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Processes of anomie are affecting more and more societies. Anomie has become endemic, individual, and social. No society and no community appears to be immune to this process. We are at present witnessing the world‐wide degeneration of social bonds and social structures. We are witnessing a re‐barbarization of political conditions. Ex‐Yugoslavia is a nearby example. At the same time we are witnessing anomic conflagrations in Africa. Insidious anomic processes are also evident in the territories of the former Soviet Union. You may judge for yourself the extent to which the virus of anomie has also infected the social body in the core countries of the West.

In fall 1994 a group of social scientists from different parts in the world met in Switzerland. The Swiss Academy for Development (SAD) organized a symposium to discuss problems of contemporary developmental policy and research. The meeting focussed on the upcoming World Summit of Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995 and so the participants intended to present themes of international interest that would be introduced to a greater audience. The important contributions and propositions of this symposium are found in this publication.