Comparative Charting of Social Change Series
ISSN 1183-1952
Series editor: Simon Langlois
Each volume in this valuable reference series provides a comprehensive
profile of social change in an industrialized national society during
the period 1960 to 2000. The subjects examined range from kinship to
computerization and from perceptions of the future to societal values.
The series is prepared by the International Research Group for the Comparative
Charting of Social Change, an international body of scholars working in national teams.
This collaborative effort aims at preparing a comprehensive, numerically grounded
description of recent social trends in industrialized societies; identifying
similarities and differences among these societies with respect to ongoing social
trends and subjecting these similarities and differences to comparative analysis;
developing a non-traditional model of social change to accommodate these data; and
establishing benchmarks for future tracking of social change.
All volumes in the series consist of seventy-eight trend reports grouped
under seventeen main topics. Each of the reports has four sections: an abstract of
findings, an explanatory text, a collection of statistical charts, and a bibliography
of sources.
A firm grounding in fact is fundamental to this series. The information presented
on recent and current trends is verifiable and assertions about future trends are
supported by empirical data. The tendencies documented in these national profiles,
however, are not merely interpretations of statistical information: they reflect
an understanding of social theory and social reality that goes far beyond the raw data.
New
- Charalambis Dimitris, Maratou-Alipranti Laura, and Hadjiyanni Andromachi
(eds), 2004, Recent Social Trends in Greece, 1960-2000, Montreal and
Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.
The newest volume in the Comparative Charting of Social Change series
highlights the main elements of demographic, social, political, and economic
development in Greece during the period 1960-2000. Based on a systematic
analysis of available information and data, this volume provides an overview of
Greece's socio-economic profile, which changed significantly during the studied period.
The collapse of the dictatorship in 1974 and Greece's entry into the European Union (EU)
in 1980 have led to a consolidation of democratic institutions and the improvement of living
standards. During the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced high rates of economic development
and relatively low unemployment rates. However, this increase in economic development has slowed
since the early 1980s and the unemployment rate has risen, particularly among young people.
Consistent with recent social trends in other Western societies, Greek society has become more
tolerant and permissive, with more diverse and flexible moral norms. However, the prevailing
family model remains traditional and the Greek Orthodox Church continues to have a strong
influence on many aspects of Greek society, including social, political, and cultural life.
The organization of work also follows traditional patterns, despite the introduction of new
and flexible forms of employment. Female participation in the labour market remains relatively
low, despite legislation and regulations that promote equality of opportunities between the sexes.
Consistent with recent social trends in other Western societies, Greece's population is aging and the
birth rate has stabilized at a relatively low level.
Contributors include Ioannis Antonopoulos, Dimitri Economou (University of Thessalia),
Evi Fagadaki, Thomas Maloutas (University of Thessalia), Alberto Martinelli, Ioannis Myrizakis,
Theodore Papadogonas, Apostolos g. Papadopoulos (University of Ioannina), Roy Panagiotopoulou,
Apostolis Rafailidis (economist), Paris Tsartas (University of Aegean), Kostas Yannakopoulos.
Elisabeth Allison, Dionisis Balourdos, Nikos Bouzas, Kaliroi Daskalaki, Amalia Frangiskou,
Emmy Fronimou, Panayiotis Kafetzis, Roxanne Kaftantzoglou, John Kallas, Chrysa Kappi,
Maria Ketsetzopoulou, Helene Kovani, Evdokia Manologlou, Joannis Micheloyiannakis,
Aliki Mouriki, Panagiota Papadopoulou, Ioanna Papathanassiou, Christos Papatheodorou,
Marina Petronoti, Nikos Sarris, Theoni Stathopoulou, Hara Stratoudaki, Haris Symeonidou,
Maria Thanopoulou, Olga Tsakirides, Joanna Tsiganou, Christina Varouxi, Efi Venizelou,
and Ersi Zacopoulou are all researchers at the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE).
Review Quotes
"This book is extremely informative and revealing, very illuminating, advancing a greater
understanding of the social issues affecting Greece, and definitely enhancing scholarly research.
This work is a milestone in the knowledge of sociology and ethnography and will assist in the
understanding of current educational, economic, socio-political, religious, and anthropological
issues pertinent to contemporary Greek state and its people and society." Anastasios M. Tamis,
National Centre for Hellenic Studies and Research, La Trobe University
- Caplow Theodore (ed), 2003, Leviathan Transformed, Seven National States in the New Century
Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Leviathan Transformed is based on the premise that a national state is a particular type of organization
and, at any given time and like any other organization, its performance can be evaluated with reasonable objectivity.
The authors, an international team of eminent social scientists, examine the performance of seven states:
Bulgaria, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United States. These nations pursue similar
goals - union, justice, tranquillity, defence, welfare, liberty - which, in one form or another,
are common to all democracies.
Using these goals as a checklist, the authors found that each of the seven states performs well
in some areas and badly in others. They discovered that all states approached these goals in a
style shaped by their own history and, in particular, by how they have been affected by the
troubles of the twentieth century. Their investigations offer a new, informative way of looking
at these nation states and detail the social and political conditions in each state. Contributors
include Theodore Caplow, Salustiano Del Campo (Royal Academy of Political and Social Science, Madrid),
Nikolai Genov (Bulgaria Academy of Sciences), Karl-Otto Hondrich (Goethe University),
Simon Langlois (Université de Laval), Alberto Martinelli (University of Milan),
and Henri Mendras (OFCE, Paris).
Review Quotes
"A penetrating, provocative analysis of transformations grounded in seven very
informed and highly contextualized descriptions of the transformations in question ...
Caplow lays out some rather remarkable insights about what has changed in the second
half of the twentieth century and the essay by Langlois is excellent."
Gary Caldwell, Independent Scholar
"A very interesting contribution to the field of social reporting ...
it is a fresh and uncomplicated step toward portraying whole societies and comparing
them by the use of basic constitutional values." Wolfgang Glatzer, Department of
Social Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main
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