Paramilitary and War Crimes Committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Paramilitary and War Crimes Committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author(s): Goran Šimić,Amila Ferhatović / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: paramilitary; war crimes; Bosnia and Herzegovina;

The last armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which took place between 1992 and 1995, was a bloody one. Not only was lots of real blood were spilled, but metaphorically speaking, it resulted in millions of displaced persons, hundreds of mass graves, hundreds of places of detention, hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war, hundreds of thousands of tortured and destroyed lives. During the aftermath of the war, around 700 war crime cases were prosecuted, spanning one thousand defendants, and including all possible war crimes, including genocide. These war crime trials could be observed from different perspectives. While most of these crimes were committed by soldiers and police officers, among those who were not soldiers or police officers, one category is to be particularly observed, the paramilitary. Members of the paramilitary, not soldiers or civilians, according to the database of war crimes, were charged in some 5% of all war crimes cases. But then, if these persons are not soldiers or civilians, the question is who were they, and why they do what they did? Furthermore, what interest did they have in behaving in a way that is characterized as criminal, more precisely, a war crime. Among number of the war crimes committed by the paramilitary groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this paper will analyze ones including most serious crimes and those of most significance. By doing that, this paper will contribute to the better understanding of the position and behavior of the paramilitary groups involved in committing war crimes, further legal regulation of their position, and social understanding of the nature of paramilitary forces in and after the armed conflict.

Human Resource Development – the Intersection of Disciplines?

Human Resource Development – the Intersection of Disciplines?

Author(s): Kristinka Ovesni / Language(s): English / Issue: 23/2023

Keywords: human resource development; multidisciplinarity; interdisciplinarity; trans-disciplinarity; research topics;

This paper considers how, as a relatively young academic discipline, human resource development (HRD) has undergone significant changes in terms of research approaches that constitute a relevant sum of scientific knowledge, the influence of related scientific disciplines, and the main research topics since the second decade of the twenty-first century. The results of the analysis of selected texts from five academic journals were presented and discussed in finding answers to three research questions: (1) How is the academic disciplinary framework of human resource development considered in the analyzed texts? (2) Which academic disciplines are considered necessary for building a human resources knowledge base? (3) What research topics are highlighted in the analyzed texts?

Gender and Violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy, Elena Ferrante’s Tetralogy My Brilliant Friend and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus

Gender and Violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy, Elena Ferrante’s Tetralogy My Brilliant Friend and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus

Author(s): Aida Džiho-Šator,Amela Džiho-Hidović / Language(s): English / Issue: 23/2023

Keywords: gender; violence; Morrison; Ferrante; Adichie;

This paper explores the portrayal of violence and gender in its relation to different historical periods, countries, cultures, and religions. The aim is to determine the role these different aspects have in forming of characters’ identities and more specifically how it is all related to gender. The research will focus on Toni Morrison’s A Mercy, Elena Ferrante’s Tetralogy My Brilliant Friend, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. All three novels, regardless of the different periods they fictionalize and discuss, and the literature they belong to, are connected by the captivating darkness that runs deeply through their fictional fiber and portrays the horrible conditions and struggles women have to go through because of the violence they were succumbed to, but also the violence they have to resort to to survive and even thrive in the ever-changing, but always firmly men’s world. Morrison’s novel is set in the early stages of the slave trade in America when racial, religious, and class tensions were just beginning to form, Ferrante’s tetralogy focuses on the post-WWII Italy, poverty-stricken and violent neighborhoods of the outskirts of Naples, and Purple Hibiscus is set in postcolonial Nigeria, a country struggling with political instability and economic difficulties. All three authors with their respective novels render vibrant pictures of the lives of young girls and grown women, mothers, daughters, and friends, across times, countries, but also classes, that offer plenty of space for comparative research focusing on the presence and role of violence in their lives.

Making Women Count: An Appraisal of Women-Centered Policies of Nigeria Political Parties

Making Women Count: An Appraisal of Women-Centered Policies of Nigeria Political Parties

Author(s): Nife Elizabeth Ogunbodede / Language(s): English / Issue: 23/2023

Keywords: gender; gender equality; liberal feminism; political participation; political party;

This article examines the effectiveness of various policies and strategies aimed at promoting women’s participation in politics in Nigeria, implemented by advocacy groups, international organizations, political parties, and the Nigerian government. Despite the legal right of women to engage in politics and governance, cultural beliefs have hindered their active involvement in politics, leading to inadequate representation of women in politics. By liberal feminist theory, the study evaluates women’s responses to these initiatives, the challenges encountered in implementing them, and how political parties can enhance their effectiveness. The article suggests that legislative reform is necessary to enable women to achieve equal status to men in society, which will boost women’s political participation. Furthermore, it argues that Nigeria’s political parties have not done enough to encourage women’s participation in politics. Hence, political parties should establish a welcoming and inclusive environment accommodating women’s needs. To achieve this, political parties should organize party meetings at convenient and accessible times and places for women, eliminate obstacles that impede women’s par-ticipation in politics, develop gender-sensitive training programs to enhance women’s confidence and skills, and establish mentoring programs to support potential women candidates in navigating the political landscape.

Traces of the Rule of Law as an Idea and Legal Principle in the Theory of the Ancient and Medieval Period: Some of the Characteristic Theoretical Considerations and their Contribution to the Contemporary Meaning

Traces of the Rule of Law as an Idea and Legal Principle in the Theory of the Ancient and Medieval Period: Some of the Characteristic Theoretical Considerations and their Contribution to the Contemporary Meaning

Author(s): Zlatan Begić / Language(s): English / Issue: 23/2023

Keywords: Rule of Law; Constitution; Acts of Law; State; Authority; Theory;

When talking about the rule of law as a contemporary constitutional and theoretical principle, most of the public usually refers to the period of the emergence of theoretical models that tend to the modern understanding of the organization of the state, legal order, and society, from the period of the Enlightenment to the period of various theoretical concepts of the modern era. However, as it is known in the domain of constitutional theory, ideas concerning the concept and purpose of government, the constitution, laws and legislation, rights and obligations, legality and legitimacy, and all other categories that constitute elements of the principle of the rule of law (as it is understood today) – as a very complex notion, have been the subject of consideration since the earliest times, at the very beginnings of the development of the philosophical-legal thought. The purpose of this paper, by its capacity and scope, is not contained in the elaboration of all theoretical models regarding elements that make the content of the rule of law which appeared during the historical development of human civilization – which would otherwise be an impossible task, but in the elaboration of some characteristic theoretical considerations during ancient and medieval period in which the beginnings of the idea of the rule of law can be found as well as the very beginnings of the development of that idea in contemporary sense.

Parliament Overshadowing Supreme Court Judgements in India: A Game of Ethics

Parliament Overshadowing Supreme Court Judgements in India: A Game of Ethics.

Author(s): Prabhpreet Singh,Nehal Dashottar,Amishi Basnotra / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Judicial Review; Ethics; Legitimacy; Constitutionality; Separation of Power;

The Principles of separation of power form the backbone of most democratic nations in the world. This system of governance also incorporates checks and balances. Parliament, Executive, and Judiciary have well-defined powers and functions within the constitutional Framework. The judiciary is vested with the power to check the legitimacy of laws. This power enables the judiciary to review the constitutionality of laws on the touchstone of the constitution. This paper deals with case study of two important cases which includes Common Cause and Government of NCT Delhi. In both the cases court declared the actions of parliament invalid. Parliament passed the amendments to overshadow the ruling of the Supreme Court. Such actions in democracy disturb the governance of the country. Also, such practices in the state are considered unethical. Therefore, this paper highlights such practices in reference to the ethical standard set by the Constitution of India.

Transnational Organized Crime: the required Interconnection of States in their International Environment

Transnational Organized Crime: the required Interconnection of States in their International Environment

Author(s): Ana Campina,Carlos Rodrigues / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: States; Democracy; Transnational Crime; International Law; International Security;

Transnational Organized Crime is one of the most nowadays global serious problems affecting Humanity, States, Governments in the most different areas. Nowadays, in a global context, there are multiple international criminal organizations, individual criminals, as well as States and Governments involved, supporting, and promoting conditions to implement the Transnational Organized Crime. So, this complex problem involves all kind of criminals as victims. The International Organizations, as United Nations and the Council of Europe, as most of the juridical and judicial systems of the States, recognize, prevent, and fight against this criminality, but as one of the worst threats globally, the difficulties are more relevant due the higher capacities of the criminals enrolled in the Transnational Organized Crime. So, through the results of this research, we can affirm the real combat and the effective protection of millions of human beings, the (re)education of the Public Opinion, the (re)action of the States, the crucial interconnection within States and Governments, as the need of denouncing (individuals, groups, states, governments) those who are under this criminality that surpass the borders, is done with multiple violence, blaming all and allow the justice happen. The Transnational International Crime is one of the most serious threats, everywhere and each moment, so it´s fundamental to avoid the “normalization” and the relieve the (re)action meaning the out-of-control evolution, escalation and its dissemination. It is ethical that everyone must assume their responsibility. The law (state and international) as the Justice have to be a reality around the world.

Andragogy in Action – the Bulgarian Experience

Andragogy in Action – the Bulgarian Experience

Author(s): Vyara Gyurova,Vanya Bozhilova / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2023

Keywords: andragogy; adult education; adult learners; andragogical training of adult educators

This research article draws attention to the Bulgarian experience in the development of andragogy as a fundamental adult education theory. The aim of the authors is to present the development of andragogy in Bulgaria as a science and its study as a university discipline. In the individual parts of the article, through an analysis of scientific publications, curricula and syllabi, answers to the following research questions are sought: What are the parameters of adult education in Bulgaria in the context of the opportunities for formal and non-formal education? How has andragogy developed as a science and a university discipline? To what extent do research interest and educational content follow the needs of the practice (in Bulgaria)? What andragogical training is needed by specialists, incl. teachers, organizing educational activities or teaching adult learners?

Methods and Methodological Foundations of Keykis Counseling and Its Application in the Pedagogical Practice

Methods and Methodological Foundations of Keykis Counseling and Its Application in the Pedagogical Practice

Author(s): Zhaneta Stoykova,Vladimir Dmitrievich Kiselev / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2023

Keywords: Keykis counseling; educational process; multivariate solutions; resources material and non-material; conversion; styles of behavior

The complex social and information environment where the educational process of today takes place requires the implementation of different counseling approaches, techniques and technologies as part of the pedagogical practice for the purpose of improving the latter’s effectiveness. Familiarity with and mastery of different strategies and forms of psychological support enhances the teacher’s competencies and contributes to the success and utility of his activity. One of the contemporary approaches to counseling, which has recently been adapted to the field of education, is Keykis counseling. It is an approach primarily focused on analysis of the problem situation the client has found himself in, his style of behavior and the development of multivariate solutions to the presenting problem. Analysis within Keykis counseling is based upon scientifically sound methods of assessment of the available resources, both material and non-material ones, as well as their conversion into possible norms. It is precisely this analysis of the resources and their conversion that serves as the objective foundation upon which multivariate solutions to the problem situation are formulated.

MOTIVATION IN THE WORK OF NURSES-TECHNICIANS

MOTIVATION IN THE WORK OF NURSES-TECHNICIANS

Author(s): Ernela Eminović,Amer Ovčina,Emilija Hrapović,Rasema Okić / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: motivation; nurses; motivational techniques; quality of work;

Motivation in healthcare involves factors that encourage people to do their jobs in the best manner possible. Employee motivation is one of the key tasks and managerial functions. The basic is that motivation must be based on what we want to achieve, that is, reward things that we want more to be present, that is, encourage those behaviors that lead to the achievement of the organization's goals. To nurses the key factors for work are motivation and satisfaction. Their satisfaction with work affects the quality of health care services provision, their availability and efficiency. The research are explorative and descriptive. The study used internal documents and regulations of the Human Resources Department of the University Clinical Center Sarajevo. The questionnaire survey was conducted among 301 nurses-technicians employed at the organizational units of the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo. The questionnaire survey was anonymous and the questionnaire was available in the electronic Google Forms platform. The survey was conducted in the period from July 01th 2019 to July 31st 2019. Non material compensation is a key motivator for nurses' productivity. The research findings should serve to create nursing development strategies and strategies that promote quality of work at all levels of nursing practice.

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF COMPANIES IN SERBIA BASED ON THE LMAW-DNMA METHOD

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF COMPANIES IN SERBIA BASED ON THE LMAW-DNMA METHOD

Author(s): Radojko Lukić / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: performance; companies; Serbia; LMAW-DNMA method;

Recently, the importance of applying multi-criteria decision-making methods in the economy has been increasing. With their help, more realistic results are achieved in the function of improvement in the future by applying relevant measures. Based on that, this paper analyzes the performance of companies in Serbia based on the LMAW-DNMA method. According to the results of the DNMA method, the top five companies in Serbia include: TELEKOM SRBIJA AD BELGRADE, DELTA HOLDING DOO BELGRADE, MK GROUP DOO BELGRADE, JP SRBIJAGAS NOVI SAD and HEMOFARM AD VRŠAC. The best performance was recorded at the company TELEKOM SRBIJA AD, BELGRADE. The company with the worst performance is YURA CORPORATION DOO RAČA. This positioning of companies in Serbia according to performance was influenced by numerous factors. These are: general economic conditions, inflation, interest rate, exchange rate, employment, living standards of the population, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the energy crisis. Likewise, the efficiency of human resource, asset, capital, sales and profit management. The application of new concepts of cost management (for example, calculation of costs by basic activities) and digitization of the entire business play a significant role in this. Effective control of these and other factors can significantly influence the achievement of the target performance of companies in Serbia.

Visual Folklore in 1960s Greek Popular Cinema: Athens at the Threshold of Tradition and Modernity

Visual Folklore in 1960s Greek Popular Cinema: Athens at the Threshold of Tradition and Modernity

Author(s): Ursula-Helen Kassaveti / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: visual folklore; Greek popular cinema; melodrama; comedy; visual representation

Despite its slow and ambivalent transformation, particularly after WWII, Greek society strived to present a novel and relatively modern face during the 1960s. While tradition in all its facets had been a long-lasting staple, even affecting critical aspects of everyday life, modernity began to take steps and seek changes: peasants left the countryside to explore new opportunities in the urban centers, immigration rose, education emerged as a means to escape poverty, while technology penetrated the Greek household slowly. Such urban shifts have been particularly documented in the popular Greek films of the 1960s, providing a rich framework to explore the notions of tradition and modernity in visual folklore. By employing a qualitative approach, this article focuses on how Greek popular film reflects the critical tensions surrounding everyday urban life by examining customs, rituals, identities, and material culture as represented in particular film case studies. It will argue that the popular Greek film of the 1960s documents glimpses of tradition still surviving in the city and presents to the Greek audience ways of handling, preserving, or even rejecting tradition, while flirting with modernity.

“Urban Landscape Transformation”. Religious Places that also Function as Secular Squares: an Ethnographic Example from Greek Urban Space

“Urban Landscape Transformation”. Religious Places that also Function as Secular Squares: an Ethnographic Example from Greek Urban Space

Author(s): Georgios Kouzas / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: religiosity; urban space; street; square; street ethnography

In this study, we deal with all aspects of the topic of church courtyards of Orthodox churches in urban Greece. As an ethnographic example of this phenomenon, we examine the courtyard of the church of St. Antonios, in the municipality of Peristeri, in Athens. We will focus in the multilevel functions that these spaces have. In addition to their ecclesiastical use, these also function as parks and squares, particularly in towns, where there is little open space and areas of greenery are very limited. As a consequence, church courtyards are frequently used both as parks and as multifunctional spaces that host a multitude of social, cultural and recreational activities. In addition to examining how the space is used, we also look at the feelings experienced by those visiting the area, that is, what they experience when they visit the courtyard and what they feel about the metamorphosis, as it were, that the area undergoes, as manifested by the various activities taking place there during the late afternoon and evening.

The City as Multispecies Space: Dog Walking in Downtown Belgrade during the COVID-19 Lockdown

The City as Multispecies Space: Dog Walking in Downtown Belgrade during the COVID-19 Lockdown

Author(s): Sonja Žakula / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: human-animal relations; companion dogs; Belgrade; autoethnography; canine-assisted ethnography; COVID-19; lockdown

This paper represents an autoethnographic account of dog walking in a residential area of downtown Belgrade during the COVID-19 lockdown of early 2020. It is also an attempt at, or rather, the result, of the largely experimental practice of canine-assisted ethnography, as my dogs Dita and Ripley were instrumental during fieldwork. The lockdown, with its ill-thought-out and constantly changing rules about dog walking underlined three basic issues: 1) in a city with a huge dog owning population, public policy with regard to this issue is virtually non-existent; 2) the city lacks public green spaces, and 3) the movement patterns of dog walkers tend to converge due to the fact that the needs of the canines (both biological and social) are embedded into the architecture and planning of local neighborhoods. In this sense, the city emerges as a multispecies space, and the social patterns and walking routes of its residents who keep dogs are influenced, if not completely determined by the human-animal bond at play. This became especially visible during lockdown at times when dog walkers were the only people allowed outside. Thus, this paper analyzes how interspecies (in this case human-dog) relationships shape the functions of urban space in Belgrade.

Committed Travelers, Reluctant Listeners: Playing Music and Displaying Authority on Public Transport in Modern-Day Greece

Committed Travelers, Reluctant Listeners: Playing Music and Displaying Authority on Public Transport in Modern-Day Greece

Author(s): John Plemmenos / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: Public transport; drivers; passengers; music listening; audience; authority

This study deals with the use (and misuse) of music in modern Greek public transport, particularly in the long-distance buses, commonly known as KTEL (from their acronym). In short, Greek drivers seem to impose their own repertoire, often loudly, through speakers on passengers, who are not able (or willing) to react efficiently. This happens despite official restrictions by the Ministry of Transport on the public use of music both for drivers and passengers. This phenomenon, allied with other incidents of inappropriate treatment of passengers, has been seen by the latter as a display of power or a sign of indifference. It is also connected with other (occasional) violations by some drivers, such as smoking and talking on mobile phone (both prohibited by the law). Furthermore, the use of music is placed in the broader context of musical entertainment in modern-Greek daily life. This is probably the first such study in Greek bibliography, and among the few in international bibliography, where the issue has recently been taken up. Although I was not allowed to take formal interviews, I managed to talk to several passengers (and to a lesser extent to drivers) and keep detailed notes on the spot. Therefore, my study may be said to employ the methods of empirical investigation and participant observation in a loose sense, since I have been a regular passenger for several years.

“On the Streets of Diversity”. Urban Space as a Birthplace of Free Expression and Artistic Creation: the Case of Nikolas Asimos in the Exarchia Area of Athens

“On the Streets of Diversity”. Urban Space as a Birthplace of Free Expression and Artistic Creation: the Case of Nikolas Asimos in the Exarchia Area of Athens

Author(s): Emmanuel C. Kyriazakos,George Katsadoros / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: urban space; creativity; music; Exarchia; Nikolas Asimos

Artistic creation depends to a great extent on man-made environment and relationships that connect the artist with it, as well as on his/her experiences and perceptions. The singer and actor Nikolas Asimos still remains, 35 years after his death, an emblematic figure of Exarchia, a central area of Athens, frequently associated with intense anti-authoritarian activity. In this research, we focus on the social-cultural conditions that prevailed in the area, between 1976–1988, a period when Nikolas Asimos lived there and created the majority of his work. Through content analysis of the opinions of people who knew him or dealt with him on a professional basis, we argue that the urban space of Exarchia greatly contributed to the creative mood of the specific artist, providing him with the appropriate conditions for free expression of his work and ideas.

Ghosts in the Streets of Athens: Ghostlore and Social Media

Ghosts in the Streets of Athens: Ghostlore and Social Media

Author(s): Aphrodite-Lidia Nounanaki,Rea Kakampoura / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: Gostlore; public places; supernatural; social media; netizens

Ghostlore or ghost-lore is, in short, a subgenre of folklore that focuses on ghostly tales which can be found in both pre-industrial and contemporary contexts. The majority of these stories are connected to houses and other buildings that are either dilapidated or inhabited but can be described mainly as private places. Due to the nature of public places -whether they are connected to people’s experiences or could be described as non-places- it is odd to ‘find’ ghosts there, as it is odd to ‘find’ them in parks or streets. However, they remain social places open to multiple interpretations and symbolisms. Through pertinent online entries, mostly uploaded by groups describing their practices as ‘investigating’ the paranormal or the occult, this paper aims to discuss the connection between ghost-lore and public places, mainly from the city of Athens. Furthermore, a very important aspect demonstrating the effectiveness of these online entries are the comments made by the netizens following these ‘investigations’, which result in the formation of new groups. These groups are created online, but are driven by a common interest in ghosts in the offline world. Thus, in order to study how the physical public space is being reinterpreted in light of the super-natural, the paper intends to approach the digital public space of social media.

Neither Germans nor Czechs? Expatriates from the Czech lands in Romanian Banat in the Trap of Ethnicism

Neither Germans nor Czechs? Expatriates from the Czech lands in Romanian Banat in the Trap of Ethnicism

Author(s): Michal Pavlásek / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: Habsburg Empire; Czech lands; Banat; migration; ethnicity; nationalism; national indifference; ethnicism

In our opinion, the scholarly and general ways of perceiving the emigrants from the Czech lands are based on methodological nationalism, which identifies the concept of society with the modern national state. Based on this, Bohemian resettlers who founded several settlements on the southern border of the Habsburg Empire in present-day Romanian Banat in the early nineteenth century have hitherto been divided, in the spirit of ethnicism and methodological nationalism, into Czechs (Böhmen) and Czech Germans (Deutschböhmen). Against this, an alternative research perspective, represented by the concept of national indifference, can be applied. The object of this article is hereby to re-assess of the collective identity of emigrants resettlers from the Czech lands towards its nationally indifferent character. We propose to overcome the ethnicist framework of the research on Bohemian resettlers by introducing what we term as the inclusive approach to ex patriatism. This article is based on archival and local written sources and ethnographic field research (interviews) collected during the years 2010–2017.

Manolis Varvounis & Georgios Kouzas,Eisagogi stin Astiki Laographia, Theoritikes Prossegisis, Methodologia, Thematikes [An Introduction to Urban Folklore. Theoretical Approaches – Methodology – Themes]

Manolis Varvounis & Georgios Kouzas,Eisagogi stin Astiki Laographia, Theoritikes Prossegisis, Methodologia, Thematikes [An Introduction to Urban Folklore. Theoretical Approaches – Methodology – Themes]

Author(s): Rea Kakampoura / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Rea Kakampoura & Aphrodite-Lidia Nounanaki, Ta Mimidia (memes) tis Pandemias COVID-19. Psiphiaki Laographia kai Humor sta Ellinika Mesa Kinonikis Diktiosis [Memes of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Digital Folklore and Humor in Greek Social Media]

Rea Kakampoura & Aphrodite-Lidia Nounanaki, Ta Mimidia (memes) tis Pandemias COVID-19. Psiphiaki Laographia kai Humor sta Ellinika Mesa Kinonikis Diktiosis [Memes of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Digital Folklore and Humor in Greek Social Media]

Author(s): Georgios Kouzas / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023