Art Communities at Risk: On Slovenia

October ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 122-134
Author(s):  
Zdenka Badovinac
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Specialized Knowledge ◽  
Traditional Morality ◽  
Political Interference ◽  
The Right ◽  
Moral Attitudes

Abstract “Art Communities At Risk: Slovenia” talks about how it is somehow easier to take a moral than a political position in times of crisis today—and how political manipulations often hide under seemingly moral attitudes. The author analyzes these issues against the background of growing authoritarian forces in Central and Eastern Europe, especially Slovenia, which saw the rise of covid-19 and Janez Janša as prime minister at the same time. Janša's government systematically ignores professional competencies in cultural institutions as well as in science, especially in relation to the epidemic.The voice of experts in the field of culture is ignored, and this is precisely because their specialized knowledge is not neutral. In a time when the space for free speech is shrinking, the need for a clear positioning becomes even more pressing. The author discusses the exhibition Bigger than Myself / Heroic Voices from Ex-Yugoslavia, which she curated for Rome's MAXXI museum last summer. The work shown there addressed Yugoslav emancipatory histories in relation to the issues of particular urgency today: global capitalism, the posthuman condition, and the return of authoritarianism, in particular. The Slovenian authorities took a hostile attitude towards the exhibition, not only because it presented critical voices from the region but also because artists from the former Yugoslavia were presented there, who, according to Slovenian right-wingers, are no longer worthy of participating in national cultural projects. Concerning the example of what is happening in Slovenia today, the essay asks why there has been such a strong turn to the right in Central and Eastern Europe, which is reviving “traditional” morality, patriarchy, and nationalism and engaging in political interference in cultural institutions. The current governments of Slovenia and other countries in the region want to get rid of the critical voices of left-wing experts in culture by favoring ostensibly neutral experts. It removes from important positions all those it considers to be leftists and replaces them with its own people in order to seemingly strike a balance between the various political options. This balancing act and new “neutrality,” however, are just one of the modern disguises of acute authoritarianism in Eastern Europe.

scholarly journals Creating Suspicion and Vigilance

Intersections ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ákos Kopper ◽  
Pál Susánszky ◽  
Gergely Tóth ◽  
Márton Gerő
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Political System ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Significant Case ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Rules ◽  
The Right

In recent years, many theoretical and empirical analyses about the changing regimes of Central and Eastern Europe have been written, pointing out the authoritarian tendencies and radicalization in the region. Hungary is a significant case in the changing landscape of Central and Eastern Europe. The right-wing government rules the country with incontestable force, despising and disrespecting the norms of liberal democracies. Although the general impression is that the government has such a strong grip on power that resisting it is futile, in fact, it only enjoys only the support of 30 per cent of Hungarian citizens. Thus, it would be reasonable to expect the opposition to be able to effectively mobilize against the regime. In reality, no political opponent seems to stand a chance of defeating it. In order to explain why this is so, we focus on the way Orbán constantly creates images of ‘the enemy’ that keep alive an atmosphere of vigilance that blocks the efforts of critical actors to efficiently mobilize citizens. Since the political system in Hungary is highly centralized, the prime-minister’s speeches epitomize the logic and ideology of the regime. Our aim is to understand the mechanism through which the dominant political actors frame the enemy in a system of images, thereby creating an environment where critical actors are stripped of the resources needed to mobilize against them.

scholarly journals Conditions of workers' participation in the European context-works councils structures in the Central and Eastern Europe

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Skorupińska
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Member States ◽  
Works Councils ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Right To Information ◽  
The Right

The implementation of the 2002 Directive caused establishment of participation structures in coimtries of the Central and Eastern Europę following the pattern of works councils in Western Europę. The institiitions of workers participation have right to information and consultation but they do not possess the right to codetermination which for a long time has been granted to most works councils in the old EU Member States. Works councils in the new EU Member States have not been established on the road of organie development but they had to define their entitlements and evolve organizational structures themselves. In this article two major topics are discussed: types of employees' interests representation and dijferences in structures of works councils in coimtries of the Central and Eastern Europę. The main aim of the paper is to present the most important factors which affect the establishment and creation of such institiitions.

scholarly journals Post-socialist self-censorship: Russia, Hungary and Latvia

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Schimpfössl ◽  
Ilya Yablokov
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Media Development ◽  
Media System ◽  
The Right ◽  
Economic Constraints ◽  
Distinct Strategy

This article argues that today in Central and Eastern Europe self-censorship, journalistic freedom and autonomy are just as severely affected by economic constraints, oligarchic influences and new authoritarianism as they are by their Communist pasts. Either way, journalists know exactly what to report, what to omit and how to advance their careers. This is reminiscent of adekvatnost’; a distinct strategy employed by Russian journalists, who regard this skill as an expression of professionalism. It implies having a ‘feel for the game’ and the ‘right instinct’, which allows them to enjoy a certain level of freedom in their work and express their creativity. The authors’ interviews with Latvian and Hungarian journalists, editors and producers examined the extent to which adekvatnost’ might be a feature of journalism beyond Russia, in particular when a media system faces rising populism and authoritarianism, paired with oligarch-dominated ownership. As such, knowledge gained about journalistic practices in the countries under investigation might also be useful in understanding media development beyond the post-Communist space, including Western Europe.

scholarly journals INTEGRATION PROCESSES IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE IN THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES

2019 ◽  
Vol 2(13)/2019 (2(13)/2019) ◽  
pp. 37-44
Author(s):  
Adam KUŹ
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Right

The purpose of the paper is to answer the question: what is the main reason why the Central and Eastern Europe countries did not enter into fruitful and long-term cooperation both in the interwar period and after the collapse of the Soviet Union despite a far-reaching commonality of interests? Conflicts between these countries are not decisive factors in their lack of integration. The degree of integration is proportional to the degree of involvement in Central and Eastern Europe of powers that could act as an external hegemony. In the interwar period, the United States, England and France, and after 1989, the United States had the right potential to undertake such a task in its interest. None of them, however, took up such a role in the long run. Attempts to integrate the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to date, starting from the Versailles conference, indicate that the American protectorate is a necessary factor for implementing closer forms of cooperation between these countries.

scholarly journals The Populist phenomena and the reasons for their success in Hungary

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (s1) ◽  
pp. 23-45
Author(s):  
Viktor Glied
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Essential Question ◽  
The Right

AbstractAfter the parliamentary elections in 2014, the weakened legitimacy of the Hungarian government could be re-established through activism in migration issues. Fidesz-KDNP that won elections twice already highlighted migration as the main theme of governance from 2014 to 2018, suppressing every other topic on the political agenda. The position that was established for purposes of the Hungarian domestic situation and politics initially faced intense rejections all over Europe, but then garnered some supporters as well, mostly in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe, and to a smaller extent among the right-wing and populist parties of Western Europe. The anti-refugee and populist approach caused significant success in the communication field to the subscribing parties and governments, and also legitimised Hungarian government’s efforts that could mean it met the majority of the Hungarian society’s expectations. The most essential question is that how can political science reshape its terms and thoughts on populism to understand this phenomenon better, moreover what are the reasons of populism and why is the populist propaganda such successful in Hungary and Eastern Europe.

scholarly journals The attitudes towards LGBT people among workers delivering key public services: The first regional study in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia

2021 ◽  
pp. 126-145
Author(s):  
MAKSYM KASIANCZUK ◽  
OLESIA TROFYMENKO ◽  
MARIA SHVAB ◽  
VITALY DJUMA
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Occupational Groups ◽  
Lgbt Community ◽  
Lgbt People ◽  
The Right ◽  
Lgbt Individuals

Public perceptions (particularly in post-communist societies) of the LGBT community and related issues have extensively been studied in recent years. Still, so far there is little information about how specific occupational groups view these people. The given research paper is intended to somewhat fill this gap by presenting a thorough description and analysis of findings from an empirical study focusing on the attitudes towards LGBT individuals among three occupational groups such as medical workers, social workers and the police. The relevance of the chosen topic is determined by the fact that a personʼs physical and mental health or even life may often depend on the quality and timeliness of services provided by these professionals. The above-mentioned study consisted of two cross-sectional surveys performed in 2017 and 2019. In total, approximately 1,500 persons (nurses, family practitioners, social care staff, patrol officers, etc.) from five countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, North Macedonia) took part in the two rounds of this study. Research toolkit included a questionnaire (designed by the authors for each occupational group) and the Bogardus social distance scale. Respondents were recruited through snowball sampling, which involved using personal and professional contacts. The survey data indicated the following: (a) the overall attitude of the aforementioned occupational groups towards LGBT people is somewhat positive; in addition, social workers are the most favourably disposed to the LGBT community while the police take a cautious approach to LGBT issues; (b) the overwhelming majority of respondents (except for police officers in Kyrgyzstan) believe that LGBT people should enjoy the same rights as the other citizens of their country; nevertheless, only a third of those surveyed hold the opinion that same-sex marriages should be permitted by law and about one fifth express support for the right of same-sex couples to adopt children; (c) women, residents of Belarus and North Macedonia, religiously unaffiliated respondents and those having an LGBT acquaintance exhibit greater tolerance for LGBT individuals than men, residents of Armenia, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, those belonging to a particular religion and respondents without LGBT acquaintances; (d) during the period under study, a noticeable change in the attitude towards LGBT persons occurred in some subsamples: among Armenian healthcare workers, for example, there was a steep fall in support for the right of LGBT couples to marry. However, little or no change was recorded in other subsamples or in the whole sample: a slight growth in the overall percentage of respondents favouring the idea of LGBT parenting is a case in point. Although the samples of the countries in question are not nationally representative, the research results have a certain empirical value because they can be taken into consideration while developing programmes aimed at fostering tolerance in society and improving attitudes to LGBT people.

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