scholarly journals Imprints of the Neolithic mind – clay stamps from the Republic of Macedonia

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 185-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goce Naumov

The presence and unusual structure of clay stamps found in Neolithic settlements often give rise to multiple interpretations to define their character. The small dimensions and specific shape of the stamps suggests that these portable objects were important in the social relations and visual communication between members within the same community and, possibly, more distant communities. The definite patterns distinguishe their function in maintaining the visual traditions of the populations inhabiting southeastern Europe. They had an important role in building the Neolithic image modularity, so that they fitted into the comprehensive decorative structure of Neolithic iconography, and the patterns present on the stamps are related to several aspects of Neolithic material culture from the Balkans and Anatolia. This homogeneity of patterns indicates that they were actively included in the transposition of cognition into visual metaphors.

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-71
Author(s):  
Jennifer R. Cash

Research on godparenthood has traditionally emphasized its stabilizing effect on social structure. This article, however, focuses attention on how the practices and discourses associated with marital sponsorship in the Republic of Moldova ascribe value to the risks and uncertainties of social life. Moldova has experienced substantial economic, social, and political upheaval during the past two decades of postsocialism, following a longer period of Soviet-era modernization, secularization, and rural–urban migration. In this context, godparenthood has not contributed to the long-term stability of class structure or social relations, but people continue to seek honor and social respect by taking the social and economic risks involved in sponsoring new marriages.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel T. Shelton

Accounts of crisis in Europe have proliferated since late 2009. This article investigates the relationship between the diagnosis of crisis and the cohesion and enlargement of the ‘European project’ in the context of Southeastern Europe. The article adopts Michel Foucault's understanding of diagnosis as a strategic activity of language in order to re-construct the diagnostic discourse in relation to ongoing events in Greece and the Republic of Macedonia. Diagnostic practice produces accounts of crisis that are clinical, moralising, and prescriptive, affixing meanings to complex and overdetermined events in order that they can be acted upon. Diagnoses of the crises in Greece and Macedonia converge in their identification of political and cultural features of the national political economy in need of expert correction. The diagnosis of crisis emerges as an essential feature of European Union governmentality, which functions to delimit the bounds of political contestation in times of uncertainty and upheaval in favor of technocratic interventions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Ljupcho Petkukjeski ◽  
Marjan Bojadziev ◽  
Marko Andonov ◽  
Zoran Mihajloski

Social dialogue is one of the forms of participation of employees in matters referring to the field of labor or on matters of mutual interest for economic and social policy. Employees in the process of the social dialogue are represented through their union. Social dialogue is a form of communication involving social partners (unions and employers/ employer bodies) intended to affect the contracts and the development of labor issues. This context includes issues relating to participation in various types of negotiations, consultations, exchange of information between representatives of governments, employers and employees on issues of common interest and related to the economic and social policy. Social dialogue is also one of the forms through which employees can participate in decision-making, information and operations of the companies. The main aim of this paper is to clarify the social dialogue as one of the forms of participation of employees in decision making and managing with the companies, and to provide the legal basis for the practical realization.


2015 ◽  
pp. 115-124
Author(s):  
Victor Friedman

The Balkan Sprachbund in the Republic of Macedonia Today: “Eurology” as Discontinuity and Dialectology as ContinuityIn the article, I attempt to uphold the thesis about the continuity of the processes which gave rise to the phenomenon of the Balkan linguistic league. I argue that these processes are very much alive in today’s Republic of Macedonia and in other Balkan states. I develop my thesis drawing on examples from modern languages: Macedonian, Albanian, Aromanian, and Romani in its urban variation spoken in modern Republic of Macedonia. However, while in all other Balkan states the classic Balkan multilingualism is present as a distinctive feature on the local level, in Macedonia it is manifest both on the local level and in the cities. I thus point out the need for dialectological research in urban and multilingual rural sites so as to overcome the limitations of classic dialectology, with its historic-nationalist, monolingual focus. Only the former type of research allows for the study of language contact as the source of language change. Finally, I emphasise the fact that the Balkan Sprachbund assumed its present form in a period when what became the core of the EU was divided into dozens of mini-states, while in the Ottoman state, as Olivera Jašar-Nasteva said, you could travel the whole territory of the Empire with one document (teskere). This means that the idea of creating a unified linguistic alliance with the centre constituted by the “old” EU member states and the Balkans as its periphery is a product of contemporary political situation, not of the historical context which enabled the emergence of the Balkan Sprachbund.Bałkańska liga językowa w Republice Macedonii dziś: „eurologia” jako nieciągłość i dialektologia jako ciągłośćW niniejszym artykule staram się podtrzymać tezę o ciągłości funkcjonowania procesów, które wykreowały fenomen bałkańskiej ligi językowej i ich żywotności na terytorium dzisiejszej Republiki Macedonii, a także na obszarze pozostałych bałkańskich państw. Tezę tę dokumentuję poprzez przykłady zaczerpnięte ze współczesnych języków, macedońskiego, albańskiego, arumuńskiego i romskiego w miejskim wariancie na terytorium dzisiejszej Republiki Macedonii. O ile jednak klasyczna bałkańska wielojęzyczność jest obecna jako cecha dystynktywna we wszystkich państwach bałkańskich na poziomie lokalnym, to w Macedonii jest to cecha występująca zarówno na poziomie lokalności, jak i w miastach. W związku z tym, w artykule wskazuję na potrzebę badań dialektologicznych w miastach i wielojęzycznych wsiach, a nie tylko na poziomie klasycznej dialektologii z jej narodowo-historycznym i jednojęzycznym ukierunkowaniem, jako że tylko w tych pierwszych można zbadać źródłowe rezultaty kontaktu językowego. Wreszcie podkreślam fakt, że bałkańska liga językowa swój dzisiejszy obraz osiągnęła w czasie, kiedy Zachód, zwłaszcza zaś obszar jądra dzisiejszej Unii Europejskiej, był podzielony na osobne jednostki polityczne, tymczasem po terytorium Imperium Osmanów podróżowało się, jak podkreśla Oliviera Jašar-Nasteva, z jednym dokumentem podróży (teskere). Oznacza to, że idea stworzenia jednego europejskiego językowego sojuszu z centrum w obrębie "starych" państw-członków Unii Europejskiej i Bałkanami jako jego peryferiami jest płodem współczesnej sytuacji politycznej, nie zaś historycznego kontekstu, który umożliwił powstanie bałkańskiej ligi językowej.Балканcки јазичен cојуз во Република Македонија денеc: „eурологија” како неконтинуитет и диjалектологија како континуитетCо примери од cовремените македонcки, албанcки, влашки, и ромcки градкcи говори во Република Македонија, во оваа cтатија cе докажува дека процеcите што го cоздадоа балканcкиот јазичен cојуз во минатото cе уште функционираaт во Република Македонија, како и во другите балканcки земјии. Cепак, додека клаcичната балканcка многујазичноcт cе уште cе наоѓа во cекоја балканcка земја, таа поcтои повеќе на локалното ниво во другите земји додека во Македонија таа cе уште е доcта раcпроcтранета, оcобено во градовите. Во врcка cо тоа, во cтатијата cе наcочува кон фактот дека заедно cо клаcична дијалектологија cо нејзината национална и еднојазично-иcториcка ориентаcија, има потреба и за дијалектологија на градовите и многујазични cела, затоа што точно во тие контекcти ги забележуваме изворните резултатите на јазичен контакт. Најпоcле, иcто така cе наcочува кон фактот дека балканcкиот јазичен cојуз го добиваше неговиот cовремен образ точно во времето кога во западна Европа, оcобено во териториите кои поcле cтануваат јадрото на Европcката Унија, поcтојуваше огромна политичка фрагментација додека во Оcманcката Империја, како што велеше Оливера Јашар-Наcтева, cе патуваше низ целиот полуоcтров cо едно теcкере. Значи идеата на еден европcки јазичен cојуз cо центар во јадрото на cегашната Европcка Унија и cо Балканот на периферијата е повеќе cоздадена од cовремената политчка cитуација, а не одговара на иcтроиcките околноcти нa балканcкиот јазичен cојуз.


1999 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-101
Author(s):  
Mike Drake

This paper addresses the social theorisation of war to the current conflict in the Balkans. It takes its terms of analysis from attempts to develop a sociology of war on the basis of the classic theories of Clausewitz and Jomini, from theories of postmodern war, from Baudrillard's commentary on the Gulf War, and from an extended critical application of recent work by Mary Kaldor on the new mode of warfare. I seek to avoid the blackmail of for-or-against and its loaded ideological positions by undertaking analysis through an exposition of the techniques, rationalities, economies, and social relations of organized violence constituting the current condition of warfare. By working through the complexity of these factors, rather than constructing simple oppositions, the method of critical analysis employed here enables us to explain how and why it is that NATO has failed to engage its primary objectives. The paper is thus able to confront the question not of whether NATO should have intervened in Kosovo, but of whether its campaign did or even could intervene in any real sense. The events in Kosovo are the contestation of war itself, and NATO's failure to recognise this has also been its failure to instrumentalise its violence in direct engagement with its military objectives, leading to circular self-justification in terms of achieving its own operational preconditions. The essay explores multiple dimensions of this misengagement, showing how the failure of NATO's air campaign to engage with the realities of ethnic cleansing illustrates the virtuality of its strategy and policy. The paper concludes by drawing some implications for contemporary projects of global order.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Nikolovski ◽  
Lazar Arsovski ◽  
Maja Tripunoska

The Macedonian society in its transition is characterized by two important dimensions which depict all aspects of life. Firstly, the democratization of the social flows, and secondly, the market orientation of the economy and the public sector. While we could say there is not much to discuss about the business processes, apart from the dynamics and its more authentic accomplishment, the market orientation on the other hand is perceived as a possible concept for accomplishing a certain activity directly or indirectly, except for the for-profit organizations. Hence, this triggers the issue of the market character of the public institutions and the access to the jobs offered within these institutions. The analysis of the basic principles of economy which refer to the establishment of a greater level of economic freedom and equal requirements for obtaining a job position in the economic entities, the support of entrepreneurship, the advancement of the dynamic implementation of the economic reforms for improving the business climate and enhancement of the Macedonian economy’s competitiveness, predicts the continuity of the already established economic reforms. The implementation of the aforementioned projects enables the direct contribution to the increase of the economic growth as well as the reduction in the unemployment rate which is a structural problem of the Macedonian economy. The issue of structural unemployment in the Republic of Macedonia is a top strategic priority in the analysis of this paper.


2021 ◽  
Vol IV (2) ◽  
pp. 139-163
Author(s):  
Viorica Ursu ◽  
◽  
Natalia Chiriac ◽  

Any natural or legal person has a heritage, i.e. a set of rights and obligations that are assessable in money or in other words, with economic value. The rights, obligations and goods to which they refer may be considered individually or as a legal universality belonging to a person. The goods are, without any doubt, the basis of the social wealth of any country and any society. The economic relations are mostly the relations about certain goods. Once they have acquired a legal form, they do not change their content, keeping the same object - goods. Therefore, the correct reflection of the place and role of goods in social relations is essential for the efficient management of the country's economy.According to the unanimous opinion of the legislator, theorists and practitioners, goods are one of the main objects of civil law. Thus, this article represents a synthesis that analyzes the notion of goods, as well as their classification and importance in the new regulation of the Republic of Moldova’s Civil Code. This research is also important due to the fact that the new changes are related to some categories of new goods, but also the completion of the existing ones, which were not found in the previous rules, but which were introduced due to the development of new social relations and new categories of goods that have appeared in our society.


Starinar ◽  
2014 ◽  
pp. 185-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milos Spasic ◽  
Adam Crnobrnja

Bowls with protoma represent one of several tens of types of Vinca vessels made of baked clay which have been published as finds excavated at Vinca sites for more than a century. We are dealing here with bowls of a markedly conical profile, with angled and slightly rounded walls and with a flat or slightly annular bottom. In most cases these bowls are not decorated, with the exception of the rare finds decorated by fluting, engraving and polishing. Their most significant peculiarity is the presence of four or eight protoma on the rim, facing the inside of the vessel. Taking into consideration all stylistic-typological characteristics, it is possible to divide them into two coherent categories of finds. The first consists of bowls with four oppositely placed protoma. Within this group it is possible to single out two subtypes, bowls with all four as anthropomorphic (Pl. I/6, 7; Pl. III/34) or all four as zoomorphic representations (Pl. I/5, 8, 9; Pl. III/33, 36). Bowls with eight protoma have actually got four pairs of oppositely placed representations. It was possible to discern two subtypes based on the objects that were completely preserved. The first subtype includes a bowl from the so-called Vinca ritual set, with two pairs of zoomorphic and two pairs of anthropomorphic protoma, both oppositely placed (Pl. I/3). The second subtype includes a bowl from house 1/2010 from Stubline with four identical, paired, totally stylised and schematised representations, whose identification is impossible (Fig. 1; Pl. I/1). Taking into consideration the metric and technological data, the thesis that seems most possible is that the bowls with protoma served for the consumption of or the storing/displaying of the content during some quite specific activities. Bowls with protoma appear in almost all regions of the central Balkans populated by Vinca culture communities and we do not note them in the areas of the neighbouring Late Neolithic communities. These bowls appear in a very long and clearly defined time span and their usage lasts for exactly the same time as the Vinca culture itself, appearing at the same time and together disappearing. The first vessels with their protoma facing the inside, appear almost synchronously at the very beginning of the Vinca culture, that is the Late Neolithic of the Balkans, in the centre of its area (Vinca and Grivac), but also in its furthermost peripheral areas (R?szke-L?dv?r and Anza). Such a long period of almost 700 hundred years, in which one complex iconographic pattern survives without any significant changes (with the exception of the stylistic characteristics of the protoma themselves), primarily points to a long-standing and unchanged custom/belief/ritual that can evidently be associated solely with the communities within the Vinca culture. It is important to highlight the fact that bowls with protoma show ?canonic? consistency to the utmost degree, even more so than the concurrent sacrificial alters and prosopomorphic lids. Dare we assume, on the basis of all that has been said, that in front of us we have a clearly canonised material pattern through which a clearly defined way of thinking/beliefs of one distinct community can be sensed? Their abrupt disappearance, together with the disappearance of the Vinca culture, that is to say the Late Neolithic way of living, should not be surprising. The change that comes along with the abandonment of the last Vinca settlements is not only perceptible in the material culture, but also, and above all, in the social system and the organisation of the community. Fundamental changes in the social structure in the middle of the 5th millennium BC, evidently led to the downfall and disappearance of many deep-rooted values of the communities of that time, as well as the very system of beliefs and sagas. This resulted in the disappearance of the vessels with protoma?s utilisation, one of the most steadfast material manifestations of the Vinca culture.


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