COMMUNAUTES EPISTEMIQUES ET INTERDISCIPLINARITE : LA GESTION DES CRISES ASSOCIEES AUX ALEAS TELLURIQUES, ENTRE SCIENCES DE LA TERRE ET SCIENCES POLITIQUES

Author(s): Maud H. Devès,Thomas Ribémont / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2018

In an interdisciplinary perspective, between earth sciences and political sciences the present article shows that the concept of epistemic communities, frequently used by political scientists specializing in the sociology of public policy, says very little about the inner workings of the scientific field. This article shows that the concept of epistemic community tends to mask the complexity of the situation of expertise to highlight this point, we chose to study three cases of crisis management associated with the same type of hazard, of volcanic origin, which reveal the difficulties related to various levels of interdisciplinarity. The first crisis studied here is related to the eruption of La Soufrière volcano on Guadeloupe in 1976. This event gives a picture of various epistemological positions within the same discipline, i.e. the earth sciences of the Earth, and illustrates their possible consequences in the public sphere. The second crisis is related to the eruption of the Soufrière Hills Volcano on Montserrat (1995 and ongoing). Although the experts are again drawn from the earth sciences, they represent different specialities. We find that the experts knew how to make use of probabilistic tools to overcome the difficulties related to uncertainties inherent in the crisis and, beyond that, arising from the incompleteness of their knowledge. Lastly, we discuss the crisis related to the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull in 2010. In this last case, the composite nature of the hazard required us to call upon experts from two different disciplines: the earth sciences and atmospheric sciences. Specialization appears here as a factor of vulnerability. Indeed, the crisis confronts the experts with a mismatch between their approaches and makes it difficult to develop an opinion that fully benefits from their different types of expertise.

AU CŒUR DE L'INTERDISCIPLINARITE : LA THEORIE DU DISCOURS APPLIQUEE EN SCIENCE POLITIQUE

Author(s): Ioana-Cristina Rus,Sergiu Mişcoiu / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2018

The purpose of this presentation is to highlight the interdisciplinary character of the third generation of discourse theory, as well as its capacity to open new perspectives in the study of political phenomena. To this end, we will first theoretically reference the stakes of interdisciplinarity in connection with the emergence of discourse theory as a forward-looking approach in the humanities and social sciences. Secondly, we will look into the five premises of discourse theory, which will be assessed as intellectual products of an essentially interdisciplinary process which consists of bringing together and mutualizing research strategies which belong to various scientific fields (sociology, linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, political science, psychoanalysis). Thirdly, we will explore the merits and limits of the use of discourse theory as a theoretical framework and an explanatory tool in the analysis of political phenomena.

L’EVENEMENT DISCURSIF FONDATEUR DE LA TROISIEME REPULIQUE

Author(s): Aude Dontenwille-Gerbaud / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2018

Our searches are an examination and a reevaluation of the founding speeches of the French Third Republic (1870-1882), the oral impact of which is too often neglected. Their aim to show that the interaction between the grassroots audience and the main leaders of the Republic represents a way of solving the conceptual difficulties of that period. Our searches develop the concept of discursive event and questions the traditional concepts of production condition, communication situation and context. In the resolutely interdisciplinary approach from the « analyse du discours », the historian enters into dialogue with the sciences of language and the political science.

LES LIMITES DE L’INJONCTION INTERDISCIPLINAIRE

Author(s): Philippe Le Prestre / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2018

The main purpose of this contribution is to reflect on the interdisciplinarity mantra. To that end, it first identifies the links between the initial motivations and the practice of interdisciplinary research, proceeds with an examination of the challenges that various types of interdisciplinary collaboration present, before concluding with a few remarks on the potential perverse effects of the interdisciplinarity injunction. Indeed, this approach must go beyond problem resolution and encompass a theoretical ambition as well. To that end, it must rest on strong disciplines which the need for an interdisciplinary perspective will nevertheless transform. Being defined less by its results that by a process, interdisciplinarity is only one of various research strategies rather than an end in itself.

APPLYING THE LOYAL OPPOSITION TRADITION TO FOREIGN POLICY: A U.S.-UKRAINE CASE STUDY (PART II)

Author(s): Isaiah Winters / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

This two-part research project analyzes U.S. foreign policy during the Ukraine Crisis from the viewpoint of loyalty to democracy. By applying the standards expected of loyal opposition parties to the U.S., the foreign policy approach taken is shown to have been disloyal to Ukraine’s fragile democracy, as it contributed to an undemocratic transition of power in the form of a coup d'état. Ultimately, the failure of the U.S. to remain loyal to Ukraine’s democratic process (the way a “loyal opposition state” would have) is explained by the Obama administration’s liberal imperialist approach to foreign policy, whose first loyalty was to U.S. interests, not Ukrainian political sovereignty.

US GEOPOLITICAL INTERESTS AND REGIONAL SECURITY IN CENTRAL ASIA

Author(s): Assel Zholbaryssova / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

This article is aimed at developing and analyzing the strategic concerns of the main geopolitical powers in the Central Asian region. The author concludes that the specialty of the Central Asia is a beneficial geopolitical location and great amount of nature resources that makes the region an object of world powers’ geopolitical interests. The main actors in the Central Asia are Russia, China and the USA. They have an influence on political processes inside of the region, realizing their own strategies.

AN ATTEMPT AT DIPLOMACY: HOW THE PURSUIT OF A NUCLEAR DEAL WITH IRAN AFFECTED THE UNITED STATES-ISRAEL RELATIONS

Author(s): Anda Ghilescu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

This article follows the United States’ pursuit of a comprehensive agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, by putting it in the context of U.S. – Israel relations. Firstly, it offers an overview of the highly contextual relations between Israel and Iran, in order to understand the historical evolution of their present-day rivalry. Secondly, it observes the Iranian regime under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the aftermath of George W. Bush’s foreign policy actions, and the increased international focus on Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Finally, the focus shifts from President Bush to President Obama and how his foreign policy priorities in the Middle East, particularly the dialogue with Iran, affected the relations with the Israeli government the closer the negotiators got to achieving a final nuclear agreement. This paper seeks to emphasize the interdependent character of the Iran-Israel-U.S. dynamics through the perspective of one of the most pressing regional and international concerns: Iran’s nuclear program.

DER KOMMUNISTISCHE WIDERSTAND IN RUMÄNIEN: EIN EINBLICK IN DIE GEDÄCHTNISPOLITISCHE AUSEINANDERSETZUNG

Author(s): Antonela Gyöngy / Language(s): German Issue: 2/2018

The present paper discusses the communist resistance in Romania from the perspective of memory politics. During the communist period, this topos was clearly shaped by memory politics and therefore directly related to the domestic and foreign policy turning points. By addressing the formation context of the Communist Party in Romania as well as the subsequent political and scientific discourses, the question is raised: why this topos has stuck to the rigid narratives during and after communism.

DER TRANSFORMATIONSPROZESS RUMÄNIENS UND SEINE HINDERNISSE ZUR DEMOKRATIE

Author(s): Roxana Alice Stoenescu / Language(s): German Issue: 2/2018

This article discusses the difficulties of Romania's transformation and democratisation process. Despite the "official" change of system, corruption, social inequality, clan structural organisation and nepotism prevail in Romania. Without democratic values having provided the decisive impetus for the transformation of society, the completion of the system change didn´t take place, because there was no basis for a democratic change of values. The main thesis are that if the consciousness of the broad masses, despite the formal democratisation process did not change fundamentally, changing towards a democratic identity remains rather a utopian goal.

BARGAINING IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ON MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATION PROCESSES

Author(s): Alain Guggenbühl / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

At a time of visible oppositions and some tensed relations between Member States of the EU, the article aims to advance the study of bargaining and unilateralism in reiterative consensus building processes such as multilateral negotiations within the EU. It examines how bargaining tendencies influence the three dimensions of any negotiation: the architecture of the negotiation; the deal-making and haggling; and the interpersonal level. Using selected theory and research, it identifies the essential elements of a successful bargaining formula applied to EU negotiations. The article proposes to combine principles and techniques originating from game theory; hostage negotiations and crisis bargaining; and military methodology.

RELATIONS BILATERALES FRANCO-INDONESIENNES : UN RAPPORT GAGNANT – GAGNANT ?

Author(s): Benoit Bavouset / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2018

France and Indonesia, « key countries » in their respective regions and eager to occupy an influential place in diplomacy at a global level, had to meet around a common project. French President Hollande’s State visit in 2017, the first one for more than thirty years in Indonesia, helped to speed up relations between the two states. If economy and culture remain at the centre of the bilateral stakes, maritime issues and New Caledonia constitute two singular territories for the development of relationship between the two countries.

I RAPPORTI DIPLOMATICI TRA ROMANIA E ITALIA NEGLI ANNI VENTI, 1920-1928

Author(s): Maria-Ioana Rus / Language(s): Italian Issue: 2/2018

The consequences of the First World War marked the history of mankind to the extent that the people most affected by it did not believe in peace. The Paris Peace Conference was an event of great historical significance which left a deep scar in the consciousness of human kind. Romanian-Italian relations during the Paris Peace Conference will be of great influence in the years to come. This article will analyze Romania's struggle for the annexation of Bessarabia after the end of the First World War, highlighting the transformations on political and social levels. Will Romania succeed in obtaining ratification by Italy of the Protocol on Bessarabia, which ultimately represents the price of peace?

Хан Татар и Тодорка (Един прочит на варианта от Велико Търново)

Author(s): Stoyan Antonov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2018

The text interprets Khand Tatar and Todorka ballad by commenting the historical terms used from the one hand, and, from the other hand by doing a transformational analysis of the attributes and functions of the mediator in the plot. The situations connected with the Tartars as historical population are analyzed as potential sources of folk personages and motifs. Resultantly, the folklore situation is seen in the light of a possible reflection of the mythological understandings while at the same time the basic psycho-social functions of the ballad are outlined. Thus the reading combines historical and mythological aspects and compares the particular “Bulgarian” case with the universal models and structures of thinking.

Детските страшни истории – вчера и днес

Author(s): Elena Savova–Tsolova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2018

The paper deals with questions regarding the specifics of children's narratives and the place which they have in the lives of pre-adolescents. Important differences in the way children and adults tell urban legends are outlined. Special emphasis is given to the peculiarities of scary stories where the antagonist is a body part, or an analogue thereof. Attention is also given to the changes in the storytelling traditions of children, as well as the influence of the newest technologies for communication and visualization in the recent years. The appendix includes 25 recordings of children's scary stories.

Немски мигранти и институции в България – типове и функции

Author(s): Tanya Matanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2018

The text aims to fill partly the gaps in the research of new migration from Western Europe to Bulgaria. It presents experiences and facts about the movement of Germans to Bulgaria and their categorization according to emigrational motives and contemporary way of life. German institutions are also presented – German embassy, Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Goethe-Institute, educational institutions, catering establishments. They are all functioning nowadays on the territory of Bulgaria as German community topoi.

Вихра Барова. Субкултурната идентичност: поглед отвътре навън. София: Парадигма, 2017

Author(s): Radost Ivanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2018

Book review

Емоции и семейни отношения в условията на транснационална миграция. Случаят на гораните от Косово

Author(s): Ivaylo Markov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2019

While most studies of transnational processes are focused on the remittances inthe context of socio-economic development or on the transnational citizenship and the political mobilization across the borders, this article aims to explore the role of emotions in the migration experience and more specifically – their place in the negotiation of transnational family-kin life. The author proceeds from the assumption that the emotional dynamics are an important part of the analysis of the transnational kin relations. According to this approach, the focus of the study is not only on those who leave but also on those who remain in the villages of origin. Feelings of loss, sadness, longing, pain, guilt, but also expressions of happiness, excitement,gratitude, love, hopefulness etc., are experienced in both ends of the migration chain.Emotional encounters are related to family expectations and moral obligations, to mutual responsibilities and care giving within the dispersed families.These issues are addressed on the basis of ethnographic data personally collected by the author among representatives of the Kosovar Gorani – a community renowned in the Balkans for the decades-long intensive labour mobility which often involves two or even three generations within a family-kin group. The data presented show that transnational family-kin members may find ways to connect time and space so as to ensure (virtual and physical) co-experiences and to keep their emotional relationships viable and active. The tools and strategies used by people are various and include memories, imaginations, gifts and remittances, long-distance communication and mutual visits.

Бележки върху колективната жертва/курбан

Author(s): Angel Angelov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2019

In the religious practices of the population in the Bulgarian lands, kurban is an instrument for expressing gratitude towards God for His support during times of hardship, illnesses, and ordeals. It is constantly present in ceremonial practices from time immemorial. However, as every other aspect of human life, it is subject to change. The alterations in religious beliefs lead to variations in the ritual itself and the nature of the sacrifice. Nevertheless, more detailed analysis shows that modern kurban represents a peculiar mixture of ancient traditions and newer religious customs. Furthermore, Christian and Islamic theologies are not always dominant in ceremonial practices. The influence of pagan cults is felt particularly strongly in the mountainous and semi-mountainous regions, where the role of the religious institutions is markedly weaker.

Проект „Културна адаптация и интеграция на имигрантите в България“

Author(s): Mila Maeva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2019

Международна научна конференция „Социокултурни измерения на детството“ (“Sociocultural Dimensions of Childhood”), 26 – 28 октомври 2018 г., София, България

Author(s): Violeta Periklieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2019