Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-8 July
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Highlights from our coverage region: commemorations for Srebrenica; Chechen exiles antsy after killing; curfew protests in Belgrade; alleged MP kidnapping in Moldova; plague in Mongolia.
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The term figura gives us the possibility to think about the critical limits of the entanglement between the political and the poetical on the fluctuating trajectories of the passing time (chronos) and the embodied time of the event (kairos). In Auerbach’s article “Figure” (1938) the concept is defined as a dynamic with its own regime of historicity, connecting one particular person/event with another particular person/event. Such a regime presumes the kairotic logic of the right occasion, of the exceptional time of the context, where something that is suggested to happen, just happens. This is the process of real embodiment of figures. The main point of Auerbach is that the figura is a temporal, not only а special topological concept. It is characterized by its dynamic and radiant power, its own historicity inasmuch as it has inherited and preserves several temporal layers. In the end of this paper I shall make a distinction between a literary figure and a conceptual persona. Bartleby, the Scrivener is seen as a conceptual persona by Deleuze and Guattari, Derrida, Badiou, Rancière, Hardt and Negri, Agamben, Zupancic, Zizek, yet Bartleby is still a literary figure above all else – a literary figure that sometimes copies its own formation, and sometimes… simply prefers not to. The task of the current paper is to outline the stakes of modern literary history, composed through literary figures.
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Regional headlines: coronavirus in Czechia; EU sanctions for Minsk and Moscow; state of emergency in Bishkek; an “earthquake bomb” in Poland; and nuclear energy in Romania.
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Drawing from a large number of sources I have been able to identify 196 industrialists with relatively complete biographical data. The following bioindicators have been collected: the years (and, when possible, the dates) of birth and death, family origin (father's profession and assessment of his property), education, position in the factory, previous or parallel economic activity, participation in the revolutionary movement (in including IMRO), membership in cultural, educational or professional organizations, party membership, high administrative positions and family ties. The generalized factory sociology is presented in tabular and narrative form and along with the general picture a focus is given on the first founding fathers from the classical Grunder period between 1880 and 1899.
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During the period 1879 – 1912 in Bulgaria the security of private land ownership was very conditional. The rule of law also was not a well-established practice. The paper identifies laws whose provisions were not implemented, normative acts, which, although considered as necessary, were not adopted for a longtime, and laws, the application of which generates instability and uncertainty regarding land property. The described institutional disorders and the lack of state capacity contribute to retention of agriculture at a low level with primitive equipment, weak market affiliation and limited productivity.
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The article presents the research papers dedicated to Bulgaria’s economic development in the 1880s selected by the Editorial Board of and published in the journal Industry printed in the town of Svishtov in the period 1887–1890. It puts an emphasis on the policy of openness and freedom adopted by the state, which,along with each individual citizen and the society as a whole are regarded the key drives for development. The paper discusses the various opinions regarding the achievements in each economic sector, the problems they face, and the causes for the slower rates of economic development. The journal regards the prosperity of the country as a function of free-market entrepreneurship and household savings as a source of capital investment rather than a return to protectionist policies and the accelerated integration of Bulgaria into the civilized world through harmonization of the relations between man and society.
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At the end of the 19th century, the Bulgarian party structure was established, and through the mechanisms of the constitutional system, took over the government of the country and its political and economic modernization. The Liberal Party led by Dr. Vasil Radoslavov is one of the parties governing the country. Like the other parties, it kept its focus mainly on the political and not economic sphere. In their program, the liberals concretize their practical ideas. Their views on the protection and defense of agriculture, livestock, industry, trade and the introduction of a modern tax system are in line with the latest ideas of their time and fully meet the interests of the economic change of the state and the society.
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The Institute for constitutional Ministerial criminal liability in Bulgaria is based on article 155–159 from the Constitution of the Bulgarian Principality, adopted in 1879. It provides for a specific procedure through which the members of the government to be judged outside of the civil courts. From 1880 to 1923, under this procedure four trials were held. In this case, we focus on the work of the Second State Court (1910 – 1914). It explores potential law violations committed by ministers from People`s Liberal Party of Bulgaria, during the period of 1903–1908. Later on, in 1913, the indictment was published. This paper analyzes the crimes of former Minister of War Mikhail Savov that are subject to an indictment. The author comes to the conclusion that most of the allegations were unfounded. In 1914, as a result of political reasons, the decision of the Parliament was made to remove the criminal responsibility of the ministries.
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The study traces the formation and development of the Church-Economic Department at the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The newly created structure aims to organize the monastery lands into efficient farms. With this purpose, a department was created, which monitors the work of monastery forests and one, which takes care of the fruits and vineyard distribution. In order to provide material support of the newly created structure, a Church-Monastery Fund was also created, which is filled up by surpluses of the church and monastery funds. Some distinct experts were involved in the Church-Monastery Department, who help in formation of its structures and in reaching high yields and quality of the cultivating seedlings and crops. The successful development of the Church-Economic Department is hindered by the state policy. Alexander Stamboliyski’s regime brings in action the Law on Labor Land Ownership, which requires confiscation of uncultivated lands and its distribution to the needy population. The article of the law also applies to monastic lands. This policy has two irreversible consequences. One is connected to the gradual withdrawal of leading and specialized personnel out of the Church-Economic Department, and second is related to increasing the negative reaction of part of Synod elders and some abbots. The Church’s internal disagreements regarding the economic policy are caused by the centralization process and regulation of the economic activity and the exhaustion of the monastery funds, from which about 1/3are being allocated for the benefit of different church funds.
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The predominant opinion in Bulgarian historiography on the consequences of the 19th of May 1934 coup d’état is that there was a significant change in the nature, directions and content of politico-economic life in Bulgaria. This dramatic change is considered a result of the new governmental policies. To some extent, this is correct statement for certain aspects of Bulgaria's development during the second half of the 1930s, and until 1944. However, there are areas of public life in which there is clear continuity between the pre-coup anti-crisis policy of the Popular Block (Naroden blok) and that of the post-coup government led by Kimon Georgiev. Among areas of continuity is the economic policy aimed to overcome the negative effects of the Great Depression on Bulgarian economy. The problem of continuity in economic policy of Bulgaria during the 1930s has not been developed so far in Bulgarian historiography. This article aims to reveal the existence of continuity between the governments that ruled the country during the Great Depression and, to raise the general issue of continuity during the Third Bulgarian State.
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In the 1840s and 1850s, a conflict broke out in the Tarnovo region between two warring parties. One was supporting the Metropolitan of Tarnovo, and the other – his opponent. Of course, this case cannot be separated from the main processes taking place in the Ottoman Empire. The Tanzimat reforms are considered to remain only on paper, but they gave a new spirit among the Bulgarian population in search of their identity against the old and difficult to reform Orthodox Church with the center of Constantinople. The appearance of rich and influential Bulgarians such as Hadzhi Mincho Hadzhi Tsachev and his interests affected by the Metropolitan of Tarnovo Neofit are the basis of our article. Each of the two warring parties sought support not only from the local population, but also from government and church circles. A supporter of Metropolitan Neofit in Constantinople is Nikomidias, a person who has not been the subject of research. The representative of supreme Ottoman government in the person of Stefan Bogoridi also turned out to be a supporter of Neofit. Letters from the fund of Georgi Popsimenov (National Library – Sofia), a vekil of Tarnovska Kaza, who represented a delegation in defense of the Tarnovo Metropolitan Neophyte and their wandering in the labyrinth of bureaucratic Constantinople, are studied.
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For the most part of the 19th century Karlovo region experienced a sharp rise in its socio-economic and demographic spheres, to end the century, after the Liberation in 1878, with a significant decline in its economic potential, and hence the demographic situation of the region. In the first half of the 19th century, the sub-Balkan settlements, led by the regional capital Karlovo, formed a popular center of proto-industrial development of the textile industry in the European part of the Ottoman Empire through a number of crafts, but mostly through braiding. For example, in the third quarter of the 19th century, there were about 2,000 braid machines in Karlovo, producing more than 339,730 kg of braid per year. Together with the neighboring villages of Sopot and Kalofer, where approx. 1700 additional braiding machines were located, the region occupied the leading position in the production of braid products in the Ottoman Empire during the 1860s and 1870s. The end of the Russo-Turkish Liberation War found the region of Karlovo in a difficult socio-economic situation. The war and the atrocities of the bashibozouks resulted in destruction and mass emigration in the main craft centers of Karlovo, Kalofer, and Sopot. The new socio-economic and geopolitical reality offered a brand new way of production and marketing of products in completely new markets, where the ordinary Bulgarian craftsman and trader had to compete with the experienced competitors and industrialists from Central and Western Europe. The newly introduced tariffs significantly increased the product’s export price, and thus the urban population in Rumelia gradually began preferring cheaper imported goods and raw materials. As a result, the main livelihood of sub-Balkan urban town centers remained the declining crafts, most notably braid production, but the local and the central government failed to help and slow the economic collapse. The other significant subsistence industry in those towns was the rose gardens and rose production, which was also widespread in the region. Apart from the few towns, the rest of over 40 villages in the region subsisted mainly on agriculture, horticulture, and cattle breeding in the years after the Liberation. In conclusion, it could be said that the transition from proto-industrial to factory production proved unsuccessful in the first decades after the Liberation, despite a few successful initiatives and productions. One of the factors for this, especially in the region of Karlovo is, among other things, also the demographic factor.
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The article traces the economic policy of Svishtov municipality during the rule of the mayor Hristo Teodorov (1887–1893). His rule coincided with the active economic policy of the cabinet of Stefan Stambolov (1887–1894). The measures that the municipal government takes to help traders, entrepreneurs and the development of the infrastructure of the municipality are analyzed. It is concluded that the greatest assistance provided by the municipality to local businesses is through the construction of modern infrastructure.
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This work presents the consecutive fourth part of gathered primary material on the topic of the natural trade and service payments in Bulgarian lands through the second half of 19th and the first decades of 20th centuries. I hope that the represented materials can serve for a good basis about further researches as the distant goal is to reveal the system of paying in kind in Bulgarian lands and to reconstruct the economic models from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
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Due to an unfortunate past, in which women, as well as people of different origins were regarded as inferior beings by the majority of the male population, in many languages, both Latin and Germanic, there are a lot of idiomatic expressions with negative connotations about these “minorities”. The Other – seen as any person belonging to another gender, race, nationality or sexual orientation – is perceived as strange, wicked or misfit. This negative attitude towards women is usually reflected at the lexical level, in the idioms used in the conversations with or about them. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide a contrastive study in three languages – Romanian, English and Spanish – of the expressions with sexist connotations, in order to identify the similarities and the differences between them and to get a clear picture of what lies beneath them, at the level of collective mentalities in various societies.
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Godność ludzka ma uniwersalny, ponadkulturowy i ponadnarodowy charakter. Każdy człowiek od chwili narodzin aż do momentu śmierci powinien być traktowany z należytą godnością. Poszanowanie kultu przodków, stanowiące element ludzkiego życia w inherentny sposób wiąże się z godnością człowieka. Celem artykułu jest zaprezentowanie znaczenia godności ludzkiej w kontekście poszanowania kultu przodków przedstawicieli różnych kultur.
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W początkach XX w. benedyktyńskie opactwo Maria Laach w Niemczech zaczęło ogrywać decydującą rolę w europejskim ruchu liturgicznym. Przyczynił się do tego długoletni opat (1913–1946) Ildefons Herwegen, który zachęcił mnichów do apostolatu i studiów liturgicznych. W opactwie kładziono nacisk na piękne sprawowanie liturgii, do której mnichów przygotowywały konferencje liturgiczne. Formacją liturgiczną objęto duchowieństwo, środowiska akademickie, młodzież oraz świeckich katolików. Prowadzono tam badania naukowe dotyczące historii i teologii liturgii. Szczególnym osiągnięciem była wypracowana przez Odo Casela teologia misteryjna. W opactwie przeprowadzono także eksperymenty liturgiczne, które stały się podstawą posoborowej reformy liturgicznej. Opactwo prowadziło także działalność wydawniczą. Najważniejsze wydawnictwa to czasopismo „Jahrbuch für Liturgiewissenschaft” oraz seria wydawnicza Ecclesia orans.
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Interesującym zjawiskiem w oficjach o Św. Katarzynie z Aleksandrii jest modlitwa (kolekta) „Deus qui dedisti legem Moysi…”. Nie ma ona jednej, uniwersalnej wersji (jak np. „Pater noster”). Autor podzielił tekst kolekty na kilkanaście elementów (fraz), wskazując, że niemal wszystkie one mogą być rozmaicie kształtowane. Niektóre z nich są charakterystyczne – tym samym mogą wskazywać na proweniencję księgi liturgicznej.
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