Wolfgang Glatzer

This book presents a reconstruction of the history of well-being on the European continent with special attention to the European Union, as people from Europe have a history of a long-term march towards well-being. It discusses ancient civilizations on the European continent, which have contributed significantly to the features of well-being in contemporary Europe. Following Europe`s success over the past millennium, which brought the continent a unique rise to better well-being it also imposed new challenges for sustaining well-being and alleviating misery. It is shown that Europeans attained a high level of well-being in global comparison, yet their attitudes remained at the same time ambivalent and precarious. Significant parts of the population claim a low well-being and suffer from the difficulties of life. Even though a top ranked area of socio-economic development in the world, this book shows that poverty, inequality and hardship remain stable structural problems which have to be overcome in order to avoid significant restrictions for a broad quality of life. But despite all their burdens and hardships, Europeans are among the most prosperous and privileged people in the world.

History and Politics of Well-Being in Europe

International Research Group on the Comparative Charting of Social Change in Advanced Industrial Societies

The third volume in the invaluable reference series Comparative Charting of Social Change examines social trends in West Germany during the period between 1960 and 1990. This was a special phase of German history: the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in 1949, and by 1960 the main disturbances of the Second World War had been overcome. The next thirty years saw relatively stable development in democratic institutions, economic wealth, and the welfare state. This process, however, was not entirely without difficulties. Environmental conditions deteriorated and unemployment grew, especially in the 1980s. A new, reunified Germany replaced the "old" FRG in 1990, ushering in a fundamentally different social structure.

Recent Social Trends in West Germany, 1960-1990

Karl Otto Hondrich

The thirty-year period examined was characterized in West Germany by a number of inconsistent trends. While income and consumption levels increased as part of a "silent revolution," poverty also increased, especially during the 1980s. People's lifestyles changed, with less time spent on formal employment and more on household production and recreation. Individualization and pluralization began to dissolve the class structure, and social movements such as feminism and environmentalism gained some influence. Although hostility toward foreigners did not disappear, de facto immigrants were increasingly integrated into society. Satisfaction with life reached a generally high and stable level, although some people expressed an unanticipated degree of boredom. The legitimacy of the political system was not affected by conflicts about income distribution and changing values, and cooperation grew among government, business, and traditional and emerging intermediate groups. Special chapters have been authored by Johann Behrens, Mathias Bös, Bernhard Engel, Renate Hornung-Draus, Heiner Meulemann, Claudia Koch-Arzberger, Jürgen Kohl, Jakob Schissler, Jürgen Schumacher, and Karin Seibel.

Oliver Nüchter

Roland Bieräugel

Florian Schipperges

Alfons Schmid

Der deutsche Sozialstaat hatte einst eine durchgehend hohe Akzeptanz in der Bevölkerung - doch es bröckelt: Reformen und Rückbau aller Orten. Der aktuelle Band ""Einstellungen zum Sozialstaat II"" untersucht insbesondere die Akzeptanz von Reformen der sozialen Sicherung, insbesondere mit Blick auf Renten- und Pflegeversicherung. Analysiert werden Veränderungen im Zeitverlauf sowie kulturelle und strukturelle Einflussfaktoren. Basis ist die repräsentative telefonische Befragung von über 5.000 Personen in Ost- und Westdeutschland.

Akzeptanz der sozialen Sicherung und der Reform der Renten- und Pflegeversicherung 2006

Einstellungen zum Sozialstaat II

Mariano Rojas

Laura Camfield

Valerie Møller

This handbook provides a comprehensive historical account of the field of Quality of Life. It brings together theoretical insights and empirical findings and presents the main items of global quality of life and wellbeing research. Worldwide in its scope of topics, the handbook examines discussions of demographic and health development, the spread of democracy, global economic accounting, multi-item measurement of perceived satisfaction and expert-assessed quality of life and the well-being of children, women and poor people. It looks at well-being in specific regions, including North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, South America and Eastern and Western Europe. In addition to contributions by leading and younger authors, the handbook includes contributions from International Organizations about their own work with respect to social reporting.

Exploration of Well-Being of Nations and Continents

Global Handbook of Quality of Life

This book is concerned with the question of inequality - which points to a major structural problem in intra-national and inter-national respect. It covers the tension between the rich and poor in less developed countries as well as within richer countries in the process of globalisation. The main topics are the scope of disparities between the rich and poor, people's perception of wealth and poverty, and the concomitants of inequality which shape this relationship and influence its socio-economic consequences. In the tradition of social reporting, the book brings together authors from 15 countries, documenting a broad range of the international inequality debate. The results are related to the trends of socio-economic development, to statistical problems of measuring inequality, and to socio-political problems of integrating society in the facing the challenge of dividing forces. The book is of interest for everybody who wants to understand the tensions of modern world.

Wolfgang Glatzer

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