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The article deals with discourses on sexuality in Ireland and Polandsince the end of World War II. Because of their nature as “Catholic” countries, both societies witnessed harsh debates on sexual morals and affiliated issues such as contraception and abortion, which were fought between supporters of Catholic social thought on the one side and “progressive” reformers in politics, medicine, and education on the other. Therefore, the article seeks to put these debates into context of processes of (de-)secularization of European societies in the 2nd half of the 20th century. The article focuses on the comparison between Poland and Ireland, because on the one hand there were cultural and historical parallels between them, but on the other hand during the “Cold War” they belonged to two antagonistic“ideological camps”. This led to an attempt of a forced secularization in Poland, which also included sexual morals, while the Irish discourses on sexuality were dominated by the Catholic Church. Finally, the article also analyses recent developments that took place since the 1990s and led to a decrease in power of the Hierarchy and changes in sexual morals in Ireland, while current events in Poland show that the debates about sexuality have not come to an end yet.
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The paper discusses two key aspects of the second presidency of Edvard Beneš: his involvement in the 1948 Coup in Czechoslovakia, and also the portrayal of both president Beneš and the February 1948 political crisis in history textbooks. The first part tackles president Beneš’s strategy in handling the governmental crisis and its limitations with regard to domestic as well as foreign affairs. The paper simultaneously examines the strategy of the Communist Party alongside that of the non-Communist Parties, the resignation of cabinet ministers of the latter having ultimately triggered the crisis. The second part provides a thorough analysis of primary and secondary school history textbooks published both during the so-called ‘Normalisation’ period (1969–1989) and the post-1989 democratic era. The aim of the analysis is to establish which issues related to the 1948 events were considered important and which facts, on the other hand, were being deliberately misinterpreted or suppressed. The author also addresses the questions of how much space in the history curriculum has been provided for individual crisis’ participants, how historical reality is being constructed and how the key players – Edward Beneš and Klement Gottwald – are being represented.
More...Od konca stalinizmu do kapitalistickej transformácie
The review analyzes contact areas and divergences of two publications with a similar topic: "Řídit socialismus jako firmu: Technokratické vládnutí v Československu,1956–1989" [Running Socialism Like a Company: Technocratic Governance in Czechoslovakia, 1956–1989] (Prague: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny and Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, v. v. i., 2019) by Vítězslav Sommer and his two co-authors, and "Architekti dlouhé změny: Expertní kořeny postsocialismu v Československu" [Architects of the Long Change: Expert Roots of Post-Socialism in Czechoslovakia] (Prague: Argo, Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, and Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, v. v. i., 2019) by a team of six authors led by Michal Kopeček, who is also the book’s editor. The reviewer sees both collective monographs as the Czech historiographic feats of 2019, particularly from a methodological viewpoint. In his opinion, their key common feature is an emphasis on historical continuity, where by they question the traditionally perceived periodization of Czechoslovakia’s socialist and post-socialist history in the Central European context and also show how it was contributing to maintaining the power’s legitimacy. Sommer’s project also uses the continuity as a tool of comparison of different (socialist and capitalist) political regimes from the viewpoint of governance expertization, while Kopeček’s project permits advancing beyond the historical milestone of 1989 and finding sources of acceptance of the “liberal consensus” after the restoration of capitalism in the previous period of Czechoslovakia’s existence. The reviewer illustrates the above approach using selected studies from the latter publication, which deal with different spheres in which experts were active: legal science (with Kopeček’s provocative proposition of a “socialist legal state” – socialistický právní stát), psychotherapy, urbanism and ecology. He opines that both publications deal with contemporary history and the formation of capitalist systems in Czechoslovakia and Central Eastern Europe rather than the history of the previous regime. At the same time, they also present the history of the formation of languages of criticism of the restored capitalism, which the reviewer sees as their greatest contribution.
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The third reflection of two collective monographs dealing with similar topics – "Řídit socialismus jako firmu: Technokratické vládnutí v Československu, 1956–1989 [Running Socialism Like a Company: Technocratic Governance in Czechoslovakia,1956–1989] (Prague: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny and Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, v. v. i., 2019) by Vítězslav Sommer and his two co-authors, and "Architekti dlouhé změny: Expertní kořeny postsocialismu v Československu [Architects of the Long Change: Expert Roots of Post-Socialism in Czechoslovakia] (Prague: Argo, Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, and Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, v. v. i., 2019) written by a team of authors under the leadership of the book’s editor, Michal Kopeček – starts with the reviewer’s sigh reflecting his difficult task, as he has no other option but to praise both books, which do not contain any factual errors. In his opinion, the publication "Running Socialism Like a Company", which focuses mainly on the evolution of technocracy in socialist Czechoslovakia is more compact and somewhat more gripping. He highly appreciates the authors’ effort to link technocratic thinking of the second half of the 1950s to remarkable and not much explored technocratic reflections dating back to the pre-war republic, as well as their convincing interpretations of the transformation of visions of expert management of the 1960s to practical applications of so-called social planning, a tool to rule the depoliticized society, and concepts of “socialist enterprise” in the next two decades of the normalization. The authors’ warning against technocratic populism, which highlights successful businessmen as experts who can manage public matters better than democratic politicians is very topical in today’s context. The "Architects of the Long Change" team is probing an even less explored field, pursuing the topic of experts in selected areas of their social activities during the transition from the Czechoslovak normalization period to the 1990s. The reviewer was particularly captured by case histories from specific fields of expertise, such as psychotherapy, sociology, urbanism, and ecology. In the reviewer’s opinion, both books are excellent proof positive that the Czech historiography of contemporary history can produce superb works bearing international comparison.
More...Kontinuity urbánní expertízy na příkladu Bratislavy v "krátkém" dvacátém století
Between 1918 and 1989, Bratislava witnessed at least four major political upheavals, formed part of different states, and its entire social, political and economic order fundamentally changed several times, as well as the position of the city – from the centre of part of Czechoslovakia to the capital of the formally independent state. The main aim of this study is to analyse the development, planning and construction of Bratislava throughout this entire turbulent period, while pointing mainly to the continuities and connections that go beyond these political upheavals. The study focuses on a largely Slovak epistemic community of architects and urban planners inspired by modernism, who were active in Bratislava or influenced its development during the researched period. The first generational cohort of these urban experts was formed by people who, since the 1920s, had drawn inspiration mainly from the environment of the Prague Czech Technical University, where they had the opportunity to become acquainted with modernism in architecture. After the Second World War, some of these figures created an important expert and academic background, from which, in the local context, emerged another extremely influential generation of architects and designers, which had a fundamental influence over the development of the city in the 1960s and 1970s. While some of them remained active well into the 1990s, it is possible to observe as early as in the normalization period (and this is the focus of the final parts of this study) how the approach towards the urban environment they represented was being gradually challenged and was becoming less important. The author analyses the relationship between the urban experts of several generations, as well as between the urban experts and other important actors who influenced the development of Bratislava. He shows how these experts built their positions and secured the continuity of their own approaches to the construction, or more generally, to the development and operation of the city. He also outlines how the ways they exercised their influence changed over the course of several decades and what factors – on the political, institutional and discursive level – strengthened or weakened this expert community.
More...Přehledový esej k úmrtí předního historického sociologa
This review essay is published on the occasion of the recent death of the American historical sociologist Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein (1930–2019) and seeks to present, in outline, his ambitious work resulting in a major theory of the evolution of global capitalism. The author therefore looks first into the origin, expansion and structure of the world capitalist system and later examines the way in which Wallerstein explains the persistence or increase of inequalities in this system. In this context, he develops thoughts on Kondratieff waves, but also offers other alternative views on the long economic cycles not explored by Wallerstein. Apart from these long cycles, the study also critically presents the concept of periphery and the related unequal exchange between the global centre and the periphery, or semi-periphery. Finally, the author pays special attention to the late phase of Wallerstein’s scientific career, when his attention shifted to the issue of culture. The review is motivated by the fact that in the Czech environment the extensive work of this prominent historical sociologist has been reflected in a systematic way only by Stanislav Holubec, and apart from this, it has been reflected only marginally. The author presents a detailed critical argument challenging Wallerstein’s general thesis on the increase of global inequalities between the centre and the periphery by showing that different methodological approaches to measuring these inequalities lead to different, or even contradictory, conclusions.
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The review presents a collective monograph entitled "War and Memory in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus" (London, Palgrave Macmillan 2017, Memory Studies series), which is a work by an international team of authors and was published thanks to the care of four editors: Julie Fedor, Markku Kangaspuro, Jussi Lassila and Tatiana Zhurzhenko. In the individual studies that are grouped into bigger parts, the authors seek to capture the place and role of World War II in the politics of memory and collective historical memory of three East European countries. The reviewer praises the work for giving Ukraine and Belarus the same attention as Russia and also fore choing current political events and debates in these countries. According to the reviewer, this still unique attempt to map conceptually the issue in question in a larger part of the post-Soviet space, using methods of historiography, reveals the diversity as well as incompatibility of different versions of commemorating the war within these national societies. The publication convincingly demonstrates that in this region the Great Patriotic War remains a topical, emotional event that the majority of the population perceive as a positive, identity-making chapter of their history.
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The formulation of the first codes of ethics in conservation-restoration since the second half of the twentieth century occurred against the background of the awareness of the need to strengthen confidence in the profession by imposing sets of norms of conduct on professionals in the field. The codes of ethics express fundamental principles of a general nature that guide the ethical behaviour of conservators-restorers in all aspects related to the practice of the profession. Usually accompanied by guidelines, codes or standards of practice, comments to standards, these documents are perfectible due to the need to reflect the changes in the development of the field. This article briefly presents the history of the development of codes of ethics developed by professional organizations in the field of cultural heritage conservation, a comparative analysis of the format and content of the revised variants, as well as some critical references related to their content.
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The review deals with two monographs that examine the post-Stalinist period from different perspectives: "Soudruzi a jejich svět: Sociálně myšlenková tvářnost komunismu" [Comrades and Their World: The Social Mindset of Communism] by Pavel Kolář, originally published in German under the title "Der Poststalinismus: Ideologie und Utopie einer Epoche" (Köln/R. – Weimar – Wien 2016) and "„Rehabilitovat Marxe!“ Československá stranická inteligence a myšlení post-stalinské modernity" [“Rehabilitate Marx!” The Czechoslovak Party Intelligentsia and Thought in Post-Stalinist Modernity] by Jan Mervart and Jiří Růžička. The review describes both studies and focuses on their common and different features. Kolář, over five different thematic areas – the concept of history, the Communist Party, the nation, enemies and of time – attempts to grasp the “world of meaning” of the Communist Party members in Czechoslovakia, Poland and the German Democratic Republic in the period from Stalin’s death to the end of the 1960s. Mervart and Růžička examine the thinking of Marxist philosophers in Czechoslovakia in the same period, focusing on their conceptions of structure, people, nation, revolution and new subjectivity. Despite the stark differences between the actors under study and the obvious diversities in the concept of post-Stalinism, both studies seek to establish the period as a distinct historical era during which the questioning of Stalinist dogmas and the search for new possibilities of socialism were decisive. The end result is two very stimulating monographs. However, their – also common – major weakness lies in their lack of regard for the social context of the actors examined.
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The purpose of this article is to identify the place and the particular aspects of the Historical and Legal Method as a tool used in scientific research. In order to achieve this purpose, the ‘Analysis’ and ‘Summary’ Methods have been applied. In particular, a juxtaposition was also used when comparing the "Historical and Legal Analysis” with its variety of “Comparative Historical and Legal Analysis”. The productiveness of this method has also been established not only in legal but also in historical research. The spontaneous application of the latter in historical science was also ascertained. For the first time, the benefit of using the method as an interdisciplinary research tool on the watershed between law and history has been revealed in the theory.
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The main purpose of this article is to discuss the views of the Jesuit Stanisław Dunin–Borkowski (1864–1934) about Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. These days, Dunin–Borkowski is a rather obscure figure despite rising to fame in the interwar period as an outstanding expert in the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Thus, the secondary aim of this article is to remind ourselves of this somewhat forgotten scholar. As a researcher, writer, and pedagogue, Dunin–Borkowski was interested in numerous fields of knowledge. Among these were the natural sciences, including physics and the influence that new physical theories had on philosophical thought. This present study therefore fills a gap in the existing research about how Polish philosophers received Einstein’s theories. The example of Dunin–Borkowski also serves as a basis for discussing some of the fundamental problems of neo-scholasticism in receiving new mathematicised scientific theories.
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There have been many significant publications on Kazimierz Twardowski. Jacek Jadacki intends to add to this list another book Rozum i wola. Kazimierz Twardowski i jego wpływ na kształt kultury polskiej XX wieku. In the review it is appraised whether it can be called “a companion to. . . ”. It provides introductory information that can help readers better understand the role of Twardowski in Polish philosophy and culture. Updated findings by contemporary scholars are also included. The quality of the articles is guaranteed by such authors as J. Woleński, R. Kleszcz, A. Brożek and J. Jadacki. However, new authors are also present as well as less common topics like Twardowski’s influence on the Polish School of Philosophy of Medicine and his roles as political scientist, educational theorist, and historian of Ancient philosophy. The authors manage to convince the reader that Twardowski is “a classic” worth knowing, in consequence the book can be treated as a “companion to Twardowski”. It also inspires readers to further investigate the works and accomplishments of the Lvov philosopher.
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This article attempts to verify some aspects of the research hypothesis which implies that normative orientations of the Byzanine orthodox theological thought (in ideologies, mentalities, discourses) contained traditions and constructions that were in odds with tendency to see communities of ethnic type in people whom we used to qualify as Russians and Ruthenians. In the East European Orthodox medieval Christian identity of groups included in the Church was thought of as a hindrance in forming discourses, which would claim that the Church community could be fragmented into ethnic and «national» groups (nationes). Old Russian texts, and texts of Muscovy, as well as writings of some Orthodox authors in Ruthenia (Ukraine and Belarus’) of the early 17th century have been taken in account. In these sources, very often, theological discourses were entering in conflict with tendency to transfer norms of ethnic (tribal) identity on the Christian communities. This generated a situation when «Russianness» was not perceived in ethnic terms, and in this respect relationships between Christian and «ethnic» were understood in a very different way, than in the theological culture of medieval West. Search for an explanation leads to the area of the Byzantine theological tradition, in which Christian and ethnic identities were regarded as two conflicting discourses. The Orthodox identity of emperor’s subjects was understood as «effacing» traces of tribal (ethnic) belonging. For subjects of Christian history (id est history of those, who got baptized) were regarded not the multiple nationes, but «new people» who became a united «nation of God». In medieval Rus, this discursive ligic was expressed by «Tale of the bygone years»; the same discursive «scenario» seems to be implemented in other texts of Russian Middle Ages, and this lead to Orthodox culture of Muscovy, which repelled the ethnic definition of «Russianness». It is very likely, that the same tendency was alive — disappearing and reappearing — in the worldview of literati and broader circles of the Orthodox population of Ruthenian lands.
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The article is devoted to some discussion problems related to the characterization of ius emphyteuticarium, which appears to be too specific (sui generis) and different from the traditionally defined real law and law of obligation. For this reason, in the constitution of the emperor Zeno (CJ.4.66.1), from which the fragment that served as the title of the article, this right is called ius tertium. However, it is not an innovation in the post-classical period, but is the result of the development of the Roman legal concept of public property and its management since the archaic period, it has its design in the so-called duplex dominium during the time of the Republic and the Principate and passed into medieval law in the system of divided ownership (dominium divisum).
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This article explores the shifting perspectives of Polish academics about the role of the Orthodox Church in domestic and interstate relations within the Commonwealth and the Russian Empire. Why Poland's sovereignty crumbled at the end of the 18th century was one of the most critical questions Polish historians sought to explain. Since Bohdan Khmelnytskii's uprising, Moscow's geopolitical objectives had placed the Ukrainian territories in the forefront of their attention.It has been documented that the nineteenth-century Polish scientific research was more concerned with the social and political impact of Orthodox Churches in Commonwealth regions than any other aspect of its history. However, this scenario has altered through time. Since the eighteenth century, the viewpoints of Polish historians have changed drastically. Additionally, they investigated the inner workings of churches and religious activity in Ukraine.
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The struggle to limit and eliminate one of the most severe parasites in our country has a dramatic history. The disease has been known since ancient times and until the mid-60s of the twentieth century, it is invariably present in a number of the most commonly diagnosed infectious parasitic diseases. In a country like Bulgaria, whose agricultural economy was the main livelihood of the population at the end of the 19th and the middle of the 20th century, the disease was of defining significance. Historically, malaria is seen as a social "scourge" proceeding with severe illness, disability, death, and as one of the causes of economic stagnation in entire areas of the country. The article examines the history of the fight against malaria in Bulgaria, in Varna and Burgas regions. The study period covers the period from the Liberation to 1930. Emphasis is placed on the efforts of the state administration, the establishment of sanitary supervision, the activity of the health authorities and the active part of the Bulgarian population for the control and complete eradication of the disease in Bulgaria. The main legislative acts regulating the implementation of anti-epidemic measures against malaria and the main institutions working in this direction are reviwed. The experience of the Italian medics in the fight against malaria in Italy and the role of the Rockefeller Foundation for the successful training and cooperation between Bulgarian and Italian malaria specialists in the application of the Italian experience in the fight against malaria are followed.
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On the basis of their program documents, the views on the economic development of Bulgarians of various representatives of the radical sector in the national liberation movement in the 19th century are examined and analyzed. Different research methods are applied – critical analysis, comparative historical approach. The object of the study is presented in chronological order from the mid-30s of the 19th century, when the first manifestation of the national liberation movement was organized, to the Liberation – the creation of a new Bulgarian state in the 70s of the 19th century. In the researched program documents of the so-called revolutionary or radical organizations are rarely found, and in some there are no ideas and projects for the economic development of the Bulgarians at all, apart from the most general and repeated findings about the plight of the people under Ottoman rule, which have mostly a motivational purpose. This reasoned conclusion has an important meaning, since a large part of the participants in the organizations from the radical sector live to see the Liberation, i.e. the creation of the new Bulgarian state, which they largely caused with their actions in 1875–1876. They are actively involved in the organization and state administration of the Principality of Bulgaria, despite the clearly established lack of programmatic views on the economic development of the people, which manage.
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On July 8, 1970, a meeting of the Council of Ministers was convened by Todor Zhivkov to discuss issues related to the discovery and preservation of valuable archaeological finds in Bulgaria. The center of discussion is the method of discovering the then discovered tombs in Pliska. At the beginning of the meeting, it was noted that the archeological excavations conducted in Bulgaria are at a very low scientific level. Lyudmila Zhivkova shares the opinion that the excavations should be carried out in a complex way and should involve scientists from different fields – historians, ethnographers, numismatists, anthropologists, physicists, chemists, epigraphists, art critics, architects and others. Several key and current proposals are being discussed: To make historical approach of the archeology; To appoint a historian who thinks and sees things historically as director of the Archaeological Institute; To create a complex commission to make a scientifically based plan for the excavations; To consult with foreign scientists who have more experience; To end the practice of standing excavated materials in drawers. Regarding speculation in archeology, it is said that after September 9, the thesis was accepted that everything should be related to the Slavs and Russia. In addition, from there another thesis is created that those 326 who dealt with the origin of Ancient Bulgaria were in the wrong position. Regarding antiquity, it is discussed that we are the only classical country in the world of Thracian culture. The problem, however, is that Thracian culture stands in the chests. According to this document, the Serbs want to prove that there was no culture in the Bulgarian lands in order to prove one day that they were and are a hegemon. On the other hand, there is a case in a Romanian museum, where Bulgarian pottery is defined as Byzantine. The issue of holding a congress on thracology with the center in Sofia was also discussed, as well as the establishment of an independent department at the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” mainly for studying the history and material culture of the ancient population of the Bulgarian lands. The document clearly shows the need for systematic research. They are supported by an overall vision, a concept for the research, conservation, socialization and transformation of historical finds and phenomena into a cultural and creative process for modern society.
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