The «New Dacians» and Crypto-Orthodoxy at the Dawn of Rational Historicism (I)

Author(s): Iulian Mitran / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2018

The Dacian Village of Năeni made the headlines as being an attempt to bring back resurrect the long-lost lifestyle of the Dacians, commonly regarded as the ancestors of modern-day Romanians. The so-called village, which hosted no more than five people, intrigued the Romanian audience, which remained somewhat torned between two camps, one that seemed to applaud it and to regard it as a brave attempt to bring back to life «Romanianism» in its purest form, and another one that ridiculed it and pointed out the logical cracks that can be found in the narrative that stirred up everything. In the following lines we will give a short analysis on the numerous peculiarities that characterize the Dacian Village from the Carpathian foothills of Buzău County, attempting to map a wider social phenomenon that become rooted in the Romania during the era of Ceaușescu’s nationalist communism. Even so, it became even more radicalized from the ‘90s to the present-day, even though it is still to a certain extent it is becoming increasingly more marginalized within the mainstream academia which made in recent years some notable attempts to demystify writings on issues regarding national history. This paper mainly focuses on mapping certain evolutions, and subsequent anomalies, that marked post-1989 Romania, with a strong emphasis on the influence that Orthodox Christianity had on the crystallization of a few peculiar crypto-religious movements that were heavily fueled by pseudo-science and over-the-top claims made on behalf of the unity of the Romanian nation.

The Spaces of Nostalgia(s) and the Politics of Belonging in Contemporary Chernivtsi, Western Ukraine

Author(s): Karolina Koziura / Language(s): English / Issue: 01/2019

This article explores ways in which Habsburg nostalgia has become an important factor in contemporary place-making strategies in the city of Chernivtsi, Western Ukraine. Through the analysis of diasporic homecomings, city center revitalization, and nationalist rhetoric surrounding the politics of monuments, I explore hybrid and diverse ways in which Habsburg nostalgia operates in a given setting. Rather than a static and homogenous form of place attachment, in Chernivtsi different cultural practices associated with Habsburg nostalgia coexist with each other and depending on the political context as well as the social position of the “nostalgic agents” manifest themselves differently. Drawing from my long-term ethnographic fieldwork, I argue that in order to fully understand individuals’ attachment to space, it is necessary to grasp both the subtle emotional ways in which the city is experienced by individuals as well as problematize the role of the built environment in the visualization of collective memory and emotions of particular groups. The focus on changing manifestations of the Habsburg nostalgia can bring then a better understanding of the range and scope of the city’s symbolic resources that might be mobilized for various purposes.

The starting point of Bulgaria in national mythology

Author(s): Nikolay Aretov / Language(s): English / Issue: 14/2014

This paper examines the dynamics of ideas on the beginnings of Bulgaria, such as were developed by early nationalism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Surveys show that there were different theses which competed tacitly. It is immediately noticeable that the figure of the Founder was imposed with difficulty and relatively late – in fact not until the 20th century. Paisius of Hilendar and the other authors of early histories presented Bulgarians in the context of Biblical history, and thus the beginning of Bulgarian time was associated with Noah and his sons. This idea was not openly attacked by successive generations, but they alternatively associated Bulgarian time and Bulgaria with the medieval kingdom, and especially with the baptism and deeds of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Among pre-Christian rulers, Khan emerges as significant, presented as Law-Maker and great Warrior, but not as Founder. It is typical for the nationalism of any ideological (and not only ideological) structure to strive for extension – in this case to seek its starting point at an ever earlier date. This proces can also be observed in the structures of Bulgarian nationalism: in the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries there was a clear focus on the time before the Founder Khan Asparukh (7th century), and scholars and journalists still take pleasure in finding older Bulgarian states. However, before the founding of the Principality of Bulgaria (1878), the opposite was true. (Some) representatives of the revolutionary movement in fact rejected the medieval period and preferred to focus on more recent periods, if not on their time itself and even on the immediate future. More or less unexpectedly, this idea was re-vitalised in the late 20th century with the catch-phrase “the most Bulgarian time” associated with the 1870s.

The Structure of Political Attitudes in Hungary and Serbia

Author(s): Bojan Todosijević / Language(s): English / Issue: 04/2008

The article presents a comparative examination of the structure of political ideology in two post-communist countries, Serbia and Hungary. A broad set of indicators of specific political attitudes is reduced to a smaller number of latent ideological dimensions via factor analysis. The precise meaning of the dimensions is determined after the analysis of their relationships with authoritarianism, out-group sympathy, prejudices, ideological self-identification, party-preference, and socio-demographic variables. Hungarian mass attitudes vary along dimensions of (1) alienation–socialism and (2) nationalist–antisocialism. Results for Serbia revealed the convergence of nationalist and pro-communist attitudes into a single dimension while another factor joined egalitarianism with social alienation. In both countries, authoritarianism is an important determinant of ideological dimensions, especially of pro-communist nationalism in Serbia and alienation– socialism in Hungary. Socio-demographic background variables are weaker determinants of ideological dimensions in Serbia compared with Hungary. In both countries, attitudinal factors differentiate supporters of the main political parties.

The Textbook Myth: Slovene Peasants as Heroes of the Glorious Past.

Author(s): Jernej Kosi / Language(s): English / Issue: 50/2018

The present article describes how 16th century peasant uprisings became an essential part of the Slovene history curricula and analyzes their role in the present-day official understanding of Slovene national history. It argues that the established textbook narrations on peasant uprisings greatly contribute to the hegemonic representation of affirmative, unilinear and teleological historical development of the Slovene nation, which ultimately implies an “unavoidable” establishment of Slovenia as a nation state in 1991.

THE THEME OF PATRIOTISM IN PRINCE ROMAN

Author(s): Joanna Kurowska / Language(s): English / Issue: XII/2017

This essay explores Conrad’s assessment of the moral state of Europe as well as post- Enlightenment European divisions, as reflected in the writer’s treatment of the theme of patriotism in his short story Prince Roman. The story’s unique, seemingly “un-Conradian” features are discussed in the context of the influence of Polish Romanticist ideas on Conrad. The motifs of unselfishness and sacrifice for a “greater cause” recurring in Prince Roman are shown as determinants of the quality of the protagonist’s moral choice.

The Treatment of History in Austrian-Hungarian State Primary School Textbooks for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Author(s): Oliver Pejić / Language(s): English / Issue: 50/2018

Following the Austrian-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the new authorities introduced an interconfessional school system aimed at educating children in the spirit of Bosnian-Herzegovinian provincial and Habsburg civic patriotism. Existing South Slavic textbooks, containing numerous texts that were offensive to Muslims, proved unsuitable for such an undertaking. The goal of this article is to address the treatment of history in the new textbooks written for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state primary schools, considering both the selection of historical topics and the manner in which historical education was utilized in order to impart desirable loyalties among the students and further the government’s political goals. Besides encouraging the students to identify with the glorious deeds of their medieval forefathers and thus fostering a historically based Bosnian patriotism, the textbooks were written with a clear intent to appeal to the province’s Muslims and, in particular, to their gentry. They implied a clear continuity between Bosnia’s medieval, supposedly Bogomil aristocracy and the contemporary Muslim elites, while also being careful not to address historical topics in a manner that may offend Muslim sensibilities. Lastly, considerable effort was invested into historically justifying contemporary Habsburg rule over Bosnia in Herzegovina and, in a wider sense, teaching the children that a benevolent foreign government may benefit a society suffering from disunity or rebelliousness.

THE TRENDS IN ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC 2004-2014

Author(s): Eva Taterová,Marcela Urbaníková / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2016

This paper aims to introduce the current trends in anti-Semitism in the Czech Republic in 2004-2014. This period maps the changes that appeared since the end of Second Palestinian intifada to the year 2014 which is the last year with available set of data of anti-Semitism in Czech society. The article shall examine whether there is a direct link between the contemporary important events in the Middle East and the changing number of anti-Semitic incidents in the Czech Republic. The attention shall also be given to the issue which groups of Czech society are mostly associated with anti-Semitism and what is their main motivation to participate in the anti-Semitic campaign.

The Troubling Legacy of Roman Dmowski

Author(s): Andrzej Walicki / Language(s): English / Issue: 01/2000

Roman Dmowski (1864-1939), the main ideologist and undisputed leader of modern integral nationalism in Poland, played an important role in the events of the First World War and in the re-emergence of the independent Polish state. Due to the efforts of his National Democratic party (the so-called endeks )-a centrally steered mass organization, active in all parts of partitioned Poland-the majority of Poles saw their chief enemy as Germany and, therefore, following precise instructions from the National Democrats in the Russian Duma, did not engage at the beginning of the war in an uprising against Russia. [...]

The two sides of globalization

Author(s): Ivan Rogić / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

There are two main difficulties in a discussion about globalization. The first is obvious in the tension between a demand for an applicable concept and a demand for an analytically extensive inventory of real processes that comes under the heading of globalization. The second is apparent in, it is not incorrect to say, the chaotic scientific archaeology, where patterns of thinking, which hardly conceal the needs or aims carried out in particular political or ideological programs have considerable importance. The expectation that these difficulties will be avoided in this paper is more than illusory. In addition, the demanding brevity of the paper (the organizer’s recommendation that this be limited to 5-7 pages) also needs to be taken into account. Thus, given the anticipated “genre-defining” scope of this paper it is difficult to exceed the limits of a few principal observations.

The Ukrainian Crisis – A New Start of Self-Aware Nationhood or Gradual Decline of the State?

Author(s): Lukáš Žalek / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2016

Besides the Islamic State in the Middle East and the immigration crisis, the Ukrainian crisis still deepens internal cleavage between Russophone and Ukrainophone regions. At the same time, it continues to affect negatively international relations and security situation in Europe. Moreover, 20 February 2015 marked Ukraine's first anniversary of Euromaidan protests. What are the actual results of the Revolution of Dignity? Has Kiev really started a process of closer political and economic cooperation with the European Union; or, on the contrary, are we witnessing of potential long-term instability in Ukraine? Due to many tumultuous events is certainly worth analysing the one-year-period after Euromaidan. The article discusses some problems related to fundamental changes in Ukraine that have implications for further political development and its economic recovery. Based on the Fragile States Index and general indicators of „fragile“ or „unstable“ state, the author came surprisingly to the conclusion that Ukraine has fullfiled many of them. The aim of this study is particularly to demonstrate the ambivalent development of Ukraine in the respective period.

The Uses and Abuses of Neoliberalism and Technocracy in the Post-totalitarian Regimes in Eastern Europe: The Case of Macedonia

Author(s): Katerina Kolozova / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2015

The Warp of Serbian Identity

Anti-Westernism, Russophilia, Traditionalism

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2016

The Ways and Means of the Ukrainian Nation’s Self Determination: a Philosophical Look into the Future by Julian Vassyian

Author(s): Daria Pohribna,Vadym Tytarenko / Language(s): English / Issue: 11/2019

The paper is devoted to further development of the criteria for identifying the Ukrainian nation. It is claimed that the effective strategy for such identification could be found in the theory of nation by the 20th-century Ukrainian philosopher Julian Vassyian. His main theoretical writings are focused on the “inner” factors which considered being crucial in terms of self-determination of the Ukrainian nation. In philosopher’s opinion, the foreign policy factors are not as essential for the nation’s self-identification as “inner” criteria, which are the national character, volitional activity and spiritual unity. He claimed that the definition of the objective “external” criteria such as language, territory, economic factors, etc. is not essential as well. The main principle of Ukrainian’s national self-identification ought to be an awareness of being a representative of the nation and focus voluntary efforts on its development and improvement. Vassyian pays a lot of attention to the analysis of the main treats of the Ukrainian nation. Ukrainians should overcome the historically formed negative traits of the national mindset — peacefulness, defensiveness, excessive sentimentalism, social underdevelopment, etc. in order to become active subjects of the historical process. Ukrainian nation’s formation mechanism is based on the triad “idea-will-aim.” Vassyian’s concept of “national genius” acts as a mechanism for activating and directing the individual’s will to the formation of the nation. It is claimed that Vassyian’s basic theoretical statements could be productively used by modern nation studies. In the authors’ opinion, Vassyian’s key ideas could contribute to the solution of current value-formation problems for the modern Ukrainian nation. It is asserted, that particular provisions of Julian Vassian’s philosophy of Ukrainian nation could be helpful for the Ukrainian nation development in a modern globalised society.

The Weak Points of Statistical and Demographic Analyses in Estimations of War Victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Period 1992-1995

Author(s): Miladin Kovačević / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-4/2005

In the political and war crisis which embraced Bosnia and Herzegovina in the spring of 1992 with an end of war hostilities in the autumn of 1995 when the "Dayton Peace Agreement" emerged (November 1995), a media war occurred. From the very beginning, this war had an international character. The question on the number of war victims (killed and missing) "exploded" in June of 1993, when Haris Silajdžić stated that there had been 200000 dead among the Muslims. This figure uncritically became the basis for all later media and local "empirical truths" on the number of victims. All statistical and demographic disciplines were exploited to support, if not prove, the propaganda standpoints. Objectivity was oppressed by an ugly "face of the war". Having in mind the experience of the Second World War in Yugoslavia, the question on the number of victims does not cease to be topical for decades after the end of the war. Bosnia and Herzegovina is more than a confirmation. This question seems to intervene (and in a way "feed of") with the most difficult political and international questions and court trials. ("International Court of Justice", indictment of Bosnia and Herzegovina against The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, namely Serbia). The methodological analysis of the most important works which deal with the question of the number of victims in the Bosnian war (above all, those done by Bosnian institutes and authors) indicate the "mistakes" made by the character of these works (propaganda). The manipulation with statistical methods and numbers is not new. Methodological and numerical traps can slip even to the most informed. The use of statistics and social science in court trials seems to show Janus's face of science: on one side the authentic "moral passion" of researchers finds great sense, and on the other side special interests strive to impose themselves through the (most refined) instrumentation of science and knowledge. (The example of Mr. Patrick Ball's testification in the trials in the Hague Tribunal is edifying as regards the question of the reasons for the Albanian exodus in the war crisis on Kosovo and Metohia in 1999). This analysis points out to the crucial defects of every statistical (and demographic) procedure of deriving the number of war victims in the absence of a comparable population census after the war (which did not take place in Bosnia and Herzegovina). The qualification of the quality of the 1991 Census in Bosnia and Herzegovina is briefly given (the author was an expert and organizational leader of all operations of last censuses in former Yugoslavia, 1991). Probably the most distinctive point, in the continuous course of deriving numbers and analysis on the number of victims in the Bosnian war so far, is the text of George Kenney published in the NY Times Magazine, April 23rd 1995.

The Western Balkans – will the EU overcome enlargement fatigue?

Author(s): Július Lőrincz / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

The question in the heading may seem rather speculative, since an answer in the positive may appear simple and straightforward after the experience of recent years. Someone might argue that the unambiguousness of such a reply is simply wishful thinking that is out of touch with reality. However, a negative answer also does not take into account all the possibilities and elements of reality in Europe and the Western Balkans. The enlargement of the European Union to the southeast of our continent is simply a longterm process, the progression of which is connected with many obstacles, twists and turns affecting its rhythm and pace.

Theories of Nations and Nationalism: Old Approaches for the 21st Century

Author(s): Miloš Vukelić / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2018

Relying on Rogers Brubaker’s belief that the study of nationalism has survived the erosion of nuanced and sophisticated works offered by the greatest minds in the field, this paper summarizes and reinterprets main Western theories of nations and nationalism. During the last five decades, several main theoretical approaches have emerged. The author argues the animosity between these approaches is only ostensible. Hence, a compatible perspective could emerge as a general framework for thinking about nations and nationalism in the 21st century. Such a framework would consist of modernism, interactionism and ethno-symbolism, all recognized in the literature as distinct views on the topic in question. Still applicable and compatible parts of the mentioned theories are extracted by thorough examination of their author’s most potent claims in order to offer means for comprehending the complex phenomena in a fast and ever changing social environment of the 21st century.

Thoughts on the Special Relationship between Nationalism and Islam in Particular the Late Ottoman Empire and the Early Turkish Republican Era

Author(s): Katalin Siska / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

Due to the strong position of Islam in Turkish context the issue of secularism is the first and foremost significant principle of modern Turkey that has always remained on the national agenda as the most polarizing political problem. In my opinion Islam in Turkey was never completely abandoned but in fact has been continuously and strategically used in Turkish political life for pragmatic reasons. I think it is deeply related to Islam’s symbolic power, its potential to provide a sense of belonging and cohesion as well as present a code of ethics for people that think of themselves as sharing a way of life. So there is no exaggeration to say that the secular Turkey's most successful political ideologies, trends contains noticeably Islamic ideas, elements. In this paper the relationship between Turkish nationalism, identity and Islam is examined in the Turkish nationalist debates of the late Ottoman and early Republican era. I focus only those disputes in which the compatibility between the ideas of Islam, nationalism and modernism is proven. I analyze the two most significant thinkers of the late Ottoman era because they influenced the dominant thinkers of the officially secular Kemalist era which created the ideological basic of the present Turkey.

Thy Will Be Done? Religious Nationalism and Its Effects in East Central Europe

Author(s): Anna Grzymała-Busse / Language(s): English / Issue: 02/2015

Levels of both religiosity and of religious influence on public policy vary enormously across the countries of post-communist East Central Europe. This variation poses a challenge to existing explanations, which have focused on religious competition and alliances with political parties to explain religious participation and policy influence, respectively. The legacy of religious nationalism instead helps to explain both the vibrancy of religious participation and the influence of churches on democratic public policy. This variation also calls for greater scrutiny of “historical legacies”: while some patterns are durable and reach back centuries, others are recent innovations.

Tido J. Gašpar a jeho chápanie slovenského národného socializmu

Author(s): Martin Vašš / Language(s): Slovak / Publication Year: 0

Tido J. Gašpar začal popri svojej umeleckej tvorbe produkovať politicky angažovanú publicistiku už v období prvej Československej republiky (ČSR). Postupne, najmä v priebehu 30. rokov sa politicky angažovaná publicistika dostávala do centra jeho tvorivých a publikačných aktivít. Paralelne so zvyšovaním počtu politicky angažovaných článkov sa jeho vlastná spisovateľská tvorba začala radikálne umenšovať, až sa napokon po etablovaní ľudáckeho režimu po 6. októbri 1938 vytratila takmer úplne. V našom príspevku sa chceme zamerať na poslednú etapu Gašparovej politickej publicistiky, ktorú tvorilo obdobie existencie Slovenskej republiky v rokoch 1939 – 1945 a v rámci nej sa venovať jej dominante, ktorú predstavovala ideologická konštrukcia slovenského národného socializmu. Gašpar bol totiž prívržencom pokračovania tzv. slovenskej revolúcie v národno-socialistickom duchu a v tomto smere sa zaraďoval do radikálneho krídla Hlinkovej slovenskej ľudovej strany (HSĽS) pod vedením Vojtecha Tuku a Alexandra Macha. V tejto súvislosti je zaujímavou skutočnosť, že do aktívnej politiky Gašpar nevstúpil v období demokratickej 1. ČSR, ale až v podmienkach ľudáckeho režimu. Svoj vstup do politiky Gašpar aspoň retrospektívne vnímal ako nevyhnutný kvôli potrebe „slú- žiť národu“: „Pudila nás láska k národu. Boli sme ľuďmi ťažkej dejinnej chvíle. Chceli sme národ zachovať!“1 Jednou z motivácií Gašparovho vstupu do aktívnej politiky teda bolo podľa jeho vyjadrenia úsilie „zachovať národ“ vo vtedajších neistých podmienkach, keď geopolitická situácia nevyznievala pre ČSR pozitívne.