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What do the so-called Meiji restorations in Japan in the 1860s, the great transformations to Bolshevism and fascism in the 1920s and 1930s have in common? They’re all discussed in “The Handbook of Political, Social, and Economic Transformation” edited by Wolfgang Merkel, Raj Kollmorgen, and Hans-Jurgen Wagener. The English translation is out now:

Link: https://bit.ly/2VlKZK1

abstract

Political, social, and economic transformation is a complex historical phenomenon. It can adequately be analysed only by a multidisciplinary approach. The Handbook brings together an international team of scholars who are specialists in their respective research fields. They introduce the most important areas, theories, and methods in transformation research. Most attention is placed on the historical and comparative dimension. Although focussing on post-communist and other democratic transformations in our epoch, the Handbook therefore presents and discusses not only their problems, paths and developments. It also deals with the antecedent ‘waves’, beginning with the Meiji Restoration in Japan in 1868 and its aftermath.

The book is structured into six layers. Starting with basic concepts as systems, actors, and institutions (Section I), it gives an overview over major theoretical approaches and research methods (Sections II and III). The connection of theory and method with their application is essential. It allows special insights into the past and opens analytical avenues for transformation research in the future. The next Section (IV) provides a historically oriented description or interpretation of particular ‘waves’ or types of societal transformation. With a clear focus on present transformations, the contributions to Section V provide a description and discussion of the problems, structures, actors, and courses of the transformations within different spheres of (civil) society, politics, law, and economics. Finally, brief lexicographic entries in Section VI delineate facts about particular relevant issues of societal transformation. Each of the 79 contributions contains a concise list of the most important research literature.