Arnaud Sales holds a Doctorat d'État ès Lettres et Sciences Humaines, from Université de Paris 7-Denis Diderot. He is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Montreal, Canada. He is a specialist in economic sociology focusing on the interface of the economic and political fields. His research interests center on the relations between the public and private spheres, and the emergence of international private authorities; economic and administrative elites, and knowledge workers; the role of knowledge in social transformations. His publications include: La Bourgeoisie industrielle au Québec (PUM, 1979); Décideurs et gestionnaires (Éditeur officiel du Québec, 1985); He has edited or co-edited the following volumes: Développement national et économie mondialisée (Sociologie et Sociétés, 1979); La recomposition du politique (PUM/L’Harmattan, 1991); Québec, fin de siècle (Sociologie et Sociétés,1994); The International Handbook of Sociology (Sage, 2000); New Directions in the Study of Knowledge, Economy and Society (SSIS, Current Sociology, Sage, 2001) ; Knowledge, Communication and Creativity, (Sage, 2007). He was Vice-Dean of the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Graduate Studies (1987-1992) and has chaired the Department of Sociology (2000-2007). He is a former Vice-President, International, of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (1995-1998) where he founded the Knowledge, Economy and Society Network with R. Hollingsworth. After chairing the ISA Research Committee 02 on Economy and Society, he was elected Vice-President for Research (1998-2002) of the International Sociological Association and chaired ISA Research Council. In 2006, he was named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques of France.
We are living in a turbulent world marked by fast, continuous social changes that affect the lives of individuals, families, communities, organizations, businesses, nation-states, and international networks. This fundamentally commits contemporary sociology to being a science of change. This collection effectively mirrors this diversity and variety of transformations underway in today's societies and transnational spaces. Written by a group of internationally renowned sociologists, it offers a cutting edge understanding of what is happening in our life worlds, work lives and frames of social existence. Bringing up issues such as political turbulence, cultural and artistic dynamics, family changes, gender roles, migration flows and social movements, it is a timely contribution that discusses transformation and globalization and their consequences on diverse platforms. Illuminating and comprehensive, this book will be of immense use for sociology students on all levels, as well as lecturers, researchers and others who are interested in social life and the consequences of human action.