IDENTITATEA PROVINCIALĂ ÎNTRE IMAGINAR POLITIC ŞI ISTORIOGRAFIE

Author(s): Dionisie Liboni / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 6/2015

This study of the southern half of the actual Ukrainian State and Bessarabia (named New Russia/Novorossiya during the imperial period) between 1825 and 1845 reveals that the Russian Administration succeeded in development of the local cultural identity like as a constituent sub-unity of the pan-Imperial conscience. The success is indicated by attempts of the first historians of the region, especially Apollon Skal’kovskii and Nikolai Murzakevich, to establish an own vision of the past, which was ahistorical before the instalment of regular administration of the Duke Potemkin-Tavricheskiy, according to their vision.

IMPACTUL CARANTINEI DUNÃRENE ASUPRA COMERŢULUI INTERNAŢIONAL CU CEREALE DIN REGIUNEA DUNÃRII DE JOS (1829-1853)

Author(s): Cristian Constantin / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 6/2015

During the 18th and 19th centuries, a large part of the world grain trade was controlled by certain intermediate ports, where it was stored for lengthy periods and sold when market conditions seemed favourable. This procedure was called deposit trade, and it occupied most of the commerce of large ports such as Hamburg and Amsterdam in Northern Europe, Marseille, Genoa, Leghorn and Trieste in the Mediterranean. By the early 1830s, Danubian grain entered this commercial pattern, following the provisions of the Russian–Turkish Peace of Adrianople (1829). It granted the two Romanian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia full freedom to pursue commerce and to navigate on the Danube, turning the ports of Brăila and Galaţi into important suppliers of grain on the European markets. In the following two decades, Danubian grain supplied the Mediterranean deposit ports, before a decisive shift took place following the repeal of the Corn Laws in Britain, when most of the Danubian wheat and maize was carried directly to the British archipelago. The original writings of several foreign travellers who visited the Romanian Principalities provided us with important information about the Danubian quarantine established at the mouth of the Danube (or in Dobrudja) in the 19th century. The works of the foreign travellers included in the series of foreign travellers about the Romanian Principalities in the 19th century, managed to portray the manner in which the quarantine was organized and how disinfection measures were applied to both people and goods.

FRAGMENTE DIN ISTORIA ZBUCIUMATÃ A UNUI LÃCAŞ DE CULT UITAT: BISERICA DE LEMN DIN ŞOIMENI

Author(s): Silviu-Marcel Costin / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 6/2015

in Şoimeni village started,according to some sources around the last decades of the XVII century and accordingto others in the first half of XVIII century. The existing data shows that the churchwas build in a short period due to the effort made by the entire community of thevillage. With this scope, was hired a professional church builder, the artisanDumitru Ispas from Mărgău, Cluj county. The church served as parish church fortwo centuries. Starting the year 1883 the wood church was removed from theliturgical use because it was built a brick church and the old one was moved on theparish field. Since then, it started to degrade. At the beginning of the XX century,its tower was demolished and the rest was transformed in granary. Later, was triedto obtain, restored and relocated on the old location, but this initiatives weren’tsuccessful. Today, it continues to be a granary.

DIN ISTORIA MAI PUŢIN CUNOSCUTÃ A MARELUI RÃZBOI. INSTITUIREA ,,GRANIŢEI CULTURALE”, ARESTAREA, ÎNCARCERAREA ŞI DEPORTAREA PREOŢILOR ROMÂNI TRANSILVÃNENI ÎN UNGARIA (1916-1918)

Author(s): Mihai-Octavian Groza / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 6/2015

The First World War, besides the chaos, the mess, the devastation and many other, also led to problems connected with to a refugees, the hospitalized people, prisoners of war, phenomenon that can only be understood through the differences between the different admission systems. Careful supervision, concentration, admission and civil deportation, that were thought by the decision makers as necessary in sustaining the war efforts, it became in the war years a usual practice. By far, the most illustrative case is the one of Austro-Hungarian monarchy where, even before the outburst, there were plans and regulations made in the exceptional, in the regions populated by diverse nationalities, authorities to be able to oversee, restrict, censorship their activity. Of course, in Transylvania, as a part of Hungaria, this policy was present, starting with 1907, when Antal Huszar, official in the political section of the govern in Budapest, published a book, specially for the govern members, under the name of Black Book, in which the author presents all „Daco-Romans”, priests and common people, that would be enrolled in the case of an war in the region. Starting from this, we will try in our paper to analyze from the point of view of cultural history, an incident almost unknown in the history of Transylvania (Transylvania, Banat, Crişana and Maramureş), that happened between 1916-1918. We are talking about the arrest, incarceration and deportation of the Romanian priests in west of Hungaria.

INTERELAŢIA PROFESOR-ELEV-FAMILIE-SOCIETATE PROMOVATĂ PRIN PARTENERIATUL EDUCAŢIONAL

Author(s): Adriana Denisa Manea / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 6/2015

Modern pedagogy highlights the eficient relationship between teacher-student-family-society as essential in reaching the educational objectives. Enhanceing trust and reciproc respect at the level of the triangle student-teacher-parent that is concretizeid in educational colaboration and cooperation actions. The pedagogical relation derived from the educational praxism doesent exclude, on the contrary it assums teacher authority in the sens of projecting, organizeing and monitorizeing the learning activities of the student, and in the same time, he is the guarantor of an coparticipative manifestation of the educational actors (school, family, society) in obtaining school performance.

ADUNAREA GENERALÃ A DESPÃRŢÃMÂNTULUI NÃSÃUD AL ASTREI (13 FEBRUARIE 2016)

Author(s): Ana Filip / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 6/2015

In this article, teacher Ana Filip describes the Yearly General Assembly of Transylvanian Association for Romanian Culture and Literature of Romanian People - ASTRA, that took place at Năsăud in 13 February 2016.

Teodor Vârnav, Istoria vieţii mele, Iaşi, Polirom, 2015, 145 p.

Author(s): Andrei Sabin Faur / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 6/2015

In this review, Andrei Sabin Faur, PhD candidate in History at "Babeş-Bolyai" University in Cluj, Romania, presents the book of Teodor Vârnav about his own biography.

Cristian Bãdiliţã, Emanuel Conţac (editori), Şi cerul s-a umplut de sfinţi...Martiriul în Antichitatea creştină şi în secolul XX, Bucureşti, Editura Curtea Veche, 2012, 571 p.

Author(s): Călin Emilian Cira / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 6/2015

In this book, Calin Emilian Cira, PhD in History, present the named book.

FAMILIA TEMPORAR DEZINTEGRATĂ: FACTOR CE AFECTEAZĂ SUCCESUL ŞCOLAR AL ELEVULUI (STUDIU DE CAZ: REPUBLICA MOLDOVA)

Author(s): Corina-Elena Radu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 6/2015

Family represents the principal institution of the society as well as the first educative environment where the child is raised and educated as a certain personality, the family being responsible for their rapid integration within the social life.

DOES GENDER REALLY AFFECT SHOPPING PATTERNS?

Author(s): Ioana Nicoleta Abrudan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

Movies, jokes, books and folklore are full of stereotypes on the differences between men and women. Of these, one of the most known and accepted, even in academic literature, is related to differences in shopping behavior of men and women. Women are “renowned” for indulging themselves in shopping as a form of therapy, of relaxation and pastime. Departing from this largely accepted dogma, that women love shopping, and that they spend more time and money on both products and services, a generalization on differences on all aspects of shopping may be inferred. But are they really that different from men with respect to shopping habits? The aim of the present study is to question whether these assumptions about the differences between women and men shopping behavior are indeed true. The results indicate differences in shopping orientations, but no statistically significant differences regarding the amount of money and time spent shopping and similarities on all the other facets of shopping included in the study - formats preferred, days of the week spent shopping, distance traveled to the stores, accompanying parties when shopping, impulse shopping behavior.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND STRENGTH OF AUDITING AND REPORTING STANDARDS: A CROSS-COUNTRY SURVEY

Author(s): Cristina Boţa-Avram,Adrian Groşanu,Paula Ramona Răchişan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

The purpose of this cross-country empirical survey is to investigate the relationship between the strength of auditing and reporting standards and some corporate governance characteristics such as efficacy of corporate boards and ethical behaviour of firms. All three variables were captured through the indicators included in the report of World Economic Forum entitled “The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013” selected for 144 countries from all over the world. The findings validate the research hypothesis concerning the significant influence of some of the corporate governance dimensions on the strength of auditing and reporting standards, from a cross-country perspective.

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING PRACTICES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SOUTH AFRICAN AND BOTSWANA LISTED COMPANIES

Author(s): Bendriba Kiyanga,Christa Wingard,Christo Cronjé / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

Sustainability reporting is a type of reporting concerning how entities deal with environmental, social, economic and corporate governance issues. This form of corporate reporting has become a primary form of corporate reporting – just like financial reporting. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the sustainability reporting practices of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) companies are comparable to those of the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) companies. The findings suggest that differences in the level of sustainability reporting could be due to fewer sustainable activities in the BSE sample or to inadequate reporting of sustainable activities in in the BSE sample. These results support the Institutional theory but seem to disagree with other theories that explain sustainability reporting. A study of Institutional differences between Botswana and South Africa is recommended.

ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE FORECASTING ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF MANAGEMENT

Author(s): Sorin Romulus Berinde,Partenie Dumbravă / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

Forecasting the audited entities’ performances in correlation with management typology (local or foreign) proves to be useful in terms of estimating the impact of a particular type of management of the audited entities upon indebtedness policies, the efficiency of using the shareholders’ assets and capitals, and upon the contribution of revenues to strengthen the self-financing capacity. Establishing a mathematical model, tested on a stratified sample within a representative county at national level, provide relevance to the present research results. The study found a positive linear correlation between the performance of audited entities from Cluj County regardless of the type of management and the financial years.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN ROMANIA: A BRIEF SURVEY

Author(s): Cornelia Pop / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

In October 2011, the European Commission proposed a new definition of CSR as being the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society (European Commission, 2011). As a European Union (EU) member state, Romanian organizations are expected to use henceforth this definition as the main framework. According to Mandl & Dorr (2007), Romanian organizations became familiar with the modern concept of CSR during the 1990s. An important step ahead for CSR evolution in Romania was the issuance of the National Strategy to Promote Social Responsibility 2011 and 2016. The present paper presents a brief survey of CSR in Romania based on the three recent studies published by Ernst & Young (2013, 2014, 2015) on CSR trends and realities in Romania and relate their results with some of the existing results published within the Romanian academic research. The results show that the CSR meaning remains blurry at the level of Romanian companies, in general. The results of this brief study are in accordance with the previous studies that showed the followings: a) CSR in Romania is a concept initially introduced (or rather imposed to their respective branches) by MNCs, (Iamandi, 2011); and in the cases of Romanian owned companies might be rather an imitation of the foreign practices (Obrad et al.2011); b) social responsibility programs are perceived as not important and irrelevant for the business, mainly by the Romanian owned companies (Cristache, 2011; c) the CSR in Romania is still at an early stage of development, despite the increase number of CSR initiatives; as Baleanu et al. (2011) showed, CSR is still punctual and targets relatively disparate activities with reputational aim; Zait et al. (2015) complete the image by highlighting that the CSR activities are based on wishes and circumstantial influences, subjective preferences and cultural inclinations of important managers of the respective companies; d) CSR seems to be developed rather due to the fact that it is perceived as 'politically correct' within the European Union, and fashionable. Still considered a frontier market economy, Romania lacks the investors' sophistication that might determine CSR to become a strategic tool for sustainable development. While the models of MNCs subsidiaries are good, they have to be adapted and transformed into Romanian companies 'own brand' of CSR activities. The numerous CSR initiatives at country level still lack coordination with the real social needs (maybe except for the natural environment). Thus, as Iamandi (2011) suggested, CSR development in Romania is expected to follow a path similar to other European countries. The pace of this development however is influenced by the specific domestic problems and perceptions.

Дмитрий Буланин на 60 години

Author(s): Anisava Miltenova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 26/2013

Дмитрий Буланин на 60 години

Author(s): / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 26/2013

Bringing Pyongyang Back: the Prospects for Establishing Multilateral Cooperation Mechanism in East Asia

Author(s): Agnieszka Batko / Language(s): English Issue: 2 (05)/2015

In this interconnected world, the multilateral mechanisms become more and more present and relevant. However, East Asia is a notable exception with no such institutionalised tool. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) remains the most troubling state and the main reason why collaboration has not resulted in strengthening the stability in East Asia. Although a formal dialogue called the Six Party Talks exists, it currently remains in deadlock after two nuclear tests conducted by Pyongyang in 2009. The actions that took place throughout last year have once again drawn greater attention to the Korean Peninsula, raising the possibility of resuming the negotiations. Nevertheless, the question about what this new agenda should include remain relevant. The purpose of this paper is to outline international relations in Northeast Asia from both theoretical and practical perspective and provide ideas on what can be done to facilitate the cooperation between the states.

Więzienie w Guantanamo jako przykład biopolitycznego paradygmatu globalnej wojny z terroryzmem

Author(s): Magdalena M. Kania / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2 (05)/2015

The aim of this article is to introduce the problem of indefinite detainees of Guantanamo Bay into the framework of biopolitical interpretation of Global War on Terror (GWOT). From the very first days of GWOT, the George W. Bush administration mobilized all available resources to fight with everyone suspected as a potential terrorist in all areas, including legal area. The intentional consequence of this fight was the elimination of political rights for indefinite detainees. Potentially risky individuals were suspected in the context of normal law – what can be perceived as a visible result of sovereign’s decisions and actions – and were transformed into bare lives, figure of homini sacri. Homo sacer means an individual being excluded from the society and social order; it means the situation of being deprived of personal political rights, where the essence of human existence is diminished to physical aspects exclusively. According to Giorgio Agamben and his concept of biopolitics, the camp per se, is the paradigm of modernity. It is the place of permanent production of bare lives, the materialized place of state of exception, the place of law suspension. In the context of post-9/11, Guantanamo detention camp became the pure exemplification of Agamben’s biopolitical camp.

Rousseau’s General Will

Author(s): Giovanni Caporioni / Language(s): English Issue: 2 (05)/2015

The advance of populist parties in the European Union can be interpreted as the sign of an expanding “frustration” about representation in a political sphere oppressed by economic austerity. In this context, the modern philosophical roots of an alternative conception of democracy, based on direct participation, appear to be worth of a careful scrutiny. This paper focuses on the notion of the General Will as described in The Social Contract. After a critical review of the antithetical conceptions of the General Will suggested by Rousseau, a coherent interpretation is proposed, obtained through an analysis of the text taken as a “self- -sufficient” unity: the General Will is pure “ambition” for an unknown common good, shared by all the members of a political community. However, it is argued that the participatory “machinery” of General Will is fundamentally incapable of resolving three serious problems that undermine the foundations of Rousseau’s ideal “République”, namely, 1. How the citizens can identify the common good without errors; 2. How the citizens can develop an ethical dimension by themselves, without any external influence; 3. How single individuals, seen not as active citizens but as passive subjects of the State, can protect themselves from the abuses of power.

Against the Current. A Remarkable Literary Discourse on Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe in Terms of Self and Other

Author(s): Emma Klever / Language(s): English Issue: 2 (05)/2015

The political reality of the European Union is not reflected in the general discourse on the relationship between Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe, which is characterized by an adverse attitude towards the latter. This impacts identity construction on the European level, where Central and Eastern Europe has long been regarded as the “Other” against which the European “self ” was defined. However, a new discourse on this relationship has emerged in literary works written by scholars and journalists that are able to take an overarching perspective. The present study analyses four publications to see how the relationship between Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe is portrayed in terms of the self and the Other, employing the Discourse Historical Approach and a spectrum of the self and the Other perspectives. It emerges that the discussed authors share a discourse which respects differences, focuses on similarities as well as differences and shows an awareness of the interwovenness of the narratives of the self and the Other. This new, shared discourse holds directions for the further development of a European-wide discourse that includes the same notions of respect and the interwovenness of narratives, and which could in turn influence European identity construction.