Aktywność NGO i FBO na Bliskim Wschodzie na tle innych obszarów Południa

Author(s): Anna Mrozek-Dumanowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2014

The NGOs or the Independent Citizen’s Organizations are the third – after the state and neo-liberal market structure – oficial sector distinguished by a formal organization. On the positive side of NGOs we could mention the numerous civil initiatives which advance public education and public debate on global affairs. Most NGOs undertook also projects to fight for more equitable distribution of planetary resources. In a postcolonial era some Western observers were of opinion that the sustainable development and the process of democratisation in Developing Countries, could be achieved mainly with the help of NGOs. But in the same time the models of NGOs activities, growing and shaped by the western patterns of economy and culture, were not properly understood and realized in the differentiated cultures of Developing Countries. The end of cold war and growing disappointment with globalization expanded the space for religious renewal. Alongside with the erosion of traditional identities and sources of authority, religion was able to furnish the empty space of people’s sence of security. In comparison with NGOs the religious social organizations, FBOs, have something qualitatively different to offer, particularly in terms of empowering people, e.g. giving them personal dignity and selfworthiness.

Zagrożenia dla bezpieczeństwa społecznego w Bośni i Hercegowinie. Uwarunkowania – diagnoza – prognozy

Author(s): Danuta Gibas-Krzak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2018

Nacjonalistyczny internet. Rekonstrukcja medialnego ekosystemu polskiej skrajnej prawicy w internecie

Author(s): Marcin Pielużek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3 (255)/2023

The article’s main objective is to reconstruct the media ecosystem of the Polish extreme right on the Internet. The starting point was 15 websites of the most recognisable Polish far-right organisations, which were indexed using the Hyphe tool to identify other websites with the same ideological profile, this identified 312 websites. These were then further analysed using social network analysis methods and tools in order to answer the following research questions: 1) how dense is the network of connections between the different sites; 2) what is the diversity and dominant ideological orientation of the far-right Internet; 3) what types of sites are used to disseminate far-right content? The research results show that far-right websites are poorly networked but that a few sites act as opinion leaders and content distributors linking different communities. At the same time, despite the ideological diversity, two communities – radical nationalists and autonomous nationalists – are critical in the reconstructed media ecosystem. While the different types of sites function as important media sites for each milieu, each milieu uses the different types of sites in slightly different ways.

Identity, otherness and commerce in times past Bucharest: „The Flea Market”

Author(s): Alexandra Rusu / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2022

“The flea market” was a place intended for the old furniture trade, but also other items that today we generically call second-hand goods, which appeared on the Bucharest trade map in the second half of the 19th century. It was erected in a disadvantaged area, densely populated, marked by the Jewish singularity. For more than half a century(1876-1930), the activity in the flea market, coordinated exclusively by Jewish merchants,had an undeniable role in the capital’s economy. Regarding its image, it was painted in the context of new socio-political realities in the Old Kingdom of Romania, such as the awakening of nationalistic feelings and xenophobia, especially antisemitism. In the last decades of the 19th century, the “Jewish Question” became an intellectual problem with an essential political stake, the emancipation of the Jews being in an irreconcilable position with Romanian nationalism. The anti-Semitic discourse used by the political, intellectual,and cultural elite presented the Jews as unassimilable, anti-national elements that could undermine the Romanian character. Examples from the periphery of life, including the Jewish merchants in Lazăr Street and the “Flea market”, constitute the extreme otherness and a potential danger to the nation’s body, thus emphasizing the opposing nature discourse and favoring an ideology of excluding Jews from Romanian culture and society.The research aims to capture the flea market atmosphere and the image of the Jewish community nearby, as reflected in the writings of some personalities (politicians, historians,prose writers, journalists) of times past Bucharest. The perspectives exhibit a wide range of observations, from objective ones, in contrast to the circulated stereotypes, to subjective ones, filtered through emotions, all pieces of the collective mind’s mosaic. Examples in the press oscillate between fin-de-siècle anti-Semitism and the anti-Semitism of the early 20thcentury, infused with scientific claims, all using the flea market as a symbol of inadequacy for an entire ethnic community

Actorii patrimoniului și dezvoltarea durabilă a comunităților rurale din România. Cazul colecției RezArt – Muzeu – Ateliere din satul Iaz, județul Sălaj

Author(s): Ana Pascu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2023

Cultural heritage has changed its definition for the last decades, slowly becoming an important economic resource especially in areas where the sustainable development through tourism is the only economic development solution. These changes happened based on a strong connection with the worldwide awareness of the important role of social actors, creators and beneficiaries of the heritage. In this study, we focus on the particular case of private actors in heritage (communities, NGOs, individuals), found at the interface between rural communities and state institutions, between constraining laws and the freedom of those who create cultural values, but cannot manage. Among those, we refer to the private collectors of ethnographic objects. The tasks they assume for themselves are difficult. Leaders with distinguished moral qualities are needed, leaders that are true „cultural entrepreneurs”, to whom the work for cultural heritage demands a specialization. The paper discusses the problems and tensions that occur during the management of cultural heritage done by the private actors and also present the fortunate case of the RezArt - Museum - Workshops ethnographic collection, Iaz village, Sălaj county, owned by Ligia-Alexandra Pop.

REPRESSION-INSPIRED INNOVATIVE FORMS OF PROTEST AS A FACTOR SUSTAINING MOBILIZATION: THE CASE STUDY OF ALL-POLISH WOMEN'S STRIKE

Author(s): Oliwia Szeląg,Maciej Skrzypek / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2023

The paper aims to discover the relations between repression and the occurrence of innovative forms of protests (hereinafter: IFP) during the All-women’s Strike in Poland (2020-2021). The Authors identified two most essential features of IFP, namely the use of the Internet and avoidance of physical violence. IFP were significant for these manifestations, considering pandemic circumstances and strict restrictions on public assembly. The following questions were asked during the research: 1) What was the content of the IFP? 2) Who is the target of IFP? The study draws on process tracing to determine whether repression by law enforcement caused a public reaction against those measures. Moreover, qualitative content analysis was used to determine the content published in public domain posts on Instagram. The period examined is 20 October 2020 (tightening abortion law by the Constitutional Court) to 8 February 2021 (when the last post was published). The purposeful selection of cases included 450 posts by the most engaged Polish female celebrities. The paper provides knowledge of how specific repression triggered certain types of IFP and who was the target of these protests. The authors also explain the use of IFP during the All-women’s Strike in Poland.

Miejsce i rola diaspory w promocji polskiej kultury w świetle polityk publicznych

Author(s): Mariusz Dzięglewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2023

The article is aimed at seeking an answer to the question about the place of Polish immigrant organizations centered around cultural activities, Polish artists residing abroad and the general immigrant community within the organizational field focused on the promotion of Polish culture abroad. To answer the question, the author analyses key documents underpinning cultural policy and policy towards diaspora, describes the structure of organizational field including various kind of organizations engaged in promotion of Polish culture abroad. The policy analysis covered the presentation of assumptions on the role the diaspora should play both – as an addressee and the “tool” of public policies. Findings on positioning of organizations representing Polish diaspora in organizational field stemming from the analysis of documents were confronted with the results of state programs analysis. The author focused on 15 state programs ran between 2017 and 2022 – their goals and beneficiaries. The study reveals that immigrant organizations and Polish artist residing abroad had limited access to structural support for their projects, despite policy makers’ positive evaluation of diaspora resources. Members of diaspora are positioned at the periphery of national branding organizational field. Therefore, the resources of numerous members of Polish diaspora – dispersed around the whole world – are still underestimated and unused.

Feministyczna hałda pamięci

Author(s): Katarzyna Bojarska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2023

The author analyzes women’s artistic practices, framed as manifestations of environmental art of memory of violence and destruction – both political violence directed against people and violence directed against nature. The analyzed artists appear not so much as contemporary incarnations of Benjaminian angel of history, but rather as figures who while turning backwards descent into the depths, and as such not so much look at the debris as they penetrate it. Their practice is seen here as learning from the coexistence with the matter of the past and the past of the matter – the theoretical tool that the author employs is that of the postindustrial heap (hałda). The author shows how, by analyzing the works of such artists as Joanna Rajkowska, Karolina Grzywnowicz, Diana Lelonek, one can think differently about the relationship with the past and even the very idea of historicity today.

SOCIAL CONFLICT, POPULAR PROTEST, AND VIOLENCE IN WWI BULGARIA

Author(s): Kristian Stefanov / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

WWI created a global economic crisis, stimulating mass popular protests in all belligerent countries that undermined the state’s legitimacy and triggered the emergence of violence, reminiscing the coercive character of interwar European politics. A central component in this protest on the rear was women’s protests against the misery that ultimately culminated in a series of violent hunger riots denunciating the war effort and political elites. The present article follows this trend in the Bulgarian wartime experience by analyzing the transformation of economic hardships into women-led popular protest. The study focuses on the protesters’ political language and symbolical tactics to politicize everyday social suffering by framing it within the broader context of national solidarity and the war effort. The article argues that the wartime crisis exacerbated the pre-war class conflicts and stimulated mass popular dissent that empowered the women “in the rear” to challenge the state’s authority, insisting on economic redistribution and peace.

Les régimes mémoriels postcommunistes et les monuments bucarestois

Author(s): Claudia-Florentina Dobre / Language(s): French Issue: 22/2023

„Crossroads images”, as Régine Robin called them, monuments are central to processes of appropriation or disavowal of the past, while preserving their status as symbols of identity for individuals, various groups, a city, and the nation. They are concrete images of the relation to the past of the community that builds and, sometimes, destroys them. They can also be vandalized when changes in society occur, especially during revolutions and coups d’état. After the fall of the communism, the fate of the monuments built during the old regime can be broken down into two contrasting categories: those illustrating communist ideological figures and symbols were dismantled; those representing national heroes, however, remained standing, becoming objects of new politics of memory. Furthermore, new personalities and symbols joined existing monuments as key individuals for post-communist national memory were commemorated: anticommunist fighters, members of the Romanian royal family, or interwar politicians. The accession to the European Union was also inscribed in Romania’s memorialization practices, as monuments dedicated to leading European figures have been erected.

L’OEUVRE DE SAÜL MÉZAN ET L’INFLUENCE FRANÇAISE SUR LES SÉFARADES EN BULGARIE

Author(s): Vladimir Paunovski / Language(s): French Issue: 1/2024

Saul or Shaul Yeroham Mezan is a doctor with specialization in surgery and urology, Doctor of Medicine, officer, public figure, Zionist, anti-fascist, publicist, journalist, poet, historian, and folklorist – researcher of Sephardism, political scientist and current political analyst. He was born in the city of Tatar-Pazardjik (today Pazardjik, Bulgaria) in 1893, and died far from his homeland, as a victim of Nazism, probably around 1943. Nowadays his name is known to a few researchers, as the predominant writings about him and his work are episodic in time and fragmentary in their subject matter. His literary and journalistic works, as well as his socio-political views, remain almost unknown to the general public, including, unfortunately, to the Jewish community in Bulgaria. The objective of the paper is the French-speaking environment in which S. Mezan was formed, and his works in French in various fields of the knowledge, which prevail over the ones in Bulgarian both in quantity and in terms of scientific and social significance. The author also pays special attention to the numerous yet scattered references for the French influence on the language, the way of life and the culture of the Sephardim in Bulgaria in the book by S. Mezan dedicated to them.

Управление при бедствия в България: два случая на скорошни наводнения от юни 2023 г..

Author(s): Vanya Ivanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2023

The article presents and analyses disaster management in Bulgaria with a focus on floods based on two recent examples in the town of Berkovitsa and the town of Etropole from June 2023. An overview is given of definitions, strategic documents, and legislation at the national and local level on disaster management mechanisms in particular floods and the key actors on the ground. The article discusses the idea, put forward by Lisa Irene Saban, that public administration can facilitate the possibility of mutual empowerment between structures ' above’ (state apparatus) and ‘below’ (volunteers, residents in general) through collaboration with active civil society associations during natural disasters. Based on the tracking of the two flood cases, the article traces the stages that characterize the management process: (1)preparing for a disaster before it occurs, (2) developing disaster response measures, and (3)relief and recovery after natural disasters occur.

The Continuing Socio-political Appeal of Thermopylae Symbolism and the War in Ukraine

Author(s): Miloš Petrović,Darko Gavrilović / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

The main aim of this article is to examine the causes behind the recurring heroic motives of Thermopylae up to the present day. This phenomenon, referred to as the comparative heroisation process, is analyzed in the context of initiation, glorification, and identification of contemporary European soldiers with the Spartan warriors. The author(s) primarily employ a comparative historical method, incorporating some elements of a constructivist approach. The Battle of Mariupol, one of the largest clashes during the invasion of Ukraine, is specifically examined. However, instead of focusing on measuring the actual degree of similarity to Thermopylae, the author(s) concentrate on the metaphorical aspect. The central question raised is: why has the symbolism of Thermopylae persisted? Additionally, the authors explore the continuities and discontinuities that the Mariupol case demonstrates in comparison to earlier historical examples. The author(s) aim to demonstrate that the heroisation process does not necessarily require defenders to possess all sublime virtues. On the contrary, it may be sufficient for the community to aspire to acknowledge, identify with, or achieve certain arch-heroic traits or qualities, which can then be attributed to their respective national courageous champions, irrespective of how closely they resemble the heroic role models.

Digital Cultural Heritage as a Strategic Resource for Innovations

Author(s): Polina Stoyanova / Language(s): English Issue: 1s/2024

This article explores the role of digital cultural heritage as a strategic resource for fostering innovations across various sectors. Beyond its traditional cultural and historical significance, cultural heritage is recognized as a valuable resource for innovation, necessitating strategic management to unlock its economic potential in the digital era. The article suggests utilizing the intellectual property system to achieve economic realization of digital cultural heritage and foster innovation. The strategic management at the national level is emphasized to yield returns on investments, especially in the digitization of cultural heritage. Recognizing its potential beyond traditional cultural realms, the article emphasizes strategic management to unlock economic value and advocates for innovation in sectors such as education, research, healthcare, and tourism.

Genealogy of civil society: contemporary reinterpretation of the concept

Author(s): Đorđe S. Stojanović / Language(s): English,Serbian Issue: 1/2024

Starting from the exceptional importance of civil society for political/democratic theory, the paper critically analyzes its position in various theoretical discourses, trying to detect the most current changes in its understanding. Along these lines, the paper examines the premodern, modern and postmodern paradigms of civil society. The most important findings are that its interpretation must include: (1) cultural procedurality and diversity against the abstract and repressive given of the Western matrix; (2) the fact that externally controlled non-genuine non-governmental organizations of neoliberal civil society have weak support from citizens and a low level of responsibility; (3) dialogue with neo-traditional associations; and (4) the idea that civil society cannot be freed in a utopian manner from the redistribution of power, which implies its politicization, hierarchization and civil society elites.

Оценка на системата за защита на националната сигурност в Република България

Author(s): Anelia Atipova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2s/2024

The report presents the results of the expert evaluation of a formal model of the National Security Protection System in the Republic of Bulgaria (NSPS), for the purposes of which a special methodology was created. Using the methods of content analysis, functional analysis and doctrinal (scientific) interpretation of normative acts, the functions and activities of the structures and bodies of the NSPS were analyzed to achieve the strategic goals of the state. Six key normative acts affecting the activities of the leading institutions - Council of Ministers, National Assembly, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Internal Affairs and two strategic documents were examined. Recommendations have been made to optimize the formal model of the NSPS, with a view to its more efficient functioning.

Гражданската отбрана – анахронизъм или екзистенциална потребност

Author(s): Dimo Ginev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2s/2024

In the context of the deteriorating and explosive security environment, an attempt is made to justify the usefulness of building an efficient system for civil defence, through which the stability of the population and the state can be guaranteed in crises and military-political conflicts. The tasks defined in the second Protocol additional to the Geneva conventions are examined and they are related to the specific responsibilities in the Republic of Bulgaria. Finally, additional current tasks are proposed and three approaches to building the system in the country are underlined.

Способности или възможности – същност и приложимост

Author(s): Kalin Gradev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2s/2024

The development of this study is induced by the need for determining the meaning of the term capabilities for the military sphere, their essence, as well as the connection with certain elements of their combat power of the formation. The text presents some of the results of the more specific research on the depth of their applicability at all levels of command and control in the Armed Forces.

Политиката на Белград към турското и албанското малцинство в Югославската федерация с акцент на демографията от края на Втората световна война до смъртта на Тито

Author(s): Mariyana STAMOVA / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2024

In the article, the subject of research and analysis is the situation and status of the Turkish and Albanian minorities in the Yugoslav Federation after the Second World War, with an emphasis on Kosovo and Macedonia and the Yugoslav policy towards them. Because of the conflict with Kominform in June 1948 and the deterioration of the Yugoslav-Albanian relationship, the Belgrade leadership was worried about the reaction of the Albanian population in Yugoslavia. At the same time, to limit the demographic and ethnic invasion of the Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia, Yugoslav authorities started a political campaign for their exportation. After the signing of the Yugoslav-Turkish agreement in 1953, which confirmed the convention from 1938 for the exportation of Turks from Yugoslavia in Turkey, the emigration into Turkey not only of Turks, but also Albanians, was legalized. Albanians in the Yugoslav federation got the possibility to define themselves as “Turks”, and thus to immigrate to Turkey (not Albania). In that way, many Albanians in Yugoslavia, mainly from Kosovo and Macedonia, declared themselves as “Turks”. In those years, Belgrade decided to intensify and renew the idea of emigrating the Muslim population, such as the Turks and Albanians, after World War II.

„Rząd rządzi – partia kieruje – naród głoduje”, czyli marsze głodowe z 1981 roku

Author(s): Grzegorz Majchrzak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 15/2023

Despite the introduction in 1981 of a meat and processed meat ration card, the supply situation in Poland was deteriorating, with stores dreading empty shelves. It became impossible to buy even basic products. This, in turn, affected public sentiment and increased the frustration of Poles, especially women. It also led – in July of that year – to a new form of protest, the so-called hunger marches. They were a way of demonstrating discontent without stopping work, organizing strikes, which would not only not improve the situation, but could even make it worse, and would also allow the PRL authorities to hold Solidarity responsible for the dire supply situation. The loudest and largest hunger marches were organized in Lodz. In the following weeks, they were also held in many other cities. An end was put to these unusual street protests (involving mainly women, often with children) by the union›s authorities – the National Coordinating Commission, which in August 1981 appealed to refrain from organizing further marches and other protests (including strikes) and declared that it would do everything it could “to lead the country out of the crisis”.