This book is a tribute to the memory of Victor Zaslavsky (1937–2009), sociologist, émigré from the Soviet Union, Canadian citizen, public intellectual, and keen observer of Eastern Europe.In ...seventeen essays leading European, American and Russian scholars discuss the theory and the history of totalitarian society with a comparative approach. They revisit and reassess what Zaslavsky considered the most important project in the latter part of his life: the analysis of Eastern European - especially Soviet societies and their difficult “transition” after the fall of communism in 1989–91. The variety of the contributions reflects the diversity of specialists in the volume, but also reveals Zaslavsky’s gift: he surrounded himself with talented people from many different fields and disciplines.In line with Zaslavsky´s work and scholarly method, the book promotes new theoretical and methodological approaches to the concept of totalitarianism for understanding Soviet and East European societies, and the study of fascist and communist regimes in general.
Christopher Dunn's history of authoritarian Brazil exposes the inventive cultural production and intense social transformations that emerged during the rule of an iron-fisted military regime during ...the sixties and seventies. The Braziliancontraculturawas a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that developed alongside the ascent of hardline forces within the regime in the late 1960s. Focusing on urban, middle-class Brazilians often inspired by the international counterculture that flourished in the United States and parts of western Europe, Dunn shows how new understandings of race, gender, sexuality, and citizenship erupted under even the most oppressive political conditions.Dunn reveals previously ignored connections between the counterculture and Brazilian music, literature, film, visual arts, and alternative journalism. In chroniclingdesbunde, the Brazilian hippie movement, he shows how the state of Bahia, renowned for its Afro-Brazilian culture, emerged as a countercultural mecca for youth in search of spiritual alternatives. As this critical and expansive book demonstrates, many of the country's social and justice movements have their origins in the countercultural attitudes, practices, and sensibilities that flourished during the military dictatorship.
Predmet ovog rada su ključni problemi u rusko-ukrajinskim odnosima. Rusija veći dio Ukrajine smatra dijelom vlastitog teritorija, a Ruse i Ukrajince jednim narodom zbog toga što dijele dugu ...zajedničku povijest. Fokus rada je na dinamici zbivanja u Ukrajini u kontekstu rusko-ukrajinskih odnosa, uz analizu unutarnjih zbivanja u obje zemlje. Identificiran je niz povijesnih i aktualnih kriza koje se medusobno presijecaju, od kojih svaka pogoršava stanje. U radu su detektirani ključni problemi u složenim odnosima Ukrajine i Rusije, neophodni za razumijevanje aktualnog odnosa i budućnosti dviju zemalja. Rusija i Ukrajina su stoljećima gospodarski, socijalno i politički povezane. Ukrajina je nakon raspada SSSR-a prozapadno orijentirana, teži približavanju Europskoj uniji i NATO-u, no Rusija to smatra diskretnom prijetnjom, što 2014. dovodi do zaoštravanja odnosa i sukoba. Stoga se zaključuje je da približavanje Ukrajine euroatlantskim integracijama, a posebno NATO-u, dovelo do eskalacije u odnosima dviju zemalja i ruske invazije.
There is a need to define the term intimocide in order to problematize other dimensions, besides those of genocide and ethnocide, of violence inflicted on human beings. As an excessive constraint on ...the most intimate area of citizens’ lives, intimocide is a step in extending the domain of death, it targets the last bulwark of the meaning of existence, destroying it in its depths. It is a political phenomenon, linked to the government of a society and to the aspirations that this government expresses towards the individual. It is also a strategy of total domination. At the crossroads of semiotic and anthropological approaches, our study aims to differentiate intimocide from neighboring terms, while demonstrating its aspects, found in the literature as well as in our own participatory observation of the totalitarian communist regime and the post-communist regime.
Venezuela has suffered for more than twenty years from a totalitarian regime determined to systematically demolish all orders of national life. Beyond the material and institutional devastation, the ...true core of the destruction is of a spiritual order: the regime has corroded the national ethos. The task of recovering the soul of the nation is more urgent and arduous than the immense work of material and institutional reconstruction.
This article represents an exegetical analysis of Bogdan Crețu’s novel, „Mai puțin decât dragostea”, highlights in particular the main markers of the condition of the individual both in totalitarian ...and post-totalitarian society. In addition, it brings to light psychological or existential issues that shapes the destinies of the characters and how their actions fit into certain behavioral paradigms, allow us to examine some segments of our recent history, artistically represents in a remarkable manner. We could observe both social dilemmas and traumas inherited from the totalitarian period, as well as the main factors that triggered certain utopian tendencies. Therefore, the right to self-determination is a fundamental fact, and this virtue shapes the identity and moral axis of Bogdan Crețu’s characters. Through this applied analysis of the novel „Mai puțin decât dragostea”, we highlighted not only its literary-artistic value, but also the way it can be perceived.
The Dynamics of Right-Wing Extremism within German Society explores the prevalence of right-wing extremist attitudes in Germany. The book provides a thorough psychosocial and sociological theory of ...general authoritarian dynamics to explain broader societal attitudes, particularly focusing on right-wing extremism. It provides a uniquely long-term perspective on the different dimensions of right-wing extremism—the affinity for dictatorial forms of government, chauvinist attitudes, the trivialisation or justification of National Socialism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and social Darwinism. The first chapter delineates the theoretical framework of authoritarian dynamics, while subsequent chapters provide an in-depth analysis of empirical findings and distinguish authoritarian and democratic typologies. The authors focus on recognition of authoritarian statehood and anti-Semitism; the relationship between religion and right-wing extremism; and support for the radical-right populist party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). The innovative theoretical approach of this book scrutinizes the theory of authoritarianism in the contemporary world. This book provides unique empirical data and will be of interest to scholars of German politics, anti-democratic attitudes and prejudices, sociology, political science, and social psychology.
