Thomas Lundén - Böcker

Dealing with different regions and cases, the contributions in this volume address and critically explore the theme of borders, educations, and religions in northern Europe. As shown in different ways, and contrary to popular ideas, there seems to be little reason to believe that religious and civic identity formation through public education is becoming less parochial and more culturally open. Even where state borders are porous, where commerce, culture, and trade as well as associative, personal, and social life display stronger liminal traits, normative education remains surprisingly national. This situation is remarkable and goes against the grain of current notions of both accelerating globalisation and a European regional renaissance. The book also takes issue with the foundational tenet that liberal democracies are by definition uninvolved in matters concerning faith and belief. Instead, an implied conclusion is that secular liberal democracy is less than secular and liberal - at least in education, which is a major arena for political-cultural-ethical socialisation, as it aims to confer worldviews and frameworks of identity on young people who will eventually become full citizens and bearers/sharers of prevailing normative communities.

Rudolf Kjellén, regularly referred to as “the father of geopolitics,” developed in the first decade of the twentieth century an analytical model for calculating the capabilities of great-power states and promoting their interests in the international arena. It was an ambitious intellectual project that sought to bring politics into the sphere of social science. Bringing together experts on Kjellén from across the disciplines, Territory, State and Nation explores the century-long international impact, analytical model, and historical theories of a figure immensely influential in his time who is curiously little-known today.

This anthology collects papers and presentations given at the symposium "Sweden - Serbia and Europe. Periphery or not?" It took place in Stockholm in November 2012 as part of a co-operation between the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The theme "Periphery or not?" refers to the spatial, cultural and political situation of the two countries in relation to what is often referred to as Central Europe, or with a slightly different definition and connotation, the Core Area of Europe. In many ways Serbia and Sweden represent very different cases of history, ethnic composition and neighbourly relations. But the two countries share certain problems of relating to the dominant centers of culture, economy and scholarship without losing their identity. A title used by one participant, "Sweden - the Reluctant European", might well be used also for Serbia. The symposium s theme was addressed from a number of different disciplines within the humanities and social sciences. Edited by Thomas Lundén. The volume is a collection of 11 papers and presentations by participants in the symposium.

This book is about life and communication in borderlands, particularly in Northern and Eastern Europe. What does a boundary mean to those living near it? Does it protect them against the alien and unkown, or is it a barrier to contacts? How do the different legal codes on the two sides of the boundary affect the local cultures? How has life in Europe's borderlands changed in the last 10-15 years, when Western Europe has undergone integration while fragmentation has characterised Eastern Europe? How will the inclusion of some of the small new states into European Union influence people on the borders?