This chapter explores the phenomenon of tipping points in both historical and contemporary societal change. It opens with compelling examples—from the abolition of slavery and Chinese foot binding to the collapse of the Pueblo civilizations—to illustrate how longstanding social norms and systems can abruptly vanish. The central idea is that these shifts often follow a gradual loss of resilience, making systems increasingly vulnerable to small disturbances. Once a critical threshold is crossed, change becomes self-reinforcing, propelling rapid transformations. This behavior, captured in mathematical terms as critical transitions, applies to diverse domains: climate systems, financial markets, individual mental health, and societies. The author introduces the concept of early-warning signals such as increased variability and slower recovery rates—known as critical slowing down—which precede tipping points. These insights are supported by archaeological evidence from the Pueblo people, whose repeated societal collapses were foreshadowed by such indicators.

The flight and expulsion of German refugees and expellees from Eastern and Central Europe in 1944-1945 was a direct consequence of National Socialist policies. Even before the end of the Second World War, German refugees and expellees began to flood into Central Europe from the eastern territories of the Reich. The privileges enjoyed by the Ethnic German minorities located in Eastern and Central Europe were generally eroded during the nineteenth century and their relations with other ethnic groups became increasingly strained. The rulers of Bohemia and Moravia encouraged the settlement of economically valuable German colonists such as farmers and coal miners from the beginning of the thirteenth century. In accordance with the Paris Peace Settlement, the League of Nations was responsible for protecting the rights of these minority groups, who were to be granted a degree of cultural autonomy and the same rights as the indigenous inhabitants.

Chapter 5 analyzes contemporary societal transformations through the lens of emerging technologies, political trends, and cultural shifts. It emphasizes how social media and artificial intelligence (AI), especially large language models, are reshaping communication, public perception, and decision-making processes. Social media amplify discontent, promote self-organization, and facilitate both progressive movements and misinformation. A concerning trend is the apparent societal shift from rational, collective discourse toward more intuitive, individualistic, and emotionally driven communication. This is evidenced by linguistic analyses of books, search trends, and journalistic styles. The chapter also explores the effects of neoliberal economic policies, which have fueled inequality and stress, potentially impacting cognitive function and social cohesion. Concurrently, a rise in populism and democratic backsliding is observed, driven by perceived grievances, xenophobia, and manipulation of public opinion. Together, these interconnected developments suggest humanity is at a critical juncture.

This chapter considers Scottish associational culture in the Catholic context. It investigates the relationship between Catholicism and civil society and looks at how the church mediated social and religious culture through the creation of an extended devotional and associational culture. The chapter examines how Catholic associational culture in urban Scotland created closer links with the nation and with the ambitions of the British state by looking at the kinds of organisations being established. There was a marked increase in the number and variety of societies and associations after 1870 that enhanced people's spiritual commitment to the church and promoted community consolidation. The roots of the devotional initiatives had been sown by the religious communities through their education and social welfare work, and they helped to connect people more closely with the local parish and the wider church.

Chapter 3 focuses on a new eye-catching social phenomenon that emerged during the Republican period: Some “female students”( nü xuesheng) became concubines, either through force or of their own volition. Unlike the concubines who were former courtesans or entertainers, these women graduated from modern public schools, rarely came from stigmatized social classes, and otherwise closely resembled the modern “new women.”Due to their modern education and social skills, they became the preferred choice of politicians and military men, serving as their indispensable social wives and as domestic helpers who lived separately from the main wives. The chapter first examines the various reasons behind the phenomenon and the social criticisms it generated. Next, it presents a case study of a female student, Guo Dejie, who became the concubine of Li Zongren, a prominent military official. It shows that by playing this novel gender role, some of these concubines, such as Guo, were emboldened to seek, in their modernity and through public recognition, to elevate their domestic status to that of a main wife despite their supposedly subordinate position within the traditional familial hierarchy.

Dear Reader. I am inviting you to spend many pages with me. Before deciding whether to accept my invitation, you may want to know who I am.

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explains a disjuncture between the public and intellectual discourses surrounding populations of immigrant origin and their actual experiences. It shows that the public debates have illustrated a cultural anxiety which has tended to conceptualise young people of North African Muslim origin in terms their integration (in)capacities. The book approaches the question of identity construction among young people of North African origin from a perspective which focuses on the discourses of the actors themselves. It discusses the social and cultural practices of young people of North African origin, focusing on issues such as relationships to the banlieue, employment, relationships to 'culture(s) of origin', language use, religious practices, marriage, self-perception, etc.

Standardisation's first shoots appeared in the late nineteenth century. Fired by widespread hopes that a new world would rise from war's ashes, The British Railway Modelling Standards Bureau (BRMSB) sprang to life in 1948. Thirteen years earlier, the National Model Railway Association (NMRA) began the task of persuading American toy train manufacturers to adopt consistent dimensional standards. If 00 gauge railway modelling was a broad church, with members stretching across a spectrum from those who played with toy trains to expert modellers scratch-building exquisite models, then EM was a schismatic sect. Hard pounding over three decades has given them victory's demographic palm; for as the model railway hobby's youth wing withers, these expert brethren bulk ever larger. Scale causes enough semantic difficulty in railway modelling; but cross this word with gauge and wild confusion spills out.

This chapter delves into the realities behind dominant Chinese narratives of ‘beautiful and happy’ Chinese–Russian international marriages by foregrounding the voices and experiences of migrant women from former Soviet republics who moved to China. Through personal stories shared by women who moved from the mid-1990s to the late 2010s, this chapter reveals a complex and layered picture that contrasts with prevailing stereotypes of marriage migration. While popular perceptions in China and the former Soviet states suggest that most women migrate to escape difficult conditions in the Russian Far East, settling permanently in Northeast China, the women’s accounts reveal diverse motivations and pathways. By tracing their stories of cross-border romance and the challenges of adapting to life in China, I argue that these diverse narratives reflect a shifting perception of white femininity within China’s transformations and global aspirations. Although white femininity is a desirable asset valorising Chinese masculinity and national image, its value remains constrained, insofar as it serves China’s patriarchal domestic sphere.