"Itt kutatási szabadság van"

Beszélgetés a 60 éves Öllös Lászlóval

Author(s): Eleonóra Sándor,László Öllös / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 3/2017

László Öllös, political philosopher, associate professor, president of the Forum Minority Research Institute speaks about his professional trajectories, the communist regime, events of the 1968 revolution in Czechoslovakia, opposition activities, the Velvet Revolution in 1989, political transition in the CEE countries. He also details his public activities, theoretical and research work focusing on human rights, national rights, ethnic minority rights, constitutional issues, national identity, civil society. Among his special spheres of interest belong issues such as Slovak–Hungarian reconciliation, national division, European identity, political community, constitutional value system.

"MUSLIM by NATIONALITY" and the upcoming Neo-Ottomanism

Author(s): Ilie Iulian Mitran / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

The upcoming years are vital for the stability of the Balkans. The degree in which stability, or the lack thereof, will be present will highly depend on how well aligned are the political elites and intellectuals with the radical ideologies that are surfacing. A very firm act of disownment of radicalism that would come from the elites would raise some red flags among the mainstream society in regard to the danger that such ideologies pose. Even so, we must take into account, that in the case of states of the Balkans, information has more difficulties in reaching people in short time. This is mainly due to the rugged ter-rain, lack of efficient technology and poor infrastructure. The radicalization of Islam can be only perpet-uated through exploiting the weakest points of the local societies, mostly having to do with poverty and the lack opportunities for communal development. Using personal, material, gains as a means of twisting the minds of otherwise peaceful people and drawing them into fundamentalism is a technique that proved to be often efficient in the case of communities that are struggling with poverty. As time will progress, we will see the confrontation between the two Islamic traditions, now present in region, to be more visible, the future stability of the region will also be determined by which will gain the most ground.

"Здесь русский дух… здесь Русью пахнет!": Борьбас "русским духом" в Таллине в начале 1920-х гг

Author(s): Aurika Meimre,Antonia Nael / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 1/2014

This article is aimed at reconstructing the course of events that resulted in the relocation of a monument of Peter the Great in the capital of Estonia. The bronze standing figure of Peter by Léopold Bernstamm (unveiled in September 1910 to commemorate the bicentennial of the siege of Reval) was removed in April 1922. The reasons for its demolition were mainly ideological: for Estonians Peter the Great symbolized years of suffering under Russian rule. The controversy around Peter the Great attracted Georg Tõnisson (Gori), a graphic artist, who portrayed the czar in a series of caricatures published by Waba Maa and Meie Mats.

"Сви смо ми људи једнаки, а што је неко мало црњи, а неко мало бељи, не мења ствар"

Сексуална педагогија у Србији на крају 19. и почетку 20. века

Author(s): Ana Kolaric / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 2/2012

This essay explores (various cultural and pedagogical discourses of sexuality and sexual conduct. Those discourses were important for the processes of formation of the national state and its “proper” citizens. The analysis tried to prove that many concepts, ideas and knowledge(s) “travelled” from the Western countries to Serbia, where they were appropriated without any changes. To do this, the author has analysed how category of “race” was utilized in the Serbian “conduct books” and women’s magazines. In conclusion, the author pointed out the significance of historical examination of identities, which should help us form more reflexive and critical attitudes towards cultural heritage and traditions.

,,Дијалектичка равнотежа’’ институционалног система ЕУ у области спољног представљања: фикција или реалност?

Author(s): Dejana M. Vukcevic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 4/2012

Dans cet article, l’auteur s’efforce d’analyser l’identité institutionnelle de l’UE en matière de la représentation extérieure. Malgré la tentative proclamée d’une plus grande cohérence et de l’efficacité dans le domaine extérieur de l’UE, le traité de Lisbonne crée une image institutionnelle complexe dans laquelle une représentation extérieure unique de l’UE est difficile. Cela est dû au fait qu’il y a un grand nombre d’acteurs et une confusion quant à la compétence dans le domaine de l’action extérieure de l’Union. Le nouveau traité demeure prisonnier d’un mélange hybride des logiques intergouvernementale et supranationale qui se caractérise par un manque de clarité des rôles des institutions prévus par le traité. L’article est divisé en deux parties. Dans la première partie, l’auteur analyse la nouvelle identité institutionnelle de l’UE dans le domaine de l’action extérieure. Dans la deuxième partie, l’auteur traite l’application des dispositions istituionnelles, marquée des tensions permanentes pour le contrôle des positions de pouvoir. Cela est dû à des dispositions vagues et imprécises du traité de Lisbonne laissаnt aux Etats membres et aux institutions une grande marge de manœuvre quant à l’interprétation de leurs compétences. L’auteur conclut que la pluralité d’acteurs dans ce domaine témoigne d’un compromis du traité de Lisbonne quant à l’allocation du leadeship politique dans le cadre de l’UE. Pour cette raison, il est difficle d’établir un équilibre entre les intérêts des Etats membres et des institutions dans la consolidation postLisbonne en matière de représentation extérieure ce qui n’est pas sans répercussions quant à la visibilité de l’UE sur la scène internationale.

1989: Szempontok a rendszerváltás globális politikai gazdaságtanához

Author(s): Márk Áron Éber,Ágnes Gagyi,Tamás Gerocs,Csaba Jelinek,András Pinkasz / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 21/2014

This article rethinks 1989 – the year commonly treated as a milestone of regime change. As contrary to this narrow view, and with the aim of laying out the conceptual foundations of possible future research projects, we give a short overview of the way Hungary became incorporated into the capitalist world system and of the key global, economic, and geopolitical factors that influenced its dependent development. For this we present a historically sensitive, global political economic narrative within which we pay special attention to the way public debt had been accumulated and how this, in turn, shaped Hungary’s position within the world system. After our analysis of the regime change we continue with an overview of the main structural dynamics of the last two decades. Finally, through two short case studies, we show how our perspective can throw new light on the political ideologies and economic policies of the era. The accumulation of state debt was not a Hungarian specificity: instead, we argue that it was rather a result of the global restructuring process and of its concomitant effect of decreasing national state-sovereignty. In the following manner, we also argue that the emergence of debates (which were central in evaluating the regime change, revolving around issues like „democracy” vs. „dictatorship” or „planning” vs. „market”) can be better understood within our global, historical, and political economic analytical framework. In the long run we identify two economic development strategies – namely, the strategy of liberalization and the strategy of protectionism – both structured around the, nonetheless entirely unfulfilled, hope of overcoming Hungary’s semi-peripheral position by „catching up” to its Western neighbors. These strategies then can be analyzed on the base of how they relate to global cycles of accumulation; how their shifts were influenced by changes in the world system; and, in turn, how these strategies organized both various elite projects shaped by global cyclical dynamics and the interpretations about our historically unfolding dependent position.

A Case of Successful Transitional Justice

Fritz Bauer and his Late Recognition in the Federal Republic of Germany

Author(s): Jakub Gortat / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2017

Germany is an example of a country which has been implementing transitional justice for decades and is still active in this field. What is more, contemporary Germans have recently come to terms with their not-so-distant past and their negligence in this area by showing the falsehood, backwardness, and injustice as negative foundations of the young Federal Republic. This article evokes the person of Fritz Bauer, the prosecutor in the state of Hessen. His struggle for human dignity and the memory of his achievements after his death exemplify an accomplished case of transitional justice and the memory of it. During his lifetime he contributed to bringing to trial numerous Nazi criminals, even at the cost of habitual threats and disregard. Forgotten for a few decades, Bauer and his legacy have been recently rediscovered and studied. Eventually, Bauer became a movie character and was finally brought back to the collective memory of Germans. The belated, but a well-deserved wave of popularity of Fritz Bauer in the German culture memory proves that reflections on the transitional justice are still topical and important.

A Conceptual History of Political Regimes: Democracy, Dictatorship, and Authoritarianism

Author(s): Adam Przeworski / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2017

The labels we attach today to distinguish political regimes have histories. Applying them without understanding these histories is sometimes anachronistic and ethnocentric. I have little new to say about “democracy” and “dictatorship”, so that the discussion of these concepts is just a reminder. “Authoritarianism”, however, is a dubious neologism. I advance two claims: (1) In all regimes the power to command and be obeyed entails some dose of reason-giving, (2) What distinguishes regimes is the form and the extent to which the authority of rulers is monopolised by physical force. I conclude that the concept of “authoritarianism” adds little to the distinction between democracy and dictatorship.

A Forgotten Detail in the Cultural Landscape: a Ukrainian Version of Russian Formalism? National Identity, Avant-garde and Ideology in Literary Discussions in Soviet Ukraine (1920s–1930s)

Author(s): Galina Babak / Language(s): English / Issue: 32 (37)/2017

The 1920s in the Soviet Ukraine are characterised by significant variability of views on the meaning, social significance and mechanism of art and literature, however, all this theoretical and practical variety was limited by political restriction imposed by official communist ideology. Avant-garde groups and movements enriched modernist discussions by drawing attention to the fact that the revolution in arts and literature was of the same nature as political and social revolution. Numerous Soviet writers, poets, artists, philologists, etc. (including Ukrainian writers with their own national agenda) took part in these discussions; many of them were members of different literary movements, groups and organisations – and of course they had a different aesthetic orientation. One of the most important topics of Soviet theoretical discussions in the 1920s was the dualism of “form” and “content” in literature and art. Such discussions were held in Soviet Ukraine as well. Even though we cannot speak about “Ukrainian formalism” as an organised and disciplined aesthetic school, it is important to determine the “Ukrainian version” of correlation between universalist ideas of Russian formalism, internationalist Soviet ideology (in relation to the culture), and forming Ukrainian cultural identity.

A Jobbik mérséklődése az egyéni képviselő-jelöltek vizsgálatának tükrében

Author(s): Dániel Kovarek,Attila Farkas / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2017

Jobbik (The Movement for a Better Hungary) is generally the subject of scholarly attention due to the anti-gypsy sentiment typical of the party, its tone of speech ignoring political correctness, and its far-right connections. Nonetheless, in the past three years the tone of Jobbik’s campaign messages has become substantially more moderate, party offi cials distanced themselves from racist and anti-Semitic statements, eventually declaring that the aim of Jobbik is to reposition itself as a ‘real people’s party’. Given the freshness of this transformation process, only a handful of scholarly works investigated the topic until now, and even if doing so, the literature almost exclusively focused on the analysis of Jobbik’s parliamentary elite, and its management. This article seeks to analyze and understand the process by comparing Jobbik’s candidates fi elded in single-member districts in 2010 and 2014. Conclusions are drawn from quantifi ed content analysis of short candidate introductions (résumés and pledges), accompanied by the analysis of databases with variables on political career, electoral experience and former partisan affiliation.

A Kárpát-medencei magyar szórványok településszerkezete és főbb demográfiai jellemzői

Author(s): Patrik Tátrai / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2017

The present study aims at outlining the settlement characteristics and the ethnodemographic processes of the Hungarian dispersed settlements in the Carpathian Basin. Applying two definitions for dispersal (1. Hungarians constitute less than 20 per cent of the local population; 2. everybody belongs to the dispersed settlements who live outside the relatively contiguous Hungarian areas) the paper compared the current situation and perspectives of Hungarians living in neighbouring macroregions (Slovakia, Transcarpathia, Transylvania, Vojvodina). Research results show that 400–600 000 Hungarians live in dispersal depending on the definition. Although the public discourse associates dispersal with rural settlements, Hungarians are overrepresented in urban areas unlike the Hungarian clustered minorities in the rest of the Carpathian Basin. The dispersed communities keep changing rather than being stable; their dynamics (reproduction and disappearance) is closely connected to assimilation and migration. These settlements are characterised by unfavourable ethno-demographic features such as low natural growth and high rates of assimilation. As a result, the decrease in the number of the dispersed population far exceeds the clustered minority Hungarian average.

A konszenzusok felszámolása – Jobboldali populizmus és a „gender-ideológia” fenyegetése

Author(s): Eszter Kováts / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 22/2017

Since 2012, several European countries have seen the rise of conservative and, in part, fundamentalist social movements fuelled by the animosity against the perceived threat of „gender ideology” or „gender theory”. Being opposed to women’s rights, LGBTQ issues, certain administrative policy instruments (such as gender mainstreaming) as well as the public financing of gender studies departments, the advocates of these platforms tend to regard all political and non-governmental actors, administrative staff and scientific researchers who focus on these issues as a single homogeneous group and an organised lobby. This is partly manifested in grassroots or religiously-affiliated movements and partly in the agenda of right-wing and populist parties. More and more researchers are convinced by the transnational character of the movements as well as the broad impact of discourses and practices reaching across national borders and issues that we are not dealing with isolated cases, but a coherent phenomenon. Contrary to the three most frequent interpretative frameworks, i. e. the national/local political context, the discourse/mobilisation of the Roman Catholic Church, and the conservative backlash, I discuss these movements in the context of the rise of right-wing populism and on the basis of theoretical explanations seeking to grasp the demand side. On the one hand, I argue that the study of this phenomenon provides important clues for understanding the reasons behind the gain of populist forces in Europe and beyond. On the other hand, I propose that „gender” is not the final target for these movements which should primarily not be understood as mobilizations against equality. Rather, the emergence of these movements is a symptom of a larger crisis, and their ideologies are the surface, where „gender” is a symbolic glue. These mobilizations are rather the throes of a contest for redefining liberal democracy where, in the interpretation of its adversaries, „gender ideology” embodies numerous deficits of the established global power order and the so-called progressive actors, and they react to these by re-politicizing certain issues. Therefore, the interpretations limited to a ‘fight between values’ are rather an obstacle to understand the phenomenon, by repudiating or obscuring this important structural realignment. Based on Chantal Mouffe’s concept of ‘consensus’ and her critique of the established hegemony of consensus in liberal democracy, I discuss the contribution of three phenomena that are characteristic of the so-called progressive actors (including the feminis and LGBTQ actors), namely the neoliberal consensus, the human rights consensus and the consensus about liberal progress, to the rise of the movements against ‘gender ideology’.

A multietnikus nemzetállam

Author(s): Ildikó Bajcsi / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2017

Szarka­ László:­ A multietnikus­ nemzetállam. Kísérletek,­ kudarcok­ és­ kompromisszumok Csehszlovákia­ nemzetiségi­ politikájában1918–1992.­ Pozsony,­ Kalligram,­ 2016,­ 376­ p.

A TANDEM 2016 kutatás általános bemutatása és mintavételi eljárása

Author(s): Viktória Ferenc,József Molnár / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2017

The target group of the TANDEM 2016 Survey was the Ukrainian and Hungarian population of the multi-ethnic west Ukrainian region, Transcarpathia. The paper-based survey was carried out from May to August 2016. The survey was bilingual: in 44 settlements respondents answered our questions in Hungarian, in 55 in Ukrainian and in 24 settlements in both languages. The expression “TANDEM” implies that in this survey we put emphasis on the peculiarities of Hungarian-Ukrainian coexistence and the differences of perspectives on the same topics. All together we gathered 1212 questionnaires: 398 adult respondents answered our questions in Hungarian and 814 in Ukrainian according to a representative sample (the sample however was not proportionately stratified regarding the ethnic ratio of settlements).

Africa de Sud, pol major de putere al continentului african

Author(s): Maria Catalina Moisescu / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: I/2010

The study explores, with a lot of details, the power status of South Africa, in the new context after apartheid was completely abandoned and the country reintegrated itself within the regional / continental and global community. The author clearly states that she is going to extensively use the concepts of Realism in International Relations. She states that the new foreign policy of South Africa is based on massive changes within the framework of domestic political life. The most important part of the study is an interesting and detailed presentation of the elements of national power of South Africa, using the notorious list issued, several decades ago, by Hans J. Morgenthau, the founding father of modern Realism in International Relations. The study integrates many elements belonging to an extensive interview with the Ambassador of South Africa in Romania, who expressed his opinions on the 14th of June, 2010.

AKP, Milliyetçilik Ve Diş Politika: Bir Milliyetçilik Doktrini Olarak Stratejik Derinlik

Author(s): Cenk Saraçoglu / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 1/2013

Over the past ten year the academic researches and publications pertaining to the AKP (Justice and Development Party) power in Turkey has culminated into an immensely rich literature, but the main tenets of the nationalist character of this party have not drawn an adequate academic and intellectual attention for various reasons. In an attempt to contribute to this relatively unexhausted discussion, this article will seek to unravel and evaluate the ideational foundations and symbolic components of the AKP’s nationalist position through a close analysis of Stratejik Derinlik (Strategic Depth), a supposedly theory-oriented book written in 2001 by the current Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. This article argues that at the very crux of the foreign policy outlook sketched out in Stratejik Derinlik is a systematic nationalist doctrine that has been rather haphazardly represented and propagated by the AKP officials. In this respect, Stratejik Derinlik can be treated as a fertile point of departure for investigating the ideological roots of AKP’s nationalism and the role this nationalism plays in the ongoing struggles for political hegemony in Turkey. The fact that the thesis and discourses deployed in the Stratejik Derinlik have functioned in the last ten years as a prominent point of reference for the official foreign policy approach in Turkey also testifies to a dramatic transformation of the Turkish state’s official ideology along the lines of the AKP’s Islamic conservative nationalism.

Albania and Kosovo. In quest of a Common Future

Author(s): Dritan Sulçebe / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2014

This Policy Paper was prepared in the context of the joint Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) project: “Albania and Kosovo - In quest of a Common Future”. Its first chapter deals with the historical dimension of the relations between Albania and Kosovo. During their history Kosovo and Albania have been isolated for more than four decades and this has caused deep divisions in economic, political and societal terms, which still persist today. During WWII, both countries experienced a short term unification (1941-1944), which resulted very successful in strengthening their economic ties. However, during the communist regimes in Albania and Yugoslavia, cooperation was limited only to sporadic academic and cultural interaction. After the fall of the Iron curtain, deep isolation continued to mark the relations between the two countries. The situation changed only after the outbreak of the Kosovo War and the establishment of the UNMIK administration in 1999, with the signing of a series of economic and free trade agreements. After the independence of Kosovo in 2008, one can speak for the first time in history of relations between two separate and sovereign Albanian dominated states. As such, these relations are experiencing a new evolving economic and political dimension.

ALBANIAN IMMIGRANTS IN GREECE: FROM UNWANTED TO TOLERATED?

Author(s): Artur Adamczyk / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2016

The main objective of this article is to present the way attitudes towards Albanian people and the perception of them has changed in Greece. The Albanians came to Greece following the collapse of the Communist bloc at the beginning of the 1990s. Within time it transpired that it was a mass immigration of approximately 500,000 people. Greece was not prepared for such an enormous influx of foreigners and failed to initiate an effective migration policy. The initial reactions of the Greek politicians, media, and society were negative. Social feelings, however, began to turn in the first decade of the XX century. Albanians ceased to be stigmatised as a threat and started to be perceived in a positive way through the prism of the demands of the Greek economy. The economic and migration crisis, however, lead to the reappearance of a xenophobic mood among the Greeks.

Alevi Gençliğinin Siyasi ve Sosyo-Kültürel Kimlik Mücadelesi I

Author(s): Fazilet Ahu Özmen / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 1/2011

With its different definitions, its pluralist structure and its contribution to the political, social and cultural space of Turkey, besides constituting an important factor; Alevism; is a often debated concept and a mobilization tool nowadays. Since the Ottoman period Alevism has a struggle of identity. Their marginalization in the Ottoman Empire as well as in the later periods of the Republic due to the characteristics of their belief system, their definition as the „other‟ by the opposition forces have caused great difficulties for Alevis. Because of the oppression they have experienced, they could not sufficiently express themselves and could not attain a cultural autonomy. However, with the transition to the multi-party system and migration flows from the country-sides to the cities, the situation has began to change and especially with the effect of the political activities of the mid-1960‟s, the Alevi community, especially the young generation has began to take its places in the society. Alevis that formed an important fraction of the 68 generation have adopted leftist orientations that formed the basis of their identity formation. This process has continued throughout the 1970‟s. But events between 1978-80 have once more deeply affected the Alevis and they once more retired into themselves. Besides observing the identity formation of the Alevi youth between 1968-80, this article also highlights the importance of their contributions to the political development and to the direction of this development in these periods.

American Identity Enveloped in Words

Author(s): Anna Stwora / Language(s): English / Issue: XIII/2017

This article aims at presenting presidential rhetoric in which the myth of the American Dream is employed in order to influence national identity. It provides an overall description of the theme of the American Dream from the standpoint of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics, basing on discretionally selected inaugural addresses delivered by four Presidents of the United States, with particular emphasis placed on the process of moulding individual identity through the construction and maintenance of cognitive and thought patterns. The research questions posed are intended to prove that the American Dream may be perceived as an instrument of psycholinguistic manipulation which can be the source of ideological and social pressure.