From sacrum to profanum: reinterpretation of communist places of power in Baltic cities

Places always represent the social and cultural dimensions of societies, seen through relationships between ideas, beliefs, and hopes. Places and their social practices are interwoven into the urban fabric and have become vital components of urban and ideological identities. Ideological systems create unique arrangements and classifications of those special places, which can be called “hallowed” or “profaned.” This project focuses on the recent transformation of the communist system of “sacral” spaces and their recent “profanation.” The transformation of meaning, together with the use and attitude toward landscape, has become visible due to spatial and functional manifestations of post-socialist cities.     

Europe under occupation: the European diplomatic community of practice in the Jerusalem area

ABSTRACT

This article shows how the existence of a community of European practitioners in the Jerusalem area gives substance to the European stance on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The often-stated European Union (EU) support for a two-state solution could appear meaningless in the absence of peace negotiations. However, European diplomats (i.e. diplomats of EU member states and EU officials) in the East Jerusalem–Ramallah area are committed to specific practices of political resistance to Israeli occupation and recognition of Palestinian institutions. These practices have led not only to a specific political geography of diplomacy, but also to a community of practice, composed of European diplomats and based on their daily experience of resisting occupation and bestowing recognition. It is this group of officials who represent and actively “do” Europe’s position and under occupation.     

European Law Beyond ‘Ever Closer Union’ Repositioning the Concept,its Thrust and the ECJ's Comparative Methodology

The article investigates competing understandings of European law. It supports, against the prevailing EU‐centred understanding, an ecumenical concept that embraces EU law, supplementing international instruments, the European Convention on Human Rights and, importantly, various domestic laws enacting or responding to such transnational law, as well as European comparative law. To keep the concept in sync with European politics, it posits a new idea that binds the parts together: to provide for a European legal space rather than further European integration (the ever closer union). This idea can also serve as European law's functional equivalent to forming one legal order. European law thus conceived grasps the puzzling complex of interdependent legal orders, sets a common frame for corresponding reconstructions (European composite constructions, legal pluralism, network theories, federalism or intergovernmentalism) and allows forces with diverging outlooks to meet in one legal field, on one more neutral disciplinary platform. Within this framework, European comparative law finds a new mission as well as a sound legal basis.     

民主社会主义思潮与苏东剧变浅析

民主社会主义实质就是一种社会改良主义。它主张在不触动现存资本主义统治的条件下进行改良,渐进地、和平地过渡到社会主义。在民主社会主义思潮的影响下,马克思主义指导地位被削弱,阵地被缩小,以致完全丧失。由此可以看出,民主社会主义与我们的科学社会主义是完全对立的两种意识形态。     

西方马克思主义政治文化理论探析

从历时态上看,西方马克思主义政治文化理论分为早期、中生代、后现代三个发展阶段,每个阶段都表现出了鲜明的理论特征,并且各个阶段之间又呈现出了逻辑上的“贯通”与“断裂”。从共时态上看,西方马克思主义政治文化理论主要包括哲学、政治学、社会学、文化学四种学理向度,深入研究该理论对构建中国化马克思主义政治文化理论具有重要启发意义。     

Russia’s energy relations in Southeastern Europe: an analysis of motives in Bulgaria and Greece

Although officially Russian state-owned energy companies operate as independent entities, their actions often lead to suspicion that they are acting as a tool of Russian state foreign policy. Countries on the southeastern borders of Europe – Bulgaria and Greece – are prime examples of where this might be the case, since they not only have a central position in Russia’s plans to penetrate European markets through new transport infrastructure but are also part of competing plans for routing non-Russian gas to Western markets. The main focus of the present research is on the natural gas and oil sectors, as these are the traditional foundation of Russian energy exports to Europe. The aim of this paper is thus to provide an objective, evidence-based analysis of Russian activities in the natural gas and oil sectors of Greece and Bulgaria in order to establish whether its actions have been implicitly or explicitly politicized and have served to strengthen Russian influence in the region.     

略论西方民主政治的理论基础

根据西方的民主理论,民主政治应当体现为多数人的统治。但是,如果多数的权力不受制约,多数人进行统治并不一定带来真正的民主政治,因为集体的智慧是有限的,多数的无限权威容易导致权力的滥用,多数的交易规则对少数人具有强制作用,这样常常会产生多数人忽视少数人权益的现象。因此,要使多数人的民主成为多数善政,要使民主政治具有适当的制度基础,就要对多数投票决定问题的范围加以限定,少教人应当被给予更大程度的自治,司法体系和社会力量要充分利用起来对多数的权力加以制衡。     

Where is public affairs going?

This paper suggests the future direction in which public affairs practice is developing and advances a number of propositions about public affairs and political systems which provide the context in which public affairs practitioners operate. The paper examines the changing nature of the political systems in which public affairs functions and argues that, by inference, public affairs practice is culturally specific. The paper explores these contextual issues from both a European and a global perspective. The paper argues that an understanding of public affairs should be recognised as an essential element on management teaching syllabi and laments the fact that this is far from the case. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications     

西方国家对巴基斯坦伊斯兰宗教学校的指责、原因及巴基斯坦的应对

“9·11”事件以来,反恐战争背景下的美国及其西方盟友对于巴基斯坦伊斯兰宗教学校的指责声日益上升：宗教学校沦为恐怖组织、培养恐怖分子、资助恐怖组织以及传播极端主义思想。本文分析西方国家对巴基斯坦伊斯兰宗教学校的歪曲与污蔑,探讨其原因和动机并展望巴基斯坦伊斯兰宗教学校的前景。