Leibniz’s Monadology and its insights concerning quantum physics

Leibniz’s Monadology and its insights concerning quantum physics

Author(s): Ludmila Ivancheva / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

Keywords: Leibniz; Monadology; philosophical insights; quantum physics; history of science

This study examines Gottfried Leibniz’s remarkable philosophical work Monadology in the context of his insights on some concepts in modern quantum physics. In particular, a connection has been detected between the properties of the monads and the corpuscular-wave dualism of the elementary particles, and ideological similarities have been identified with regard to the existence of a hidden, unmanifested reality as a reason for the “unfolding” of the material world. The phenomenon “non-locality” related to this idea has also found its analogies in Leibniz’s concepts expressed in his work Monadology. Moreover, an analysis has been made of the relationship of Monadology to the modern concept of the holographic and fractal nature of the Universe. A conclusion has been made that in history of sciences, ideas quite frequently evolve and if not rejected, they would gradually get saturated with content and find their revitalization in some modern scientific theories.

Current trends in the demographic development of municipalities in Bulgaria

Current trends in the demographic development of municipalities in Bulgaria

Author(s): Nikolay Tsekov / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

Keywords: demographic change; Webb classification; depopulation; over-aged population; cores of spatial depopulation

For more than three decades depopulation and ageing have been the main trends in the demographic development of Bulgaria at both national and regional levels. In the regional aspect, however, the emergence and deepening of the processes of depopulation and demographic ageing in many settlements and entire municipalities have been observed since the 1930s, as is the case with rural depopulation in North-western Bulgaria. Along with the analysis of the current demographic development of Bulgarian municipalities, it is clearly emphasized that depopulation and ageing are not temporary crisis phenomena in the country’s demographic development, but are key indicators of a long and irreversible transition. Its main result is the replacement of the relatively populous generations of the post-war baby-boom era with constantly shrinking and ageing populations. The subject of the study is the tracking of the spatial connections and dependencies between the indicators for the demographic structures and processes. The balance formed on their basis between natural and mechanical growth is one of the main indicators of the current demographic change. The task is to reveal key patterns between the studied factor and result characteristics, which outline the picture of the deepening demographic and socio-economic inequalities in the development of the 265 municipalities in the country during the first two decades of this century.

Sociological outlook towards ICT based telework in Bulgaria before the COVID-19 pandemic

Sociological outlook towards ICT based telework in Bulgaria before the COVID-19 pandemic

Author(s): Elitsa Dimitrova,Tatyana Kotzeva,Natalia Vladimirovna Tonkikh / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

Keywords: telework; ICT; labour management; health and safety; work-life balance

The aim of the present study is to analyse the socio-demographic profile of persons under 45 years of age in Bulgaria who worked remotely with IT before the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to outline the specifics of this form of paid work related to work arrangements, health and safety at work as well as how work and personal/family life are reconciled. For the purposes of the analysis, we use data from the survey undertaken by Еurofound and entitled ‘European Working Conditions Survey’ 2015. The results from the descriptive statistical analysis show that out of all flexible forms of employment, remote work used to be the least spread across Bulgaria prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the group of respondents, aged up to 45, teleworking using IT was most of all applied by individuals of higher education levels, most commonly employed in the private sector. The analysis shows that there is a higher degree of satisfaction of this form of labour as well as a good level of reconciliation of professional, private and family life. Other specificities of IT teleworking refer to the flexible working hours, which however in a number of cases are accompanied by additional hours of labour. From a perspective of health and safety at work, the most common complaints and health problems that result from prolonged work hours with computers and electronic devices are sleep problems, headaches, eye pain, chronic fatigue and decreased physical activity. Ensuring health and safety at work and good level of reconciliation of professional, private and family life for teleworkers requires prevention of health risks and update of the regulations relevant to this increasingly widespread form of employment.

Online labour consultations as a space for everyday civic engagement in modern Bulgarian society

Online labour consultations as a space for everyday civic engagement in modern Bulgarian society

Author(s): Petya Klimentova / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

Keywords: everyday civic engagement; online consultations; labour

This article highlights the results from a research of modern alternative forms of civic engagement in the area of labour that emerge, manifest themselves and develop with no in-betweens such as unions, companies, employers’, non-governmental or any other organizations. The subject of this research are the free consultations in a Bulgarian Internet forum on labour matters. The analysis shows that an individual labour case would give rise to some acts of civic behaviour (free consultations) as it generates informal voluntary social relationships connected with standing a certain position supportive to another/the others. The thesis defended herein is that such relationships would transform the virtual space into an efficient space of everyday civic engagement and civic culture.

Late Neolithic white-painted pottery from the ritual complexes of Kapitan Andreevo and Lyubimets-Dana bunar 2, Southeastern Bulgaria

Late Neolithic white-painted pottery from the ritual complexes of Kapitan Andreevo and Lyubimets-Dana bunar 2, Southeastern Bulgaria

Author(s): Galina Samichkova / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: Late Neolithic; pottery; white-painted

This article presents a specific technological type of ornamentation widespread in the ceramic assemblages from the Late Neolithic complexes of Kapitan Andreevo and Lyubimets-Dana bunar 2 in Southeastern Bulgaria. This type is the Late Neolithic white-painted pottery. On both sites, patterns with white paint have been found on various categories of ware, and most often they have been applied on the outer surface of bowls and pots. Decoration displays linear elements often forming angle-shaped, rhomboid and netlike motifs. White-painted patterns are also found combined with red-painted, fluting, stabbed or incised decoration. There are two main areas in which white-painted ornamentation was widespread during the late 6th millennium and the early 5th millennium BC - to the south, in the region of the Aegean islands, and to the north - along the middle courses of the rivers Maritsa and Tundzha.

Orpheus the Magician: The Orphic Argonautica

Orpheus the Magician: The Orphic Argonautica

Author(s): Vanya Lozanova-Stancheva / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: Orpheus; The Orphic Argonautica; Others/Us; Otherness; Thracia

The modelling of identity involves the construction of opposites and “Others”, whose relevance is always subject to the continuous interpretation of their differences from “Us”. The mythological figure of Orpheus is a composite and multifaceted paradigm, charged with the model characteristics of Otherness both through literature and through the visual arts. Based on the analysis of the Orphic Argonautica and the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius, this article aims to concisely identify the concepts projected in the Thracian singer and musician’s functional mythological elements that construct this Otherness through unconventional behaviour and liminality.

When modern Europe rediscovered the Bulgarians. The reflections of the Crimean War (1853-1856) in Bulgarian history

When modern Europe rediscovered the Bulgarians. The reflections of the Crimean War (1853-1856) in Bulgarian history

Author(s): Ivan Roussev / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: Crimean War (1853-1856); France; Europe; Bulgarian history; modernization

The article presents the Crimean War (1853-1856) as the event that became the reason for the increased interest of modern Europe in the Bulgarians in the 19th century. It discusses the topics of whether the war caused an economic crisis, how the Bulgarians treat the allies of the Ottoman army (the French and the British) and how the French perceive the Bulgarians. It was over the period of their presence in the eastern Bulgarian lands during the Crimean War that the Western Europeans rediscovered the Bulgarians, became closely acquainted with their way of life and culture, and described them in their memories of the war, published after its end. A conclusion might be drawn that the expansion of scientific knowledge about Bulgarian history must necessarily go through the attraction of new sources, yet unused though, including and above all through the study of foreign archival documents and literature.

Inside the tremendous tobacco industry of Haskovo in the 20th century

Inside the tremendous tobacco industry of Haskovo in the 20th century

Author(s): Veselina Uzunova / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: tobacco industry; Haskovo; Herzog and Co.; Georgi Ioannou; State Tobacco Monopoly

The article presents a short extract from the monography "The Untold Stories of Haskovo Merchants and Fabricants" which is the first complete and detailed economic history of Haskovo region from 19th to 21st century, with great contribution to the local and national history. The article follows the history from the introduction of tobacco processing and cigarette making to the tobacco worker strikes in 1953, which is the most essential part of the history of the tremendous tobacco industry of Haskovo. The subject has been elaborated little and unsufficiently by Bulgarian historians and quite well by foreign ones, more or less correct in the historical data and detail, but competently captured the local culture and lifestyle in spirit of time.

Media art in open urban environment. Mnemonic traces and new challenges

Media art in open urban environment. Mnemonic traces and new challenges

Author(s): Joanna Spassova-Dikova / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: digimodernism; digital person; digital mummy; city culture; media art; mnemonic traces

The proposed paper is in the frame of the discussion about the new challenges, provoked by the so-called media art in open urban environment for the citizens during the last decades. The main objective is to analyse the processes of interweaving of city culture, everyday life and new technologies in the digital era. The approach is interdisciplinary, complemented by the methods and scientific apparatuses of the key humanities and social sciences, media studies, communication theory, cybernetics, etc. Some outstanding artists and works are put in focus as well as the project One Person of the Bulgarian artist Venelin Shurelov from 2020, which is given as an example of high-tech installation challenging the mnemonic problems of the past and the current city life. It was temporary situated in the centre of Sofia at the place of the demolished Georgi Dimitrov’s Mausoleum in 1999.

‘Nijinsky’ by John Neumeier: Present, past and even earlier time

‘Nijinsky’ by John Neumeier: Present, past and even earlier time

Author(s): Anelia Yaneva / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: choreography; ballet directing; dance; ballet; dance theatre

In search of general directorial and choreographic techniques, two of John Neumeier’s step-by-step works are analysed - “Nijnsky” and “The Lady of the Camellias”, in which the author makes intriguing references between different time layers - present, memories, roles in the ballet “Nijinsky”; the novel of Alexander Dumas fils and “Manon” by Abbé Prévost in the ballet “The Lady of the Camellias”. Through the interactions between past and present, between the protagonist and his visions, Neumeier builds a new model of choreographic directing.

The actor on stage and on screen

The actor on stage and on screen

Author(s): Bilyana Dilkova / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: actor; stage; screen; theatrical; cinematic; audience

The article formulates the specifics of acting. It describes the different forms of connection between the stage and the auditorium and singles out the actor as the one who gives a theatrical expression to everything that is on the stage. There are some examples of “demolition” and “removal” of the ramp, as well as the stability of its boundaries given. The main point of the paper is about the television conditions which destroy the familiar forms of acting and the distinction between two different styles of acting - theatrical and cinematic. Cinema changes the typical for the theatre relationship between conditionality and authenticity, but their mutual influence and enrichment - between the stage and the screen (big and small) - are tangible.

Environmental leadership in start-ups

Environmental leadership in start-ups

Author(s): Momchil Stanishev / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: environment; leadership; start-ups

Nowadays, organizations are facing severe environmental challenges, including global warming, air pollution, oil crisis and water pollution. The society has progressed to emphasize environmental issues and governments have also been implementing stricter environmental regulations, as the impacts will influence business across Europe. In response to pressures from various stakeholders, managers are taking more active involvement to adapt their strategies, total quality environmental management, and in-house green innovation activities to address ecological concerns. To achieve better balance of economic and environmental performance, many corporations have been pushed to be low-carbon and environmentally proactive by carrying out green innovation practices. We are observing the emergence of a flood of innovative start-ups that promise to have a positive impact on the climate. The topicality and innovation of the concept for start-ups worldwide creates the need for a more in-depth study of the phenomenon. Start-ups dare to position themselves where no established organization is interested and does not dare to pursue opportunities. Taking risk and responsibility in the work of start-ups go hand in hand, especially in times of crises, such as the COVID-19 and the environmental challenges. Environmental leadership, being essential for the implementation of green innovation practices has received continuous attention from the business sector in recent years, yet few studies have examined its links with the start-ups. The aim of this article is to advance research in the field by investigating the relationship between the role of the environmental leadership and development of start-ups.

Was there a fascist regime in Bulgaria?

Was there a fascist regime in Bulgaria?

Author(s): Daniel Vatchkov,Nikolay Poppetrov,Svetoslav Zhivkov,Georgi N. Georgiev,Veselin Yanchev,Naoum Kaytchev,Iliyana Marcheva,Ivan Ilchev,Lachezar Stoyanov,Angel Dimitrov,Rositsa Lelyova,Momchil Metodiev,Vladimir Stanev,Ivaylo Znepolski,Rumyana Chukova,Milko Palangurski,Angel Dzhonev,Rositsa Stoyanova,Vladimir Zlatarski,Dimitar Gyudurov,Peter Stoyanovich,Aleksandar Grebenarov / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

In the statement, 22 leading Bulgarian scholars recall the historical facts and point out that in the period before the Second World War: 1. No leading fascist party was created in Bulgaria with the capability of claiming political power. Although certain fascist formations numbered several tens of thousands of members, their election results were deplorable. The only exception was the National Social Movement (NSD), the party of Aleksandar Tsankov. However, the NSD was formed on the basis of the party masses and the structures of a certain fraction of the ruling party during the period 1923-1931 (Democratic Alliance). 2. Fascism never came to power in Bulgaria. Fascist organizations did not participate in the government of the country during the entire period from the 1920s to the autumn of 1944. The regime established after 1934 was not led by a fascist party, it did not emit a fascist leader. Moreover, it was in opposition to the fascist organizations. 3. The regime had no fascist ideology. Strangely enough, the regime did not create a systematized ideology at all. 4. The rule of the country from 1934 to 1944 was authoritarian, but not fascist. For the entire decade of its existence, the political regime remained entirely non-partisan (typologized, according to the criteria introduced by H. Linz as authoritarian).

Bulgaria’s policy on the “Jewish Question” during World War II

Bulgaria’s policy on the “Jewish Question” during World War II

Author(s): Daniel Vatchkov,Peter Stoyanovich,Rumyana Chukova,Spas Tashev,Veselin Yanchev,Svetoslav Zhivkov,Milko Palangurski,Rumen Borisov,Silvia Avdala,Georgi Bozduganov,Naoum Kaytchev,Kiril Topalov,Dimitar Nedyalkov,Vassil Nikolov,Boris Stoyanov,Slavi Slavov,Plamen Pavlov,Angel Dimitrov,Snezhana Dimitrova,Konstantin Golev,Rositsa Lelyova,Aleka Strezova,Atanas Zhdrebev,Nikola Avreyski,Boryana Goleva,Hristo Milkov,Aleksandar Grebenarov,Angel Zlatkov,Aleksandar Zlatanov,Dimitar Tyulekov,Georgi Mandev,Nikolay Tsekov,Vili Lilkov / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

In the statement, 33 leading Bulgarian scholars examine the historical facts and draw the following main conclusions in regard to Bulgaria’s policy on the “Jewish Question” in the years of World War II: ● Anti-Semitic legislation was introduced and implemented in Bulgaria. This policy line was a consequence of the influence of the external factor, in this case Hitler’s Germany, which at that time dominated almost all of Europe and universally imposed racist and anti-Semitic ideology. Anti-Semitic measures were introduced in all countries under the direct or indirect control of the Reich, and Bulgaria was no exception in this regard. However, the Law for Protection of the Nation had one significant difference from the Nuremberg legislation - Bulgarian Jews were not deprived of their citizenship and were not to be expelled. ● The deportation of the Jews from Vardar Macedonia and Western Thrace was solely and entirely a German initiative. The Bulgarian authorities were involved in the preliminary stage of this action as a result of the conditions laid down as early as April 1941, under which Bulgaria assumed the administration of these territories belonging to the Reich. This assertion is confirmed by the judgments in the Eichmann, Beckerle, and Fritz von Hahn trials, which did not impute guilt to the Bulgarian Kingdom. ● The rescue of the Bulgarian Jews was a courageous act of opposition to the German policy of implementing the “Final Solution”. It came as a result of the interaction of representatives of state institutions, public organizations, individual groups, and persons. This synchronicity of action determined the lasting nature of Bulgaria’s refusal to send its Jews to the death camps. ● The almost unhindered transit that the Bulgarian state provided to Jews fleeing the Holocaust zone, including in the worst years - 1942-1944 - is eloquent proof that the government did not share the extreme anti-Semitic policy of the Third Reich.

Rethinking the City in the Industrial Aftermath: Socio-industrial Memory and Environmental Fallouts

Rethinking the City in the Industrial Aftermath: Socio-industrial Memory and Environmental Fallouts

Author(s): Sanja Potkonjak,Nevena Škrbić Alempijević / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: postindustrial city; socio-industrial memory; environmental changes; Sisak; Bakar;

Drawing on ethnographic studies of two postindustrial cities in Croatia, Sisak and Bakar, the authors analyse how the communities narrate their industrial pasts, address industry-related environmental fallouts and define the potentials of postindustrial urban life. They focus on diverse narrations and practices through which the formerly industrial communities make sense of industrialisation and deindustrialisation. Local understandings of (post)industrial urban life are grasped through the concept of socio-industrial memory. The concept highlights the fact that communities can have different ideas about similar socio-economic processes depending on the ways in which they conceptualise the present and futures of their postindustrial cities, but it also underlines that the process of industrialisation was orchestrated politically as an act of socialist modernisation. The article outlines shared features and investigates disparities of postindustrial city-making and, in doing so, underlines the significance of context-based interpretations of such transformations. In both cities, the shutting down of factories left the inhabitants without major providers of livelihood. In Sisak, deindustrialisation meant long-term unemployment, which triggered postindustrial nostalgia. For citizens of Bakar, socialist industrialisation is an environmental threat and a turn away from tourism-development prospects. The authors conclude that images of the industrial past change their meanings in relation to the present needs and fears of postindustrial communities, as well as their visions of alternative, hopefully brighter futures.

“Why the Ruhr Valley Could Become the New Berlin”: How Charismatic Instagram Users in Participative Governance Contexts Playfully Bring Forth a New Regional Imaginary

“Why the Ruhr Valley Could Become the New Berlin”: How Charismatic Instagram Users in Participative Governance Contexts Playfully Bring Forth a New Regional Imaginary

Author(s): Victoria Huszka / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: postindustrial region; charisma; economic imaginary; figuration; creative worker;

Drawing on ethnographic data collected from regional Instagram marketing in the Ruhr Valley, this article explores the social and symbolic dimensions of charisma as a resource of civil actors in postindustrial governance settings. It is argued that charismatic Instagram users not only utilize the past as a resource for figurative practices, but also transform it symbolically by mixing it with elements derived from the cultural meaning repertoire of Berlin as a role model for a creative city. Furthermore, results are presented on how Instagram users and public marketing actors engage in the socioeconomic transformation of the region: both groups pursue the goal of bringing forth a new economic imaginary for the region. While charismatic Instagram users aim at redefining the Ruhr Valley by playfully challenging and transforming its industrial structures, regional marketing mainly focuses on following a path set by Berlin, based on the shared characteristic of an industrial past in both areas.

A Desirable Place to Live: The Meaning of an Environmental Accident for City-Making in Contemporary Lithuania

A Desirable Place to Live: The Meaning of an Environmental Accident for City-Making in Contemporary Lithuania

Author(s): Aušra Teleišė / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: environmental accident; place-making; the city; Lithuania;

This paper focuses on an unexpected, nonroutine and destabilising event – a fire at a tyre recycling factory, which occurred in the Lithuanian city of Alytus on 16 October 2019. It discusses how an environmental accident, which affected all residents of the city and their relationship with the environment, brought new meanings to the city. It analyses the lived experiences of the city residents as well as images, the transformation of values, social initiatives and movements that occurred in Alytus during the accident. This includes citizens’ involvement in the affairs of the city afterwards as well. The article concludes that the environmental accident mobilized the community and encouraged it to re-evaluate the meaning of the factory, and the aspects that make the city a desirable place to live.

Rule of Law and Large Firms Concentration in Southeast Europe

Rule of Law and Large Firms Concentration in Southeast Europe

Author(s): Aleksandar B. Todorov / Language(s): English / Issue: 6/2023

Keywords: institutions; corruption; economic power; size distribution of firms; large companies

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on regularities concerning the relationship between the rule of law and economic concentration. We use panel data on the largest companies in ten countries in Southeast Europe between 2009 and 2021 to assess the impact of the rule of law on aggregate concentration, that is, the share of the largest companies in total economic activity. Using fixed-effects panel models and an instrumental variables approach, we find that improvements in the rule of law are associated with greater economic concentration. This finding is consistent with previous research on institutional development and firms' performance in Eastern Europe. It suggests that improvements in the rule of law benefit existing export oriented companies and that policy efforts should be focused on smaller, start-up firms.

Attempts at reconciliation in Aristaenetus' "Erotic letters"

Attempts at reconciliation in Aristaenetus' "Erotic letters"

Author(s): Sabira Hajdarević / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Aristaenetus; reconciliation; reconciliation methods;

Even though scholars are yet to agree on the authorship of the epistolary collection Erotic Letters, it is usually ascribed to Aristaenetus and it was probably written in the 6th century AD. The letters of the collection mostly depict extramarital affairs (with hetairai, slaves or married women), often accompanied by conflicts fuelled by (sometimes justified) jealousy or either partner’s lack of interest because there are better options: e.g. a hetaira gets a richer client, a client is seduced by a younger or better-looking girl, etc. Therefore, most reconciliation efforts in the Letters are in fact the lovers’ attempts to either get back together and improve their relationships or to end them in a civilised manner or otherwise. The focus of the research is on the analysis of the protagonists’ reconciliation strategies and methods (such as verbal persuasion, lying, causing sympathy, projecting guilt onto somebody else, letter-writing, the use of male or female mediators, etc.) and their effectiveness. The final goals are: to point out the most common reconciliation methods employed, to investigate whether or not the men and women use similar methods, to check which gender is more likely to choose indirect reconciliation methods, such as the use of mediators or writing and sending letters, and to examine which gender is generally more successful at reconciliation (as well as to explain why that is so). Additionally, the author’s depictions of reconciliation and his use of reconciliation as a narrative tool are put into a wider context through a comparison with other epistolary collections of this type, the originality of these depictions is scrutinised and probable models (within and outside of the subgenre) are proposed.

Too tidy to dance: Edith Wharton’s "Twilight sleep" and the domestication of scientific management

Too tidy to dance: Edith Wharton’s "Twilight sleep" and the domestication of scientific management

Author(s): Brian Willems / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: scientific management; Edith Wharton; twilight sleep; Frank Gilbreth; Lillian Gilbreth;

This essay looks at how scientific management, initially meant to increase efficacy in the workplace, left the factory floor and made its way into the home. Included here are readings of Frederick Taylor’s scientific management, Lillian and Frank Gilbreth’s concept of the therblig, as well as the Gilbreth children’s reports of home life in Cheaper by the Dozen (1948) and Belles on Their Toes (1950) (and their film adaptations). Edith Wharton’s 1927 novel Twilight Sleep challenges the spreading of scientific management into the home, seen in particular in the book’s treatment of the early 1900s invention of twilight sleep, a medical procedure meant to optimize childbirth by injecting the mother with a combination of scopolamine, which induces amnesia, and morphine. Yet the thesis of the essay is that the novel actually depicts the horrors of scientific management in order to suggest a path forward, that a change in social relations is more fundamental than a change in economic ones.