[eccr] Global studies Encyclopedia

Global studies Encyclopedia
Edited by I.I.Mazour, A.N.Chumakov, W.C.Gay;
TsNPP Dialog.  Moscow, Raduga Publishers, 2003.  592 p.


Global Studies Encyclopedia is a groundbreaking project, unique in many 
ways. Actualizing the ancient notion of paideia, this is the first 
interdisciplinary encyclopedia accumulating the contemporary achievements 
in the field of global studies. It has been prepared by 445 scholars from 
28 countries, who wrote all the entries especially for these volumes. The 
success of this global scale international venture was determined by 
establishing a broad network of scholars, politicians and other 
practitioners; their ideas and approaches related to global challenges on 
the base of new communication technologies. Among the authors are respected 
political, business, and public leaders.

The project participants represent various academic fields from philosophy, 
economics, and political sciences to engineering, management and computing. 
They work in the most well know research centers and universities of 
Russia, the USA, Germany, China, India, Great Britain, Canada, Japan, 
Israel, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, Ireland, Switzerland, Iran, Australia, 
Hungary, Yugoslavia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Ukraine, 
Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan.

The Encyclopedia was formed by the Russian Philosophical Society, the 
Russian Ecological Academy, the Paideia Project at Boston University, and 
the International organization Concerned Philosophers for Peace. The 
Encyclopedia presented at the 21st World Philosophy Congress in Istanbul 
(August 2003, 10-17) dedicated to Philosophy Facing World Problems. The 
articles reflect all aspects of global studies, including, but not limited 
to: global threats, international terrorism, ecology and biosphere, 
climate, space, demography, health, technology, history, culture, 
education, society, religion, international organizations and social 
movements, international law, world politics, human rights, globalization, 
sustainable development, and philosophy. This fundamental resource is 
useful for libraries, teachers, businessmen, students, and those seeking 
knowledge of modern humanity.

These volumes were published by the leading Russian house Raduga in 
Russian and English in July 2003.
These volumes were awarded Book of the Year 2003 prize of the annual 
competition for Russian publishes in the nomination Encyclopedia.

The Encyclopedia is available at the Web site: www.globalistika.ru

All questions concerning the Encyclopedia should be directed to Professor 
Alexander N. Chumakov ((chumakov /at/ iph.ras.ru)).

The editors of the Encyclopedia:

Professor I.I.Mazour (Russia)
Professor A.N.Chumakov (Russia)
Professor W.Gay (the USA)

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Global studies Encyclopedia
Edited by I.I.Mazour, A.N.Chumakov, W.C.Gay;
TsNPP Dialog.  Moscow, Raduga Publishers, 2003.  592 p.

This volume is the first encyclopedia in the world dedicated to the 
problems of globalization and to the basic trends of global development. It 
has been prepared by a large international group of authors (278 people) in 
both English and Russian editions and contains about 430 entries reflecting 
the most significant achievements in the field of global studies 
accumulated within the last 30 years in Russia and abroad.
This publication appears in a period of worldwide attention to the process 
of globalization, the consequences of which are universally significant and 
potentially dangerous. Since the 1960s the world scholarly community has 
been involved in studying these consequences. As a result, a new broad 
interdisciplinary field of studies emerged  global studies  embracing 
achievements of many disciplines exploring globalization and those global 
problems, crises, and contradictions that it engenders. The scholarly 
literature on this topic is vast; heated discussions headlined in scholarly 
periodicals and mass media are held. At the same time, neither in Russia 
nor abroad can one find encyclopedic and analytical books covering the 
basic theories, concepts, and trends in global studies, containing the 
newest facts about the changes occurring, the organizations and persons 
involved, etc. This publication is designed to bridge this gap.
Another reason for publishing this distinctive encyclopedia is the fact 
that although extensive research in global studies is being conducted in 
many countries of the world, this work is, in fact, not coordinated 
globally. The academic ties among scholars working on the same tasks in 
various corners of the planet are far from being satisfactory. To change 
this situation, 278 scholars from 28 countries (Russia, the United States, 
Canada, China, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Israel, Turkey, 
Mexico, Ireland, Iran, Finland, Switzerland, Greece, Australia, Hungary, 
the Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, the Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, 
Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Estonia) were invited to take part in the 
preparation of this volume. They represent social, natural, and exact 
sciences and approach the problems of globalization from the perspectives 
of ecology, economics, political science, culture studies, law, and other 
disciplines. There are also politicians, social activists, and governmental 
officials among the contributors. The full list of authors may be found at 
the end of the volume.
Effective coordination of the work of this large international team, 
including selection of terms and entries and simultaneous editing of the 
Russian and English volumes within a short period of time (less than two 
years), was possible due to the use of the newest technologies of 
interdisciplinary cooperation of scholars and other specialists. These 
technologies include virtual communication, e-mail, the Internet, and 
participation by the authors in academic communities and organizations that 
contributed to spreading the initial information about this project.
All entries are signed and selected on the basis of competition specially 
for this publication. Preference was given to articles reflecting the new 
directions and methods of research, dealing with the new fields of 
knowledge, and formulating unresolved problems along with evaluating their 
significance and demonstrating the prospects for their theoretical and 
practical solution. Most of the entries reveal the origins of a term; some 
are accompanied by a reference list composed of the most valuable and 
up-to-date publications on the problem in question. Unfortunately, it was 
impossible to publish all the references suggested by authors.
Since articles were selected on a competitive basis, some important entries 
may be composed of articles by two authors and more. This allows scholars 
across countries and disciplines to approach one topic from various 
viewpoints providing a stereoscopic and polyphonic vision of the most 
complex issues. Some contributions include statistic data, tables, graphs, 
and pictures submitted by authors or taken from the other respected sources.
The high scholarly quality of this publication was achieved thanks to the 
efforts of the Editorial Board uniting influential and well-known Russian 
and foreign scholars, many of them being full and corresponding members of 
the Russian Academy of Sciences and other academies, as well as prominent 
politicians and leaders of some of the largest Russian and international 
organizations, academic communities, and governmental bodies. All of them 
contributed full-length articles written specially for this volume.
The entries are situated in alphabetical order. They fully reflect twenty 
basic directions in contemporary global studies formulated clearly in the 
process of making this Encyclopedia. The vocabulary structure of the volume 
is unprecedented in Russian and foreign literature. It is a result of 
intense creative work not only by the editors, but also by the whole 
interdisciplinary international team of authors whose members contributed 
on the topics of their specialization. To assist readers in finding a 
needed term, the terms are classified in accordance with the basic research 
fields in global studies.
The Encyclopedia has been composed and published by TsNPP Dialog with 
scholarly and methodological support from the Russian Philosophical society 
and the Russian Ecological Academy and with the participation of an 
international non-governmental organization Concerned Philosophers for 
Peace and the Paideia Project of Boston University (U.S.A.). This also 
made this publication not only a reliable reference book but a guide for 
future explorations of the basic development trends in the contemporary world.
We think that the Encyclopedia will find its devoted readers in Russia and 
abroad and that its dissemination in many countries of the world will 
contribute to promoting academic cooperation, political dialogue, and 
mutual understanding among nations having different values, traditions, and 
beliefs. It is intended for both academics and the general reader; it may 
be useful for people of various ages and occupations.
We express our gratitude to the members of the Editorial Board, to the 
editors and authors of the Encyclopedia, as well as to the translators and 
operating stuff  to all who contributed their knowledge, experience, and 
skills into the preparation of this volume.

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