The unwanted Past and Urban Regeneration of Communist Heritage Cities.

Author(s): Corina Turşie / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2015

Within the ECoC programme, it has been argued that the European dimension is most visible when the candidates reflect their own history as a part of European history, particularly when hinting at their involvement with the major ideologies of twentieth century, such as National Socialism or Communism. ECoC is about cities re-inventing their identities, re-narrating their history in a European context. But how should ex-communist cities deal with their unwanted past and narrate it in order to fit into the European dimension of the project? The focus of this investigation is on three ex-ECOCs from ex-Communist Europe, chosen for several reasons: geographical position (Central, Eastern/Northern European countries, ex-communist past, new membership of the European Union (since 2004), the year of holding the title (the two ECoC selection criteria exist since 2010). Using qualitative content analysis on a set of documents (application books, official web pages and ex-post evaluations) the study will offer an analysis of cities’ politics of memory and urban regeneration strategies.

Die Entstehung der modernen Ukraine - die westliche Dimension

Author(s): Roman Szporluk / Language(s): German Issue: 29/2005

In den kommenden Jahren werden sich die politischen Beobachter mit Sicherheit der Frage widmen (und über sie streiten), welcher Stellenwert der »Orangen Revolution« für die postkommunistische Politik und Gesellschaft der Ukraine - und weit über sie hinaus - zukommt. Geleitet von ihrer jeweiligen Sicht auf »2004«, werden die Historiker die Geschichte der Ukraine neu interpretieren und schreiben. Damit bleiben sie einer bewährten akademischen Tradition treu: »1917« hat, wie man weiß, ganze Gelehrtengenerationen in Russland und im Westen dazu animiert, in der russischen Geschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts nach den Ursprüngen der bolschewistischen Revolution zu suchen - und sie zu finden.

Around the Bloc: Google Maps Will Revert to Old Names for Crimea

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English Issue: 08/02/2016

After complaints from Russian-annexed region, the mapping service will undo changes in street, town and region names.

Акад. Мито Исусов и Историческата школа в Приморско 1978–1999

Author(s): Ilia Todev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5-6/2013

Based mainly on personal memories, the author presents the so called School of Young Historians in Primorsko, annually conducted from 1978 till 1999, and the role of M. Isusov in it. All major units of scientific and historical character in the country regularly sent representatives in Primorsko. In this sense, the School was (all-) national. Regularly there were also foreigners – i. e. it was international. It was also interdisciplinary; all the historical disciplines were presented. The school stood out with its free spirit and attracted famous and promising names (such as Zhelyo Zhelev and Georgi Parvanov). It is not only the most durable forum for Bulgarian history (in 22 years the school was held 21 times) – but also the most open minded one.

CAUSES OF THE ARMED CONFLICT IN CROATIA 1991. RESOLVING CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL INCONSISTENCIES

Author(s): Kosta Nikolić,Marina Ilić / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

This text is intended to identify, clarify and resolve the most frequent examples of methodological inconsistencies found in the current literature by Serbian and foreign researchers, and to point to their conceptual, methodological and factual inconsistencies. This work follows the basic line of conceptual delimitation concerning the phenomenon of the breakup of Yugoslavia, on one hand, and of the violent conflicts in certain Yugoslav republics, on the other. It is based on the interdisciplinary analysis of the findings in the field of international relations and historical analysis, while relying primarily on the fundamental sources of historical material. Henceforth, this paper will address the issues of correct determining of the main and secondary actors, temporal determination and elements for making a clear and unambiguous definition of the armed conflict in Croatia.

From Informal to Illegal

Author(s): Mariya Ivancheva / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2015

Három a A magyar polip (1., 2. és az Anatómiája)

Author(s): István Schlett,Mihály Laki,Balázs Váradi / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3-4/2015

Magyar polip – A posztkommunista maffiaállam. Szerk. Magyar Bálint Noran Libro, Budapest, 2013. 412 oldal, 3390 Ft; Magyar polip: A posztkommunista maffiaállam 2. Szerkesztette és az előszót írta:Magyar Bálint, Noran Libro, Budapest, 2014, 439 oldal, 3990 Ft; Magyar Bálint: A magyar maffiaállam anatómiája Noran Libro, Budapest, 2015. 312 oldal, 2990 Ft

IMAMSKI RAD U TOKU AGRESIJE: IBRAHIM EF. HALILOVIĆ, MUFTIJA BANJALUČKI

Author(s): Amir Meholjić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 62/2015

The introduction of the article briefly presents the work of imams in changed, war circumstances in BiH (1992-1995). The article focuses upon the fate of late Ibrahim ef. Halilović (1946-1998), mufti of Banja Luka, who started and ended his engagement in the Islamic Community - in Banja Luka. The aim of the article was to research the circumstances of his work during the period of the aggression. Considering the fact that the available documents are insufficient for such a research we used the following research methods: questioning, method of the content analysis and inductive method. On the bases of collected data the life and the work of imam/ mufti in the occupied territory is presented as well as the problems that he encountered and his efforts in preserving the remaining Jamaat in Banja Luka.

Slovenian Socialist Parliament on the Eve of the Dissolution of the Yugoslav Federation

Author(s): Jure Gašparič / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2015

In 1986, on the eve of the dissolution of the Yugoslav Federation, the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia was a rather boring authority, restricted to the bureaucratic and formalist framework. It consisted of non%professional delegates without significant social influence, elected in a specific indirect manner. However, it was this very Assembly that passed several key decisions a few years later, leading to the introduction of a multi-party system and elements of market economy, as well as strengthening the position of the republic. It seems that at the time this Assembly became the primary factor of transition and that it was this very institution that destabilised the Yugoslav federation. However, such an evaluation has nevertheless not asserted itself. The role of the socialist Assembly appears vague. Consequently the author, in his contribution, seeks to answer the following question: What sort of an authority body was the socialist Assembly? Initially the author presents the genesis of the Yugoslav Assembly system and its basic characteristics, and then he explores the three different levels or possible outlooks on the Assembly: legal level, perceptual level (how people saw the Assembly), and the level of internal mechanisms (how the parliamentary discussions changed).

Revolution by the law

Author(s): Petr Roubal / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2015

This study looks at the role of the Federal Assembly in the Velvet Revolution. With the disintegration of the communist party, the Federal Assembly became unexpectedly a key constitutional institution with far reaching powers in times of rapid political change. The revolutionary movement Civic Forum forced through a legislation that enabled to recall substantial part of the members of the parliament and replace them by its own candidates through co-optation. This method of "cleansing" of the parliament had far-reaching consequences for the post-November Czechoslovak political culture.

Debates were to be held in the parliament, but it proved impossible

Author(s): Tomáš Zahradníček / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2015

During 1989, the year of the collapse of the Communist regime, a claim was often repeated in Czechoslovakia that substantive political debate about the direction of the country ought to be held particularly in the parliament. Yet the key political debates shun away from the parliament for the entire year. The legislature did not become the stage for politics, a forum for substantive debates or the arena for competing forces. The article maps the attempts to empower the parliament and analyses the reasons for their failure. Particular focus is given to the few weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall that culminated in Czechoslovakia with the election of Václav Havel and Alexander Dubček to the supreme constitutional posts of the President and Chairman of the Federal Assembly.

ŽIVOT IZBJEGLICA IZ BOSNE I HERCEGOVINE U SABIRNOM CENTRU U PTUJU IZMEĐU 1992. i 1996. GODINE

Author(s): Katja Zupanič / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian Issue: 14/2011

This article deals with the fate of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a detention center in Ptuj, who left their homes during the last war in the Balkans, in 1992, to save THEIR lives, and find their refuge in Slovenia or Ptuj. Despite the fact that the local authorities in Ptuj, and many individuals and humanitarian organizations sought to provide good conditions for the stay of refugees, their life without the comfort of home, without jobs and entertainment represented a huge burden, especially for children and young people who have tried their games at the moment forget the state in which they are located. During this period, collection center, with the help of six workers from Ptuj, managed to perform a number of other tasks.

«КРАСНЫЙ МЕДВЕДЬ» ИЗ СТРАНЫ БОЛЬШЕВИКОВ (ЭССЕ)

Author(s): Mikhail Yur'yevich Timofeev / Language(s): Russian Issue: 4/2013

The essay deals with comparison of visual images of the bear in the Western and Soviet cultures. Meanwhile the Western caricatures and comics represented the bear as a terrible and fierce beast, the Soviet culture produced the images of peaceful and friendly bears (or more often of bear cubs). In the post-Cold war period the Soviet «Red bear» turns into a character of the pop-culture both in Russia and abroad.

Realaus meno bendrija. Oskaro Koršunovo teatro pradžia

Author(s): Rasa Vasinauskaitė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 4/2007

The article analyses the first productions of Oskaras Koršunovas, put on stage in the years 1991–1994 and based on the texts of Russian authors Daniil Kharms and Alexander Vvedensky. Recalling plays and the audience’s reactions back then, the author of the article emphasizes the freshness of Koršunovas’ productions in the context of Lithuanian theater at that time, distinguishes the trends in direction that influenced Koršunovas most, and associates these trends with the political, social and cultural situation in the country.With the help of modern theater art methods, the article’s author differentiates the style and aesthetics of Koršunovas’ productions, having elements of both avant-garde creations of the beginning of the 20th century and of the late 20th century post-modern and post-dramatic theater. Addressing the director’s methods of expression and his innovations in acting and stenography, the article aims to link these with examples of Russian theater of the 1920s and 1930s as well as with works of Lithuanian artists in the 1990s. Changes in the perception of grotesque, satire, farce, as well as of direction and stage dramaturgy in the 20th century and on Lithuanian stage are analysed.Koršunovas’ productions appeared to be difficult to describe or retell, requiring a generalization of historical and cultural context for interpretation. Contrary to current productions by Jonas Vaitkus, Eimuntas Nekrošius, and Rimas Tuminas, Koršunovas’ “OBERIU“ trilogy demonstrated a great divergence from classical theater and closer resembled the post-dramatic theater model that questioned strategies of traditional scenic mimesis. On the other hand, by distancing themselves from specific reality, Koršunovas’ productions even more suggested the sensation of this reality – the quintessence of an illogical, chaotic, unknowable and incomprehensible world capable of presenting itself only through tragic-satirical and tragic-grotesque signs.

Biographiczne doświadczenia transformacji postsocjalistycznej w korporacjach. Tworzenie neoliberalnej ścieżki

Author(s): Markieta Domecka / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

The neoliberal order, introduced in Poland in the course of post-socialist transformation, constituted a context of action, as well as a repertoire of rules and practices people becoming corporate managers had to learn to cope with. As some took it for granted as ‘the only’ way of joining the economies of the idealized ‘West’, and through their daily practices of efficiency and profit-maximization, they were actually doing the neoliberalism; others, maintaining the distance towards the new world of ‘freedom and opportunity’ managed to develop a more critical stand. These were not actively doing neoliberalism, but merely making do with it, taking it strategically or even instrumentally. In the paper, the role of biographical work and biographical knowledge is analyzed in the process of distancing, which enables monitoring and negotiations of the relations between the acting self and the neoliberal context of action.

Klasa średnia a perspektywa biograficzna. Empiryczne studium przypadku

Author(s): Jacek Burski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2016

The main focus of the article lies in describing the class position of an individual from the Polish middle class, his biographical path, and tensions connected with his actual place in social structure. Background of the analysis is rooted in Fritz Schütze’s methodology of autobiographical narrative interview. One of the main goals is to show the advantages of using biographical methodology in analyzing class structure.

Prisilni nestanci na području Sarajeva 1992–1995.

Author(s): Meldijana Arnaut-Haseljić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 2/2016

During the 1992-1995 Aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina numerous crimes against civilians and the civilian population were committed, in addition to crimes against the peace and security of mankind in the occupied territories and towns under siege, including the Sarajevo Siege, the capital of the country. Within the study of crimes against humanity and international law, the question of enforced disappearances is of particular interest, taking into account the fact that a large number of forcibly disappeared people who police are still looking for. At the start of the Aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo was violently divided into two parts with mass starvation of the civilian population as a common denominator. Military units of the YPA and the VRS were deployed in the occupied parts of the city, where they carried out massive crimes against the civilian population - capture, imprisonment and killing. The total number of forcibly disappeared people in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1992-1995 Aggression is 34,965. For another 8,000 people the search is still ongoing. Many families still deprived of exercising their basic humanitarian law - to know the truth about the fate of their loved ones.

Southeast Europe, the Balkans, Gender and Colonial Strategies: Necessary Resistance

Author(s): Svetlana Slapšak / Language(s): English Issue: 19/2015

The article tries to establish a model of critical reading/deconstruction of the last twenty years of academic dealing with the region and, its gender-related and other relevant consequences. The article will explain how (due to colonizing interpretations, imperial revival, wisdom of the colonized and unexpected alliances) the intellectual landscapes of the region have been shaken; as well as how, along with the social systems, their dissidence has been diminished leaving a huge empty space in knowledge production, cultural creativity, and state-of-the-art communication with humanities outside the region. At the same time, mobility and exchange have increased immensely, along with the skillful use of academic jargons, often lacking criteria. How can we address these paradoxes? Since it does not suffice to project them against the prevailing screen of nationalist narratives mixed with neo-liberal rhetoric, what we need is an analysis of inside problems of former dissident schools of thought. This will show how the old pitfalls and traps have accommodated new self-deceiving strategies. Forced oblivion and newly constructed memories have very much affected all areas, including gender studies, transforming them often into sites of power-games.

Olivera Milosavljević (1951-2015) - Olivera Milosavljević i ženska istorijska škola

Author(s): Gordana Daša Duhaček / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 19/2015

Fiddling while Rome Burns: Institutional Conflict and Party Politics in Romania since 2007

Author(s): Daniel Brett / Language(s): English Issue: 01/2015

Drawing on the work of Maurice Duverger, this paper explores the dynamics of dual systems in the post-communist world by focusing on Romania. Unlike in states such as Poland and Russia, where conflicts between the president and the parliament were resolvedrelatively early in the transition period, conflict appears to have only recently emerged in Romania. This paper argues that the capacity for such conflict has existed since 1989 due to the nature of Romania’s exit from communism and its subsequent transition, which shaped and institutionalised Romanian political culture and its party system. However, actual conflict has emerged only because of recent, externally generated changes in the party system, and the relative decline in the electoral power of the Social Democratic Party. Two attempts by President Băsescu’s opponents to remove him from office, along with increasing constitutional manipulation by all actors, calls into question the consolidation of democracy in Romania. The desire of actors to gain power or remove their opponents by any means necessary, including the use of undemocratic methods, rather than by establishing a broad popular base to achieve these ends reflects the structural problems of the Romanian party system.