"The Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology began its work in 1999. Through multiple investigations of changing norms and values, living conditions and conflicts in post-colonial and postsocialist settings, researchers analyse thematic fields that often stand in the limelight of political discussion. The main theme of the Institute’s research programme can thus be summarised as the comparative analysis of contemporary social transformation." The homepage of the MPI offers a lot of information on research done by the institute, including full text documents of working papers and Institute Reports. [according to site editor’s information] ... [supplemented and changed]