East Central Europe on the eve of the changeover: the case of Poland

In contrast to the voluminous literature dealing with the post-communist transformation, much less attention has been paid to the circumstances that led to the communist collapse. The purpose of this paper is to redress the imbalance by trying to examine the socio-political and economic situation on the eve of the changeover and to determine which factors, taken collectively, produced a trigger which ignited the implosion of 1989. The focus will be on Poland, the country which—it is generally agreed—was the first one to launch the process of change and to initiate the “domino effect” which ultimately affected the entire region.     

准大学毕业生离校前夕越轨现象成因透视

准大学毕业生离校前夕越轨现象引起了社会的广泛关注。本文拟从宣泄说、社会控制说、标签透视说、从众说、边际说等视角对其成因展开探析,并认为只有准大学毕业生、高校、社会三方共同努力,才能从根本上杜绝越轨现象的发生。     

Islam and nationalism in west Turkestan (Central Asia) on the eve of October revolution 1

West Turkestan at the eve of the October revolution was a colony of the tsarists with the exception of the Amaret of Bukhara, which was a pro‐tecterate without any right in conducting its external affairs. The colonizers believed in the supremacy of the Russian way of life, and after witnessing the resistance of the Muslims to russification, they attempted in destroying Islamic institutions by outlawing their sources of support (such as waqf), and also coopting many of the Muslims into the colonial bureaucracy. In general, the tsarists tried to rule the area indirectly and did not interfere with the religious and civic ceremonies of the Muslims. They, however, did manipulate the population of the area by dividing them into many administrative units and inflaming ancient rivalaries among various ethnic groups when suited them. They destroyed any movement which tended in wresting the power from the colonialists. Various societies were organized by the Turkestanis in order to modernize their society and eventually rid their lands from the invaders. Many of the membership of these local organizations advocated Pan‐Islamism and/or Pan‐Turkism, both of which aimed at the liberation of Turkestan. They were crushed by the Russians. A group of mostly intellectuals, the Jadidists, who had the backing of the very small middle class such as the merchants and some Russian inteligentsia aimed in reforming their societies from within. Their programs which aimed at the modernization of the area was resisted by the Amirs and also by some of the ‘uluma, the religious leaders. The Russians also saw in the Jadidis't program a program for national liberation. Consequently at the eve of the October revolution these intellectuals (the Jadidists) were caught between the Amir and the ‘uluma on the one hand, and the Russian colonizers on the other, and were rooted out completely. Some who survived joined the Soviets (who came to power in 1918) and others, usually the betteroff ones either left the area or joined with beks, bais, and the ‘uluma to organize a grassroot opposition to the Soviets, the Basmachi movement which plagued the Red army for many years.     

Fezzes in the river: identity politics and European diplomacy in the Middle East on the eve of World War II

This article analyzes how the Poles and Jews who disappeared from the western Ukrainian city of L'viv as a result of the Second World War are remembered in the city today. It examines a range of commemorative practices, from monuments and museums to themed cafes and literature, and analyzes how these practices interact to produce competing mnemonic narratives. In this respect, the article argues for an understanding of the city as a complex text consisting of a diverse range of mutually interdependent mnemonic media produced by a range of actors. The article focuses in particular on the ways in which Ukrainian nationalist narratives interact with the memory of the city's “lost others.” The article also seeks to understand L'viv's memory culture through comparison with a range of Polish cities that have faced similar problems with commemorating vanished communities, but have witnessed a deeper recognition of these communities than has been the case in L'viv. The article proposes reasons for the divergences between the memory cultures of L'viv and that found in Polish cities, and attempts to outline the gradual processes by which L'viv's Polish and Jewish pasts might become more widely integrated into the city's memory culture.     

1989 and the Politics of Democratic Performativity

In light of the fact—despite a widespread impression to the contrary—that the collapse of Communism in the fall of 1989 did not happen overnight, the paper explores the kind of gradual societal work that had led to the emergence of democratic polities in Central Europe but that had generally escaped the notice not only of policy makers and the leaders of the “free world” but also of theorists. The concept and practices of performative democracy as it manifested itself in the period of late Communism (1970s–1989), but also in South Africa at the dusk of apartheid, and the conditions for political performativity, as well as its main features, are then discussed.     

Twenty years after 1989: moving on from transitology

This article sets within a qualitative framework part of the social sciences research that has been carried out on Central and Eastern Europe since 1989. This qualitative study relies upon quantitative data from journal monitoring carried out on a number of thematic journals on post-Communist Europe. What the article demonstrates is that political science research on post-Communist Europe has advanced from the stage of transitology to methodological approaches more deeply entrenched within the European whole. Sociological research, on the other hand, has recently started to position the East European regional inside the European or global more emphatically.     

"布拉格之春"与苏军侵捷内幕

原捷克斯洛伐克是人杰地灵之国,早在中世纪其文化、科技等方面就具有世界先进水平.1945年国民生产总值曾跃居世界第6位,举世瞩目.