Cover -- Preface -- Table of Contents -- Abstracts -- I. (RE)DEFINING THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO ANALYSIS OF PARTICIPATION -- Paths of Citizen Participation and Responsibility -In Shaping Individual and Community Involvement with Matters of Social Policy and Praxis Searching for a "Planetarium Commons" - Azril Bacal -- The Rise and Decline of Citizenship in Europe - Francesco Garibaldo -- Knowledge Management as a Strategic Enabler for Improved Social and Economic Cohesion through a Sustainable Learning Society - Stamatina Hadjidema and Victoria Pekka-Economou -- Trends and Particularities of the Socio-Political Pluralism in Greece and Germany. The Effect of Culture and Mentality as Factors of Different Thinking and Action in the Practice of the Socio-Political Pluralistic Model - Stefanos Koffas -- Henri Lefebvre's Legacy of the Microand Macro-Problems in Social Analysis. Foundations of and Challenges for Self-Management and Participation in the Everyday Life - Heinz Sünker -- Towards a Global Civil Society? György Széll -- Participatory or Authoritarian Democracy: Alternatives of Society's Organizationin the Crisis of Capitalism -Michael Vester -- II. PARTICIPATION IN DIVERSE CONTEXTS AND LOCALES -- "Activation as a Challenge for Fragmented Welfare States: The Balance between Law and Policies in the European Welfare Regime" - Gabriel Amitsis -- Decentralised Planning and Poverty Reduction (The Case of Kerala) - P. P. Balan -- Creating New Spaces for Marginalised Groupsto Engage in Policy Making in South Africa - Imraan Buccus -- Politicisation of Self-Help in Norway - Marte Feiring -- Vocabularies of Community Involvement in Urban Romania - Adrian Hatos -- Political Efficacy - Understanding Low Levels of Political Participation in Post-Soviet Countries - Inta Mierina.

Closing the Gap: Creating Effective Public Participation in Northern Ireland - Ruth McAlister -- Institutional Participation and Responsibility towards Education Sri Sharadamatha Balavedika -A Part of Ramakrishna Math - A Case Study - Padmini Rangarajan -- Economic, Social and Political Scenarios of Mexico in the Next Two Decades - José G. Vargas-Hernández and Mohammad Reza Noruzi -- III.MULTIPLE FORMS, TYPES ANDFACETS OF PARTICIPATION -- Trade Unions and Social Networks - Mirella Baglioni -- The Voice of the Community: Social-Public Economic Inequalities and User Involvement in Public Services - John Curtice and Stratos Patrikios -- New Employee Participation Approaches and its Socioeconomic Influences in the New Economic Era: The Case of Team Work as a Corporate Social Initiative - Aikaterina Economou -- Sustainable Development through Community Participation: The Role of Self-Help Groups in India - Debi S. Saini -- The Political Participation of Rural Population in Central Poland - Pawel˙ Starosta -- Promoting User Participation through the Third Sector- A Controversial Aspect of Greek Psychiatric Reform - Olga Stassinopoulou -- Networking for Local Social Policy Development: The Municipal or District Social Policy Council - Christina Vayas -- IV. CONCEPTUALIZING PARTICIPATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF DIVERSE ACTORS: AGE AND GENDER DIMENSIONS -- Aspects of Poverty and Social Exclusion in Childhood - Theoretical Analysis and Experiences from Athens Area - Dimosthenis Daskalakis -- The Commercialised Child. The Case of TV Advertising Aimed at Childrenand the EU's Regulatory Protective Measures Offered by the "Audiovisual Media Services Directive" - Cornelia Delouka-Inglessi -- Social and Cultural Value Orientations of Russian Youth: The Theoretical and Empirical Researches - Vera Anatol'evna Gnevasheva.

Women's Participation in Development: The Role of I/NGOs in Nepal - Biijan Pant -- Social Participation of Older Rural Women in Canada: Insights from a Critical Feminist Perspective - Julia Rozanova -- Collaboration in Children's Social Services: Towards the Generationof a Different Organisational Approach - Stefanos Spaneas -- Organizational Framework of the Public Care System in Greece - Does it Promote Child Protection? Georgios Tsobanoglou and Ioanna Giannopoulou -- About the Authors.