The article sets out to explore the process of political centralization that Romania initiated in Dobrogea, a historical province by the Black Sea. In contrast to other approaches of the state ...building process that Romania coordinated in Dobrogea, our article employs the radial state perspective. This view lays emphasis on the security motives behind the political centralization process. The article examines the development of railway infrastructure in Dobrogea and reveals that the security reasons that fostered the building of railway infrastructure were preeminent in comparison to the economic ones. The article uses a refined version of Tilly’s well-known bellicist theory of state building. This perspective argues that not only the practice of waging war but also the threat of war may foster the development of infrastructural capacity. Thus, the article explores the way that Romania’s strategic rivalry with revisionist states by the Black Sea influenced the building of railway infrastructure in Dobrogea. A secondary objective of the article is to explain practices through which Romania has secured the railway infrastructure that provides access to the Black Sea.
David McCrone pointed that the odds for the emergence of a European identity were quite feeble ten years ago. He claimed that surfacing a European identity needed at least three conditions, namely a ...pivotal nation to organize the European culture around its particular culture, a well-defined otherness, and a clear-cut political model. The author argue that, among the three conditions deemed necessary for the emergence of a European identity by McCrone, only the last one, that is, the political model of the European Union, still needs to be clarified. The other two have already been fulfilled. Nowadays, Germany seems to be the pivotal nation around which the European Union revolves politically and economically, whilst clear-cut Internal and External Significant Others of the European Union have already been forged. This article is a foray into the political mechanisms of creating the Internal and External Significant Others of the European Union. Adapted from the source document.
Initially, the theoretical foundation of the International Monetary Fund was inspired by the economic vision of John Maynard Keynes, who argued that the state may resuscitate economic life when it ...undergoes a downturn. If the state proved unable to restart its national economy, the International Monetary Fund would intervene, and it would not only grant loans meant to revive the economy, but also recommend infrastructure investments, the decrease of interest rates in order to resume crediting and the reduction of taxes in order to decrease the pressure on the private sector in a quasi-immovable economy. In the 1980s, Keynesian ideas were withdrawn from the theoretical foundation of the International Monetary Fund and replaced by the neo-liberal vision. According to the new economic philosophy, the International Monetary Fund would grant loans only if the states in need reduced their budget deficits, increased taxes and interest rates. In other words, instead of boosting economic activity the new IMF practices were restricting it even more. In the rest of the work we will present, using the social constructivism paradigm and the strategic identity concept, the social consequences of neo-liberal ideas in Russia, China and Romania. The shock doctrine is the state of social disorder imposed from outside, as a result of the political gap between the states of the world. Adapted from the source document.
David McCrone pointed that the odds for the emergence of a European identity were quite feeble ten years ago. He claimed that surfacing a European identity needed at least three conditions, namely a ...pivotal nation to organize the European culture around its particular culture, a well-defined otherness, and a clear-cut political model. The author argue that, among the three conditions deemed necessary for the emergence of a European identity by McCrone, only the last one, that is, the political model of the European Union, still needs to be clarified. The other two have already been fulfilled. Nowadays, Germany seems to be the pivotal nation around which the European Union revolves politically and economically, whilst clear-cut Internal and External Significant Others of the European Union have already been forged. This article is a foray into the political mechanisms of creating the Internal and External Significant Others of the European Union.
Mainstream parties in Europe (especially the Western part of Europe that is currently dealing with an increased migration flux in comparison with the rest of the European countries) seem to have ...intensified their concern with immigration in the last two decades (even more so since the 2008 financial crisis). Right-wing parties are the most radical in their anti-immigration discourse, and public displays of such argumentations reflect not only shifts in the public’s political sympathies post-crisis, but may also reflect shifts in the (still) dominant paradigm of multiculturalism. This paper analyses some examples from various right-wing discourses (Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, to name a few) and from political discourses on the nature and future of multiculturalism in order to understand the way political actors rationalize such positions. This analysis can help further understand not only how the rhetorics of political justifications and rationalizations work, but also to sketch some plausible future dynamics of migration in European context (the main target of the paper being the discourses towards Eastern-European immigrants) and the possible shifts in multiculturalism as well.
The article stresses the strong similarity between integral perspectives illustrated by interwar geopolitics and the sociological system conceived by Dimitrie Gusti. And it argues that Gusti's ...sociological system was imbued with romantic benchmarks, which also strongly influenced interwar geopolitics. Gusti was not a specialist in geopolitics. But his sociological system strongly influenced the geopolitical perspectives of Anton Golopenpa, the most important geopolitician within the Sociological School of Bucharest. The article dwells on the factors that made Gusti think in a geopolitical manner. University milieu in Germany, specific ideas and the weakness of the interwar Romanian state are just some of them. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
The post-Soviet history of Republic of Moldova is tantamount to the history of Chisinau. With almost 800 600 inhabitants, that is 22% of the total population of the Republic of Moldova, the city of ...Chisinau stands out not only as the major urban contributor to Republic of Moldova's economy (almost 60 percent of the GDP), but also as the site of the most intense symbolic clashes and protest marches, the latter being organized by both political parties and retired people, war veterans, public clerks, journalists, students etc. Starting with the "Twitter Revolution" (Apr 7-9, 2009) one could easily notice that the "identity battle" has reached a new level: from a collective and public level, coordinated by the state, to an individual level. The authors have argue that, once the parades are over, fanfare silences, and public celebrations come to an end the graffiti message still keeps on the public agenda the following identity dilemma: "Who are we"?
The post-Soviet history of Republic of Moldova is tantamount to the history of Chisinau. With almost 800 600 inhabitants, that is 22% of the total population of the Republic of Moldova, the city of ...Chisinau stands out not only as the major urban contributor to Republic of Moldova's economy (almost 60 percent of the GDP), but also as the site of the most intense symbolic clashes and protest marches, the latter being organized by both political parties and retired people, war veterans, public clerks, journalists, students etc. Starting with the 'Twitter Revolution' (Apr 7-9, 2009) one could easily notice that the 'identity battle' has reached a new level: from a collective and public level, coordinated by the state, to an individual level. The authors have argue that, once the parades are over, fanfare silences, and public celebrations come to an end the graffiti message still keeps on the public agenda the following identity dilemma: 'Who are we'? Adapted from the source document.
In the interwar period, Dimitrie Gusti, the founder of The Sociological School of Bucharest, along with other remarkable Romanian intelectuals, came to the conclusion that Romania's social, economic, ...spiritual and political development was to be substantially influenced by the way peasantry's problem was to be taken care of In thinking so, Gusti has initiated the monographic campaigns which were to examine the Romanian village's specific problems from a scientific point of view. Based on Gusti's sociological system, the monographic teams revealed a traditional life shaped by a philosophy that had been the guiding thread of a millenary culture and civilization, namely the peasant one. Gusti put his indelible mark, i.e. sociologia militans and sociologia cogitans, on the reformation project of interwar Romania. This article discusses the meaning of sociologia cogitans and sociologia militans. It also presents some difficulties that Gusti's sociologia militans had to overcome by highlighting the pre-modern social background of interwar Romania. Dimitrie Gusti was one of the most important experts involved in the interwar nation-building process. By presenting his educational background and the way he was influenced by the most prominent trends in the Romanian modern culture, the article highlights the modernization vision employed by Dimitrie Gusti throughout his career. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
In the interwar period, Dimitrie Gusti, the founder of The Sociological School of Bucharest, along with other remarkable Romanian intelectuals, came to the conclusion that Romania's social, economic, ...spiritual and political development was to be substantially influenced by the way peasantry's problem was to be taken care of In thinking so, Gusti has initiated the monographic campaigns which were to examine the Romanian village's specific problems from a scientific point of view. Based on Gusti's sociological system, the monographic teams revealed a traditional life shaped by a philosophy that had been the guiding thread of a millenary culture and civilization, namely the peasant one. Gusti put his indelible mark, i.e. sociologia militans and sociologia cogitans, on the reformation project of interwar Romania. This article discusses the meaning of sociologia cogitans and sociologia militans. It also presents some difficulties that Gusti's sociologia militans had to overcome by highlighting the pre-modern social background of interwar Romania. Dimitrie Gusti was one of the most important experts involved in the interwar nation-building process. By presenting his educational background and the way he was influenced by the most prominent trends in the Romanian modern culture, the article highlights the modernization vision employed by Dimitrie Gusti throughout his career.
