De-Orientalizing the Western Gaze on Eastern Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-162
Author(s):  
Barbara Christophe
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
The Political ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
The Past ◽  
Soviet Occupation ◽  
Publishing Houses

Comparing narratives of the Soviet occupation in 1940 in current textbooks by two leading Lithuanian publishing houses, I claim that Lithuanian textbooks offer diverging accounts, which mirror to a large extent the opposing mnemonic frames supported by two rival political camps. I also show that the same textbooks tame those differences by transcending the politically charged frames they have chosen in the first place, presenting, for example, the USSR as both villain and victim of the war. Considering the relevance of these findings for our understanding of dynamics of remembering in general and in the Lithuanian culture of memory in particular, I point out that embracing the political inherent in all acts of recalling the past does not necessarily lead to politicized, i.e. narrow-minded memories, and I reflect on what these mnemonic practices mean for reevaluating the traditional role of Eastern Europe as the backward other of Western Europe.

The Dynamics of Voters’ Left/Right Identification: The Role of Economic and Cultural Attitudes

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. de Vries ◽  
Armen Hakhverdian ◽  
Bram Lancee
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Cultural Attitudes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Economic Attitudes

The mobilization of culturally rooted issues has altered political competition throughout Western Europe. This article analyzes to what extent the mobilization of immigration issues has affected how people identify with politics. Specifically, it analyzes whether voters’ left/right self-identifications over the past 30 years increasingly correspond to cultural rather than economic attitudes. This study uses longitudinal data from the Netherlands between 1980 and 2006 to demonstrate that as time progresses, voters’ left/right self-placements are indeed more strongly determined by anti-immigrant attitudes than by attitudes towards redistribution.These findings show that the issue basis of left/right identification is dynamic in nature and responsive to changes in the political environment.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurit Yaari
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
The Political ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Jewish Culture ◽  
The Past ◽  
Future State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
State Of Israel

This chapter examines the lack of continuous tradition of the art of the theatre in the history of Jewish culture. Theatre as art and institution was forbidden for Jews during most of their history, and although there were plays written in different times and places during the past centuries, no tradition of theatre evolved in Jewish culture until the middle of the nineteenth century. In view of this absence, the author discusses the genesis of Jewish theatre in Eastern Europe and in Eretz-Yisrael (The Land of Israel) since the late nineteenth century, encouraged by the Jewish Enlightenment movement, the emergence of Jewish nationalism, and the rebirth of Hebrew as a language of everyday life. Finally, the chapter traces the development of parallel strands of theatre that preceded the Israeli theatre and shadowed the emergence of the political infrastructure of the future State of Israel.

From Black Death to Black Hole

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Piatkowski
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Black Hole ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Black Death ◽  
European Continent ◽  
The Past

In this chapter I explain why Poland and most countries in Eastern Europe have always lagged behind Western Europe in economic development. I discuss why in the past the European continent split into two parts and how Western and Eastern Europe followed starkly different developmental paths. I then demonstrate how Polish oligarchic elites built extractive institutions and how they adopted ideologies, cultures, and values, which undermined development from the late sixteenth century to 1939. I also describe how the elites created a libertarian country without taxes, state capacity, and rule of law, and how this ‘golden freedom’ led to Poland’s collapse and disappearance from the map of Europe in 1795. I argue that Polish extractive society was so well established that it could not reform itself from the inside. It was like a black hole, where the force of gravity is so strong that the light could not come out.

Germany and Russia Since Reunification: Continuity, Change, and the Role of Leaders

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Image Analysis ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The Political ◽  
German Reunification ◽  
The Past ◽  
Personal Relations ◽  
Economic Trends ◽  
Economic Ties

How can we understand German-Russian relations since German reunification? Both the geopolitical positions of the two states and the political and economic ties between them have been transformed over the past twentyfive years. This paper will argue, however, that the role of the two countries’ leaders in shaping these relations has been surprisingly important. Building on the tradition of “first image” analysis in international relations, this paper shows that, along with larger political and economic trends, personal relations between these leaders have helped to set the tenor of bilateral ties. When the leaders were able to build trust and personal friendships, relations improved. Yet more recently, since 2012, relations have soured sharply. While there are obviously larger reasons for this, more negative personal ties between leaders have also played an important role. In short, just as issues of trust and friendship matter in personal ties, they also matter in International Relations.

scholarly journals STRATEGI DAKWAH SIASYAH PARTAI PERSATUAN PEMBANGUNAN DI JAWABARAT

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-36
Author(s):  
Ridwan - Mubarok
Keyword(s):  
World Politics ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
Missionary Movement ◽  
Or Organization

For every Muslim, the role of civilization is identical to authentic mission as a leader as a leader in this earth, whose role is greater than leading a province or country. The participation of ulama, dai or da'wah movements in the political sphere is his right, but the missionary movement or organization must also be aware of and be aware of people or persons who want to manipulate da'wah as a vehicle for world politics. Da'wah movements or dai must be able to use various life instruments that exist today for the sake of da'wah. Ulama and the da'i who join in the organization movement or da'wah movement, must realize that they are part of the chain of struggle of the people. Now is the time for da'i or ulama to proclaim themselves from the past fetters that castrated the political life of the scholars.Bagi setiap muslim, peran peradaban identik dengan misi otentik sebagai pemimpin sebagai pemimpin dimuka bumi ini, yang perannya lebih besar dibandingkan memimpin sebuah provinsi atau negara. Keikutsertaan para ulama, dai atau gerakan dakwah dalam ranah politik merupakan haknya, akan tetapi gerakan atau organisasi dakwah juga harus menyadari serta mewaspadai terhadap orang atau oknum yang hendak memperalat dakwah sebagai kendaraan politik dunia. Gerakan dakwah ataupun para dai harus dapat menggunakan berbagai instrument kehidupan yang ada saat ini untuk kepentingan dakwah. Ulama maupun para da’i yang bergabung dalam gerakan organisasi atau gerakan dakwah, harus menyadari bahwasanya dirinya merupakan bagian dari mata rantai perjuangan umat. Kini sudah saatnya para da’i ataupun ulama dapat memproklamirkan diri dari belenggu masa lalu yang mengebiri kehidupan politik para ulama, PPP menjadi salah satu alternatif.

scholarly journals Role of Creative Industries in the Post-Socialist Urban Transformation

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz ◽  
Michał Męczyński ◽  
Krzysztof Stachowiak
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
The West ◽  
Local Networks ◽  
The Past ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
Basic Features

Abstract Over the past two decades the cities in Central and Eastern Europe have witnessed a wide-ranging transformation in many aspects. The introduction of a market-oriented economy after half a century of socialism has brought about deep social, economic, cultural and political changes. The first stage of the changes, the 1990s, involved the patching up of structural holes left by the previous system. The post-socialist city had to face challenges of the future while carrying the ballast of the past. Rapid progress in catching up with the West transformed the city a great deal. Later on, the advent of the 21st century brought a new wave of development processes based, among other things, on creativity and innovation. Hence our contribution aims to explore the role of creativity and creative industries in the post-socialist urban transformation. The article consists of three basic parts. In the first we present the concept of a ‘creative post-socialist city’ and define the position of creative industries in it. We also indicate some similarities to and differences from the West European approaches to this issue. In the second part, examples from Central and Eastern Europe are used in an attempt to elucidate the concept of a ‘creative post-socialist city’ by identifying some basic features of creative actions /processes as well as a creative environment, both exogenous and endogenous. The former is embedded in different local networks, both formal (institutionalised) and informal, whereas the structure of the latter is strongly path-dependent. In the third part we critically discuss the role of local policies on the development of creative industries, pointing out some of their shortcomings and drawing up recommendations for future policy measures.

National Museums, National Narratives, and Identity Politics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Lleras
Keyword(s):  
Identity Politics ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
National Narratives ◽  
The Past ◽  
National Museums ◽  
Insight Into

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the surge of identity politics and the diversification of heritage and the tensions that arise with the traditional role of national museums that are expected to support the model of a unitary national identity through their narratives and collections. Engaging with distinct patrimonies and transformations in museums checkmates stagnant notions of heritage, but in turn, these actions might also instigate resistance to change. A case study at the National Museum of Colombia will provide an insight into competing notions of heritage, which can be understood as the relics of a material past, but may also be seen as the meanings created about the past. This analysis instigates thoughts about the role that history and historians might play in the elaboration of narratives of identity.

The Political Economy of Easy Credit Policies

2016 ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Karim Azizi ◽  
Thibault Darcillon
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Consumer Credit ◽  
Majority Voting ◽  
The Political ◽  
Aggregate Consumption ◽  
The Past ◽  
Marginal Effects

During the past thirty years, U.S. economic growth has disproportionately benefited the richest percentiles of the American population, i.e., the top income earners. Although this phenomenon is difficult to explain from a “standard” political economy perspective (i.e., majority voting), recent literature emphasizes the role of consumer credit as a means of circumventing costly public redistribution. According to this theory, most OECD and, notably, American policymakers should have facilitated middleclass and low-income households’ access to consumer credit to cushion the effects of increased income inequality (i.e., an increased share of GDP held by top earners). Our contribution to this literature is to argue that increases in inequality (as measured by expansions in the share of GDP held by top income earners) should be associated with aggregate consumption increases. Indeed, in response to increased inequality, easy credit policies stimulate low-income and middle-class consumption, which contributes to an increased aggregate consumption level. Using a panel dataset of 20 developed OECD economies between 1980 and 2007, we show that such increases in inequality are actually associated with expansions of aggregate consumption. Finally, when computing marginal effects, we conclude that these expansions increase with the size of the financial sector.

The Origins and Dynamics of Inequality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon D. Wisman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human History ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Role

Whereas President Barack Obama identified inequality as “the defining challenge of our time,” this book claims more: it is the defining issue of all human history. The struggle over inequality has been the underlying force driving human history’s unfolding. Drawing on the dynamics of inequality, this book reinterprets history and society. Beyond according inequality the central role in human history, this book is novel in two other respects. First, transcending the general failure of social scientists and historians to anchor their work in explicit theories of human behavior, this book grounds the origins and dynamics of inequality in evolutionary psychology, or, more specifically, Darwin’s theory of sexual selection. Second, this book is novel in according central importance to the critical historical role of ideology in legitimating inequality, a role typically ignored or given little attention by social scientists and historians. Because of the central role of inequality in history, inequality’s explosion over the past 45 years has not been an anomaly. It is a return to the political dynamics by which elites have, since the rise of the state, taken practically everything for themselves, leaving all others with little more than the means with which to survive. Due to elites’ persuasive ideology, even after workers in advanced capitalist countries gained the franchise to become the overwhelming majority of voters, inequality continued to increase. The anomaly is that the only intentional politically driven decline in inequality occurred between the 1930s and 1970s following the Great Depression’s partial delegitimation (this should remain delegitimation globally) of elites’ ideology.

When Cultural Evolution Calls for Translation Revolution

2018 ◽  
pp. 161-178
Author(s):  
Vanessa Lopes Lourenço Hanes
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Written Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Linguistic Identity ◽  
The Past ◽  
Publishing Houses ◽  
The One

Given the massive changes that Brazil has undergone in the past century, particularly in distancing itself linguistically from its former colonizer, this study is an attempt to determine the role of translation in the country's cultural evolution. Translational approaches have developed along opposing poles: on the one hand, a strong resistance to incorporating orally-driven alterations in the written language, while on the other, a slow, halting movement toward convergence of the two, and both approaches are charged with political and ideological intentionality. Publishing houses, editors and translators are gatekeepers and agents whose activities provide a glimpse into the mechanism of national linguistic identity, either contributing to or resisting the myth of a homogenized Portuguese language.

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