete reversal of fortune.
This book provides a critical overview of the myriad literatures on work, viewed not only as a product of the marketplace but also as a social and political construct.
The book investigates the ways in which state-centred approaches to international relations have limited our understanding of global, political, economic and cultural processes.
With the growing challenges of economic globalization and national welfare state retrenchment, the development and future of EU social policy has become increasingly important.