NETRADICINIS PASAKOJIMAS APIE PILIETIŠKUMĄ
Rec.: Leonidas Donskis, Pilietinis ugdymas: bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų10 klasės vadovėlis, Vilnius: Versus aureus, 2010.
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Rec.: Leonidas Donskis, Pilietinis ugdymas: bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų10 klasės vadovėlis, Vilnius: Versus aureus, 2010.
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The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that after the publication of Political Liberalism by John Rawls we have to take a fresh look on the problem of the identity of liberal philosophy. Liberals do not have any independent moral and political philosophy. Their philosophical identity is based on a critique of the positions of their opponents and not on any positive doctrine. To gain a better understanding of the philosophy of liberalism we have to investigate the relationship of this philosophy with illiberal doctrines. Liberal moral and political philosophy is dependent on the objects of its critique. Liberal philosophy faces four paradoxes: 1) political liberalism equates illiberal and liberal political positions and this is the reason why the identity of liberal political philosophy remains elusive; 2) liberals advocate moral individualism, however, this individualism does not necessarily lead to moral philosophy of liberalism; 3) liberal moral philosophy has gaps which can only be filled with elements of illiberal moral philosophies; 4) liberals cannot establish their identity with philosophical arguments, they can only do this with the help of ideology. What today goes by the name of the philosophy of liberalism is a version of civil religion.
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The paper places itself in the contemporary context of precarisation of labour and shows how in the Indian context the state is working overtime as an agent of private capital. Despite this the opposition has been weakening as collective bodies like that of teachers have been disappearing. The teacher’s failure to emerge as a struggling collective is because of how they have been historically looked at, conceptualized not as workers but having a distinct status. Today it is impossible to differentiate between factory and educational workers and unless this is realized it would be difficult to struggle against the rule of capital.
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The review of Kristina Jakutytė-Ancienė's doctoral dissertation "Electronic Participation in the Third Sector Activities: Case of Lithuanian Non-Governmental Organizations"
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This article is an attempt to answer the question, why there has been a recent crisis of trust to the liberal democracy in European states belonging to the Western circle of civilisation and how it could be overcome. According to the opinion of the author, the main reason for that crisis is an instrumental approach of a large part of citizens of those countries towards this form of government. They accept and trust it only as long as it provides them with prosperity and a sense of security, which is currently – up to them – not working properly. That is why, in order to change that situation, fulfilling their needs and aspiration on acceptable level must be again possible within the framework of this form of government. In order to achieve this goal a number of conditions must be met, including, restoring trust of citizens in the government and faith in the electoral process, taking vigorous actions to counteract rising social inequalities, increasing measures to successfully combat and suppress international terrorism by various countries – although with respect to liberal and democratic values as well as human rights and freedoms – and a real integration of immigrants from other civilisation circles, first of all, Muslims. At the same time, politicians and the media are supposed to return to the discourse based on the values upon which political systems of European states belonging to the Western circle of civilisation were founded.
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"Lithuanians will collapse." They were almost never free. When it was, it was dictatorship. Sacrifice worthy people. I understood that if Gorbachev had to seize power, "François Mitterand, President of the French Presidency, met with such words the announcement of the independence of Lithuania on March 11, 1990. Together with the American historian Larry Wolff, it can be assumed that such a 20th century attitude of a Western official towards the "political barbarians" living in the East is likely to be determined as early as the eighteenth century. French stereotypes of European imagery created by the French scholars and have not yet eroded.
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Public good is the basis of public interest that determines the (co)existence of the community as well as the society. The media and its role in civic society play a major role in defining public interest, and it helps in manifesting this public interest to various stakeholders. Likewise, the public’s need to know of the role of the media in the presentation, consideration and representation of the public interest is extremely important. The relevance of public interest to a society is related to meeting the needs of a society. Changes in the functions of media from a fourth power or a watchdog, to a moderator of public discussions had drawn media’s attention to the need for an inquiry of public interest and discussions about it in the media. The aim of this article is to determine how public interest is presented in Lithuanian online media. This article analyzes the case of presenting the protection of the rights of heat consumers – as an interest of the public – in Lithuanian online media. This article discusses the concept of public interest, the role of the media in discussing the public interest, and, when choosing a specific public interest issue, investigates how the topic of public interest is presented in Lithuanian online media. The case of public interest raised by the representative of the society – P. Markevičius, a lawyer and member of the Žvėrynas district community in Vilnius, was selected for the case study. The case is connected with the protection of the heat consumers’ rights, as P. Markevičius had detected potential violations of consumer rights being done by Vilnius energija (the provider of heat services in Vilnius city). All publications made during the period of 2010–2012 found using the Google search engine with the keywords “P. Markevičius” and “Vilniaus energija” were selected for the case study; qualitative and quantitative content analyses were used. The case study of public interest manifested in 2010–2012 in Lithuanian online media shows that the representation of the “public interest” by the representatives of the media is understood only as a way of giving space to citizens to present their views and talk about the problems relevant to them. The case leads to some consideration that the public interest in the media and by media is mostly understood as a way of supporting active citizens by inviting them to discussions and providing time for presenting their arguments, as well the position statements of experts and officials, but without any specific journalistic investigations. The development of civil society makes it possible to assume that the raising of issues related to public interest have also made some changes in the media – there could be seen an aspiration to raise problematic issues and promote discussions. Such monitored changes in civil society encourage the continuation of the ongoing investigation of the issue how public interest is manifested in online media – social media in particular.
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The aim of this research is to analyse the legitimacy problem of the humanities in Sweden. The first part presents the analysis of the arguments for the humanities published in relevant studies, anthologies as well as articles in the most popular cultural and academical magazines in Sweden from 2004 to 2014. The method was based on the Grounded Theory’s elements and had three steps. The result was four big categories of the arguments which also reflected four concepts of the humanities that were prevailing in Sweden. 1) Civic humanities. The authors argued that the humanities are necessary in order to build a democratic society and educate citizens who would be able to think critically and act responsibly. This group of argumentations was the biggest and the most popular. 2) Heroic humanities. It was claimed that the humanities are necessary to face the most serious challenges, globalization, homophobia, Islamophobia, climate change etc. 3) Integrative humanities that are considered as most valuable when they collaborate with other disciplines. 4) Existential humanities. According to this group, the humanities are most valuable when they raise the existential questions. The second part presents a short analysis of the programs of political parties from the year 2018. Although the legitimacy problem of the humanities has not taken a bigger part there, we can find links to all four concepts.
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Civic skills, knowledge and attitudes are the elements forming the citizenship concept. How do they suit multicultural societies? What are the mutual links among civic attitudes, knowledge and skills of different ethnic groups? The aim of the research is to establish the model of students’ civic competence and to find out factors which explain the influence of civic achievements on civic attitudes. IEA (the International Association for the Evolution of Educational Achievement) ICCS 2009 (the International Civic and Citizenship Studies 2009) are used for the analysis. SEM (Structural Equation Modelling) is used for data processing. The authors used multi-modelling to compare Latvian and Estonian majority and minority sample groups. The results indicate that the level of civic knowledge and skills influences civic attitudes of Estonian and Latvian students. Students with a higher level of civic knowledge and skills have a more pronounced sense of global belonging and ability to adjust and live a multicultural society. The civic knowledge of Estonian students with the Estonian language of instruction influences most essentially the civic attitudes and a sense of belonging to Europe. Latvian students with the Russian language of instruction have the least influence on the mentioned factors.
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The purpose of the article is to outline the processes of transformation of the main functions of a modern library in meeting the constantly growing information needs of users and strengthening the role of libraries in the context of the digitalization ofsociety. The methodology is based on a set of general-scientific methods(analysis, synthesis, abstraction, generalization) and approaches (systemic, socio-communicative, and innovative), as well as the comparison and relationship of theory and practice. The scientific novelty of this work is to expand ideas about the role and functions of libraries and their impact on the development of modern society in the context of digitalization. Conclusions. Expanding its functions, the library is increasingly introducing new means of accessing, creating, and processing information, using digital technologies and modern means of communication. The analysis of library functions allowed us to determine the essential (basic) functions of a modern library in the conditions of transformational changes. Among them: information, communication. Scientific libraries are characterized by the expansion (transformation) of the traditional information function into information-analytical. Such derivative functions as educational, training, leisure, etc. acquire a certain strengthening in the activity of public libraries. Information and communication functions are also being strengthened, regardless of the type of library. Thus, today the activities of libraries are enriched by the content of information, communication, cultural, educational, leisure, and other functions, which promotes interaction with the environment, the establishment of democratic and humanistic principles of development, ensuring free access to information.
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The purpose of the article is to systematize the regional material on the cultural approach of communities to the development of civil society. The research methodology was based on the use of general scientific and special methods. The method of theoretical generalization was used to develop the concept of the stated topic and develop recommendations for improving the development of territorial communities, which are presented in the conclusions. The culturological method allowed to analyze the resource and cultural potential of civil society development in the regional dimension. Methods of systematization and comparison made it possible to identify features of socio-cultural development of different territorial communities of the Rivne region. The scientific novelty of the work is to identify the cultural potential of territorial communities to build civil society in Ukraine. Conclusions. Problems of territorial communities are typical for Ukraine: insufficiency and inefficiency of financing; inconsistency and imperfection of the existing infrastructure; lack of quality roads; inconsistency of work or lack of CNAPs; obsolescence of premises in need of repair or reconstruction; staff shortage, etc. Activation of communities affects the development of civil society, which in turn is a stimulating factor for their development. Ways to improve the development of territorial communities are inter-municipal cooperation in all spheres of community life; providing quality services to citizens; job creation not only for young people but for all citizens; cluster approach (a partnership between public, private, civic structures) to the implementation of cultural activities for the formation of the regional cultural space; the cultural heritage of territorial communities as a basic basis of regional development; introduction of innovations, including digitalization, in community development; the synergy of modern information technologies at the community level as a way to timely public awareness of local cultural and artistic projects and activation of citizens to participate in them.
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This paper examines the popular youth protest of October, 2020 tagged “ENDSARS” (SARS standing for Special Anti-Robbery Squad) in Nigeria organized to challenge police brutality. In spite of the protest being held during the Covid-19 lockdown, the number of youth that trooped into the streets in the southern part of the country and in the North too, tagging theirs “ENDINSECURITY”) signified that beyond police brutality, the Buhari administration was due for questioning. As expected of any protest without effective coordination, the march was later hijacked by hoodlums and looters who burnt down, looted, and pillaged public infrastructure and private property, in the same vein attacking some politicians. The paper treats ENDSARS as Nigeria Spring of October, 2020 which had its roots in the wave of protests that started in the 1980s. The earlier protests were about calls for civilian government, claims of election mandate and fuel hike. The methodology applied in this study is both interview and secondary sources of data collection through the use of Nigerian dailies, journals and textbooks. For the interview, some youths in some towns were asked questions for the purpose of extracting variables that would explain the causes of the protests. The paper reveals that the thought that led to the “ENDSAR” is as a result of lies in the past to end police brutality which never materialized and the frustration is as a result of bad governance. We suggest that in a situation of another popular youth protest, the governments at both the federal and state tiers should act fast to solve the problem before it degenerates into a state of anarchy.
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Teaching English in general has not only become necessary but it has also made many teachers around the world strive to find the easiest solution to this issue. The paper in question deals with the same issue but with focus on teaching and learning idioms. It tries to give a new insight into the way students understand and learn idioms more easily. It takes into consideration two main concepts: learning by and teaching idioms to the university level students putting more emphasis on the latter. Some students might even wonder why to use idioms when people could have said words/phrases or sentences others would understand more easily without having to think much about their meaning. The answer to this lies in that native speaker use idioms very often so it is almost impossible for non-native speakers to avoid using idioms when communicating with native speakers of English. This is one of the crucial points the study in question also puts emphasis on. Apart from this, ever since the war ended in Kosovo, many organizations or educational institutions such as: OSCE, UNMIK, American School of Kosovo, British Council, American University of Kosovo have made it possible that people of Kosovo get in touch with native speakers who spoke English in a more natural way by also using idioms.
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The aim of this article is to explore the common points between the ecological movement and citizenship by discussing My sme les, a Slovak citizens’ initiative to protect Slovak forests. The Slovaks’ involvement in nature conservation as demonstrated by the My sme les campaign was recognised here not only as a manifestation of global trends in changing ecological awareness but also as a reflection of the special bond between man and nature ingrained in Slovak culture and mentality. The ecological movement currently developing in new media forms in Slovakia was introduced with an analysis of various (mainly online and audio-visual) sources related to the My sme les campaign. The article highlights the influence of the Deep Ecology trend on Slovak activists and the projects they have implemented. The My sme les initiative is not only an appeal for the social responsibility of Slovaks when it comes to the devastation of native nature, but also proves to be an important step towards a deeper civic engagement with the community. The Slovak case provides confirmation of the main thesis of Deep Ecology, namely that humans are not above nature, but are an integral part of it. Thanks to the My sme les initiative, in the context of Slovak culture, the forest emerged as a new cultural symbol, polemical towards the mountains, traditionally interpreted in a national-cultural key.
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In Finnish health care and social welfare legislation, a shift towards strengthening the individual’s right to participate has been significant during the past two decades. While the traditional presumption of citizen involvement and developing of deliberative democracy lies on normality and social activism, it is becoming apparent that the substantial amount or Finnish social and healthcare expenditure is used by one tenth of citizens who do not fit into this category and can be considered as large-scale consumers of the services. We refer to this group, identified by high service consumption and low participation, as the absent minority. In this paper, we illuminate the legislative and participative possibilities of involving and acknowledging this group in communal welfare service development.
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The aim of the paper is to present a possible citizen-oriented governance model and discuss the outcomes of empirical research, which are targeted to municipalities and are based on the approbation of a subjective well-being methodology. The main findings of the study show that citizen participation in decision-making processes is crucial in order to improve the well-being in the municipality. The empirical research of the Salaspils municipality and comparisons with several other municipalities in Latvia and other countries demonstrated that the citizen-oriented local governance model provides wide opportunities for improved dialogue between the municipality and society, which in turn promotes the development of a co-responsibility approach in resolving different issues within the municipality.
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The tradition of the Voluntary Fire Service (OSP) in Poland, similarly as in many other countries across the world, goes back to the 19th century and over the last few years a huge number of voluntary fire service units have been grandly celebrating their jubilees of 100 years of operation. In the meantime, the OSP was facing many difficulties, which did not make it weaker; just on the contrary, all that made it stronger. Indeed, the period of political transformation revealed many negative effects in the OSP, especially clientelistic relationships and “a nostalgic vegetation”, with the name already suggesting some voluntary fire service structure getting concreted over. The OSPs have been still Poland’s most numerously represented NGO and, in the near future, it will definitely not change. However, many changes, including a strive toward professionalising a voluntary firefighter, can trigger some discouragement from a voluntary service and a generation gap which will be difficult to bridge. A process of going away from the value of unpaid work for the local communities can be irrevocable. With that in mind, getting to know the opinion of the volunteer firefighters, who can already notice, that they get successively divided into the better and the worse, professionals and amateurs, who are excluded from direct actions by applying systemic and administrational procedures more than a hundred years ago they were established for, and who have been continuously following the same objective, “To bring Glory to God, to bring a benefit to people”. The article presents the results of studies made among the OSP and MDP members to answer the question about the future of the OSP in Poland and to learn their opinions on what currently motivates the young people who join or leave the OSP, what should be done to increase the recruitment and to minimise the effects of a low generational renewal. The objective of the study has been also to address the question whether the OSP is still considered a “nostalgic” association.
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