scholarly journals The Effects of Religious-Cultural Worldviews on the Lack of Political-Economic Liberalization in Belarus over Twenty Years since rise of Lukashenko

Author(s):  
David J. Meadows

This paper focuses on the effects of political-culture in shaping the lack of political-economic liberalization in Belarus since 1991. Specifically, this paper will elucidate the intricate interplay between historically rooted cultural worldviews, ways of life and historical memories, to explain how the historical roots of Orthodox Christianity had a central influence on the patterns of political-economic development chosen by Belarus, even long after these religious-cultural values had been secularized and taken for granted. In doing so, this paper will help understand why Belarus chose to pursue such an illiberal and authoritarian orientation, and help explain the longevity of President Lukashenko.

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-34
Author(s):  
Andreia-Irina Suciu ◽  
Mihaela Culea

In the contemporary world of extremely dynamic movements in the fields of territorial state reconfiguration, economic “colonization”, globalization, Europeanization, migration of population, borrowing of cultural values and intensified cultural exchange or transfer, defining national identity has become a process which registers numerous changes and encounters various challenges. The classical features that assisted this process of defining national identity in the past – a historic territory, common myths, historical memories and values, a common public culture, common legal rights and duties, a common economy with territorial mobility (A. D. Smith 1991: 14) – undergo significant transformations each decade and the definition of a nation’s identity calls for important reconsiderations. One aspect worth considering is that of losing or self-censoring one’s national identity due to a nation’s own intention or some external demands of adaptation to general aspects of political, economic, financial, social, or cultural nature. Our paper intends to explore some of the causes or factors that might lead to twenty-first century Romania’s weakening, degradation or loss of national identity and suggest some possible solutions against such a process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Duy Dung

The Central Highlands is an area with a large community of ethnic minorities to be living. In the process of integration into the world economy, community tourism are one of the economic sectors that are interested in developing in our country in general and the Central Highlands area in particular.Although the activity has not been long, but it can be said that tourism and community tourism are the basis and premise to contribute to the socio-economic development of the Central Highlands; contribute to restoring many traditional cultural values of ethnic groups. For a variety of subjective and objective reasons, tourism activity and community tourism have affected ethnic lifestyles, customs and culture in both positive and limited ways. This is an issue that needs to be considered for research, with practical implications for sustainable tourism activities to create momentum for economic development and cultural preservation of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands area in the period of accelerating industrialization, nationalization and international economic integration.


Author(s):  
Alexandr S. Levchenkov ◽  

The article analyzes the influence of the concepts of the Intermarium and the Baltic-Black Sea Arc on the formation of Ukraine’s foreign policy in 1990 – early 2000. The use of these concepts in American, European and Ukrainian geopolitical thought, which historically included the idea of opposing Russian influence in the region, contributed to the increase in tension and was aimed at further disintegration of the Western flank of the post-Soviet space. The article proves that the design of the Euro-Atlantic vector of Ukraine’s foreign policy was already active under the first two Ukrainian presidents – Leonid Kravchuk (1991–1994) and Leonid Kuchma (1994–2005). One of the concrete attempts to implement the idea of forming a common political, economic, transport and logistics space of the Black Sea-Caspian region with a promising expansion of the cooperation zone to the whole of Eastern Europe and the Eastern Baltic during the presidency of Leonid Kuchma was the foundation and launch of a new regional organization, Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, better known as GUAM (composed by the initial letters of names of member states – Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova; when Uzbekistan was also a member of Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, the name of the organization was GUUAM), which is an alternative to Eurasian projects with the participation of Russia.


Author(s):  
Gordon C.C. Douglas

When cash-strapped local governments don’t provide adequate services, and planning policies prioritize economic development over community needs, what is a concerned citizen to do? In the help-yourself city, you do it yourself. The Help-Yourself City presents the results of nearly five years of in-depth research on people who take urban planning into their own hands with unauthorized yet functional and civic-minded “do-it-yourself urban design” projects. Examples include homemade traffic signs and public benches, guerrilla gardens and bike lanes, even citizen development “proposals,” all created in public space without permission but in forms analogous to official streetscape design elements. With research across 17 cities and more than 100 interviews with do-it-yourselfers, professional planners, and community members, the book explores who is creating these unauthorized improvements, where, and why. In doing so, it demonstrates the way uneven development processes are experienced and responded to in everyday life. Yet the democratic potential of this increasingly celebrated trend is brought into question by the privileged characteristics of typical do-it-yourself urban designers, the aesthetics and cultural values of the projects they create, and the relationship between DIY efforts and mainstream planning and economic development. Despite its many positive impacts, DIY urban design is a worryingly undemocratic practice, revealing the stubborn persistence of inequality in participatory citizenship and the design of public space. The book thus presents a needed critical analysis of an important trend, connecting it to research on informality, legitimacy, privilege, and urban political economy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 136843102199664
Author(s):  
Chris Shilling

During the past two decades, there has been a significant growth of sociological studies into the ‘body pedagogics’ of cultural transmission, reproduction and change. Rejecting the tendency to over-valorise cognitive information, these investigations have explored the importance of corporeal capacities, habits and techniques in the processes associated with belonging to specific ‘ways of life’. Focused on practical issues associated with ‘knowing how’ to operate within specific cultures, however, body pedagogic analyses have been less effective at accounting for the incarnation of cultural values. Addressing this limitation, with reference to the radically diverse norms involved historically and contemporarily in ‘vélo worlds’, I develop Dewey’s pragmatist transactionalism by arguing that the social, material and intellectual processes involved in learning physical techniques inevitably entail a concurrent entanglement with, and development of, values.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bassam Yousif

This article studies Iraq's recent economic development. It views development as a process mediated by institutions and driven by the attainment of human capabilities and capacities, including state capacity. This approach departs from the two prevalent sets of models that have been used to explain Iraq's lacklustre economic performance: theories that highlight the negative effects of oil on economic outcomes as well as those that stress the importance of the, often formulaic, application of policies that advocate economic liberalization and marketization. This study posits that many of Iraq's economic difficulties, including those of the provision of public services and realizing investment, are best comprehended as the result of prolonged institutional decline and decay in human capabilities, especially since 1990. What is more, the article contests some basic maxims concerning Iraq's recent economic history. For example, the post-2003 era is viewed primarily as a continuation of the sanctions period to the extent that it has been characterized by continued deterioration in both human capabilities and economic institutions, despite radically changed political and economic arrangements.


2005 ◽  
pp. 145-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Ristic

In his essay ?The Protestant Ethic? Max Weber explains the specific economic development and the foundation of capitalism in Western Europe due to the appearance of protestant sects and the ?spirit of capitalism?. By doing so, Weber assigns religion a significant place among the factors of social and economic development. Taking Weber?s theory and argumentation as a starting point, this article drafts a thesis on ?orthodox ethic? and determines its role in the development of the ?spirit of capitalism? in orthodox countries. For that purpose this article compares political-historical circumstances on the territory of the Western and Eastern Church on one, and pictures the theological-philosophical basis of both Protestantism and Orthodoxy on the other side.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 7640
Author(s):  
Blanka Tundys ◽  
Agnieszka Bretyn ◽  
Maciej Urbaniak

The problem of energy poverty exists in practically every European country. Its size and scope are determined by a variety of factors, ranging from economic development to the direction of energy and climate policy implementation to cultural factors. Our aim in this paper was to carry out a comparative analysis of indicators related to energy poverty and sustainable development to identify correlations and links between the two issues and determine how they are related. The fact that the analysis was performed for most European countries is new and represents a broad spectrum of research; we were not limited to studies of countries bound by formal political-economic arrangements or by consideration of the degree of economic development. This approach enabled explication of how diverse the situation is in Europe. The research methods used included a critical analysis of the literature and the use of descriptive and mathematical-statistical tools. The main conclusions and findings of the analysis were that in some countries in economically developed Europe, energy poverty is a major problem, and that, in this respect, there are large differences between “old European Union” and “new European Union” countries, and in the countries that do not belong to political-economic structures in Europe. It is clear, from the research, which countries are rapidly and effectively reducing their energy poverty problems and which factors are the determinants of this. These results are linked to the new direction of energy policy and the shift towards more environmentally friendly energy use. In conclusion, it has been possible to identify the causes of energy poverty and how the energy poverty situation in Europe is changing.


2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvana Tarlea ◽  
Annette Freyberg-Inan

We discuss the political economic development of Romania since 1989, with a focus on the evolution of higher education (HE). First, we place this evolution in the context of demand for HE by prospective students and employers, focusing on the low demand for skills in the MNC-dominated Romanian economy. Second, we provide empirical insight on indicators of quality, enrolment, and funding as key features of the HE system. We argue that Romania has evolved into a dependent market economy entrenched in a low-skills equilibrium, and that the weakness of the HE system is a key element in this process.


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