The area of biomedicine is one of the fastes developing areas of science and technology. The perception of its possible and expected positive or negative impacts results in the growing number of bioethical discussions in scientific community, politics and public. Their intensity, focus and used methods differ from country to country. The authors of the prologue have tried to map the state of the art and expected development of bioethical discussion in the countries of Middle and Eastern Europe. In the beginning, they addressed the bioethical experts with short questionnaire from 7 'new' European countries (Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) and two 'old' European countries (Germany and Austria). In the end, seven experts have responded their questions (Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Austria and Germany) and expressed their expectations and difficulties of the development of bioethical discussions and institutionalisations in their countries. The authors summarize in the prologue the most interesting results.
A wave of strikes in the summer of 1980 and which were the consequence of the birth of "Solidarity" was an event that many historians and political scientists considers appropriate beginning the agony of the system of real socialism in Central and Eastern Europe. not is no, and probably will not be complete agreement as to which factor played a the most important role in the birth of the largest social movement in the past Polish history.
This paper investigates the unemployment rate dynamics in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine during 2000 – 2017. To analyse the dynamics of unemployment rate we constructed econometric regression models with nonlinearities that arose due to discrete changes in modes. We developed Markov switching model that allowed capturing the regularities by modelling the asymmetry in the unemployment rate during contractionary and expansionary states of the labour market. We evaluated two regimes of unemployment behaviour that were associated with high and low unemployment levels and estimated the transition probabilities of regime change and average expected durations in each regime. The comparison of mean and volatility of different regimes and the one-step ahead predictions of the regime probabilities for different countries revealed the labour market specifics for each country and showed differences in the flexibility of their reactions to changing economic environment.
Small parties can be recognized as very interesting phenomena of modern democracy. Nevertheless, they are often ignored by political scientists. Such approach may be recognized as quite reasonable because in most cases only the winners obtain influence on the decision-making process. This monopoly makes them naturally interesting for analysts. However, much scientific interest is attracted by green and radical parties that might certainly be treated as small ones. In this context the problem of defining ‘smallness’ becomes one of the greatest importance. Hitherto some research concerning small parties in Western Europe were conducted. Notwithstanding there were no such efforts made in Eastern European countries. It means that searching for the conceptualization of the ‘smallness’ in this region is still a challenging task. Moreover, small parties have a great impact on structure of competition in Eastern Europe as party systems of the region are in many cases much more fragmented than in Western European countries.
The stock markets in Eastern Europe went through a period of rapid growth. Those which joined the EU had to integrate with Western Europe on various levels, which had important implications for their equity price development during the subprime mortgage crisis. The aim of the paper is to analyze the developments in the stock markets of Eastern European countries before and during the subprime crisis and to evaluate the hypothesis of disappearing portfolio diversification opportunities in the region. Through the application of correlation analysis, Markowitz mean variance approach and portfolio optimisation strategy based on the Sharpe ratio, it is shown that diversification opportunities for a US investor in the Eastern European region have largely disappeared.
The administration of George Bush Senior strove to influence the democratic changes in the countries of the disintegrating Eastern bloc in accordance with its own interests connected with building a new system of security created by Washington, based on Euroatlantic structures and the conception of political-economic transformation of the Soviet Union and its satellites. Propagation of democracy, a political conception initiated by Ronald Reagan, employed propaganda, economic and political instruments as well as means within the scope of foreign aid in order to support anti-communist opposition and interfere in processes of system reforms in the Eastern bloc. In the discussed period, a gradual evolution of American policy can be observed, consisting in a separation of policy toward the Soviet Union from relations with its hitherto satellites. This policy of 'democratic differentiation' favored countries with the fastest rate of liberal transformations. Its instrument was foreign aid, provided among others on the basis of the Support for Eastern European Democracy Act (SEED) by agendas of the American administration - Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), National Fund for Democracy (NED) and non-government organizations.
The article presents and interprets within the postcolonial context the specific reversal that takes place in the poet's thoughts on culture in the 30s that lead to a positive qualification of the cultural lack and the critique of the modern culture. Mickiewicz disappointed with it (treating it as a colonization culture and a culture that legalizes the doings of Russia) begins to build a vision of culture based on spiritual and moral values, supported by ressentiment (the climax of this approach is rendered in 'Paris lectures'). Thus a vision of the identity of a Slav and Pole is created by the poet (its inconsistency should be noticed because on the one hand it is a vision of the Other in Europe, and on the other hand, this vision is within the cultural model of Europe). This is another anticolonial motif of Mickiewcz's story about the Slavs: an attempt to reintroduce their literary output to the European historiography. Exposing the Slavic cultural deficiency by Mickiewicz leads to a reversal of the colonial argument - the cultural deficiency is an advantage and not something that should be made up for. The poet transforms the old identity language of I RP into a language of messianism (based on the category of sacrificial suffering) that is an answer to the situation of colonization.
The paper studies the place and role of proper names in the theological written homiletic traditions (Orthodox and Roman Catholic) of Eastern Europe of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Special attention is paid to symbolism and to the connotative, denotative and qualitative usage of anthroponymic names. Literary analysis of the homilies and sermons of St Dimitry Rostovsky, Stefan Jaworski, Tomasz Młodzianowski and Ioanniky Golyatovsky, written in Ukrainian, Russian, Polish and Church Slavonic demonstrates that the proper names in their works represent a special supra-phenomenal semantic space. The name cannot be profaned, desecrated or formed artificially. In their tradition, the name describes the referent that is defined in a supernatural, sacral and metaphysical way. It is found out that spiritual literature of Eastern Europe in the second half of the 17th and early 18th centuries is characterised by the highly mystical understanding of a person’s name, which often transformed into a mythological understanding.
Sociology as an institution emerged in Western Europe in the mid-19th century, aiming at the analysis of societies in the process of industrialization. With the expansion of capitalism and industrialism, it also expanded into other regions of the world. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Poland being an example, was a region of delayed industrialization. It was an area in which rather ethnology than sociology was interested initially. Intellectual milieus of the region were very well educated and cosmopolitan. Many Western European ideas were studied here and attempts to implement them were strong. At the same time, many CEE intellectuals underlined the specific character of the region. As a consequence, within the spectrum of attitudes toward the scholarly analysis of CEE societies, we could distinguish two “ideal-type” options. One of them stressed that it was possible to build academic sociology in and of CEE, based on the rules of universal sociology, developed in the West. Other ideas opted for the building of the CEE sociology, which would be based on the specific historical experiences of the region. For the second option, CEE sociology was to be an alternative to the Western sociology or social sciences in general. The paper concentrates on the Polish case without neglecting other cases. It will discuss both historical and present situation, that emerging since 1989. CEE became much more open as a study area for Western scholars who have done a lot of their own research here in collaboration with their colleagues coming from the region itself. The ways in which this collaboration has been perceived by the “native” scholars is also a topic of analysis.
The subject of the research presented here is the language and content of the definitional terms, categories and concepts relating to museum education in the historiography of the topic. The article is a review that provides an analysis of selected papers on museum education, surveying the categories, terminology and definitions proposed by Polish, Ukrainian and Russian researchers. The study also involved looking at museum websites to review the descriptive terms, concepts and categories used in the sections relating to the museums’ educational activities. Finally, against this background the authors present their own approaches and definitions relating to museum education. The work is partly a result of the experience of the authors’ own common educational practice and investigations. The cultural contexts of museum education are significant and influential in the quality of the services provided in each of the surveyed countries and museums. The generalisations presented are appropriate to the specific contexts of the research reports and educational projects quoted.
The paper investigates the motives for deposit and credit euroization in Eastern Europe employing Bayesian empirical methodology. We analyse an extensive dataset of macroeconomic fundamentals, perception surveys and institutional quality indicators, and deal with the uncertainty in the model by Bayesian model averaging. Apart from traditional fundamental macroeconomic factors, strong institutions are found to be an important driver of both credit and deposit euroization. Business regulation, perception of corruption, quality of political arrangement and trade restrictions impact borrowing and saving behaviour in the euro and should be reflected in designing economic policies in the region.
The collapse of the state-socialist regimes at the end of the 1980s brought out the idea that liberalism and globalization were synonyms of development and well-being in general. The opening-up of the post-socialist economies was a desirable event not only for the liberal world, but also for the countries that wished to belong to a more advanced group of nations. This article discusses the influence of economic globalisation on post-socialist welfare states. Since the issue under discussion is political by nature, the topic of pensions is a good example of how political context has defined the diverse futures of structural reforms in post-socialist countries. Perhaps the most indicative of the tendency to be identified is extensive literature about external pressure that Eastern European countries have been facing since the end of state socialist dictatorships. Most of the times, international organizations, particularly the World Bank, are blamed for imposing a neoliberal reform without taking into consideration the particularities of each country and, above all, the citizens’ interests. In our view, however, this is only one part of the story as there are many other elements that should be considered as well. We will analyse the problem from a historical perspective, which will allow us to divide the analysis into two main periods: the first years after the economic reconversion (1990-2004) and the time after the financial crisis, which started in 2008 and whose effects are still felt today. The Slovak case will be analysed as an example, given that ideological features of the Slovak pension reform document the change of the course from an old state-socialist to a new neoliberal type of welfare state.
The study of credit risk has gained significant importance in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007 – 2008. Estimating the determinants of non-performing loans (NPLs), as an important indicator of credit risk in the banking sector, is essential for financial stability policies. The main goal of this research is to examine the determinants of NPLs in Central and Eastern European countries (CEE). This paper analyses macroeconomic, structural, and bank-specific determinants of NPLs for 17 CEE countries for the period 2006 – 2017 by utilizing panel data and the fixed effects model. Although the literature on NPLs is quite extensive, this is the first empirical research with such a large number of countries from the CEE region using country-level data. The baseline analysis suggests that the unemployment rate, inflation rate, credit growth, crisis, bank concentration, and regulatory quality have a significant impact on NPLs. Unexpectedly, the law enforcement of creditor rights, proxied by various indicators, is not a statistically significant determinant of NPLs. The result of the study contributes to the literature on banking regulation and supervision, especially in the context of the CEE region.
This article explores the development of part-time employment in Central and Eastern Europe compared to Western Europe. The analysis of panel data reveals the role of part-time work determinants on the macro level and their different effects on part-time employment in the two groups of countries. The large set of determinants includes business cycle, labour market institutions and structural factors. The results indicate that part-time employment in the East and the West is influenced by different, mostly structural, factors. In the East, the development of business cycle has a significant adverse effect. Further, rigorous EPL limits the use of part-time contracts by firms in the East while higher trade union density, greater share of temporary jobs and widespread shadow economy all have a positive effect on part-time employment in this region.
The aim of the present paper is an attempt at viewing the European Union’s and Russia’s policies towards Ukraine from the perspective of crises experienced by the country and the whole area of Eastern Europe, as well as regarding the issue of security. Russia – Ukraine war drives EU decision-makers into focusing merely on stabilization of the eastern neighbourhood. On the other hand, Russia destabilises the internal situation in Ukraine and eastern neighbourhood of the EU by supporting Donetsk and Luhansk separatisms. Eastern Europe is a neighbourhood mutually shared by the EU and Russia. As a consequence, the area is vitally important for Russia and, to a lesser degree, significant for the EU. The analysis will encompass the consideration of the following research questions: Will the Ukrainian crisis result in a change of geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe? Will Ukraine become an unstable area, an area experiencing a next “suspended conflict”? Has Russia’s policy towards Ukraine reached its objectives? Is the current EU policy a token of EU decision-makers’ lack of vision as regards the prospective EU-Eastern Partnership countries’ (especially Ukraine) relations?
This paper focuses on volunteering behaviour, as an expression of a participative culture. The authors are interested in the cultural and social determinants of volunteering, both at individual level, but mainly at the aggregate (country) level. We note that the phenomenon has a lower incidence in the ex-communist countries as compared to the occidental democracies, and try to explain the discrepancies through cultural traditions, globalization and the economic background. The authors pay special attention to the relation between volunteering and social capital, in Central and Eastern Europe. They use multi-level regression models and the European/ World Values Survey data collected in 1999 – 2000 to provide evidence on a common post-Communist culture which tends to decrease the individuals propensity to volunteer.
Current publication is devoted to the injection of two same-type glass bowls from Cherniakhiv culture burial ground into the circle of scientific knowledge. Similar glass bowls are came from graves 110 and 211 on Vojtenki 1 burial ground (Eastern Ukraine). During the research, presumable closest analogies to them were found. These analogies are vessels from Weklice, Poland (burial 82) and Danceni, Republic Moldova (burial 169). T. Stawiarska was identified them as a “Weklice” type. Distinctive and peculiar morphological features of each of the bowls indicate that the Weklice type vessels are unlikely to have a common origin. However, despite these differences, similar shape, the same techniques for processing a rim and a similar ornament composition allow us to rank these bowls to type of product. Some researchers have associated “hot decoration” way of glassware production with the provincial-Roman glass working technology. That is why, it could be assumed, that Weklice type glass bowls have provincial-Roman origin. The evolution of the glassware forms in Roman world allows us to establish the time of their production. It is limited to the period between the second third of the 3rd century – the end of 3rd/beginning of 4th centuries. Lower chronological frame corresponds to the time of appearance of such products in Barbaricum, and the upper one to the time of disappearance of glassware with fire-rounded rim in a number of border provinces of the Empire. Nevertheless, the dating of burials 110 and 211 from Vojtenki 1, shows that such products continue to exist in Barbaricum for a rather long time and fall into complexes at least at chronological stage C3. At the Voitenki 1 burial ground, such bowls are found only in high or special social status female graves. Moreover, the same type of vessel appears in burials with different burial rite as a grave good.
Among the countries of the Americas Argentina ranked second, after the United States, in the number of immigrants received from Europe between 1820 and 1932. The majority of the European newcomers came from Italy and Spain, but hundreds of thousands of others arrived from Eastern Europe. Ukrainians were among the largest groups, who came from the eastern part of the European continent. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians came to Argentina in three separate waves: 1897-1914, 1920-39, and 1946-50. Although a fourth wave of immigration from Ukraine took place after independence was gained in 1991, this essay focuses on the first three waves of 1897-1950. During the course of those approximately five decades, the settlers came with Austro-Hungarian, Russian, Polish, Romanian, and Czechoslovakian passports. They also entered Argentina with other documents (e.g. Nansen passports), though much less frequently. Most of the immigrants came from the Second Polish Republic (from the regions of Galicia and Volhynia) in 1920-39. The majority of the Ukrainian immigrants were of rural background and many of them settled as farmers, especially in the northern border regions of Argentina. Others worked in meatpacking plants and in other industries. Immigration after World War II concerned more people with tertiary education. This essay provides an overview of the characteristics of each of the first three waves of immigration, and discusses the organizations created in Argentina by the immigrants.
Literacy in medieval Christian Europe was characterised by Latin-Greek linguistic and cultural differences. Everywhere the vulgar tongue differed from the written language. In the territories where neo-Latin languages were spoken, elements from the vulgar Latin also appeared in written texts with increasing frequency. In Central Europe local variants of Latin formed, but was infiltrated by elements of the spoken language. We encounter few linguistic relics written in the vulgar tongue, but only a part of these are translations. From the beginning we find translation literature in the regions of the Orthodox Christian world, where the early practice of triglossia was superseded by the raising of Slavic into liturgical use. This was followed by translation of Greek liturgical texts and later of chronicles. In Central Europe the language of science remained Latin for many centuries. From the sixteenth century translation can also be observed on the borders of Latin and Orthodox Christianity.
The essay aims to examine the works of art of Central and Eastern European literatures that can be connected by the notion of grotesque. On the basis of their common semantic and morphologic characteristics these pieces of art are interpreted as a distinct literary trend. According to the author, the special role of literary grotesque results from the staggering psychological conditions that have been expressed by the structural unity of the tragic and comic elements with standing value. On the basis of the different semantic formations (points of junction), the author distinguishes seven types of grotesque that partly or completely cover the writings of the Polish Tadeusz Różewicz, Sławomir Mrożek, the Czech Václav Havel, Milan Kundera, Josef Škvorecký, Bohumil Hrabal, Vladimir Páral and the Hungarian István Örkény.
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