scholarly journals Baltic labour in the crucible of capitalist exploitation: Reassessing ‘post-communist’ transformation

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Bieler ◽  
Jokubas Salyga

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, this article re-assesses ‘post-communist’ transformation in the Baltic countries from the perspective of labour. The argument is based on a historical materialist approach focusing on the social relations of production as a starting point. It is contended that the uneven and combined unfolding of ‘post-communist’ transformation has subjected Baltic labour to doubly constituted exploitation processes. First, workers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have suffered from extreme neoliberal restructuring of economic and employment relations at home. Second, migrant workers from Central and Eastern Europe in general, trying to escape exploitation at home, have faced another set of exploitative dynamics in host countries in Western Europe such as the UK. Nevertheless, workers have continued to challenge exploitation in Central and Eastern Europe and also in Western Europe, and have been active in extending networks of transnational solidarity across the continent. JEL Codes: E11, E24, J61

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (52) ◽  
pp. 1559-1569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nimalan Arinaminpathy ◽  
Christopher Dye

The ongoing global financial crisis, which began in 2007, has drawn attention to the effect of declining economic conditions on public health. A quantitative analysis of previous events can offer insights into the potential health effects of economic decline. In the early 1990s, widespread recession across Central and Eastern Europe accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the same time, despite previously falling tuberculosis (TB) incidence in most countries, there was an upsurge of TB cases and deaths throughout the region. Here, we study the quantitative relationship between the lost economic productivity and excess TB cases and mortality. We use the data of the World Health Organization for TB notifications and deaths from 1980 to 2006, and World Bank data for gross domestic product. Comparing 15 countries for which sufficient data exist, we find strong linear associations between the lost economic productivity over the period of recession for each country and excess numbers of TB cases ( r 2 = 0.94, p < 0.001) and deaths ( r 2 = 0.94, p < 0.001) over the same period. If TB epidemiology and control are linked to economies in 2009 as they were in 1991 then the Baltic states, particularly Latvia, are now vulnerable to another upturn in TB cases and deaths. These projections are in accordance with emerging data on drug consumption, which indicate that these countries have undergone the greatest reductions since the beginning of 2008. We recommend close surveillance and monitoring during the current recession, especially in the Baltic states.


2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Zabłocki

Abstract This article is an analysis of differences and similarities between four Englishlanguage journals on rural sociology. The comparison covered topics discussed in about 600 articles published in the journals in the years 1995-2010 and the regional affiliation of their authors. In the comparison, all articles and texts on empirical research published in this period in Eastern European Countryside were considered. In total, 141 texts were published in this annual journal. Out of the three other journals (Rural Sociology, Sociologia Ruralis, Journal of Rural Studies) 50 articles for each of three periods: 1995-1996, 2002-2003, 2008-2009, were selected. Results of the comparison show that the journals have strictly regional profiles, and that present rural sociology does not seem to be the science on social phenomena in world-wide rural areas. Rural sociology used in the four studied journals does not develop the knowledge that would be useful in solving problems of the rural population. In the three journals under study (Rural Sociology, Sociologia Ruralis, Journal of Rural Studies) almost exclusively sociology of rural areas in Western Europe and Northern America was developed, and their contributors were almost always authors from the two regions. The fourth journal - Eastern European Countryside - was concerned, adequately to its title, with rural phenomena in Central and Eastern Europe


2019 ◽  
pp. 354-356
Author(s):  
David Sorkin

This concluding chapter presents ten theses on emancipation. One, emancipation is the principal event of modern Jewish history. Two, the term “emancipation” was historically polysemous: it referred to the liberation or elevation of numerous groups. Three, the emancipation process commenced around 1550 when Jews began to receive extensive privileges in eastern and western Europe and in some instances rights in a nascent civil society. Four, there were two legislative models of emancipation: conditional and unconditional. Five, there were three regions of emancipation: western, central, and eastern Europe. Six, the Ottoman Empire comprised a fourth region of emancipation. Seven, the equality of Judaism was fundamental to the Jews' equality. Eight, emancipation mobilized Jews politically. Nine, emancipation was ambiguous and interminable. Ten, emancipation was at the heart of the twentieth century's colossal events.


Author(s):  
James L. Newell

Political scientists have conventionally distinguished between advanced liberal democracies; communist and post-communist states, and so-called third-world countries. Though used less frequently than was once the case, the groups or ones like them are distinguished because drawing general conclusions about the nature of political life requires being able to categorise in order to compare countries; and because, broadly speaking, the groups mark broad distinctions tending to correlate with a range of variables including political corruption. Placing, then, the liberal democracies of Western Europe in one category and the former communist countries of Europe, plus Russia, in another reveals that corruption is a larger problem in the latter part of the world than it is in the former. Against this background, the chapter looks at the historical context of corruption during the communist era. It then provides an overview of the extent of corruption in the post-communist era and of the variations in its extent between the states concerned –before explaining the distinctive reasons for the development of these levels of corruption, assessing their impact and looking at what is being done and needs to be done to reduce levels of corruption.


2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-257
Author(s):  
Igor Trupac ◽  
Elen Twrdy

With the European Union growing eastwards and with the establishment of important production facilities in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the hinterland potential is bound to grow even more. The strategic goal of the Port of Koper is to become one of the best ports in the Southern Europe, to develop from a handling port into a commodity distributional centre. Penetrating and exploiting these markets demands cooperation (integration) with the existing inland terminals (logistic centres) and establishing of new ones positioned between Eastern and Western Europe. This paper aims to present and analyse: (I) supply chains of the flow of goods through the Port of Koper to/from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, (II) the current state and strategies to optimize the flow of goods, (III) market potential, investments in new terminals and capacities. KEY WORDS: Port of Koper, strategies, goals, supply chains, integration, new terminals, market potential, investments


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Pandolfi ◽  
Lucas Alados-Arboledas ◽  
Andrés Alastuey ◽  
Marcos Andrade ◽  
Begoña Artiñano ◽  
...  

Abstract. This paper presents the light scattering properties of atmospheric aerosol particles measured over the past decade at 28 ACTRIS observatories, located mainly in Europe. The data include particle light scattering (σsp) and hemispheric backscattering (σbsp) coefficients, scattering Ångström exponent (SAE), backscatter fraction (BF) and asymmetry parameter (g). A large range of ssp was observed across the network. Low ssp values were on average measured in Nordic and Baltic countries and in Western Europe whereas the highest σsp were measured at regional sites in eastern and central Europe. In these regional areas the SAE was also high indicating the predominance of fine-mode particles. On average, the SAE was lower in the Nordic and Baltic, western and southern countries suggesting a lower fraction of fine-mode particle compared to central and eastern Europe. An increasing gradient of ssp was observed when moving from mountain to regional and to urban sites. Conversely, the mass-independent SAE and g parameters did not show the same gradient. At all sites, both SAE and g varied greatly with aerosol particle loading. The lowest values of g were always observed under low ssp indicating a larger contribution from particles in the smaller accumulation mode. Then, g steeply increased with increasing ssp indicating a progressive shift of the particle size distribution toward the larger end of the accumulation mode. Under periods of high particle mass concentrations, the variation of g was less pronounced whereas the SAE increased or decreased suggesting changes mostly in the coarse aerosol particles mode rather than in the fine mode. The station placement seemed to be the main parameter affecting the intra-annual variability. At mountain sites, higher σsp was measured in summer mainly because of the enhanced boundary layer influence. Conversely, less horizontal and vertical dispersion in winter led to higher σsp at all low altitude sites in central and eastern Europe compared to summer. On average, these sites also showed SAE maxima in summer (and correspondingly g minima). Large intra-annual variability of SAE and g was observed also at Nordic and Baltic countries due to seasonal-dependent transport of different air masses to these remote sites. Statistically significant decreasing trends of σsp were observed at 5 out of 13 stations included in trend analyses. The total reductions of ssp were consistent with those reported for PM2.5 and PM10 mass concentrations over similar periods across Europe.


2020 ◽  
pp. 174804852091849
Author(s):  
Alexander Dhoest

Jasbir Puar introduced the notion of ‘homonationalism’ to describe the increasing acceptance of sexual minorities in Western nations, leading to their incorporation in the national in-group which is increasingly opposed to homophobic ‘others’. While Muslims constitute the main out-group, other groups and nations are also targeted, in particular Russia and related countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Such discourses create a binary opposition between two homogenized parties, the uniformly LGBTQ-friendly in-group versus the uniformly homophobic ‘other’. While the literature on homonationalism mostly discusses politics in the U.S. and a number of other nation-states, this article explores homonationalism in a smaller sub-national region in Western Europe, Flanders, focusing on the press as a tool for spreading homonationalist discourse. Exploring three months of Flemish newspapers, this article identifies some instances of explicit homonationalism but more implicit homonationalism which does not explicitly mention the in-group but does paint a one-sided picture of Russia and related countries as homophobic.


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