Product Description: Edited by Tom Inglis, Zdzislaw Mach, and Rafal Mazanek. How politics and democracy are affecting religion today. Are churches a force for democracy, and religious belief a bulwark of civil society? Or are churches traditional authoritarian institutions inimical to mature democratic societies? Such questions about religion and politics have come back to the center of controversy both in the countries of the former Soviet Empire and in the West...read more

Product Description: This book investigates cultural and social identity in contemporary complex societies, focusing especially on Eastern Europe. Mach explains the role of symbols and symbolic forms in he relations between groups and the protection and development of their identities, especially ethnic identity...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: An analysis of social problems and processes giving a comprehensive, multi-dimensional view of East European societies, this text examines revolution, legitimation of power, and social conflict, concentrating on the reality of social life and not on abstract ideas and concepts.