Yilmaz Esmer

The 2010 Eurobarometer on the life sciences

Since 1991, the triennial Eurobarometer survey has assessed public attitudes about biotech and the life sciences in Europe. The latest 2010 Eurobarometer survey on the Life Sciences and Biotechnology (http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/europeans-biotechnology-in-2010_en.pdf), based on representative samples from 32 European countries, hints at a new era in the relations between science and society. We see less criticism of technology based on distrust in government and industry; more enthusiasm for novel technologies; and a more sophisticated appraisal of what technologies offer in terms of benefits, safety and sustainability. Europeans want regulation in the public interest and want a voice in such regulation when social values are at stake; we highlight an emerging European landscape of social value differences that shape peoples views of technologies.

Europeans and Biotechnology in 2010: Winds of change?

George Gaskell and colleagues designed, analysed and interpreted the Eurobarometer 73.1 on the Life Sciences and Biotechnology as part of the research project Sensitive Technologies and European Public Ethics (STEPE), funded by the Science in Society Programme of the EC’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7).

Measuring and Mapping Cultures

Based on the data from the European and World Values Studies, this volume discuss basic theoretical and methodological issues of value research and focus on some the most basic processes of value change: cultural globalization, individualization, secularization and democratization.

Globalization, "Mcdonaldization" And Values: Quo Vadis?

It is frequently asserted that the ongoing process that is commonly referred to as globalization should bring about wide-spread changes in values. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that the unparalleled increases in the flow of capital, goods, services and information coupled with the revolutionary developments in information and communication technologies should result in a convergence of values.This paper is attempt to assess the direction and the magnitude of value change between 1981, when the first WVS/EVS surveys were conducted, and 2001, the last year for which data are available. Data from some 20 countries are analyzed to follow possible changes in values. Furthermore, the paper offers a test of the convergence hypothesis by examining the standard deviations and the coefficients of variation of a wide-ranging list of values.The conclusion is that cultural value change has been rather limited during this period at least for this sample of countries. Among the dimensions studied, marriage, family and gender relations seem to be the area of most significant change. On the other hand, we have found almost no evidence for even a slow convergence of values.

Democracy, Civil Society, and Islam

Particularly after the so-called Arab Spring, the relevance of the “Turkish model” for other Islamic societies has been the subject of intense debate. Put more directly, the question is whether or not democracy can flourish and be sustained in societies where Islam is the dominant faith. This chapter examines the issue making use of the most recent European Values Study data. Macro-level multivariate analyses demonstrate that, even after controlling for social and economic development, Muslim-majority societies score poorly on various comparative measures of democracy. It is proposed that one possible explanation for this is the absence of a vibrant civil society, a widely accepted prerequisite for democracy, in Islamic societies. It is shown that, by and large, the negative “Islam effect” on civil society cannot be refuted.

Identity Politics: Extreme Polarization and the Loss of Capacity to Compromise in Turkey

A few months before drafting this chapter, the author took part in a television news programme with two other discussants. The discussion was to centre around the findings of a recently concluded survey on religion and religiosity.

Diversity and Tolerance: Rhetoric versus Reality

This engaging book addresses the question of how diverse communities, whether in a nation, city or organization, can live together and prosper whilst retaining and enjoying their cultural differences. This is a particularly pertinent issue in the context of the modern world where mass migration and immigration are pervasive global phenomena.