
Keywords: anthropology; postsocialism; transition; academism; Slovenia
This article addresses some of the aspects the academic sphere, science and intellectual culture under postsocialism offer for the understanding of transition issues in contemporary Slovenia. It starts with the surprise that has been caused by the bizarre commodification and domestication of anthropology in Slovenia, particularly at Slovenian universities, after 1990s, and tries to reflect social reception, institutional organization and academic status of anthropology in this country. Furthermore, through a specific case study of a violent debate which recently took place in Slovenia concerning the reasons for the absence of Slovenian universities on the notorious list of top 500 world universities, it tries to illustrate the essence of how academic spheres in transitional societies function. The conclusion presents some elements of social hypocrisy and discrepancy. It reveals certain facts that have taken place within the last few years, and thus helps us understand the contribution of the Slovenian state administration for science to the process of systematic transformation of this autonomous social domain of highly intellectual work into a turbo-neoliberal enterprise of wageworkers, academic lumpenproletarians, anti-intellectual jobbers, profiteers and money-spinners.
More...Keywords: Orphans; Orphanages; Poor; Ottoman empire; History; Balkan history; Social activism; Nineteenth century
Throughout the 15th-18th centuries the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire paid significant attention to the orphans' and poor children's relief. However, none of the Sultan's subjects set up an orphanage. The children in need were raised as fosterlings. Many extramartial infants were abandoned. If the abandoned children survived until 4 years of age, they entered the gangs. From 1839 onward the Ottoman officials considered the socialization of the orphans, pauper children and delinquents as an essential state affair. As early as 1860s they endeavored to set up industrial or reform schools. The paper of the author focuses on the very idea to establish such schools and casta light on their network in the Ottoman Empire. It summarizes the hypotheses for their origin; the available information about some West European models of social assistance for the children in need; the Ottoman initiative to train orphans, pauper children and delinquents; the role of Midhat Pasha; the origin of the term "islahhane"; the mutual rhetoric and rules of the Belgian and Ottoman reform schools. It advances the suggestion that the islahhanes or the industrial schools embodied the Ottoman attempt effecitvely to manage the periodically increasing number of the children in need. Perhaps the initiative combined the "domestic" model of the Catholic boarding schools, this one of the reform schools run by the Belgian government and the religious imperative for the orphans' and pauper children's socialization. While serving as a provincial governor, in 1863-1866 Midhat Pasha sought to carry out the actual state attempt. From 1867-1868 onward the project was developed by other provincial governors, as well.
More...Russia and the West. | From an Awkward Partnership to a Greater Europe. A European Perspective (by Michael Emerson) | New Challenges and Opportunities for the US and the EU in the 21st Century. An American Perspective (by Eugene B. Rumer) | Russia and the West. A Russian Perspective (by Irina Kobrinskaya)
More...Keywords: Orbán regime;Hungary;Cultural policy;nationalism;
In this chapter the cultural politics of the Orbán regime will be interpreted in the context of the regime as a whole. In post-2010 Hungary, cultural policy cannot be viewed as one of the governmental sectors separable from the prime minister’s concept of power and symbolic politicking. The autocratic worldview and nationalist political culture represented by him are closely related to what his underlings perform under the rubric “cultural policy.” The essence of cultural policy is expressed by the notion of nationalism. This approach does not much tolerate alternative worldviews and artistic expressions; it seeks to achieve hegemony, if not cultural monopoly. Representatives of the regime do not enter debates on cultural and political values—they simply disregard the opposing views and aim to represent their own hegemonic approach which is identified with “the nation.” The cadres appointed as chiefs of a sector act according to the prime minister’s expectations.
More...Keywords: uti possidetis; international law; resolution 1244; Kosovo status
In this work the authors give us the analyze of the old principle of Roman law Uti Possidetis, that has served as as the base for the work Badeunter’s commission, and later also for the Resolution 1244 of the Security Council of UN.
More...Keywords: green technology; green building; green chemistry; green nanotechnology; environmentally preferred purchasing; green IT
Green is the color for immaturity and inexperience. The ripe the fruit, the quicker it falls. As life is advancing every minute and maturing by attaining the saturation level it is reaching near the verge of decease. There is need to recover the early stage of earth. The environment which is messed up due to human intrusion needs to be slow down and adopting healthy ways towards life. Earth can be recovered by adopting green technology wisely. Green technology is the safeguard against environmental pollution. 21st century is the age of technological development. There are increasing trends of innovations and practices to discover new things for what modern technologies play pivotal role. The changes come with the help of various technologies and due to the current scenario of technological development; there are large possibilities of environmental pollution and natural disasters.Therefore, green technology is the best way to maintain clean environment. The innovations and practices can be carried out without harming the natural resources and environment with the help of green technology. Green technology is the future of this modern society, it discovers the way to produce the goods and services which don‟t destroy the natural resources of the earth.
More...Keywords: open innovation; SME; business strategy; business management; sustainable growth
Enterprise 2.0 creates new opportunities and possibilities for open innovation through a diversity of technological media. Small and Business Companies have renewed efforts to identify new and powerful mechanisms to maximize information sharing and overall collaboration capabilities in the workplace. This chapter examines the impact of Web 2.0 technologies in the business environment and analyzes the motivation driver for small and medium sized companies to participate in open innovation environments. Additionally, adopting a case studies approach, it identifies relevant innovation 2.0 practices and presents eight guidelines that business leaders should consider to conduct an open innovation 2.0 strategy.
More...Keywords: innovation; technological change; innovation policy; sustainable growth
Assuming the need of public innovation programs to initiate and to support the emergence of sustainable technologies in the economic system, this chapter argues that an evolutionary conception of technological change and innovation is helpful to design such sustainable innovation policies.Drawing on the conception of innovation suggested by Saviotti (1996), the chapter starts by conceptualizing the core idea innovation and sustainable innovation. Then the chapter discusses the core concepts of the evolutionary framework and analyzes the dynamics of socio-technological change. Hence, it draws on evolutionary economists who have elaborated theories regarding the embedding of innovations in the economic system, and sociologists of technology who suggested a better understanding of the process of so-called co-evolutionary change. Both approaches help identifying the core challenge of evolutionary based innovation policy. The innovation policy itself will be discussed in section 4 of the chapter. The policies draw on two core mechanisms of evolutionary change: diversity and selection. Both mechanisms will be translated in policy instruments. The chapter ends with a concluding section.
More...Keywords: Sustainable growth; knowledge-resources; poverty; hunger; allocative efficienc
In spite of economic growth and development, the dwindling confidence on the impact of growth failing to penetrate and benefit the deeper masses of the developing nations raises an important question. The question is― regarding the essence and affectivity of such an economic growth; why there is not enough for all? More than that, is such a growth sustainable in the long run which would leave a huge proportion of the general masses outside the realms of benefit? Are there any sustainable solutions to the present dilemma of jobless, redundant growth? In the face of everdwindling energy and non-renewable resources, this raises a serious issue about the effective allocation of resources for the poorest who require more than those who can afford it all. The issue becomes burning when the benefits of globalization are accrued by the few while leaving the most and the rest out of purview. More than that, higher demand for resources which are scarce and shrinking explains much about ‘why there is not enough for all’. The disparity is not just in misallocation of resources, but more about apposite provisioning of how knowledge, being the driving power of industrial revolution and globalization, should be shared uniformly so as to benefit those who are in need. This contribution touches on these aspects of sustainability of the present economic growth hinged on the concept of knowledge economy and, hence, it mandates for a corrective and more efficient allocation of resources among the poorest. Perhaps, this lack of knowledge in a knowledge economy about how scarce resources should be efficiently allocated is the ‘biggest gap in knowledge’ about such a dynamic process. This contribution attempts to address these core issues which are fundamental to the study of the economics of sustainable growth and resource allocation.
More...Keywords: currency war; euro; financial crisis; International Monetary System; exchange rate misalignments
This chapter analyses the architecture of the International Monetary System (IMS) and the role of reserve currencies in it. We begin by describing the evolution of the IMS from the Gold Standard to the Bretton Woods system and the European integration process that led to the creation of the euro. We then discuss the role played by the euro in the IMS as an international reserve currency. Drawing on econometric estimations, we extrapolate the evolution of the shares in international reserves of the euro, the US dollar and the renminbi. In the discussion, we take into account the current sovereign debt crisis and the possibility of a currency war taking place as a result of the reportedly excessive undervaluation of the renminbi and of the expansionist monetary policies undertaken in several advanced economies, namely in the USA. The text ends with a review of proposals for reducing the likelihood of currency wars, which may disrupt the functioning of the current IMS.
More...Keywords: EU Membership; European Commission; European Union; EU Integration Process
This report offers a panorama of people’s perceptions in Albania opposite the realities of the European integration process. It does so by gauging these perceptions in several dimensions of the process and tries to understand it from the perspectives of ordinary citizens, who are essential towards achieving the long time goal and aspiration of Albania. These perspectives are faced with the realities of the EU integration process and the challenges and difficulties the country is facing in the path of integration. The results and conclusions are directed to all the political and nonpolitical actors in the Albanian society, with the aim to reflect upon people’s perceptions and expectations as well as what can be further improved.
More...Keywords: Arab revolution; Arab Spring; Arab Democratic Change
We are pleased to announce the release of the joint PISM - FIIA report: Still Awake: The Beginnings of Arab Democratic Change, edited by Timo Behr (FIIA) and Patrycja Sasnal (PISM). With the deluge of focused policy analyses and daily news from the Middle East, the report attempts to look at the changes in the Arab world in a long-term and clearly structured perspective along with unorthodox conclusions. It examines five cases of political transition in the Arab world—Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Yemen—and summarizes the events so far and provides country-by-country timelines. Another distinct aspect of the report is that it has been produced by two major think tanks from European countries that do not have vital interests in the Middle East: Poland and Finland. Apart from the chapters authored by the editors it also features contributions from Hanna Ebeid (ACPSS, Egypt), Sylvia Colombo (IAI, Italy) and two Polish diplomats, Stanisław Guliński and Jakub Sławek.
More...Keywords: New Rhetoric; argumentation; education; literature; Le comique du discours
For the past 20 years, most FFL textbooks have, to a certain extent, adopted the actional approach. This evolution represents a specific challenge for philological departments. On the one hand, teaching-programs tend to adjust to the common framework. But, on the other hand, linguistics and literary curricula are not immediately compatible with the new methods. While reminding its readers about the importance of the literary heritage, the CEF (2001) give no practical tool to pursue this ambition. In this paper, we propose a way of reactivating the knowledge acquired in literary classes by inserting it in a broader context: the study of argumentation as presented by Perelman’s New Rhetoric. The link between argumentation and literature is inspired by "Le Comique du discours" (Olbrechts-Tyteca, 1974). To give some flesh to this concept we will refer to Flaubert’s "Bouvard et Pécuchet" (1880), an intrigue and a text most Romanists are familiar with.
More...Keywords: Teamwork; teamwork problems; organizational problem
The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the twenty most important issues, that will help you understand the issues related to building teams efficiently managed and cooperating to achieve the assumed goals goals. The data collected in the 21st century indicate that it is the most important factor for employees, right after the company they take up employment in, it is who they work with - in what team and by whom they are led. There is not a simple recipe for creating the perfect team, but building a dictionary concepts describing teamwork is a necessary but not sufficient condition, for solving emerging problems.
More...The Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities Skopje, in conjunction with the Visegrad Fund and the Balkan Trust for Democracy-The German Marshall Fund of the United States, is proud to present the proceedings from the Avenues of Cooperation conference, which was dedicated to finding a solution to the cultural conflict between the Macedonian and the Bulgarian state related to their respective nation-building narratives which has caused a stalemate in the Union’s enlargement process blocking the next step of North Macedonia’s accession to the European Union. The “Avenues of Cooperation Proceedings” present in depth analyses on these issues and include contributions from: Gábor Egry, Spasimir Domaradzki, Costas Douzinas, Marta Szpala, Michal Vit, Ljupcho Petkovski, Stefan Detchev, and Katerina Kolozova. Through various historical (with an emphasis on exploring the past experiences and conflicts/conflict resolutions of other Visegrad countries), cultural, and political analyses, based largely on the contributors’ own backgrounds, new, practical and concrete ways of moving forward past the deadlock between Macedonia and Bulgaria are presented from multiple perspectives all coalescing around a shared goal. Thus, these proceedings offer solutions and recommendations to long standing cultural, national, historical and political disputes between the two nations with the aim of bettering relations, increasing cooperation, and, crucially, unblocking the EU enlargement process and creating models that would allow for the prevention of any such situations happening again in the future.
More...Keywords: Anti-Americanism; US Foundations; Americanism; Ford Foundation; Congress for Cultural Freedom;
This research article is structured so as to demonstrate the political-cultural-ideological roles of US foundations at home and abroad during the Cold War, with special reference to promoting their concept of Americanism and combating dissenting forces. First, the article briefly examines the concept of “anti-Americanism”, which is central to the project of which this article is a small part; secondly, it provides an introduction to the origins, aims and world-view of the foundations and their broad ideas and definitions of “Americanism” and “anti-Americanism”, both controversial concepts subject to great debate within the United States particularly in the ideologically-charged atmosphere of the twentieth century; thirdly, it considers the foundations’ social composition; fourthly, the paper considers the numerous and varied activities of the foundations in selling “Americanism” and combating “anti-Americanism”, inside and outside the USA. Finally, the paper closes with a discussion of the purposes of “anti-Americanism” in the life of the foundations and how those purposes and activities may best be theoretically understood.
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