Meštianske právo na Slovensku v stredoveku

Author(s): Ferdinand Uličný / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 2/2014

"Author provides a study of the development of the burgher right in Slovakia in the Middle Ages. It is the author’s final paper, which completed his research about the origin and development of the bourgeoisie and towns in Slovakia in the Middle Ages. Author describes:a/ customary, natural burgher rights up to the end of the 12th century;b/ granted, acquired and drafted burgher rights from the 13th century.The second ones were indirectly, but significantly, derived from the burgher rights in Germany. Author compared privileges, burgher rights in the Czech and Poland towns with a finding, that the burgher rights in Slovakia and all throughout the Kingdom of Hungary, were the most liberal. From the 15th century the rights of burghers living in cities belonging to Hungarian king were also supplemented by political rights, particularly by the participation of burghers in the Hungary Assembly and by the creation of voluntary associations of the towns. Finally, the author justified the need to leave an actual scientific terminology and substitute it:a/ the term of town rights should be replaced by more accurate term burgher rights;b/ taking into account the Latin terminology, which was in use in the 15th century, the term of „town“ (civitas, civitas libera) and term of „small town“ (oppidum) are appropriate for use in Slovak."

Семейството в житейските разкази на бесарабските българи

Author(s): Zhenja Pimpireva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2016

The article is devoted to the role of life stories in the study of the family of theBessarabian Bulgarians. The eyewitnesses’ stories (or the stories of their loved ones)contain various appreciations, experiences, feelings, values, and meanings whichallow the reconstruction of their world. The study is based on the life stories collectedduring field ethnographic expeditions conducted in 2009-2010 in villages witha predominant or significant Bulgarian population in the Republic of Moldova andUkraine.The life stories are an invaluable source for the study of the Bessarabian familyin traditional and contemporary perspective. Sharing them requires a climate of trustbetween the respondents and the researcher. The life stories represent a collection ofselected facts and episodes, in which many hidden, suppressed and forgotten thingsremain beyond the narrative. Because of their subjective character, the family is representedin an estimative and emotional way enabling the identification of the trendsin its development and the judgement of its values and morals.

Цветан Тодоров (1939–2017) – апостолът на хуманизма, мечтателят за свобода

Author(s): Valentina Sharlanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2016

Изложба „Д-р Евдокия Петева-Филова – завръщане в Двореца“

Author(s): Anita Komitska / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2016

Да живееш в три държави: промени в земеделието и всекидневието на селяни от Северозападна България

Author(s): Ilia Iliev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 6/2017

In this paper I briefly investigate the impact of three types of state agricultural policies on rural households in Valchedrum region, North West Bulgaria. I argue that the state remains a key factor, capable to transform the local economies, identities, and everyday life in a few years. I argue that unlike the situation in socialist Bulgaria, when the state lacked resources to implement its policies and had to rely heavily on coercion, the local people have rather limited options for agency now against powerful and efficient EU agricultural policies.

Аспекти на патернализма и популизма на българския социалистически модел (държавната грижа и закрила в нормативните актове)

Author(s): Ina Pachamanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2018

The article seeks to ascertain whether and to what extent the state policy of “care” and “protection” of the family, woman-mother, children and youth in the period of socialism in Bulgaria is the result of the paternalism and populism typical of the Bulgarian socialist model.

Encounters between Disability Studies and Critical Trauma Studies: Introduction

Author(s): Anne-Marie Callus,Arleen Ionescu / Language(s): English Issue: 01/2018

When setting up the premises for a dialogue between disability studies and critical trauma studies and embarking on editing this pilot issue on ‘encounters’ between the two disciplines, we necessarily welcomed interdisciplinary approaches, ranging across disability studies, trauma studies, literary and cultural studies, media studies, as well as many other disciplines in the humanities. The first step in introducing this issue to our readers will be to present the histories of both disability studies and trauma studies in order to see how they evolved and see why our proposal that they should meet half way or at least more often can be considered a valid one.

On Public Representation of Trauma: A Review of Jane Goodall and Christopher Lee’s Trauma and Public Memory (Houndmills, Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015)

Author(s): Arleen Ionescu,Rongrong Qian / Language(s): English Issue: 01/2018

This is a review article of a collection of essays entitled Trauma and Public Memory, edited by Jane Goodall and Christopher Lee.

Aging in Online Communities: A Systematic Literature Review of Design Recommendations

Author(s): Ana Isabel Veloso,Sónia Ferreira,Liliana Vale Costa,Óscar Mealha,Carlos Santos / Language(s): English Issue: 26 (2)/2020

The increase of computer-mediated communication use and the aging population has led to a renewed interest in online communities and social networks for active aging and social support in daily living. However, a systematic understanding of the design recommendations in Senior Online Communities is still lacking in scientific documentation. The aim of this paper is to identify the design recommendations used in online communities that support active aging. In addition, this paper highlights some of the benefits of using online communities by older adults. Twenty-three papers published between January 2015 and May 2020 in English-language, peer-reviewed publications, met inclusion criteria. The review presents a set of recommendations for designing online communities to enhance older adults’ social interactions. A process that aims for “engagement” is suggested to strategically guide the design of Senior Online Communities: Interacting – Sense of Belonging (Role-playing, Storytelling, and Legacy) – Engaging.

Engaging Older Adults in Participatory and Intergenerational Design Teams and Processes: a Systematic Review of the Current Investigation

Author(s): Ana Carla Amaro,Rui Rodrigues,Lídia Oliveira / Language(s): English Issue: 26 (2)/2020

This paper presents the results of a systematic review of the literature (SRL) in the field of Participatory Design (PD), undertaken under the scope of LOCUS – Playful Connected Rural Territories. The project employs an ethnographically, participatory and agile approach to the process of co-designing, developing and evaluating an IoT system to support playful intergenerational engagement in exploring cultural heritage of Portuguese rural territories, by engaging inhabitants, stakeholders and visitors. The SRL aimed to understand how older adults have been integrated and engaged into technology PD teams and processes. This paper focus on the most used methodological approaches and participation methods, along with the challenges in integrating older adults and the strategies to overcome them, which are discussed in the light of project aims.

Social Credit System w Chińskiej Republice Ludowej

Author(s): Tomasz Wójtowicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2020

Mass surveillance programmes and the impact of new information technologies on privacy restriction are among the greatest threats and challenges faced by modern countries. This article aims to present the origins and functional vision of, and some critical remarks on, the Social Credit System (SCS) under development in the People’s Republic of China. The underlying research issue arising from the assumed objective was to respond to the following questions: What is the SCS developed in the People’s Republic of China? What are its origins? How exactly does it function? The following research methods were used to solve the research queries: the monograph method, the document analysis method, the literature analysis and critique method, and the analysis and synthesis methods. In view of the preliminary investigation, the author formulated the following research hypothesis: the SCS should be viewed in a broader sense than merely as a programme aimed at conducting mass supervision of the Chinese society and preventing threats of separatism, terrorism, and social riot (colour revolutions). It is one of the tools to shape a society based on traditional Chinese values and national identity: loyalty, harmony, integrity, and fairness ‒ a disciplined society which, along with a strong and innovative economy, will enable China to attain the status of global power, thus questioning the American “unipolar world order”. Although China is not a democratic country, the system’s success can contribute to implementing similar solutions in other Asian countries. Therefore, it appears justified to conduct studies focused on the SCS.

Cyfryzacja zarządzania migracjami w Unii Europejskiej

Author(s): Helena Wyligała / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2019

The aim of this article is to illustrate how deeply digitisation is entering the process of managing migration in the EU. It raises the question of the stage of development of existing and new tools in this area. Against the background of the processes of digitalisation and strengthening the internal security of the Schengen area, using an analysis of the sources of European Union law, the modernisation of the three main systems used in EU migration policy will be presented: SIS II, VIS, Eurodac and 3 new systems: EES, ETIAS, ECRIS-TCN. Their development has accelerated in the last few years, as the migration crisis of 2015-2016 has highlighted the need to fill the security gaps by integrating these systems. The use of large-scale computer base is therefore a challenge to ensuring security in the EU, but it raises the question of the pace and scale of change and its impact on the protection of personal data.

COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTENT RECONFIGURATION: THE ANECDOTES OF THE SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET ERA

Author(s): Nataliia Komykh,Yaroslav Zharko / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

The article considers the phenomenon of collective memory as a resource of social interaction, legitimization of social practices. In particular, attention is paid to aspects of reconfiguration of the content of the collective memory of the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. Societies remember differently. Ukrainian society has a traumatic social experience gained as a result of the transformational processes of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the formation of an independent state, a democratic political order. The phenomenon of memory is considered in more detail on the example of the results of the study of collective memory reflected in anecdotes. The authors noted that the anecdote is a mechanism for translating cultural meanings into the memory of societies. The anecdote represents the symbolic systems of objective manifestations of collective memory. Based on the analysis of the results of the research by the method of content analysis using the online program Voyant Tools, reconfigurations of the content of anecdotes were recorded: from political to private; from local toponymic discourse to global; from ridiculing the policy of the state to the experience of society through the humor of the historical events of the formation of independent Ukraine.

AFGHANISTAN UNDER TALIBAN: A NEW REGIME POSES A THREAT TO INTERNATIONAL STABILITY

Author(s): Valeri Modebadze / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

The purpose of this study was to see whether the Taliban regime poses a threat to the international community. The research primarily examined the threats that the formation of a theocratic regime in Afghanistan poses to neighboring countries and the international community. With regards to research methods, a document analysis method was used to obtain valid information and to analyze and describe the complex situation in Afghanistan. A wide array of documents and scholarly articles were analyzed to obtain reliable and objective information. This research revealed that the Taliban has not changed at all and still rules Afghanistan with medieval methods and strategies. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the economic situation has deteriorated considerably and people face severe hardship. Therefore, hundreds of thousands of Afghans want to leave their homeland and migrate to the West. The Taliban violates constantly human rights and discriminates against women, ethnic and religious minorities. The Taliban has transformed Afghanistan into a narco-state. Neighboring countries fear that Afghanistan might become a hotbed of terrorism and extremism again.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION, WORK ENJOYMENT, AND TASK PERFORMANCE: A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN VIETNAM

Author(s): Thanh Nguyen Nghi,Thu Tran Hang,Thao Tran Dinh / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

This study aimed to examine the impact of health workers' public service motivation during their participation in response to the Covid-19 pandemic at a time of the highest number of infections and deaths in Vietnam. This study was conducted through a cross-sectional survey using an intentional sampling technique (n=200). In addition, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied to illustrate the proposed hypotheses. We found that compassion in the workplace, self-sacrifice, and attraction to policy-making impacted work enjoyment positively and significantly. In particular, there was a positive and significant relationship between work enjoyment and task performance but no evidence of the relationship between Commitment to the public interest and work enjoyment. This study further demonstrates the importance of public service motivation of health workers in pandemic response, as previous studies have found. This finding suggests that the government and policymakers in Vietnam should develop policies to promote health workers' public service motivation during their engagement in response to the health crisis.

SWITCHING FROM CASH TO CASHLESS PAYMENTS: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR EVIDENCE FROM KOSOVO

Author(s): Faruk Ahmeti / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

This paper investigates the readiness of customers to shift toward cashless payment by identifying the main factors that impact that shift. The sample consisted of randomly selected individuals identified as potential users of cashless payment and are considered more likely to continue using the new technology. Five hundred eighty-six questionaries were returned and considered complete for the research. The outcomes were assessed employing CFA for validity and determined using Cronbach’s alpha for the reliability of the research, which was stratified by seven regions throughout the country was applied, by covering all levels of the society. The findings show that the perceived risk is connected to the level of correct and believable information offered to customers. It has been confirmed that the respondents trust cashless payment technology, and at the same time, self-efficacy had a lower impact on usage continuance intention. Consequently, the growth of self-efficacy would strengthen the intention to use cashless technologies. Several segments in the financial market may benefit from the results and develop more appropriate and reliable systems and the proper approach toward customers with needed information and insurance related to the security and benefits they may have by adopting the cashless technology.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF SOFT POWER DIPLOMACY: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF AFGHANS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT INDIA

Author(s): Mohammad Reyaz,Sabir Ahamed / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

Before the Taliban came back to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, India and Afghanistan had cordial bilateral relations and were often described as great friends. Since 2002, India had helped build several infrastructure projects as part of its promised development assistance program of over $2 billion (later increased to $3 billion). Considering India’s investments in Afghanistan, the goodwill it enjoyed among common Afghans was understandable. However, it would be wrong to imply that these unique, multifaceted bilateral relations between the two countries were simply due to India's helping hand. This research paper is one of its kind attempt to explain the perceptions Afghans had about India based on the field survey done in Afghanistan in 2019. Using responses of over 321 Afghan participants, the paper attempts to quantitatively analyze the goodwill and positive vibes that India enticed among Afghans. However, many Afghans felt that India did not do enough during the crisis in August 2021. Based on the survey and the general perceptions of Afghans in the aftermath of the return of the Taliban, this paper argues that the soft power investments in Afghanistan helped India in its nation-branding, making it attractive and creating goodwill. However, New Delhi lacked the will to act smartly and hence did not get the desired strategic influences due to ‘soft power behavior’

FRENCH IMMIGRATION POLICY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Author(s): Yao Xuedan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

Following the start of the European refugee crisis in 2015, France had to modify its immigration and asylum policies. However, France faced two main issues resulting from the pandemic: pandemic control and refugee management. This article examined the reform and adjustment of France's immigration and refugee asylum policies before and after the pandemic outbreak. It concluded that the pandemic had aggravated the problems of refugee management in France. At the same time, refugees in France were in a difficult situation. The French government had imposed restrictions on entry and exit, leaving many refugees stranded in France, unable to return home. Moreover, the high sanitary conditions of accommodation due to the pandemic led to the fact that the health of many refugees could not be guaranteed. Therefore, the French government should enhance the guarantee of a healthy environment for refugees, which is also beneficial to the social management of France.

INDIA@75: ASSESSING INDIA’S USE OF SOFT POWER AS A FOREIGN POLICY INSTRUMENT

Author(s): Mohammad Reyaz / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2023

The term soft power has become a catch-all-phrase for public and cultural diplomacy since Joseph Nye introduced it in 1990. India has had several historical and cultural advantages regarding its influence in foreign countries. While India and Indians enjoyed goodwill in most countries, the sudden interests in India among the policymakers, businesses, and politicians were mainly after the 1992 economic liberalization that had opened the Indian markets to foreign investments. Besides the nation-branding exercises globally, New Delhi employed soft power instruments in countries it deemed to have more significant interests, from traditional allies like Bhutan and Afghanistan to the countries in the West in the last three decades. Nevertheless, how successful has India been in exploiting its cultural linkages and using its soft power in its branding? This question becomes pertinent as, in recent years, India has often received negative press coverage in international media, and on several freedom/democratic indices, its rankings have gone down. As India celebrates 75 years of independence as Azadi ka Mahotsav (a grand celebration of independence), this paper assesses the scope of its soft power as a foreign policy instrument, points out its shortcomings, and recommends the possibilities.