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In an excerpt from Bell's The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, 20th Anniversary Edition (1996), it is noted that so much attention has been focused on the notion of the Protestant ethic that it has obscured the original intent of Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904), ie, to explain why, in the past 500 years, a total transformation of society occurred only in the West. The reason behind that transformation, according to Weber, is the rationalization of life. Weber contended that the rise of capitalism, a rational economic order, was made possible by the personality type generated by rational ascetic Protestantism, ie, a disciplined & work-oriented individual. The ideas of Werner Sombart are also discussed; he argued that the motivating force behind capitalism, & all human activity, is love of money. It is argued that while both Weber & Sombart dealt with the origins of capitalism, they did not discuss its structural transformations. One such transformation, the 20th century's shift from production to consumption as the basis of capitalism, is discussed, & it is concluded that the ascetic Protestant ethic has now been replaced by acquisitiveness. J. Ferrari

Many have criticized liberalism for being too individualistic, but few have offered an alternative that goes beyond a vague affirmation of the need for community. In this entertaining book, written in dialogue form, Daniel Bell fills this gap, presenting and defending a distinctively communitarian theory against the objections of a liberal critic. Drawing on the works of such thinkers as Charles Taylor, Michael Sandel, and Alasdair MacIntyre, Bell attacks liberalism's individualistic view of the person by pointing to our social embeddedness. He develops Michael Walzer's idea that political thinking involves the interpretation of shared meanings emerging from the political life of a community, and intelligently rebuts criticism that this approach damages his case by being conservative and relativistic. Communitarianism and Its Critics is a provocative defense of a distinctly communitarian theory which will stimulate interest and debate among scholars and students of political theory as well as those approaching the subject for the first time.

Suggests that in the twenty-first century, focus of modern civilization will be the Pacific region -- including Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, & China -- which have witnessed explosive economic growth over the past two decades. Some analysts have suggested that the limits to growth have been reached & that a period of very high inflation will occur in the near future, increasing the region's importance in the world economy. Additionally, security issues in the region have yet to be resolved &/or adequately addressed. It is suggested that economic growth & technological development entail the development of more Western forms of cultural modernity that may erode traditional cultural patterns & that conjoining this process of liberalization & economic development may elicit the formation of more democratized & pluralistic regimes. D. Karjanen