Contemporary society

About: Contemporary society is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3991 publications have been published within this topic receiving 91755 citations.

Theories of Social Change and the Mass Media.

Abstract: Extravagant claims have been made concerning the potential of the mass media. The new media, it is said, have made the education previously available only to an elite available to all. They have ended parochialism for any who care to watch, read, or listen. They have made vivid the flaws and social problems of contemporary society, dramatizing them in a way previously available only to persons who encountered them directly. It is the media more than any other influence that have accelerated the intellectual maturity and social awareness of the young. But on the negative side, the contemporary utopias found in such works as Brave New World, 1984, and Walden Two are typically grim portraits of peoples controlled by clever use of the media. As an aberration characteristic of our time, totalitarianism reduces itself to one essential feature: the manipulation of the masses through the monolithic control of industry, propaganda, and police power by a party elite, proclaiming a manifest destiny that enflames mass aspirations to some messianic historical goal. Totalitarianism can establish itself only as a mass movement dominated by a minority and communications media are crucial to the development of any mass movement. Are the media cruel instruments perfectly designed to assist in the subjugation of the many by the few or are they a vehicle for bringing men nearer the ancient ideals of freedom and equality? Anything we conclude is necessarily speculative and speculations are the subject of this essay. The theories of social change developed by two noted twen-

Jewish feminism in Israel : some contemporary perspectives

Abstract: This volume brings together, for the first time, the voices of feminist theorists, public policy administrators, philosophers, sociologists, art critics, lawyers, and political and human rights activists on the topic of Jewish feminism in Israel. Essays range from broad discussions of Israeli feminism and women and religion in Israel to more specific examinations of gender (in)equality on the kibbutz, Women in Black and other peace movements, and domestic violence and its link to Israeli culture. By addressing such a wide variety of issues, this volume highlights the complex ways in which the interplay of religion, culture, political processes, and the state impacts the lives of Israeli women in contemporary society. This theme enhances the volume's timeliness in the face of the current Intifadah in the Occupied Territories and the response to it by Israeli security forces. Collectively, the essays in Jewish Feminism in Israel present a view of Israeli Jewish feminism within its specific social and political context. Its particular strength lies in the multiple ways it addresses women's experiences in Israeli society.

Law and Religion in Contemporary Society: Communities, Individualism and the State

Abstract: The relationship between law and religion has traditionally been analysed according to two basic paradigms. One has focused on the relationship between religious communities and the State (the Church/State paradigm), while the other has concentrated on the relationship between the State and the individual (the liberal-individualist or civil liberties paradigm). This book enriches the analysis of law and religion in society by emphasising a third and complementary analytical dimension involving the relationship between religious communities and religious individuals. In particular, the contributors explore the various facets of the multiple tensions that exist in the legal relationships between religious organisations, State and adherents in the period leading up to the third Christian millennium. Against the background of the complex and sometimes contradictory responses of religious organisations and the State to the Human Rights Act, this interdisciplinary collection draws on contributions from leading scholars active in the field of religious rights and the interaction of law and religion based in the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and elsewhere, and makes a timely and significant contribution to international debates in a variety of academic disciplines. Contributors explore international concerns over religious liberty, focusing particularly on the boundaries of ethnicity and religious community, the status of the 'established' Churches in the UK, and the proper place for religious organisations under generally applicable legal regimes of non-discrimination. Themes discussed are closely related to wider interests within legal and socio-legal studies involving gender, discrimination, equality, community and the nature and limits of individualism and individual legal rights.

Inclusive, just, plural, dynamic: building a 'civil' society in the Third World

Abstract: The author offers a comprehensive definition of what a civil society should be, drawing on the vast outpouring of democratic activities within the Third World, as well as of those forces that inhibit or thwart the full realisation of civil society. The author argues that the diversity of such activities are indicative not just of the potential of civil society but also, and more importantly, of the lessons that they teach us on the limits of representative democracy, on the adverse implications of the current patterns of development, and on the responsibility of citizens in contemporary society - lessons that are fundamental to the building of a democratic and just polity and a humane society.