Integrity

The Rise of a Distinctive Western Idea and Its Destiny
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-5095-5986-2
Verlag: John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 224 Seiten, Format (B × H): 142 mm x 219 mm, Gewicht: 404 g

Public life is dominated from time to time by media storms around integrity. The behaviour of elected political leaders has led many to decry the deterioration in standards and the lack of integrity in public life. But what is integrity, and where does our concern with integrity in public life come from?

 In this book, Martin Albrow argues that integrity has been an essential component of the rise of the West and a key feature that distinguishes the West from other civilizations. He traces the idea of integrity back to its roots in ancient Greece and Rome, where integrity acquired its special meaning: the unique feature of any object with integrity was that it combined its wholeness or completeness with the embodiment of standards that came from outside it. Integrity was unity through values. He then follows the story of integrity through early Christianity and the Renaissance to the present day. Today, we find ourselves in the paradoxical situation where the lack of integrity in public life is widely condemned while, at the same time, politicians can remain popular without even pretending to act with integrity: this is the new politics of the integrity vacuum.

The idea of integrity may be a distinctively western one but, like many other aspects of western culture, it has now become a property of worldwide society. Albrow concludes by arguing that integrity could add more value today by being combined with non-western wisdom as we strive to create an order where honesty, trust and reliability in our relationships with others are paramount.

This highly original account of an idea that lies at the heart of western culture will be of interest to anyone concerned about the state and future of our public life.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Albrow, Martin

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Politische Soziologie und Psychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Politische Soziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Gesellschaftstheorie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Verwaltungswissenschaft, Öffentliche Verwaltung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Chapter One: An Ancient Legacy for the West     
Chapter Two: Integrity becomes Modern  
Chapter Three: The American Experience        
Chapter Four: The Elusiveness of Personal Integrity    
Chapter Five: Creative Integrity                
Chapter Six: Being Human
Chapter Seven: Media Storms in the New Century                                   
Chapter Eight: The Integrity Crisis of our Time
   
Conclusion: Integrity for the Human Future

Über Autor(innen)

Martin Albrow has held numerous professorships and fellowships in the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States and China. Among his many books is The Global Age.