This festschrift celebrates the 60th birthday of Markku Kivinen, director of the Aleksanteri Institute. In Part I, Social Theory, Uskali Mäki addresses the potential of scientific realism, Osmo Kivinen the relevance of Searlean social ontology for social sciences, Vesa Oittinen the Kantian complex of Russian Idealism, Markku Joutsenoja the early work of Talcott Parsons, and Göran Therborn political power in Astana, Kazakhstan. Subsequent chapters discuss Chinese suburbia, social classes and hegemony, the working class in Finland as well as Finnish higher education as an export product.

In Part II, which is devoted to Russian studies, Pekka Sutela reflects on economics, Mikhail F. Chernysh order and chaos, Christer Pursiainen democracy with adjectives, and Rosalinde Sartorti philanthropy. Other chapters' topics range from diabetic associations to entrepreneurs in Russia's transition.

Russian thinkers quite often express their ideas in the genre of utopia and apocalypse. Thus, it is fitting that in an interview with Anna-Maria Salmi, the jubilant reveals his societal dreams and anxieties.