Contesting Austerity

Despite the historical and political similarities between Portugal and Spain, the contentious responses to austerity diverged in terms of number, rhythm and players. This book compares the contentious responses to austerity in Portugal and Spain during the Eurozone crisis and the Great Recession between 2008 and 2015. While in Spain a sustained wave of mobilisation lasted for three years, involving various players and leading to a transformation of the party system, in Portugal social movements were only able to mobilise in specific instances, trade unions dominated protest and, by the end of the cycle, institutional change was limited. Contesting Austerity shows that the different trajectories and outcomes in these two countries are connected to the nature and configurations of the players in the mobilisation process. While in Spain actors’ relative autonomy from one another led to deeper political transformation, in Portugal the dominance of the institutional actors limited the extent of that change.

Close enough – obrazy porażki transformacji ustrojowej w Polsce lat dziewięćdziesiątych XX wieku na przykładzie "Psów" Władysława Pasikowskiego i "Szamanki" Andrzeja Żuławskiego [“Close Enough”: Images of the Failure of the 1990s’ Political Transformation in Poland as Exemplified by Władysław Pasikowski’s "Psy" [Pigs] and Andrzej Żuławski’s "Szamanka" [She-Shaman]]

“Close Enough”: Images of the Failure of the 1990s’ Political Transformation in Poland as Exemplified by Władysław Pasikowski’s Psy [Pigs] and Andrzej Żuławski’s Szamanka [She-Shaman]This article problematizes the Polish cinema of the 1990s by analyzing it in terms of the aesthetic of failure. Of crucial importance for that interpretation is the postcolonial perspective. Seen from this perspective, Poland of the political transformation period appears a land of unfulfilled dreams of being-like-the-West. One of the spheres where this is visible is the Polish cinematography of that time.Close enough – obrazy porażki transformacji ustrojowej w Polsce lat dziewięćdziesiątych XX wieku na przykładzie Psów Władysława Pasikowskiego i Szamanki Andrzeja ŻuławskiegoNiniejszy tekst problematyzuje kwestię polskiego kina lat dziewięćdziesiątych XX wieku w kategoriach estetyki porażki. Kluczowe znaczenie dla tego rozpoznania ma perspektywa postkolonialna, w której Polska czasów transformacji jawi się jako kraina niespełnionych marzeń o byciu-jak-Zachód, co widać m.in. w kinematografii tamtego okresu.

The state and Protestant Churches in Hungary in 1948 – 1989

The purpose of the article is to characterize the activities of the largest and most influential Protestant churches in Hungary: Reformed (Calvinist) and Lutheran (Evangelical). These religious denominations along with the Catholic denomination belong to the so-called historical churches of Hungary. The chronological framework is the following: 1948 – the year of the communist regime’s rapid attack on the political, economic, educational activities of the Reformed and Lutheran churches and the signing of a compromise cooperation agreement with them, which lasted until 1990. 1989 – the liquidation of the State Administration for Churches, socio-political transformation in Hungary, which resulted in gaining absolute freedom. Based on Hungarian historiography, the relations between the Protestant churches and the state during the reign of Janos Kadar (1956 – 1988), called by Hungarian researchers the Kadar era, and are analyzed. It was Janos Kadar, the leader of the “soft dictatorship”, who managed to turn the Hungarian People’s Republic into “the funniest barracks in the socialist camp”. The background for the successful policy of the Hungarian government after the revolutionary events of 1956 was the achievement of social harmony, including through great tolerance and flexibility in the religious sphere. The article notes that representatives of the Reformed and Lutheran churches did not take an active part in the preparations for the events of 1956, but pastors and congregations supported the revolution. It is stressed that the relations with the Protestant denominations were settled specifically during the 50s of the twentieth century; the authorities managed to turn part of the clergy into their allies. Based on the analysis of the scientific literature, it is identified that relations were compromise in the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century, as the leadership of the Reformed and Lutheran churches helped the government to pursue the policy of the Popular Front in the struggle for socialism. Owing to it, no one was persecuted for their religious beliefs. In the 1980s, the state’s influence on historical churches gradually weakened, and processes leading to socio-political transformation in the late 1980s started, and as a result, churches in Hungary gained absolute freedom.

Bridges to Studying: Educational Migration in the Scope of Political Transformation in Post Covid-19 Pandemic in Europe

Recently, Europe is witnessing a transformation in the political system, concerning right-wing populist movements, around the claim that a massive influx of migrants within its territorial borders undermines the sovereignty of the nation-state. This transformation has led to issues of economic inequalities, loss of cultural identity, and influence in voting patterns. Considering the unfolding situations, we ask: What is the effect of educational migration on economic growth and social development before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic? How will the current political transformation processes affect educational migrants in the post-Covid-19 pandemic in Europe? Using the systematic review methodology, the authors sort to perform a comprehensive literature search; complete a critical appraisal of the individual studies gathered; and combine the valid studies using appropriate statistical techniques. The research affirmed a case that Education could not ignore politics. We perceive it will shape populist motives on educational migrants in post-pandemic Europe. The authors expectation of future research pays attention to the political transformation process and how anti-immigration discourse will exercise control over educational institutions.

The Image of Poland in Bulgarian Mass Media in 1990–1998 in the Light of Documents from the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland

In this article, the image of Poland in the Bulgarian mass media was analyzed. This image was presented on the basis of reports that were made by employees of the Polish Embassy in Sofia and sent to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Polish Embassy in Sofia had the biggest impact in promotion of the Polish themes in the Bulgarian mass media. Polish issues have been present in the Bulgarian mass media from the beginning of political transformation, although the media presented information from Poland with varying frequency. The popularity of Polish issues in the Bulgarian media grew significantly when important political and economic events took place in Poland, or when there were meetings on the highest level between representatives of both states. During this period, the mass media created a positive image of Poland, mainly regarding economic issues. Poland was recognised as the leader in the process of political and economic transformations among Central and Eastern Europe countries.

The dynamics of the party system in the Czech Republic

The article examines the changes that took place in the Czech party system from the moment of the political transformation of 1989/1990 to the last parliamentary elections in 2017. It is based on a survey of data on the results of the elections to the Czech National Council and the Chamber of Deputies. The interpretation of the data allows answering several research questions: is the Czech party system stable, and if so, is it possible to determine it model? Are the inevitable model changes sudden or evolutionary as a consequence of an observable trend? Is it possible to distinguish and define the stages of functioning of the Czech party system? To what extent does the party system of the Czech Republic have roots in the party system of Czechoslovakia and did the disintegration of the federal republic significantly affect its change?

Regime-sanctioned oligarchs

No oligarchic system, similar to those in Ukraine or Russia, developed in Belarus after 1991, but the formation of a group of prominent regime-linked businessmen has accelerated in recent years. They owe their influence to informal concessions from the regime to do business in selected sectors of the economy. They often do not take over state property but act as intermediaries, earning a hefty commission for doing so. They also operate in the criminal sphere, primarily involving the large-scale smuggling of goods into Russia and the European Union. This article aims to show the evolution and specifics of big business in Belarus. The growing capital potential of big Belarusian businessmen, estimated at a dozen or so, and their rising influence on the economic decisions made by the authorities while maintaining total political loyalty, make it justified to call at least some of them oligarchs. The system emerging in Belarus bears certain similarities to some post-Soviet oligarchic systems while having its own distinctive features. The accumulated capital and contacts give at least some of the emerging Belarusian oligarchs a good starting position for taking a front seat in a possible future political transformation, should the conditions arise for that to begin.

Determining and quantifying the historical traces of spatial land arrangements in rural landscapes of Central and Eastern Europe

The article attempts to define and determine the intangible components of cultural heritage related to the spatial structure of land in a comprehensive way using computational methods. The components were quantified and a method of empirical evaluation of landscape durability was proposed for agricultural areas of significant cultural and historical value with an evident mosaic structure of fields, baulks, ponds, meadows, and forests. This method allows us to identify places more resistant to political transformation and those with greater cultural potential. The paper proposed an integrated approach to the measuring of the degree of preservation of spatial arrangements in the landscape based on a set of objects that describe the spatial land structure. The article classifies areas by the degree of preservation of rural spatial arrangements of land. The spatial analysis employed facilitated a synthetic quantification of the multi-criteria process. Three groups of factors were used: spatial assessment of land-cover type persistence (u), agricultural land structure persistence (w), and persistence of settlement buildings (z). The final results pinpointed areas in need of strategic intervention to sufficiently protect the rural cultural heritage, properly consider them in zoning planning, and ensure their sustainable development. The proposed tool can be used to monitor the degree of changes in the landscape layout structure when multiple time points are analysed as well.

Edith Stein's Contribution to Critical Phenomenology: On Self-Formation and Value-Modification

One defining claim that critical phenomenologists make of the critical phenomenological method is that description no longer simply plays the role of detailing the world around the describing phenomenologist, but rather has the potential to transform worlds and persons. The transformative potential of the critical phenomenological enterprise is motivated by aspirations of social and political transformation. Critical phenomenology accordingly takes, as its starting point, descriptions of the oppressive historical social structures and contexts that have shaped our experience and shows how these produce inequitable ways of being in the world (Guenther 2020, 12). For example, critical phenomenologists have provided rich descriptions of marginalized lived experience, particularly racialized experience (Ngo, 2017; Yancy, 2017), dis-abled experience and experiences of illness (Lajoie and Douglas, 2020; Toombs, 1993), gendered experience (Beauvoir, 2009; Salamon, 2010), and so forth. What is common across these accounts is the assumption that these descriptions provide means of enacting political change. First, they illuminate the existence of oppressive structures and their effects upon us, our possibilities, and our relations. Second, through increasing awareness they begin to denaturalize the oppressive historical structures that “privilege, naturalize, and normalize certain experiences of the world while marginalizing, pathologizing, and discrediting others” (Guenther 2020, 15). Third, through strategic responses (e.g., hesitation in Alia Al-Saji’s work), they produce new possibilities of action and experience, which initiates the process of creating different ways of being in the world (Al-Saji 2014).2

The transition paradigm versus integration in the context of political transformation of the Balkan countries

Three decades since the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism, some of the Balkan nations are not following yet the lessons for building sustainable peace and functioning democracies according to their aspirations (at least in a declarative way) for association with the liberal democracies of the European Union (EU). Rather, the Balkans’ history is transforming into a story of importing the habits and principles from the communism period in a paradoxical way of establishing the illiberal democracies followed by controversies and defects in the process of state-building. More than a decade, the Balkans, from one side, is transformed into a zone of periphery with a focus of the European determination for the support of the institutional reform through the process of integration, but in parallel, it is being self-formatted into a zone of self-isolation of the Balkan nations. This article will discuss the transition paradigm of the Balkans through functional analysis of aspects related to the rhetoric of Balkan countries in the discourse of the criteria of the European integration project; the dimension of the Balkan ancient myth with the new additional attribute of self-isolation; the insisting of the Balkan political elites for catapulting to the European project; and as well as the dynamics of the transition, internal and European integration of the Albanians and other nations of the Balkan region in the general