Law

The series of publications entitled “Ethik in den Sozialwissenschaften” (Ethics in Social Science) provides a forum for academic contributions to the debate on the current moral problems affecting social structures and systems. From an ethical point of view, this series focuses on addressing the question of what ef-fects social institutions and regimes have on human dignity and the welfare of communities. It discusses moral dilemmas so as to highlight general acceptable solutions to them. It takes up the challenge of using normative theories to ana-lyse sociological problems in order to develop ethical criteria for developing operable solutions to them. As a result, the series welcomes contributions from the entire range of subjects related to social science and ethics. Its goal is to constructively criticise structural contexts to which no satisfactory solutions have been found so far.

This publication series is dedicated to advancing the research on terrorism and extremism, to fleshing out possible countermeasures, and to discussing policy responses on national and international levels. By combining the different perspectives and methodologies of scientific fields like political science, psychology, religious and cultural studies or sociology, the series analyses the issue of terrorism and extremism in all its complexity. Each publication adheres to high scientific standards and presents new results in its respective academic field. At the same time, they offer relevant insights into various aspects of terrorism and extremism, and are therefore directed not only at a professional audience but equally at readers who share an interest in these important topics.

Volumes 1–48 published with VS-Verlag, volumes 49–80 published with VISTAS Verlag. The Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia ensures the protection of four key elements of society: human dignity, young people, media users and diversity in the private media in North Rhine-Westphalia. It fulfils this duty by regulating and overseeing existing media content on the one hand, while instructing people how they can use the media fairly and autonomously and by promoting journalism in the region on the other. The findings of research projects conducted on behalf of the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia appear in this series of publications.

Anyone who talks about animals makes human beings their subject. Turning to animals as an object of research in various contexts certainly does not only facilitate a better understanding of animals, but also of humans and society. In animals, researchers discover themselves and their world. This ‘animal turn’ now encompasses many academic disciplines and often begins or ends with ethical questions. This series of books deals with different developmental paths in animal ethics, which should not be understood as an isolated field of ethics, but rather as a specific perspective in an interdisciplinary discourse on moral questions of human–animal relations. The series is open to all disciplines in the humanities and natural sciences. It is bilingual (German/English) and is supervised by its editors in conjunction with an academic advisory board. A peer review process is carried out on all submissions to ensure their quality.

The series ”Religion – Wirtschaft – Politik“ (Religion–Economy–Politics) provides a platform for academic publications by the Centre for Religion, Economy and Politics (www.zrwp.ch ), a joint venture by the Universities of Basel, Fribourg, Lausanne, Lucerne, Zurich, and the Collegium Helveticum. The ZRWP aims to analyse the interactions between religion, economy, and politics in an inter- and transdisciplinary way by encouraging innovative research on religion. By publishing monographs and edited volumes focused on content and methods, the series contributes to a better understanding and explanation of religion in society at a local, regional, national, and transnational level in a globalizing world.

Many smaller polities are well known both for their special achievements as well as for particular problems of democratic governance. The political and scientific relevance of these experiences reaches well beyond the borders of the countries immediately concerned. For this reason, the study of smaller countries has long become a constituent part of international democracy and governance research. This series creates a forum specifically dedicated to the analysis of politics and democratic governance in the smaller European countries including their international aspects. The series encompasses case studies as well as comparative contributions whose focus is not necessarily strictly confined to the family of smaller democracies in Europe. The international team of accomplished editors ensures that volumes published in this series will meet the highest standards of international research.