P W Preston is Reader in Political Sociology in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham. His recent publications include Political/Cultural Identity (1997) and Pacific Asia in the Global System (1998).

An Introduction to the Problem
The Received Notions of Identity
An Ethnographic/Biographical Approach to Identity
The Idea of Political-Cultural Identity
Global Changes and New Political-Cultural Identities
Changing Political-Cultural Identities in Europe
Changing Political-Cultural Identities in the USA
Changing Political-Cultural Identities in Pacific Asia
Locale, Network and Memory

This interdisciplinary book overviews political and cultural identity in the context of changes across the political landscape. These changes - from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the recent Islamic revival - have profoundly altered the received ideas that define political cultures throughout the world. In this context the author draws together the diverse strands of literature to throw light on the impact on identity of a changing global environment.

Peter Preston analyzes political, cultural and economic identities which lie at the centre of individual actions and social structure. This analysis is fleshed out by a detailed examination of specific regional cases, including: the realignment of Europe; the sharp rise of Pacific Asia; and the Americas after NAFTA.