Ucieczka od psychoanalizy

Author(s): Didier Eribon / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2 (7)/2015

The author offers a critical judgment of Lacanian psychoanalysis, pointing out its normativizing aspect. He acknowledges the impossibility of reconciliation of psychoanalytic thought with the theory of radical difference, the example of which is queer, which has been postulated by such scholars as Judith Butler, Lee Edelman or Leo Bersani. As Eribon claims, queer theory constitutes a continuation of (anti-psychoanalytic) philosophy of Michel Foucault, and it would be theoretically much more inspiring – Eribon further argues – to try to juxtapose Foucault’s thought with Sartre rather than with Freud or Lacan.

A Quintessential Lesson from European Union Integration to African Union

Author(s): Endris Mekonnen Faris,Hasan Korkut / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

The African Union -a multipurpose cooperation platform which most believe inspired by the European Union- came to exist to transform the continents fate into a prosperous one. European Union unprecedentedly becomes the crucial factor to speed up the Europe’s integration. European Union is an economic community and was not meant, first, a political one. Hence European Union can be a quintessential lesson for the African Union if the later understands the formers achievement came because of the exclusive emphasis given to the economic approach. The paper empirically argues that economic integration leads to an outright continental political unity. Accordingly the continent’s integration can only be achieved when economic approach is given prior emphasis. The political approach is a default which by nature follows the achievements gained from economic approach.The African Union -a multipurpose cooperation platform which most believe inspired by the European Union- came to exist to transform the continents fate into a prosperous one. European Union unprecedentedly becomes the crucial factor to speed up the Europe’s integration. European Union is an economic community and was not meant, first, a political one. Hence European Union can be a quintessential lesson for the African Union if the later understands the formers achievement came because of the exclusive emphasis given to the economic approach. The paper empirically argues that economic integration leads to an outright continental political unity. Accordingly the continent’s integration can only be achieved when economic approach is given prior emphasis. The political approach is a default which by nature follows the achievements gained from economic approach.

Re-signifying “Asia” in the Transnational Turn of Asian/American Studies

Author(s): Lin Chien-Ting / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

Bringing inter-Asia cultural studies into conversation with Asian American critique, this paper aims to reframe the critical analysis of the scattered hegemonies of US imperialism in articulating the transpacific historical interconnections. Rather than privileging the US as a primary site of investigation and critique, I draw careful attention to the Cold War conditions of inter-Asian migration as an entry point for discussing how the geopolitics of Taiwanese modernity, from the Cold War up to neoliberal globalization, are inextricably linked to Japanese colonialism, US militarism and modernization, and Chinese globalization. To develop my theoretical and historical (re)conceptualization of “Asia” in Asian/American studies, I look at how migrant narrative of migrant workers in the nonfiction novel “Our Stories” speak to the power dynamics of the US Cold War involvement in Asia, neoliberal globalization, and Taiwan subimperialist relations with its neighboring countries. Whereas Asian American cultural critique offers a new analytics to enable a reconceptualization of Asian America without confining it to an identitarian category, inter-Asia studies redirect critical attention to the historical undercurrents of inter-Asia geopolitics that are largely obscured by the dominant knowledge paradigm of the US Cold War politics in the regions of Asia Pacific.

Telewizyjny dyskurs polityczny

Author(s): Ewa Szkudlarek-Śmiechowicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2016

This article describes polish political discourse on TV. The author considers four parameters of discourse’s general organization. They are: (1) profiling of discourse’s community, (2) generic conventions, which are preponderant on TV and typical in political discourse, (3) primary classes of discourse’s participants, (4) relationship: the discourse world and reality.

USA: No longer the global hegemon? The emergence and assertion of new power poles (Presentation and comments based on the book of Fareed Zakaria, The Post American World and the Rise of the Rest, W.W. Norton & Co. Publications, 2008, 292 pages)

Author(s): Alina Adnana Popon / Language(s): English Issue: I/2010

NATIONALISM AS AN ESSENTIALLY CONTESTED CONCEPT

Author(s): Hamid Bouyahi / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

Despite the fact that the notion of a state that contains a specific nation is relatively new, most societies tend to perceive their national origins as an indisputable historical fact. This paper tries to understand the reasons that make rational individuals and groups of people believe in the irrational claims of national identities and national pride. As political discourse is the main source of these claims, this paper analyses the nature of that discourse and the way it manages to coin essentially contested concepts that are acceptable by the public. Subsequently, the paper delves into the mechanisms in which the human cognitive apparatus interprets discourse, and the reasons that make it vulnerable to deception. Additionally, the paper revisits notions like nations and states to prove the fact that there is no direct relationship between belonging to a state and feeling national pride. Eventually, the paper tackles the main psychological attributes that interfere to make rational individuals and groups abandon their rationality to believe in purely sentimental political notions.

IMMIGRATION AND RACIAL INEQUALITY. THE ITALIAN CASE

Author(s): Fabio Perocco / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

The aim of the article is to show how in Italy the traditional inequalities in class, gender and geography have been matched by an inequality linked to immigration, whose causes, forms and social consequences I will analyse here. In so doing I will underline how such inequality linked to immigration is an integral part of the system of social inequalities existing at global level and in particular it is part of the globalization of inequality linked to immigration.Over the last few decades, there has been a deep social transformation at world level which has changed the system of inequalities; new inequalities were created, among which, the inequality linked to immigration is rather important. Historically, this is certainly nothing new, yet we are witnessing a globalization of inequality linked to immigration, which refers to disparities and social advantages that affect immigrant populations and citizens with migratory background. This phenomenon has several causes, but it is mainly due to two elements: the systematic use by several countries of an exploited and stigmatised migrant workforce, kept in a condition of social inferiority and with half the rights of the rest of the population; the globalisation of selective, restrictive and repressive immigration policies. Such process is quite visible in Italy, where inequality based on immigration is the result of the combined action of labour market, legal system, and mass media, which have pursued rationales, which led to the social inferiority and segregation of immigrants. Such inequality involved specific generative mechanisms such as the selection, precarisation and differential exploitation of migrant workers, the creation of a special legislation, the systematic stigmatisation of immigrant populations in the public discourse, the comeback of the rhetoric of assimilation. Such inequality is multidimensional as, from work to health, from living to education, from public images to legal conditions, it affects all aspects of the social life of immigrants; and it is a challenge to social citizenship.

Perspektívy, limity a výzvy socialistického myslenia v epoche antropocénu

Author(s): Peter Daubner / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 2/2023

The article explores the perspectives, limits, and challenges of socialist thinking in the Anthropocene epoch. It reviews M. Hauser's book, "Manifest socialistického hnutia," which addresses the goals and strategies of socialists in the 21st century. The discussion highlights the transformation of socialist movements, the flexibility of capitalism, and the relevance of Marxist theory today. It critiques the current global capitalist system, emphasizing its environmental and social impacts. The article also examines the relationship between socialism and feminism, the historical context of colonialism, and the roles of China and Russia in the modern world. Daubner argues for the need to create theoretical and cultural conditions for a new socialist politics in Central Europe, addressing contemporary political, economic, cultural, and ecological issues.

A Barrier Against Liberalism? The Coalition Formation Process after the 2023 Slovak Parliamentary Elections

Author(s): Petr Just / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

This article focuses on the coalition formation process that followed immediately after the 2023 elections to the National Council of the Slovak Republic. Using the framework of building barriers as a specific coalition strategy, the paper analyzes both the pre-election as well as the post-election coalition strategies of parties that succeeded in the parliamentary elections. It analyzes the factors that have been influencing these strategies, as well as factors that influenced the ultimate coalition formation. The major obstacles and challenges the formed coalition may face in future will also be mentioned. Finally, the article focuses on the key cleavage that has been present in Slovak (and other) politics in recent years: illiberalism vs. liberal democracy.

Democratic Inoculation in Slovakia and Serbia: Do Polities Learn from the Experience of Democratic Backsliding?

Author(s): Ján Mykalchyk Hradický / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

Does a polity learn from the past period of democratic backsliding? Democratic backsliding is often understood as a regional trend in Central Europe, but it is so far absent in Slovakia. This paper argues that it is because of democratic inoculation – experience with the hybrid regime in the 1990s that increased the persistence of Slovak democracy. Theory-building process tracing is equipped to trace the democratic inoculation through the mechanisms of the awareness of the threats to democracy and the creation of symbols. Quantitative text analysis is used to operationalize these processes. The empirical analysis offers strong evidence for the theory of democratic inoculation. To refine this theory, the Serbian case is analyzed as Serbia has also overcome a hybrid regime in the 1990s but backslides in the 2010s. It is argued that democratic inoculation failed there due to the lack of polarization and the stalled reforms in the post-Milošević era.

Changes in Monetary Policy Responses in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland

Author(s): Helena Chytilová,Tomáš POKORNÝ / Language(s): English Issue: 06-07/2023

In this paper, we analyze how the monetary policy responses of the Czech National Bank, the Hungarian National Bank, and the National Bank of Poland have changed over the period from 1996 Q1 to 2022 Q3 using the Kalman filter. Our findings are as follows. Firstly, we identify concealed discretion among the monetary policy authorities, which is traced through significant changes in their monetary policy parameters, highlighting the importance of applying a time-varying estimation framework. Secondly, we observe a decreasing response of policy rates to the inflation gap over the observed period. The reduced response in interest rates aligns with the anchored inflation expectations in the Czech Republic and Poland. Thirdly, the interest rate smoothing parameter has declined over the observed period, reflecting the central banks’ increased willingness to adjust policy rates more vigorously. Additionally, we find a significant decrease in the long-term equilibrium interest rates, indicated by the policy-neutral rate, across the analyzed countries.

Mind and peace: The “democratic” info-technological determinism of Gu Junzheng’s “The Dream of Peace”

Author(s): Gabriel F. Y. Tsang / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2024

Gu Junzheng (1902–1980) published “The Dream of Peace” in 1939, adapted from Edmond Hamilton’s short story “The Conqueror’s Voice”. Junzheng’s tale is highly scientific and includes many technical terms and ideas. It corresponds to the May-Fourth legacy of emphasizing scientific precision for strengthening the nation, but trickily excludes China in the information warfare between the US and “Eastern-most Nation”. Taking “The Dream of Peace” as a both national and personal allegory that reflects the ideas of democracy, minzhu, and communism in relation to represented info-technological determinism, one can discover that Gu’s acceptance of techno-hierarchy, anti-concession, obscurantism, patriotic exclusionism, and absolute public control originated in his specific wish for peace rather than in democratic thought.

Preferenčné hlasovanie v predčasných parlamentných voľbách 2023 na Slovensku

Author(s): Martina Hurčalová / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 2/2024

The presented study analyses preferential voting in the 2023 parliamentary elections in Slovakia. Preferential voting is the only option for Slovak voters to change the personal shape of the parliamentary caucuses of political parties. Despite the relatively high willingness of voters to participate in preferential voting, it has had a rather complementary form until 2023. In the parliamentary elections under review, the situation is beginning to change. The aim of this study is to show that preferential voting in the 2023 elections was not an insignificant aspect of the electoral system for the National Council of the Slovak Republic and was able to influence the personal shape of the parliamentary caucuses, especially of those political parties whose gains in the elections were between 5% and 7%. In addition to conceptualizing the theoretical framework of preferential voting and systematizing the development of the current legislation in Slovakia, this study analyses in particular the preferential voting of the voters of political parties and coalitions that entered the parliament after the elections. Based on the results of the data analysis analysis from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, we can conclude that the influence of preferential voting in Slovakia is increasing.

Pohled na vítěze: Peter Pellegrini v prezidentských volbách na Slovensku 2024

Author(s): Pavel Hynčica,Daniel Šárovec / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2024

The 2024 presidential elections in Slovakia were, after the 2023 parliamentary elections, another crucial indicator of where the country will go. From the nine candidates, the two strongest – Peter Pellegrini and Ivan Korčok – finally advanced to the second round. This political battle significantly reflected the divided Slovak political scene and Slovak society. Although Ivan Korčok won in the first round, Peter Pellegrini scored a more significant win in the second round. This analysis focuses on the political influence of Peter Pellegrini on the Slovak political scene. The article takes note of the context and circum- stances under which this politician – until recently the chairman of the HLAS-SD party – decided to run for the position of president, further to the analysis of his election campaign and finally to the analysis of the election results achieved in the first and second rounds of the presidential elections. Ultimately, the goal is a critical evaluation of Peter Pellegrini‘s electoral success in the context of the characteristic features of current Slovak politics and the consequences that this result may have for its further formation and development.

Role parlamentních komor při schvalování klimatické politiky Evropské unie (příklad aplikace článku 10b Ústavy)

Author(s): Jindřiška Syllová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2025

The article deals with the fulfilment of the intention of the euro-amendment to the Constitution, which required that the chambers of the parliament be informed and be able to participate in the affairs of the European Union in 2001. The intention is demonstrated by an example – how the Chamber of Deputies participated in the EU’s green policy during the last 20 years.

IZRAELSKO-PALESTINSKI SUKOB: ČIJA JE SVETA ZEMLJA?

Author(s): Tomislav Lunić,Slobodan Penezić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 32/2024

The question of ownership of the Holy Land is one of the most complex and comprehensive issues of the present day, and it serves as the subject of this paper. Numerous important moments in the history of humanity, as well as human tragedies, have marked that small and densely populated part of the planet. Together with the current moment and events, they serve as the motivation for this paper. In the first part, we point to the spiritual perspective of the absolute values of the chosen people of God and the world of Islam, Dar al-Islam. Furthermore, we rely on the history of Israeli-Palestinian relation, which is based on centuries-old struggle and bloody confrontations, as both sides are unwilling to relinquish even a fraction of the territory they believe belongs to them. The focus of the second part of the paper is on the current reality, prompted by October 7, 2023, when a radical group Hamas launched a rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. Israel’s response was fierce, leading to a new complex chapter in relations in this region, as well as broader international activities that share the common denominator of a new fear of conflict of global proportions. In the paper, we used methods of content analysis, chronology and comparison of research results. In the end, we sought to provide an objective assessment of the conflict and the complex causes that influence the broader contexts in which they occur and continue to be interpreted, affecting the activities of other important actors in the global socio-political arena.

(Ne)vyrovnání se s komunistickou minulostí v evropském kontextu

Author(s): Kamil Nedvědický / Language(s): Czech Issue: 03/2024

In November 2024, the Lichtenštejnský Palace in Prague hosted a major conference on the theme of "(Non)Reconciliation with the Communist Past in the European Context," organized by ÚSTR in collaboration with various international institutions. The event featured nearly sixty speakers from around the world, addressing the challenges of confronting communist legacies. Key topics included the continuity and discontinuity of law post-1989, the role of memory in politics, and the impact of historical injustices on contemporary society. Panels explored the experiences of different countries, the importance of education in modern history, and the portrayal of communism in film. The conference underscored the ongoing relevance of these issues and the need for continued dialogue and research.

Czech and Italian Challengers’ Survival Comparative Analysis of Party Organisation and Leadership of FI, FdI, ANO and SPD Parties

Author(s): Tomáš Cirhan,Mattia Collini / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

Our paper explores the organisational and leadership strategies of new challenger parties in Czechia and Italy. The electorally volatile party systems in the countries of Central-Eastern and Southern Europe are associated with the constant emergence of new parties. Czech and Italian party systems are great examples of this phenomenon. Whilst many newcomers make electoral breakthroughs, only some outlive their initial electoral success. Organisational survival and the role of party leaders often precede the parliamentary survival of these parties. We compare the organisational and leadership strategies of four such parties. Our case studies include Forward Italy/Forza Italia (FI), YES2011/ANO2011 (ANO), Brothers of Italy/Fratelli d'Italia (FdI) and Freedom and Direct Democracy/Svoboda a přímá demokracie (SPD). All four emerged running on the anti-establishment ticket challenging the established parties. Simultaneously to being formed as challenger parties, the former two are considered the pioneers of entrepreneurial parties. The latter two, represent the most successful populist radical right parties in their respective countries.Analysing their statutes and organisational affairs, we explore the internal decision-making and positions of party leaders. Leader's decision-making capacity, interventions to the autonomy of territorial structures, and parties´ policy towards membership form the basis of our comparative analysis. It allows us to determine what they have in common in regard to the studied variables, and if these play any role in their survival. Centralised hierarchy combined with a strong position of party leaders are expected to influence it. The similarity between the studied cases helps to empirically test these expectations.

Evropeizacija u sjenci etnizacije Zapadnog Balkana

Author(s): Sajma Ademović / Language(s): Montenegrine Issue: 10/2021

The study of Europenization has traditionally focused on the impact of European integration both on the EU and member-state levels. In the last decade, we have witnessed that Europeanization significantly expanded in the terms of meaning and now the definition of the term refers also to the candidate countries, including Western Balkans. The analysis presented in this paper focuses on understanding the complexity of the process of Europeanization in the context of the Western Balkans. Due to the very close connection between Europeanization and Democratization, this paper gives importance to the insufficient development of democracy in the region. Insufficient development of democracy motivates ethnic tensions, and ethnic tensions limit the EU’s ability to act. When we add the fact that the EU’s Enlargement Strategy is free from any kind of ethical connotation to the extent of ignoring inter-ethnic relations- the question about the chances of success.

В пресечната точка на културата с политиката: Поглед към меката власт

Author(s): Victoria Lekova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2024

The text discusses the role of soft power in international relations, trying to analyze how to concept works in relation to other major fields: international conflicts, cultural diplomacy, the role of cultural cooperation, the dichotomous soft-hard power pair, etc. It also provides insight into the Soft Power 30 and other influence measurement indices.