Dimensions of Glocality: The Local “Us” against the Global “Them”

Author(s): Petya Kabakchieva / Language(s): English Issue: Special/2019

The article poses two questions: how glocality is constituted in modern Bulgaria; and how the “us” identities (“the local people”) and “them” identities (“the refugees”) are constructed. The author concludes that the perception of glocality is increasingly constituted around the axis of a local, concrete fear of a global abstract threat, leading to the re-traditionalization of locality. Based on Brubaker and Cooper’s distinction between identification and categorization, “us” is seen as an identification of the small local community, and “them” as a categorization, constructed by political and media actors, of the “refugees as a threat”. Thus, glocality is charged with tension from the start, because two different worlds meet there - the real face-to-face world and the world of virtual media images. The encounter between the real “us” and the virtual “them” proves impossible, and this impossibility could easily lead to serious clashes between actual groups.

Автентичният реакционер

Author(s): Nicolás Gómez Dávila / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 4/2019

This short text presents Davila’s understanding of freedom and history beyond the notions of necessity, on the one hand, and arbitrariness, on the other hand, as well as beyond the rigid perspective of a unified dialectical-historical development. This understanding is embodied in the figure of the reactionary, who by his ideas, stands on the arena of modern times in opposition to the representative of necessity – the radical progressive, and the representative of historical arbitrariness – the liberal progressive. The authentic reactionary carries serene optimism, as he looks from the impasse of his situation in the present world towards a new horizon of essences, i.e., as he looks entirely beyond the world.

The Russian Expert Community and Government: Models of Interaction and Performed Expert Functions

Author(s): Aleksander Sungurov / Language(s): English Issue: Special 2/2019

The article discusses the main forms of interaction between government institutions and the representatives of the expert community, as well as the preconditions for civil responsibility. The study, conducted in the period 2013–2018, includes 125 semi-structured interviews with experts from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other Russian regions, the major part of whom held managing positions in government bodies at federal or regional level, or were employed in academic work at universities, or by non-governmental organizations. Ten focus group discussions were also conducted in the course of this research. The analysis of the interview texts was made using Werner J. Patzelt’s category scheme of content analysis and the QDAMinerLight program.Along with two previously known models of interaction between experts and governmental structures – the linear autonomic model and the model of virtuous reason, two new models are proposed. One is the paid result model, according to which remuneration may consist not only in money but also in the increased symbolic capital of the researcher employed to perform expertise. The other is the initiative expertise model, where projects for policy decisions are designed without the participation of governmental structures.

Detecting Power in Power Projection: The Case of Uzbekistan

Author(s): Farkhod Tolipov / Language(s): English Issue: Special 2/2019

The term “power projection” is more often than not used to describe the extension (or application) of national power beyond state boundaries for the purpose of exerting influence on other states. In this paper, the term is used not only in this sense but also, primarily, to describe the internal (intra-state) sweep and employment of power. The term “power projection” can be relevant for studying the nature of power in a positivist perspective, through observation of its “traces” and manifestations. In being projected, power displays itself, is revealed. Political power in Uzbekistan, as in other Central Asian countries, is a very sophisticated phenomenon. Its ontology and epistemology are addressed here in a dialectical perspective. The paper analyses pillars of political power in Uzbekistan such as the cult of personality, the omnipotent Presidential Apparatus, the ubiquitous security agency, absenteeism of the demos, and opportunist political parties, all of these taken as variables that help detect nuances of power. The Uzbekistan context also provides evidence of, so to speak, “power by default” – a phenomenon that is less exposed to relational theory of power than to behavioral theory. The above-mentioned “pillars of power” are examined in this perspective. Finally, sacralization as a means of power projection is considered in the context of Uzbekistan.

A Modern Interpretation of Marxist-Leninist National Policy (On the Example of the National Minorities Issue in Uzbekistan)

Author(s): Kamola Saipova,Usmonzhon Butaev / Language(s): English Issue: Special 2/2019

The aim of the article is to present a modern interpretation of the national policy of the Soviet government on the example of the issue of national minorities in Turkestan in 1917. The authors analyze a large amount of scientific material, including the documentation of congresses and resolutions of the government of Turkestan. Based on the research results, the authors conclude that the policies on national minorities under the administrative command system was contradictory and inconsistent. In general, the dynamics of the impact of the system on the sphere of national life turned out to be negative. Due to false ideological attitudes, the domination of administration, the poor scientific basis of policy, the national policy of the administrative-command system was, essentially and objectively, a denationalizing policy. The authors present a modern interpretation of this issue.

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) as Liminal Space and Heterotopia

Author(s): L. A. Atanasova,Lyudmila Atanasova / Language(s): English Issue: Special 2/2019

The Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea is often described as the most heavily guarded border on the planet, and the one with the largest presence of military force on both sides. It is a place of constant tension that may potentially explode, triggering a disastrous war. At the same time, it is associated with hope for peace. In South Korea, the DMZ is perceived in various, often contradictory ways: as a symbol of the tragic destiny of the Korean people, divided by ideology, politics and geopolitical interests; as an area of conflict, emphasizing the otherness of everything that lies beyond it, as a contact point between long-alienated brothers, as an ecological haven for rare plant and animal species, etc.The current study analyses the border and the area along it as a liminal space, exploring the different meanings with which the DMZ is endowed in South Korean society. The liminal properties of the space are shown to contribute to the DMZ’s function as a heterotopia that reflects and inverts certain relations within society. Applying the results of the analysis, the April 2018 summit between the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the South Korean President Moon Jae In, held at Panmunjom in the DMZ, is shown to contain ritualistic elements related to the liminality of the venue. Their meaning is interpreted in the perspective of recent political and diplomatic developments in the relations between the two countries.

Zapomniany paradygmat - dlaczego postmodernizm warto stosować w europejskich badaniach stosunków międzynarodowych

Author(s): Iwona Jakimowicz-Pisarska / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

The article is focused on the postmodern paradigm and its uses in research on European international relations. It shows how postmodernism is understood in philosophy and how it can be adopted by political science methodology. Although, All aspects – positive and negative – as each paradigm postmodernizm can’t be used to every kind of analysis. As a result of European philosophy and based on the European background, the postmodern paradigm seems to be the most suitable for European state research. That’s why the suggestion included in the text is described in the context of this kind of issue.

O Snježani Banović, Kazalište za narod

Author(s): Nenad Popović / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 3/2020

Predmet ovog opsežnog istraživanja je zagrebačko Hrvatsko narodno kazalište između 1945. i 1955., u jednom sumornom razdoblju u hrvatskoj i općenito jugoslavenskoj kulturi. Doba je partijskog rigidizma, dogme ‘partijine’ umjetnosti socijalističkog realizma, velike cenzure i općeg siromaštva. Euforija oslobođenja 1945. za HNK trajala je kratko, tako reći samo nekoliko dana i autorica je predočava kroz susrete s preživjelim članovima kazališta koji su u NDH spašavali glavu i vratili se ‘iz šume’, dakle partizana ili zbjegova. Olovni poklopac brzo je pao. Kao i u Sovjetskom Savezu, o kreativnoj slobodi ili bilo kakvoj samostalnosti ubrzo nije moglo biti riječi, pa ni u toj velikoj kulturnoj radionici. Kazalištu je nametnuta stroga komesarska kontrola partije i stil socijalističkog realizma. Ključne poluge u kući preuzeli su pravovjerni partijci oboružani zaleđem u partijskim centralama i s njihovim uputama u džepu. [...]

Prikaz

Author(s): Barbara Mašić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 4/2020

The review of: Andrew Heywood, POLITIKA; Mate d.o.o., Zagreb, 2019., 520 str.

WWII MONUMENTS IN YUGOSLAVIA IN THE PRINTED MEDIA: BOOKS, TOURIST GUIDES AND A STICKER ALBUM – POPULARIZATION AND PROPAGANDA

Author(s): Nenad Lajbenšperger / Language(s): English Issue: 02/2020

Publications about monuments to fighters and victims of the Second World War in Yugoslavia began to appear in the late 1950s. They were dedicated to one or more monuments or memorial complexes. Over time, in tourist guides, among other sites, monuments and memorials began to be presented as a significant place worth a visit. During the second half of the 1970s, printing of special tourist guides dedicated only to monuments and memorial complexes started. Because of the popularity of monuments, a sticker album was also printed. The intention behind printing such publications was to inform citizens about monuments, but there was also an ideological side to it. Through books about monuments, the state and the Communist party wanted to emphasize again Yugoslav war efforts and the sacrifice that was made during the war. They used it as a propaganda tool in youth education, foreign diplomacy and overall state propaganda about the role of Yugoslav partisans, under the leadership of the Communist party, in the victory against fascism.

“Čovjek je ujedno i ono što može biti”: interpretacija značenja termina otuđenje u socijalizmu i postsocijalizmu

Author(s): Andrea Matošević / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 01/2020

The paper analyses the notion of alienation in a dual sense: first, as a significant articulation of philosophical and sociological problems in Yugoslav socialist thought and beyond, but also as a very present accentuation of the work conditions detected in industry. This double position builds a partial comparison with and analysis of the context of today’s working conditions in the “cognitariat” sector, but from which detection of alienation is almost completely removed and replaced with terms such as “hopelessness”, “indifference”, “futility”, “self-exploitation”, or “burnout”. The paper interprets the lack of such substitution, since alienation, despite the constantly emphasized abstractness of its meaning, connotes criticism, change and overcoming the current issues. This implies strong effort towards disalienation, which is not the case with the mentioned substitutive terms. For this reason, linguistic analysis and attempts to answer the question on the possibility of speaking and analysing a part of today’s, especially working, conditions in terms of alienation are a dominant part of this paper.

Comrade Tito, it’s all your fault! Yugoslav Citizens’ Letters to Josip Broz Tito

Author(s): Dejan Jović / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2020

Between 1945 and 1967, Josip Broz Tito, the Marshal and President of Yugoslavia, received 411,769 letters written by citizens of his country. Until 1964 he personally read most of the letters addressed to him and made decisions on requests and comments expressed in them. In this article we argue that Tito used the letters received to establish a direct link between himself and citizens. This was one of the key instruments of his power, as he used letters to conduct a permanent ‘anti-bureauratic revolution’ which would squeeze lower-level officials into a sandwich between him and ‘the people’. We focus on one particular letter, written by Dragomir Katić, a 27-year old unemployed person from Kraljevo, Serbia. The letter arrived in February 1967, and Tito used this occasion to personally meet Katić. Despite Tito’s promise, however, Katić’s problem could not be solved for more than two years, due to a power struggle between Tito and local officials in Serbia. This case sheds new light on the nature of Tito’s alleged absolute power in Yugoslavia. It tells us much about the attitude of dissatisfied individuals in Communist Yugoslavia, who cared much more about solving their personal problems than about changing the system, at least for as long as Tito was alive.

Milorad Dodik’s Public Attitudes and Perceptions Toward the ICTY: Operational Code Analysis

Author(s): Jasmin Hasić,Zejna Yesilyurt / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2020

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was formally closed on 21 December 2017. During the quarter century of its existence, ICTY’s rulings had a significant impact on public discourses and narratives about the Bosnian war. Different opinions among the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) about ICTY’s role and its verdicts have emerged over time, especially among the leaders of the dominant ethno-political parties representing the three ethno-constituent groups – Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. Milorad Dodik, current member of the BiH Presidency, a former President of Republika Srpska (RS) entity, and the leader of one of the most prominent political parties in RS, was particularly vocal and critical about the work of the ICTY. This paper closely examines Dodik’s public views and opinions toward the ICTY. We use content- and operational code analysis to analyze key features of his perceptions toward the ICTY’s work while serving as the President of RS for two consecutive terms.

INSTITUTIONAL TRUST IN THE CASE OF CROATIAN REGIONS

Author(s): Dubravka Jurlina Alibegović,Katarina Marošević / Language(s): English Issue: 3-4/2020

Institutions and institutional trust can be marked as important determinants of (regional) growth and development in contemporary literature. Aim of this paper is to analyse institutional trust in two Croatian counties and to compare those results with earlier theoretical findings. The methodology consists of in-depth interviews made by survey of counsellors or some of leading functions in two Croatian counties. The results are mostly in accordance with earlier theory findings of institutional trust for Croatian level, i.e. the highest level of institutional trust was related with traditional values, for instance in family, while in some institutions trust varied and had a gap in level of respondents trust, depending of their own experience, for instance in self-government and educational system. At very low level of institutional trust were for instance, political parties and Government. As singled out, some of the main obstacles in achieving high levels of institutional trust were corruption, inconsistency in decision-making and enforcement, noncompliance, slow and complicated procedures, non-transparency, politization. Trust in institutions according to the results, impacts reduction and regulation of uncertainty in the economy. These results could be very worth and a certain guide for policy makers and their future decision-making.

Jak śpiewać chórem w polifonicznym świecie

Author(s): Edwin Bendyk,Marek Migalski,Monika Rudaś-Grodzka,Sebastian Duda / Language(s): Polish Issue: 683/2021

Discussion between Edwin Bendyk, Marek Migalski, Monika Rudaś ‑ Grodzka and Sebastian Duda

Krzysztofa Pałeckiego „normatywizacyjna teoria władzy”

Author(s): Jerzy J. Wiatr / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2020

“Belgrade to Belgradians, Not Foreign Capitalists”: International Statebuilding, Contentious Politics, and New Forms of Political Representation in Serbia

Author(s): Nemanja Džuverović,Aleksandar Milošević / Language(s): English Issue: 01/2021

One of the main criticisms concerning the process of post-conflict transition in Serbia has been the lack of context sensitivity and participation of the local population in the decision-making process, especially regarding the most important issues that were addressed during the political and economic transformation of the country that began in 2001. This criticism became especially pronounced from the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008, when the negative characteristics of international statebuilding became even more apparent, causing increased dependency on international institutions and further economic marginalisation of the most vulnerable groups. By looking at the movement “Don’t Drown Belgrade” and the series of large-scale protests in Belgrade in 2016, the article seeks to explore the main reasons for social discontent with the international-led statebuilding agenda in post-conflict Serbian society and the local strategies employed to resist and subvert this form of statebuilding.

Our common heritage

Author(s): Jacek Hajduk / Language(s): English Issue: 06 (44)/2020

The world we came to live in today should not have come to us as a big surprise. Neither should the internal problems of the European Union, which, the late Polish science fiction writer, Stanisław Lem, even predicted some time ago. Earlier events such as the Arab Spring, or the weakening position of the United States, and Russia’s imperial aspirations should not have shocked us either. And neither should have the emergence of centres of wealth influence in Asia: China, which is soon to be followed by India and Vietnam, and perhaps Japan and South Korea. Indeed, these and other countries may not be the subjects of our dinner conversations, but the truth is they are getting richer, more powerful and populous.

Clan war instead of fighting coronavirus and corruption

Author(s): Ludwika Włodek / Language(s): English Issue: 06 (44)/2020

Nearly a month has passed since the October 4th parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan, but it remains unclear who is actually holding power in the country. There were as many as three individuals claiming the prime minister’s seat. President Sooronbay Jeenbekov announced that “as soon as the situation stabilises” he would be ready to step down. After the resignation of subsequent Supreme Council speakers, two of the deputies argued which one had the right to preside over the Supreme Council (the country’s parliament). At the same time, the council was forced to assemble in a hotel, since on the first night after the election the actual parliament building was looted and set ablaze by rioters.

Higher Education and the Politics of Disruption

Author(s): Henry A. Giroux / Language(s): English Issue: 54 (1)/2020

At its best education is dangerous because it offers young people and other actors the promise of racial and economic justice, a future in which democracy becomes inclusive and a dream in which all lives matter. In a healthy society universities should be subversive; they should go against the grain, and give voice to the voiceless, the unmentionable and the whispers of truth that haunt the apostles of unchecked power and wealth. Pedagogy should be disruptive and unsettling and push hard against the common sense vocabularies of neoliberalism and its regime of affective management.