Anton Pelinka – författare

Attraction and hostility find expression in almost every variety of human relationship, and have consequently provided a central theme for social psychology since its beginnings. Yet attempts to conceptualize the diverse phenomena embraced in these terms have produced theories of such wide generality that they have little explanatory or predictive force. The object of the present study is to bring precision to a vast and sprawling area by setting limits and dimensions to the phenomena and investigating them experimentally on the basis of a series of hypotheses derived from a critical analysis of current conceptual approaches, including frustration, need-satisfaction, and dissonance models.The programme of experimental studies focuses on cognitive validation-a motivation to form and maintain subjectively valid evaluations of the self and the social environment-which is shown to be a common denominator of a number of attraction and hostility measures. The results throw light on reactions to boastfulness and to self-debasement; impressions of persons who are described by biased informants; effects of self-evaluation on competitiveness, and the projection of unfavourable characteristics.The interest of the study for social psychologists derives both from its theoretical integration of a wide range of behaviour and from its contribution to experimental design.

What are attitudes and how are they modified? The many opposing theories to answer this question reflects not only the complexity but also the importance of the field. A central concern of social psychology, attitude change is also relevant to the study of human behavior in general, and a matter of major significance to the world outside the laboratory. Valid and useful theories of attitude change are thus of far-reaching consequence. At the same time, the richness and flexibility of attitude structures and the numerous methodological problems involved in studying them make the development of a definitive theory difficult, if not impossible. For these reasons many explanations have been offered but none have been greatly accepted.The essays included here give voice to a broad sampling of these competing viewpoints. For years attention has been directed mostly to the individual's need to maintain harmony within him, and several of the authors focus on this concept. Cognitive dissonance theory is evaluated in particular detail. Ideas derived from other areas of psychology and attitude change theories based on learning, perception, and cognitive motivation are also well represented in this volume.In his introduction, Suedfeld evaluates these major approaches as well as several less well-known alternatives. In weighing the strengths and weaknesses of each system he considers the limits of the applications of the various theories and the problems the theorists face. This book will be welcomed in a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, and by scholars and educated laymen seeking information on the current state of knowledge in this field.

This book compares contemporary Austria with other political systems and with the Austrias that existed in the past. The dynamism of the changes taking place in Austria can be described and analyzed with this double focus of comparison.

This book compares contemporary Austria with other political systems and with the Austrias that existed in the past. The dynamism of the changes taking place in Austria can be described and analyzed with this double focus of comparison.

First published in 1989. Political science in Austria is a relatively young discipline. It began to gradually establish itself in the 60's and only as recently as 1971 was it anchored in the curriculum of Austrian universities as a separate field of study. With the present book in English the editors hope to stimulate the interest of international social scientists in Austria, to overcome language barriers, and to make the topical problems and developments of Austrian democracy accessible to an international reading public. The book is intended to reflect the current state of a discipline-political science. However, it is also to be a contribution to the further development of this discipline. It should stimulate further, intensive and critical occupation with the theme "parties and the party system in Austria."

This book compares contemporary Austria with other political systems and with the Austrias that existed in the past. The dynamism of the changes taking place in Austria can be described and analyzed with this double focus of comparison.

This book compares contemporary Austria with other political systems and with the Austrias that existed in the past. The dynamism of the changes taking place in Austria can be described and analyzed with this double focus of comparison.

This volume provides an overall assessment of ethnic diversity in Central Europe in historical context and presents a critical assessment of the conflict in former Yugoslavia. It advances a hypothesis on the origins of ethnic conflict, proposes an approach to the prevention and reduction of ethnic conflict in general and in Central Europe in particular, and forwards concrete policy recommendations for the region of East and Central Europe and beyond.

The position of women in Austrian society, politics, and in the economy follows the familiar trajectory of Western societies. They were expected to accept their "proper place" in a male patriarchal world. Achieving equality in all spheres of life was a long struggle that is still not completed in spite of many advances. The chapters in Women in Austria attest to the growing interest and vibrancy in the area of women's studies in Austria and present a cross-section of new research in this field to an international audience. The volume includes with book reviews on Austrian business history, the Waldheim memoirs, Jews in postwar Austria, and political scandals in twentieth-century Austria. Women in Austria covers a plethora of significant social issues and will be essential to the work of women's studies scholars, sociologists, historians, and Austrian area specialists.

Franz Vranitzky, the banker turned politician, was chancellor during the ten years (1986-96) when the world dramatically changed in the aftermath of the cold war. Among postwar chancellors, only Bruno Kreisky held office longer. The Austrian Social Democratic Party has been in power since 1970. Such longevity is unique in postwar European politics. The dominance of Social Democracy in particular is noteworthy when compared to the general decline of traditional leftist politics in Europe. The chapters in this volume try to assess Vranitzky's central role in recent Austrian and European history.Richard Luther presents the general European political context in which Vranitzky operated. Eva Nowotny, Vranitzky's former principal foreign policy adviser and Austria's current ambassador to the United Kingdom, analyzes his struggle over joining the European Union as well as Austria's security dilemmas following the cold war. Fritz Plasser looks at the changing electoral behavior of Austrians and the ascendancy of new parties. Irene Etzerdorfer concentrates on the long hegemony of Austrian Social Democratic leadership by comparing Vranitzky's and Kreisky's leadership styles. Other contributors include Sonja Puntscher-Riekmann, Brigitte Unger, Peter Rosner, Alexander van der Bellen, and George Winkler.A forum on postwar Austrian memory of World War II from a comparative perspective, which continues the theme of previous volumes in this series, is also included. Jonathan Petropoulos demonstrates how Swiss middlemen were in the center of dealing with stolen Nazi art during and after the war, while Olive Rathkolb describes the shameful legacy of the Austrian government's procrastination in resolving the issue of Jewish "heirless art." Peter Utgaard shows how in Austria's postwar high school textbooks the American bombing of Hiroshima often figured more prominently than the Holocaust. Review essays and book reviews complete the volume. The Vranitzky Era in Austria is a compelling work for political scientists, historians, and Austria studies scholars.Gnter Bischof is associate director of Center Austria and associate professor of history at the University of New Orleans, and former visiting professor at the University of Salzburg. Anton Pelinka is director of the Austrian Institute of Conflict Research in Vienna, professor of political science at the University of Innsbruck, and former visiting professor at Stanford University.Ferdinand Karlhofer is associate professor of political science at the University of Innsbruck and former visiting professor at the University of New Orleans.

Perhaps no country benefitted more from the Marshall Plan for assistance in reconstruction of Europe after World War II than Austria. On a per capita basis, each American taxpayer invested $80 per person in the Plan; each Austrian received $133 from the European recovery program, more than any other of the sixteen participating countries. Without the Marshall Plan, the Austrian economic miracle of the 1950s would have been unthinkable. Despite this, contemporary Austria seems to have forgotten this essential American contribution to its postwar reconstruction. This volume in the Contemporary Austrian Studies series examines how the plan affected Austria, and how it is perceived today.The political context of the Marshall Plan in Austria is addressed in essays by Jill Lewis and Matthew Berg. Dieter Stiefer describes the vast Soviet economic exploitation of their Austrian occupation zone. Andrea Komlosy shows how the Marshall Plan helped complete the division of Europe. Siegfried Beer suggests the secret involvement of the CIA in the Marshall Plan, while Hans J³rgen Schr÷der analyzes the effectiveness of Marshall Plan propaganda programs in Germany and Austria.The macroeconomic impact of Marshall Plan funds on Austrian economic policy is outlined by Hans Seidel. Kurt Tweraser, Georg Rigele and G³nter Bischof suggest the microeconomic importance of funds for the steel, electricity and tourist sectors of the Austrian economy. Wilhelm Kohler's sweeping analysis compares the American transfer of funds to postwar Europe with current debates about the cost of European Union enlargement. The legacy of the Marshall Plan is addressed by former Austrian Finance Minister Ferdinand Lacina. Kurt Loffler and Hans Fubenegger summarize the activities of the Economic Recovery Program Fund. Coming on the heels of the fiftieth anniversary of the Marshall Plan, this compelling overview of the Plan and its impact will be important for historians, those interested in international politics, and Austrian scholars.G³nter Bischof is professor of history and associate director of Center-Austria at the University of New Orleans; Anton Pelinka is professor of political science at the University of Innsbruck and director of the Institute of Conflict Research in Vienna; Dieter Stiefel is professor of social and economic history at the University of Vienna and executive secretary of the Schumpeter Society in Vienna.This volume offers a collection of articles, mostly by contemporary Austrian-born historians, touching on various phases of the Marshall Plan administered through the European Recovery Program (ERP) and its successors counterfunds' assistance to the present. A splendid introduction followed by the key thirteen articles on the plan is augmented by several nontopical essays and book reviews, along with a survey of Austrian politics in 1998. A number of articles emanated from a 1998 conference at the University of New Orleans. Both novice and specialist will appreciate this book."-The Historian

Political, economic, social, and cultural modernization dramatically transformed twentieth-century Austria. Innovative new methods of production and management, such as the assembly line, changed Austrian business after World War I, much as the Marshall Plan shaped the economy after World War II. At the same time, jazz, Hollywood movies, television programming, and mass commodities were as popular in Austria as elsewhere in Western Europe. Even political campaigns followed American trends. All this occurred despite the fact that in West Germany, American nostrums and models had been rejected, modified, or "translated" into milder versions. Ultimately, Austria was "Western Europeanized" when it joined the European Union in 1995. How Western are the Austrians? This volume analyzes trends toward Americanization and Westernization in Austria throughout the twentieth century. Reinhold Wagnleitner's lead essay studies the foreign politics of American pop culture.Anna Schober and Monika Bernold analyze the influence of Hollywood movies and television on postwar Austrian society. Reinhard Sieder follows changing discourses on family life, while Ingrid Bauer looks at American influences on Austrian women. Maria-Regina Kecht, Kurt Drexel, and Christina Hainzl follow the American impact on Austrian literature, opera, and art. Banker Anton Fink examines American banking and finance practices. Andre Pfoertner and Matthias Fuchs study the Americanization of Austrian business and tourism. Helmut Lackner describes how well-heeled Austrian travelers to the United States brought back innovative American production methods and other ideas gleaned from world expositions before World War I. American influences on Austrian politics and political science are dissected by Gunter Bischof, Martin Kofler, Fritz Plasser, and Anton Pelinka. The Americanization of Vienna is the subject of journalist Armin Thurnher's essay. Comparisons with West Germany are presented by Michael Hochgeschwender. These essays prove that "Americanization," "Westernization," and "globalization" need to be carefully defined before generalizations can be made.

Austria does not often make political headlines. It has at least twice in recent years: in 1986, when the "Waldheim Affair" was debated worldwide, and in 1999, when the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) under Joerg Haider received 27 percent of the vote in national elections. Established by former Nazis for former Nazis, the FPOe entered the mainstream of Austrian politics when it became part of a coalition government. This volume explores whether its rise is a uniquely Austrian phenomenon or corresponds to broader social and political changes in Europe.Parallels to Haider's party can be found in other European countries. Its anti-immigration agenda and rhetoric are similar to those of the French FN, the Belgian Vlaams Bloc, and the Italian Lega Nord. And its anti-European Union posture is similar to the sentiments of the "anti-Maastrich" wing of the British conservative party. However, European reaction to the FPOe's rise derives not only from its policies, but its linkage to past suspicions that the Austrians have not learned the lessons of history as had the Germans. The FPOe's success strengthened that impression. In response, 14 European Union governments downgraded their bilateral relations with the Austrian government to a purely technical level. Although the sanctions were lifted in September 2000, the spotlight is still very much on Austria, and concern about the FPOe remains high.This important volume contains eleven chapters by internationally prominent scholars from a broad spectrum of the social sciences. Its cross-disciplinary approach provides perspective on the Haider phenomenon, its rhetoric, and its impact on daily life in Austria. It also analyzes the influence of right-wing populism on politics, culture, and society, and its implications in Austria as well as elsewhere in Europe. The Haider Phenomenon will be of interest to historians, political scientists, those in European studies, and scholars in contemporary political extremism.

Austria joined the European Union in 1995, with the overwhelming support of its citizenry. In June 1994, a record 66.6 percent of the Austrian population voted in favor of joining the Union, and Austria acceded on January 1, 1995. Only three years later, in the second half of 1998, Austria assumed its first presidency of the European Union. Its competent conduct of the Union's business enhanced its reputation. The sense that Austria was a role model collapsed overnight, after a new conservative People's Party (iVP/FPi) coalition government was formed in Austria in early February 2000. Austria became Europe's nightmare.This volume has two purposes. The first is to assess Austria's first five years in the European Union. The second is Austria's ongoing struggle with its past. Heinrich Neisser evaluates and assesses Austria's commitment to the European Union. Thomas Angerer offers a long-term perspective of regionalization and globalization trends in Austrian foreign affairs. Waldemar Hummer analyzes contradictions between Austrian neutrality and Europe's emerging common security policy. Johannes Pollak and Sonja Puntscher Rieckmann look at current debates over weighing future voting rights in the European Commission. Michael Huelshoff evaluates Austria's EU presidency in 1998 and compares it to the subsequent 1999 German presidency. Gerda Falkner examines the withering away of the previously much admired Austrian welfare state. Walter Manoschek scrutinizes the Nazi roots of Jorg Haider's Freedom Party. Michael Gehler critiques the EU sanctions and bemoans the absence of mediation through transnational Christian conservative parties.In reviewing how Austria deals with World War II, Richard Mitten investigates discourses on victimhood in postwar Austria and the place of Jews in this process. A "Roundtable" presents overwhelming evidence of Austrians' deep involvement in Nazi war crimes, and includes articles by Sabine Loitfellner and Winfried Garscha. This addition to the Contemporary Austrian Studies series will be welcomed by political scientists, historians and legal scholars, particularly those with a strong interest in European affairs.

The years of Chancellors Dollfuss and Schuschnigg's authoritarian governments (1933/34-1938) have been denounced as "Austrofascism" from the left, or defended as a Christian corporate state ("Stondestaat") from the right. During this period, Austria was in a desperate struggle to maintain its national independence vis-o-vis Hitler's Germany, a struggle that ultimately failed. In the end, the Nazis invaded and annexed Austria (Anschluss").Volume 11 of the Contemporary Austrian Studies series stays away from these heated historiographical debates and looks at economic, domestic, and international politics sine ira et studio. Timothy Kirk opens with an assessment of "Austrofascism" in light of recent discourse on interwar European fascism. Three scholars from the Economics University of Vienna analyze the macroeconomic climate of the 1930s: Hansjrg Klausinger the "Vienna School's" theoretical contributions to end the "Great Depression"; Gerhard Senft the economic policies of the Stondestaat; and Peter Berger the financial aid from the League of Nations. Jens Wessels delves into the microeconomic arena and presents case studies of leading Austrian businesses and their performance during the depression. Jim Miller looks at Dollfuss, the agrarian reformer. Alexander Lassner and Erwin Schmidl deal with the context of the international arena and Austria's desperate search for protection against Nazi Anschluss-pressure and military preparedness against foreign aggression.In a comparativist essay Megan Greene compares the policies of Austria's Haider and Italy's Berlusconi and recent EU responses to threats from the Right. The "FORUM" looks at various recent historical commissions in Austria dealing with Holocaust-era assets and their efforts to provide restitution to victims of Nazism. Two review essays, by Evan Burr Bukey and Hermann Freudenberger, survey recent scholarly literature on Austria(ns) during World War II. This addition to the Contemporary Austrian Studies series will be welcomed by political scientists, historians and scholars with a strong interest in European affairs.

This volume provides an overall assessment of ethnic diversity in Central Europe in historical context and presents a critical assessment of the conflict in former Yugoslavia. It advances a hypothesis on the origins of ethnic conflict, proposes an approach to the prevention and reduction of ethnic conflict in general and in Central Europe in particular, and forwards concrete policy recommendations for the region of East and Central Europe and beyond.

This volume provides an overall assessment of ethnic diversity in Central Europe in historical context and presents a critical assessment of the conflict in former Yugoslavia. It advances a hypothesis on the origins of ethnic conflict, proposes an approach to the prevention and reduction of ethnic conflict in general and in Central Europe in particular, and forwards concrete policy recommendations for the region of East and Central Europe and beyond.

In his pathbreaking book, Leadership, James MacGregor Burns defines a kind of leadership with an indistinguishable personal impact on society. He calls this "transformal" leadership, and sees it as more than routine and calculable responses to demands. In fact, he argues, the more stable a liberal democracy, the less freedom of action for transformal leadership. Anton Pelinka uses a wellspring of historical fact to argue that politics always means having to choose between the lesser of two evils and that democracy reduces any possibility of personal leadership.According to Pelinka, Jaruzelski's politics of democratization in Poland in the 1980s (which led to the first free and competitive elections in a communist system) illustrate personal leadership hampered by democracy. Jaruzelski initiated the roundtable process that transformed Poland into a democracy; yet, this process ultimately ended with his abdication. Pelinka further emphasizes contradictions between transformal leadership and democracy by comparing the leadership styles of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. He de-.scribes collaboration, resistance, and tensions between domestic and international leadership, using the American examples of Presidents Wilson, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon and the European examples of Petain and Churchill. Pelinka then turns to the tragic fate of the Judenrate under the Nazi regime to illustrate the "lesser-evil" approach. He closes with a discussion of "moral leadership" and how abstaining from office, just as Gandhi and King did, may be particularly suited to stable democracies.Pelinka's unique use of rich empirical evidence from twentieth-century history is this volume's hallmark. He is critical of mainstream political theory and its neglect of deviant examples of democracies - such as Switzerland, Italy, and Japan, where there is traditionally much less emphasis placed on leadership. Pelinka's noteworthy study will be essential reading for political scientists and theorists, political philosophers and political sociologists with special interest in political ethics, and contemporary historians.

What are attitudes and how are they modified? The many opposing theories to answer this question reflects not only the complexity but also the importance of the field. A central concern of social psychology, attitude change is also relevant to the study of human behavior in general, and a matter of major significance to the world outside the laboratory. Valid and useful theories of attitude change are thus of far-reaching consequence. At the same time, the richness and flexibility of attitude structures and the numerous methodological problems involved in studying them make the development of a definitive theory difficult, if not impossible. For these reasons many explanations have been offered but none have been greatly accepted.The essays included here give voice to a broad sampling of these competing viewpoints. For years attention has been directed mostly to the individual's need to maintain harmony within him, and several of the authors focus on this concept. Cognitive dissonance theory is evaluated in particular detail. Ideas derived from other areas of psychology and attitude change theories based on learning, perception, and cognitive motivation are also well represented in this volume.In his introduction, Suedfeld evaluates these major approaches as well as several less well-known alternatives. In weighing the strengths and weaknesses of each system he considers the limits of the applications of the various theories and the problems the theorists face. This book will be welcomed in a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, and by scholars and educated laymen seeking information on the current state of knowledge in this field.

Attraction and hostility find expression in almost every variety of human relationship, and have consequently provided a central theme for social psychology since its beginnings. Yet attempts to conceptualize the diverse phenomena embraced in these terms have produced theories of such wide generality that they have little explanatory or predictive force. The object of the present study is to bring precision to a vast and sprawling area by setting limits and dimensions to the phenomena and investigating them experimentally on the basis of a series of hypotheses derived from a critical analysis of current conceptual approaches, including frustration, need-satisfaction, and dissonance models.The programme of experimental studies focuses on cognitive validation-a motivation to form and maintain subjectively valid evaluations of the self and the social environment-which is shown to be a common denominator of a number of attraction and hostility measures. The results throw light on reactions to boastfulness and to self-debasement; impressions of persons who are described by biased informants; effects of self-evaluation on competitiveness, and the projection of unfavourable characteristics.The interest of the study for social psychologists derives both from its theoretical integration of a wide range of behaviour and from its contribution to experimental design.

Austria joined the European Union in 1995, with the overwhelming support of its citizenry. In June 1994, a record 66.6 percent of the Austrian population voted in favor of joining the Union, and Austria acceded on January 1, 1995. Only three years later, in the second half of 1998, Austria assumed its first presidency of the European Union. Its competent conduct of the Union's business enhanced its reputation. The sense that Austria was a role model collapsed overnight, after a new conservative People's Party (iVP/FPi) coalition government was formed in Austria in early February 2000. Austria became Europe's nightmare.This volume has two purposes. The first is to assess Austria's first five years in the European Union. The second is Austria's ongoing struggle with its past. Heinrich Neisser evaluates and assesses Austria's commitment to the European Union. Thomas Angerer offers a long-term perspective of regionalization and globalization trends in Austrian foreign affairs. Waldemar Hummer analyzes contradictions between Austrian neutrality and Europe's emerging common security policy. Johannes Pollak and Sonja Puntscher Rieckmann look at current debates over weighing future voting rights in the European Commission. Michael Huelshoff evaluates Austria's EU presidency in 1998 and compares it to the subsequent 1999 German presidency. Gerda Falkner examines the withering away of the previously much admired Austrian welfare state. Walter Manoschek scrutinizes the Nazi roots of Jorg Haider's Freedom Party. Michael Gehler critiques the EU sanctions and bemoans the absence of mediation through transnational Christian conservative parties.In reviewing how Austria deals with World War II, Richard Mitten investigates discourses on victimhood in postwar Austria and the place of Jews in this process. A "Roundtable" presents overwhelming evidence of Austrians' deep involvement in Nazi war crimes, and includes articles by Sabine Loitfellner and Winfried Garscha. This addition to the Contemporary Austrian Studies series will be welcomed by political scientists, historians and legal scholars, particularly those with a strong interest in European affairs.

In 2005, Austria celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of its liberation from the Nazi regime and the fiftieth anniversary of the State Treaty that ended the occupation and returned full sovereignty to the country. This volume of Contemporary Austrian Studies covers foreign policy in the twentieth century. It offers an up-to-date status report of Austria's foreign policy trajectories and diplomatic options.Eva Nowotny, the current Austrian ambassador to the United States, introduces the volume with an analysis of the art and practice of Austrian diplomacy in historical perspective. Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch analyzes recent Balkans diplomacy as an EU emissary in the Bosnian and Kosovo crises. Historians Günther Kronenbitter, Alexander Lassner, Günter Bischof, Joanna Granville, and Martin Kofler provide historical case studies of pre-and post-World War I and World War II Austrian diplomacy, Austria's dealings with the Hungarian crisis of 1956, and its mediation between Kennedy and Khrushchev in the early 1960s. Political scientists Romain Kirt, Stefan Mayer, and Gunther Hauser analyze small states' foreign policymaking in a globalizing world, Austrian federal states' separate regional policy initiatives abroad and Austria's role vis-à-vis current European security initiatives. Michael Gehler periodizes post-World War II Austrian foreign policy regimes and provides a valuable summary of both the available archival and printed diplomatic source collections. A "Historiography Roundtable" is dedicated to the Austrian Occupation decade. Günter Bischof reports on the state of occupation historiography; Oliver Rathkolb on the historical memory of the occupation; Michael Gehler on the context of the German question; and Wolfgang Mueller and Norman Naimark on Stalin's Cold War and Soviet policies towards Austria during those years. Review essays and book reviews on art theft, anti-Semitism, the Hungarian crisis of 1956, among other topics, complete the volume.

After Stalin's death, during a respite in Cold War tensions in 1955, Austria managed to rid itself of a quadripartite occupation regime and become a neutral state. As the Cold War continued, Austria's policy of neutrality helped make this small country into an important mediator of East-West differences, and neutrality became a crucial part of Austria's postwar identity. In the post-Cold War era Austrian neutrality seems to demand redefinition. The work addresses such issues as what neutrality means when Austria's neighbors are joining NATO? What is the difference between Austrian neutrality in 1955 and 2000? In remaining apart from NATO, do Austrian elites risk their nation's national security? Is Austria a "free rider," too stingy to contribute to Western defense? Has the neutralist mentalit become such a crucial part of Austrian postwar identity that its abandonment will threaten civil society? These questions are addressed in this latest in the prestigious Contemporary Austrian Studies series.The volume emerged from the Wittgenstein Research Center project on "Discourse, Politics, and Identity," an interdisciplinary investigation of the meaning of Austrian neutrality. The first two chapters analyze the current meaning of Austrian neutrality. Karin Liebhart records narrative interviews with former presidents Rudolf Kirchschlger and Kurt Waldheim, both central political actors present at the creation and implementation of Austria's postwar neutrality. Gertraud Benke and Ruth Wodak provide in-depth analysis of a debate on Austrian National Television on "NATO and Neutrality," a microcosm of Austrian popular opinion that exposed all positions and ideological preferences on neutrality. The historian Oliver Rathkolb surveys international perceptions of Austrian neutrality over the past half-century. For comparative contrast David Irwin and John Wilson apply Foucault's theoretical framework to the history and debates on neutrality in Ireland. Political scientists Heinz Grtner and Paul Luif provide examples of how Austrian neutrality has been handled in the past and today. Michael Gehler analyzes Austria's response to the Hungarian crisis of 1956 and Klaus Eisterer reviews the Austrian legation's handling of the 1968 Czechoslovak crisis. Gnter Bischof is professor of history and executive director of Center Austria at the University of New Orleans. Anton Pelinka is professor of political science at the University of Innsbruck and director of the Institute of Conflict Research in Vienna. Ruth Wodak is professor in the linguistics department at the University of Vienna and director of the research center "Discourse, Politics, Identity" at the Austrian Academy of Science.

Scholars have increasingly been investigating human sexu- ality as an important field of social history in particular national cultures. This volume examines both continuities and changing patterns of sexual behavior in Austria. Sexuality in Austria reflects the broad variety of such recent research. Maria Mesner surveys the growing number of sex counseling organizations in interwar Vienna, some driven by eugenics, others by social concerns. Ties with Margaret Sanger's birth control movement in the U.S. are also documented. Ingrid Bauer and Renate Huber are the first scholars to treat the "foreign encounters" between Austrian women and occupation soldiers during the postwar quadripartite Austrian occupation regime in a comparative framework. Franz Eder traces the growing presence of sexual issues in post-World War II popular media and suggests parallels with the German case. Marcel Scheffknecht shows how Austria was not spared the changes in sexual mores during the "sexual revolution" of the 1960s and 1970s. Matti Bunzl analyses the legal penalties for homosexuality in postwar Austria and the liberation of the gay movement as a result of EU pressures after Austria joined the European Union in 1995. Peter Judson analyzes the major influence of the Catholic Church on Austrian sexuality through the lens of a recent gay and sex abuse scandals in the church hierarchy. In "romancing the foreigner" Julia Woesthoff analyzes the growing presence of foreign workers (gastarbeiter) in postwar Austria and their sexual contacts with natives. In a "non-topical essay" Katharina Wegan views the Austrian historical memory of the Austrian State Treaty through the fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 2005. Review essays and book reviews and the annual review of Austrian politics complete this volume. Sexuality in Austria will be of interest to cultural studies specialists, historians, psychologists, and sociologists.

Political, economic, social, and cultural modernization dramatically transformed twentieth-century Austria. Innovative new methods of production and management, such as the assembly line, changed Austrian business after World War I, much as the Marshall Plan shaped the economy after World War II. At the same time, jazz, Hollywood movies, television programming, and mass commodities were as popular in Austria as elsewhere in Western Europe. Even political campaigns followed American trends. All this occurred despite the fact that in West Germany, American nostrums and models had been rejected, modified, or "translated" into milder versions. Ultimately, Austria was "Western Europeanized" when it joined the European Union in 1995. How Western are the Austrians? This volume analyzes trends toward Americanization and Westernization in Austria throughout the twentieth century. Reinhold Wagnleitner's lead essay studies the foreign politics of American pop culture.Anna Schober and Monika Bernold analyze the influence of Hollywood movies and television on postwar Austrian society. Reinhard Sieder follows changing discourses on family life, while Ingrid Bauer looks at American influences on Austrian women. Maria-Regina Kecht, Kurt Drexel, and Christina Hainzl follow the American impact on Austrian literature, opera, and art. Banker Anton Fink examines American banking and finance practices. Andre Pfoertner and Matthias Fuchs study the Americanization of Austrian business and tourism. Helmut Lackner describes how well-heeled Austrian travelers to the United States brought back innovative American production methods and other ideas gleaned from world expositions before World War I. American influences on Austrian politics and political science are dissected by Gunter Bischof, Martin Kofler, Fritz Plasser, and Anton Pelinka. The Americanization of Vienna is the subject of journalist Armin Thurnher's essay. Comparisons with West Germany are presented by Michael Hochgeschwender. These essays prove that "Americanization," "Westernization," and "globalization" need to be carefully defined before generalizations can be made.