Throughout its historic development, the stress put in international law on the protection of national minorities has been stronger or weaker depending upon the momentary interest of states. In (general) international law, the term 'national minority' has not yet been legally defined. Such a definition has been formulated only for Europe. This article explores these historical developments and attempts to explain the current differences in the definition in various tribunals and jurisdictions. In this context it also compares the systems of protection of national minorities at the international and European level.
This paper is an attempt to reconstruct the form of existence of linguistic nationalism in Hungary in the period of the Dual Monarchy, to trace the main ingredients of that linguistic ideology. The author's aim is not to explore and contrast the various prominent and less prominent individual views of the period but rather to reconstruct a general, collective system of ideas and values that underlies their apparent multiplicity and that is more or less constant throughout the period at hand. As a result of that reconstruction, partial and non-definitive as it might be, a rather abstract and complex system of views emerges; but one has to observe that the abstract system of views at issue had important practical consequences with respect to the everyday linguistic behaviour of the communities carrying it and especially those forced to be confronted with it. Quite a few specific forms of linguistic behaviour of the period (such as the practice of language cultivation, the language shift of linguistic minorities of Hungary, changes in the use and functions of languages and language varieties spoken in Hungary, changes in the system of those languages and varieties, etc.) can eventually be explained in the light of that linguistic ideology.
Legal regulation of the position of minorities has had a long and complex tradition in the Czech lands. In 1938, so-called minority status was under preparation; it represented a systematic legal regulation of the position of ethnic and language minorities. After World War II, the rights of minorities were generally refused and no regulation in this respect existed. The political relief of 1968 brought in a new situation. A special commission was established to work on the federalization of the state and on the regulation of the rights of minorities. Both constitutional acts were passed on 27th October 1968, symbolically meeting the 50th anniversary of the Republic.
The author deals with different applications of personal cultural autonomy. Taking Estonia as a main model application, the autor compares inter-war conditions with the situation after restauration of the independence in 1991. He analyses conditions for realisation of territorial and personal autonomy. The principle of the personal cultural autonomy can be used in the case of small dispersed national minorities but cannot satisfy nations or big national minorities living on a compact area. The conception of austromarxists O. Bauer and K. Renner inspired Estonian progressive solution of the minority question in 1925. The law on personal cultural autonomy was renewed in 1993 but, on contrary to the interwar situation, it did not satisfy and stabilize minority question because of the opposition of Russian minority, which rejected to accept it because of changed situation as the question of citizenship became a main problem for ethnic stability.
This article discusses the problem of ethnic and national identity of different social groups. Taking as an example the village of Stircea, inhabited mainly by Poles, the authoress analyzes different factors engaged in the survival of Polish identity among the villagers. At the beginning we have a brief description of the village and its history. Then she reviews various concepts of a nation, mainly based on Anthony D. Smith's approach. She uses his theory to show the difference between 'national' and 'ethnic' minorities (so called ethnie), and argues that the concept of ethnic minority or local community fits particular case better than the general idea of national minority. Language, religion, tradition and the perception of history and their influence on the survival of Polish identity are being discussed as well as the fact that this group forms a compact local community.
This study aims to.draw attention to national minorities as a distinct group from immigrants. Additionally, it attempts. to introduce a global perspective on national minorities, with specific reference to Hungarians in Central Europe. There are no sociological theories addressing the issue of national minorities in the area of education; it is argued here that theories relating.to immigrants might be a useful starting point. For example, Ogbu's distinction' between 'voluntary' and 'involuntary' minorities is applicable to the distinction between immigrants and national minorities. Using empirical evidence, from a nationally representative survey carried out in the Carpathian-basin, I find little support for Ogbu's thesis. Analysis of the data indicates significant variation between the autochthonous minorities examined in the study which questions whether it is appropriate to generalize on the basis of voluntarity alone. Additionally, empirical analysis specifically on Hungarians does not support Ogbu's thesis. The Hungarian national minority as an involuntary group is not significantly disadvantaged with respect to educational attainment (with the exception of Slovakia). On the contrary, they seem to catch up with the majority, i.e. the gap between majority and minority appears to be narrowing.
This contribution focuses on the problems of ethnic identity and assimilation processes in minority background, and concentrates on the problems of Slovak minorities. The author. presents the classification of assimilation factors, which he designed on basis of the theoretical aspects of ethnicity. These assimilation factors have a vast influence on members of a minority in minority communities. This approach is guided results of the author's field research and review of relevant literature, especially in the areas of the Republic of Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Croatia. The paper contains new information that can contribute to the theory of assimilation processes. The research of these issues and the outlined factors of ethnic assimilation and their contexts certainly cannot be considered as definitive.
Starting from 2009 our journal will be published under a new title 'Studia Migracyjne - Przeglad Polonijny (Migration Studies - Review of Polish Diaspora). The new name opens a new chapter in the history of the quarterly which dates back to 1975. Taking into account the increasing complexity and importance of international mobility in Europe and worldwide and responding to the growing interest in migration studies, the journal shifts its interest towards contemporary aspects of migration. The first issue with a 'new face' focuses on theoretical perspectives in migration studies. At the same time, the quarterly will continue to cover the history of Polish migrations and cultural changes of Polish immigrant communities abroad. According to the long tradition of the 'Przeglad Polonijny', these processes will be analyzed in the context of international migrations, globalization, and increasing cultural diversity of the contemporary societies. The editorial board calls for texts which illuminate mechanisms and patterns of migrations nowadays. Both theoretical and empirical studies are welcome. Submitted works do not have to address examples relating to Poland. On the contrary, we are interested in the cross-national comparative perspective. Along with the synchronic approach, we encourage the diachronic one. The journal is supported by the Polish Academy of Sciences, and its Committee for Migration Studies and Polish Diaspora (former Committee for Polonia Studies).
Te problem of minorities in the social sciences and humanities appears relatively late, only afer the Second World War. In common literature I do not fnd to this day historical or monographic work devoted to minorities, although there are many fragmentary works treating this problem selectively. Ten suddenly, when it became clear that the declarations of human rights and civil rights (“French” of 1789) and the common of 1948 failed to notice the diversity of multi-faith society, including multicultural, and society itself as a conglomerate of diferent styles of life, at the end of various sexual orientations … the minority issue appeared with an unexpected power as a signum temporis of the postmodern era. It appeared, but it still fails to explain how to separate minoriies, which are separated in every society diferently. Te purpose of this article is the initial attempt to answer this question in the historical and contemporary context.
The authors deal with the relationship between Hungarians living in Hungary and their minorities in the neighbouring countries, mainly in connection to disputes about the Hungarian national and supporting policy in the 1990s. The elaboration of the part of the new strategy of national consciousness and national politics pertaining to foreign affairs initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs forms the background of their argument. The study clarifies the characteristics of the Hungarian national consciousness, outlines the changes in Hungarian national politics and the policy towards Hungarians over the last years.
Among the handful of early-twentieth century Western analysts of Eastern European problems, the Scottish contemporary historian R.W. Seton-Watson was by no means the least important. His work “Racial Problems in Hungary“ from 1908 was a remarkable attempt to analyse the historical evolution of the Slovak-Magyar (ethnic Hungarian) relationship and the contemporary realities of multinational Hungary, in which the non-Magyar nationalities were subjected to a relentless policy of Magyarisation and national oppression. During the First World War Seton-Watson exerted his influence in Britain to help the revolutionary Czecho-Slovak leadership to proclaim a Czecho-Slovak state after the defeat of the Central Powers. At the end of 1918 this state was founded, but a serious problem emerging at the outset was the presence of large German and Magyar minorities in its territory. In the Slovak part of the new state the Magyar minority made up some twenty percent of the population, and the question was what kind of policies the Czechoslovak government was going to implement with regard to the Hungarians and the promises of cultural autonomy. This also included social issues, in particular the question of land reform of which both Slovak and Magyar peasants should benefit. In 1923 Seton-Watson made his first visit to Slovakia after the War and the successful national revolution of 1918, visiting several locations in the country and presenting his findings in “The New Slovakia“, published the following year. It is evident that Seton-Watson found it difficult to evaluate the new situation in a straigthforward or consistent way. He sympathised with the new Czechoslovak state, but he also expressed some criticism with regard to certain Czechoslovak or Slovak policies on the Magyar minority. It would seem that the complexity of Seton-Watson´s views can be seen as an example of the bewilderment of Western commentators when it comes to trying to understand the complexities and dilemmas involved in the national problems of Central and Eastern Europe.
According to the 2011 census, approximately 12% of the population of Slovakia declared their belonging to national minorities. Government funding has been available to organizations engaged in minority cultural activities since 1998, and since then it has become the most important income source for minority organizations. The aim of the paper is twofold. It analyses the system itself which encompasses the changes and continuities in the funding system in terms of rules, priorities, and the budget, but also the changes in the activity of the organizations, the distribution of project proposals by project type, and the type and nationality of the applicant. Besides this, the data provided by the donors are utilized for the sake of the analysis of the composition and structure of minority institutional systems in Slovakia. The analysis is based on documents and data published by the donors on the internet. The analysis of the internal structure and inequalities within institutional systems showed, that the smaller minorities, in fact, tend to rely on an even more limited number of hierarchically structured organizations that try to cover as wide a range of activities as possible and receive the dominant share of the funding allocated to the respective minorities.
The author, starting from the general situation of minorities and problems involved in the application of minority rights, demonstrates the situation of minority politics in Hungary, which basically focuses on the 'Roma situation'. The author goes into details about how the Hungarian Armed Forces takes its share in the tasks of improving the situation of the 'Roma' minority groups and improving their social integration.
The paper deals with the phenomenon of national cuisine and traditional food in the perception of Slovaks living abroad. Through a key study in selected localities in Canada, it follows the dishes referred to as „typical Slovak,“ their preferences, methods of preparation and presentation. As it turns out, the processes of perception of national cuisine or dishes labelled as typically Slovak in the environment of Slovaks abroad often have an emotional charge rather than rational justifications. In general, it could be said that the perception of the so-called national cuisine is a metaphor conditioned by individual experiences, patterns or family and historical experiences rather than a precisely identifiable reality, and they are closely correlated with the formation or maintenance of the national consciousness of individuals abroad.
The development and associated life conditions of members of national minorities in Slovakia is influenced by several factors. This article’s hypothesis is that one of the significant factors determining the quality of life of national minorities is the degree to which minorities follow media output focussed on them. This article interprets the scale of minorities’ engagement with selected media categories (in print, radio and television) using questionnaire collection data in the APVV project. Additionally, the aim of this contribution is to monitor the development of the culture of national minorities in the media sphere through comparing the current research results with the research of the previous project from 2004. Due to the national heterogeneity of Slovakia, an important step by Slovak governmental organizations has been the monitoring and subsequent support and further development of nationality cultural activities. Besides a number of organizations, associations, theatres, museums, associations, civic groups and national minorities groups which organize many cultural activities, the minority culture is also supported by regular radio and television broadcasts on Slovak Radio and Television stations (RTVS) – which was established as public, national, information, cultural and educational institution. The analysis of the results of the questionnaire from the current APVV project confirmed the statistical significance of the minority factor both in relation to the minority press as well as in relation to the minority broadcasting of RTVS on both the radio and television. In summary, the relationship between the rates of following of the minority press and broadcasting by the relevant minority is interrelated with the life and development of the national minority itself; and, correspondingly, this directly affects the rate of minority broadcasting.
The main object of analysis in the presented study is the process of self-identification of both the Slovak majority nation and the Hungarian minority nation within the newly established Slovak Republic. The issue of identity is examined in the context of the transition process after 1989 with an emphasis on its historical bearings. The author focuses on the typology of fundamental milestones which, within the self-identification process, have effected a gradual change in the behaviour and activities and moves made by its main political actors. The author has been particularly interested in their views on the nature of their coexistence – on the transition from the particular, i.e., ethnic attitudes towards the civil perception of social and political reality. The research framework is constituted by the concept of „Geschichtsbewältigung“, or dealing with the past. Following a 25-year lapse from these revolutionary events, social sciences still continue to strive for their objective interpretation. The author has attempted to capture the complex process of transformation of society and its impact on international politics and bilateral relations within the said concept of dealing with the past. In this sense, the argument seeks to reflect on the fact that, over the course of the twentieth century, the nature of the research problem had gradually evolved according to the scientific discourse spanning various scientific and political circles or points of view and, above all, in accordance with the increasing depth of knowledge and elaboration of the substance of the matter at hand.
The American Embassy in Prague closely monitored the political development in Czechoslovakia as of the late 1920s and in its reports analyzed the main hot issues. Apart from the aggravated international political situation in the region, the economic depression and the growth of autonomist trends in Slovakia the American diplomats saw the ethnic problems as the most important ones, particularly the relations between Czechs and Germans and the Czechoslovak-Hungarian problem. The attitude of the German speaking population to the Czechoslovak Republic and to the luring by Nazi Germany was considered by the State Department as of 1934 as 'a problem of utmost importance for the current and future development in the Central European region'. The Americans were particularly interested in the personal features and political views of the leader of the Sudeten German Party, Konrad Henlein, and they considered the rejection of Nazi and separatist requirements by the German minority as a necessary precondition of preserving the integrity of the Czechoslovak State; this, however, failed to happen. Reports sent by U.S. charge d'affaires a. i. J. Webb Benton and later by Ambassador Wilbur Carr informed in detail about the events leading to the Czechoslovak crisis in 1938. As the information submitted by American diplomats was based on interviews with Czechoslovak politicians (particularly with Tomas Garrigue Masaryk and Edvard Benes) as well as with members of the German minority coming from 'all its layers', and also on their visits to the border areas, it provides an analytical view 'from outside'. This source, however, has failed so far to be used for research into this problem.
The aim of this study is an empirical analysis of the construction of ethnic identity of Slovaks living in Hungary and Hungarians living in Slovakia. As a consequence of historical and political changes, these two communities assumed a minority status, while their national countries (mother countries) remained the neighbouring countries. On the basis of research conducted in Hungary and Slovakia, the authoress analyses both minorities from the point of view of the ethnic construction and its possible development. On the basis of ethnic characteristics of Slovaks living in Hungary and Hungarians living in Slovakia (in the extent of the chosen analysis) presented here she can state that the ethnic identity construction of the examined minorities differs from each other. It is evident that they have different ethnic self-identity due to the subjective and objective factors which, after all, influence the maintenance and the future construction of ethnic identity. In spite of the already mentioned difference, the findings of this research show that the ethnic construction of the two minorities has one common characteristic: both minorities consider the maintaining and development of the ethnic identity as the most important, mainly through the strengthening of the mother language. They are aware that the mother language is the most important element of ethnic construction, regardless of the position of their community in existing society.
One of the most vital questions that needed to be answered concerning national minorities in Yugoslavia after the First World War, or rather after the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, was the question regarding the usage of their native language. In this study I will dedicate myself to discussing the government´s academic, school or rather educational politics towards minorities in the period between the two world wars. I will be focused on discussing the specific administrative and legal regulations regarding the representative minorities in Vojvodina and the whole of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes respectively. Opportunities regarding education in Vojvodina were diverse and there was no real consistency when it comes educational politics. The state finally revoked the 37 different provincial laws and regulations and put in place unanimous school regulations for the entire state in 1929 with the goal of unifying all social, political and public aspects of the Yugoslavian national basis. This study will exemplify how the state acted towards minority groups after establishing a new state and will illustrate the most important laws and law proposals regarding the use of their native language.
The article provides an overview of the main topics and areas of biographical and oral history research in Lithuania starting from the 1990s. The overview covers studies that analyze oral or written autobiographical narratives or deal with personal experiences of historical events. A brief summary is also given of the institutional activities in collecting biographical information and establishing archives in Lithuania. The issues and areas of biographical research in Lithuania confirm that while analyzing individual biographies of the people of Lithuania it is difficult to avoid the historical dimension, which reflects the relation of an individual with the historical factors and changes (especially, the Soviet and German occupations and the post-Socialist coup). The individual and the collective need to cope with the socio-political breaks and changing regimes have to a considerable degree determined both: the generation and collection of narratives of personal reminiscences as well as the biographical and oral history research.
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