Download or read book Envisioning Eastern Europe written by Michael D. Kennedy and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explorations of cultural change in the former Soviet bloc
Download or read book Imagining the West in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union written by Gyorgy Peteri and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2010-11-28 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents work from an international group of writers who explore conceptualizations of what defined "East" and "West" in Eastern Europe, imperial Russia, and the Soviet Union. The contributors analyze the effects of transnational interactions on ideology, politics, and cultural production. They reveal that the roots of an East/West cultural divide were present many years prior to the rise of socialism and the Cold War. The chapters offer insights into the complex stages of adoption and rejection of Western ideals in areas such as architecture, travel writings, film, music, health care, consumer products, political propaganda, and human rights. They describe a process of mental mapping whereby individuals "captured and possessed" Western identity through cultural encounters and developed their own interpretations from these experiences. Despite these imaginaries, political and intellectual elites devised responses of resistance, defiance, and counterattack to defy Western impositions. Socialists believed that their cultural forms and collectivist strategies offered morally and materially better lives for the masses and the true path to a modern society. Their sentiments toward the West, however, fluctuated between superiority and inferiority. But in material terms, Western products, industry, and technology, became the ever-present yardstick by which progress was measured. The contributors conclude that the commodification of the necessities of modern life and the rise of consumerism in the twentieth century made it impossible for communist states to meet the demands of their citizens. The West eventually won the battle of supply and demand, and thus the battle for cultural influence.
Download or read book Reinventing Politics written by Vladimir Tismaneanu and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Will the nations of Eastern Europe become liberal democracies? How has more than 40 years of totalitarian rule transformed the East European psyche? How ill the emerging realities of Eastern Europe affect the rest of Europe and the world? In an effort to answer these questions, Romanian-born scholar Vladimir Tismaneuanu chronicles the turbulent history of this embattled region, from the decades of Soviet domination to the momentous events leading up to and following the Revolution of 1989. He views Eastern Europe as being on the threshold of a great opportunity -- to become reunited, through pan-European arrangements, with the West, and thereby recover its truly European identity. -- From publisher's description.
Download or read book Hopes and Shadows written by James F. Brown and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the exuberance that marked the revolutions of 1989, the countries of Eastern Europe have faced the breathtakingly ambitious task of remaking their societies. Simultaneously they have sought to build liberal democracies based on market economics, while confronting reassertions of claims for national independence long suppressed. Taking up where his previous book Surge to Freedom ended, J. F. Brown's Hopes and Shadows analyzes the results of the first four years of Eastern Europe's separation from communist rule and the prospects for the future. The forces at work in the midst of this revolution are examined from a perspective that is necessarily both historical and contemporary as the complex relationship between the tasks that face these countries and the legacy of their communist and pre-communist past shape the difficult present. As the usefulness of the designation "Eastern Europe" is itself questioned, Brown provides both regional and country-by-country analysis of the political situation. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland are grouped together, as are Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania, to address questions such as the development of liberal democratic culture, the activation of democratic institutions and procedures, and the future of former communist bureaucracies. He considers the former Yugoslavia-now torn violently apart-largely as a separate case. The theoretical, political, social, financial, cultural, and psychological dimensions of the transition from socialism to a market economy are discussed in detail. The final aspect of this revolution, the failure of which most immediately threatens the entire process, is the attempt to build new and stable national statehoods. Brown explores the history and impact of the current reemergence of nationalism and the dangers it represents. A comprehensive and authoritative survey, J. F. Brown's analysis and presentation of the contemporary Eastern European political landscape will be essential reading for scholars and specialists and of great interest to general readers.
Download or read book Eastern Europe written by Sabrina P. Ramet and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this textbook students will find a presentation of the historical issues and current challenges shaping one of the world's most volatile regions.
Download or read book Imagining the Nation written by Daina Stukuls Eglitis and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2002-09-08 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every epoch produces its own notions of social change, and the post-Communist societies of Eastern Europe are no exception. Imagining the Nation explores the fate of contemporary Latvia, a small country with a big story that is relevant for anyone wishing to better understand the nature of post-Communist transitions. As Latvia and other former Soviet-bloc countries seek to rebuild and transform their societies, what is the central dynamic at work? In Imagining the Nation, Daina Stukuls Eglitis finds that in virtually all aspects of life the guiding sentiment among Latvians has been a desire for normality in the wake of the "deformations" that marked the half-century of Soviet rule. In seeking to return to normality, many people look to the West for models; others look back in time to the period of Latvian independence from 1918 to 1940 before the years of Soviet domination. Ultimately, the changes in Latvia and other Eastern European countries are closely tied to a vital reimagining of the past, as the logic of progress long associated with "revolution" is amalgamated with nostalgia for what is gone. The radiant utopias of revolution give way to widely shared aspirations for a return to the normal in politics, place names, private property, and even gender relations. Eglitis draws upon published and unpublished documents, campaign posters, maps, and monuments, as well as interviews with Latvians from all walks of life. The resulting picture of life in contemporary Latvia offers fresh perspective on a dilemma facing millions throughout the post-Communist world.
Download or read book Inventing Eastern Europe written by Larry Wolff and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wolff explores how Western thinkers contributed to defining and characterizing Eastern Europe as half-civilized and barbaric.
Download or read book Envisioning Power written by Eric R. Wolf and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text explores the historical relationship of ideas, power and culture. Looking at several case studies, it analyses how the regnant ideology intertwines with power around the pivotal relationships that govern social labour.
Download or read book Russia and Eastern Europe After Communism written by Michael Kraus and published by . This book was released on 2019-09-13 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conference on "Russia and East Europe in Transition," held at Middlebury College in May 1994 under the auspices of the Center for Russian and East European Studies, provided the impetus for this volume. The two-day gathering was made possible by a Title VI grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the Jessica Swift Endowed Lecture Fund of Middlebury College, for which we are most grateful. Apart from the contributors to this volume, the conference participants included: George Bellerose, Raymond E. Benson, Valery Chalidze, Michael Claudon, David Colander, Guntram H. Herb, Lars Lib, Tamar Mayer, Noah M.J. Pickus, Sunder Ramaswamy, David A. Rosenberg, and Mitchell Smith. Acting as discussants, panel chairs, or interested participants, their efforts, individually and collectively, have made this a better book and their contribution to this project is gratefully acknowledged.
Download or read book Russia And Eastern Europe After Communism written by Michael Kraus and published by Westview Press. This book was released on 1996-05-23 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining the key challenges confronting Russia and Eastern Europe, this multidisciplinary volume considers the constitutional, political, economic, security, and national identity issues facing these post-communist societies. Drawing upon both theory and case studies informed by newly available primary sources, leading U.S. and Russian specialists provide a comprehensive balance sheet of the achievements and costs of the ongoing economic and political transformation. They also examine the prospects for a thriving civil society and for the region's integration into European and global economic and security institutions.
Download or read book Sexuality and Gender in Postcommunist Eastern Europe and Russia written by Edmond J Coleman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-05-22 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Important new findings on sex and gender in the former Soviet Bloc! Sexuality and Gender in Postcommunist Eastern Europe and Russia is a groundbreaking look at the new sexual reality in Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe after the fall of communism. The book presents the kind of candid discussion of sexual identities, sexual politics, and gender arrangements that was often censored and rarely discussed openly before the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1987. Authors from a variety of disciplines examine how the changes caused by rapid economic and social transformation have affected human sexuality and if those changes can generate the social tolerance necessary to produce a well-rooted democracy. The first theoretical and empirical body of work to sexuality in (post)transitional countries, Sexuality and Gender in Postcommunist Eastern Europe and Russia examines the effects of the profound social transformation taking place in the former Soviet Union. Through an interdisciplinary perspective, the book addresses vital issues of this transformation, including gender relations, gender roles and sex norms in transition, sexual representations in the media, patterns of adult sexual behavior, gay and lesbian issues, sex trafficking, health risks, and sex education. The book also presents a critical examination of whether the fall of communism has, in fact, induced changes in sexuality and gender relations. Sexuality and Gender in Postcommunist Eastern Europe and Russia examines the changes in sex and gender in countries in transition, including: the negative consequences of Serbia’s “state-directed non-development” during the 1990s the causes and consequences of trafficking in women from the Russian Federation the ongoing debate over human rights for sexual minorities in Romania the effects of two Yugoslavian films released in the 1990s that feature transgender characters sexualities in transition in Croatia problems created by changes in sexual behavior among urban Russian adolescents the social and legal state of lesbians in Slovenia Sexuality and Gender in Postcommunist Eastern Europe and Russia fills in the gap in the current knowledge and understanding of the effects of the profound social changes taking place in Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe. The book is an essential read for academics and researchers working in gender studies, political science, and gay and lesbian studies. Handy tables and figures make the information easy to access and understand.
Download or read book Envisioning Eden written by Noel B. Salazar and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As tourism service standards become more homogeneous, travel destinations worldwide are conforming yet still trying to maintain, or even increase, their distinctiveness. Based on more than two years of fieldwork in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and Arusha, Tanzania, this book offers an in-depth investigation of the local-to-global dynamics of contemporary tourism. Each destination offers examples that illustrate how tour guide narratives and practices are informed by widely circulating imaginaries of the past as well as personal imaginings of the future.
Download or read book Discourse and Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe written by A. Galasinska and published by Springer. This book was released on 2008-12-19 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the discursive nature of post-1989 social change in Central and Eastern Europe. Through a set of national case studies, the construction of post-communist transformation is explored from the point of view of accelerating and unique dynamics of linguistic and discursive practices.
Download or read book Political Posters in Central and Eastern Europe 1945 95 written by James Aulich and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publikacja towarzysząca wystawie - "Sign of the times": Manchester Metropolitan University, 17.11.1999 - 31.01.2000.
Download or read book Women and Gender in Central and Eastern Europe Russia and Eurasia written by Mary Zirin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-03-26 with total page 2898 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and multilingual bibliography on "Women and Gender in East Central Europe and the Balkans (Vol. 1)" and "The Lands of the Former Soviet Union (Vol. 2)" over the past millennium. The coverage encompasses the relevant territories of the Russian, Hapsburg, and Ottoman empires, Germany and Greece, and the Jewish and Roma diasporas. Topics range from legal status and marital customs to economic participation and gender roles, plus unparalleled documentation of women writers and artists, and autobiographical works of all kinds. The volumes include approximately 30,000 bibliographic entries on works published through the end of 2000, as well as web sites and unpublished dissertations. Many of the individual entries are annotated with brief descriptions of major works and the tables of contents for collections and anthologies. The entries are cross-referenced and each volume includes indexes.
Download or read book Envisioning the Arab Future written by Nathan J. Citino and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-17 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reinterprets US-Arab relations by examining conflicts between American Cold War policies and the modernizing visions of Arab nationalists, Islamists, and communists.
Download or read book Re Envisioning Global Development written by Sandra Halperin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Re-Envisioning Global Development offers an original conceptualisation of capitalist development from its origins to the present day. Most approaches to understanding contemporary development assume that industrial capitalism was achieved through a process of nationally organised economic growth, and that in recent years its organisation has become increasingly trans-local or global. However, Halperin shows that nationally organised economic growth has rarely been the case – it has only recently come to characterise a few countries and for only a few decades. This innovative text elaborates an alternative ontology and way of thinking about global development during the last two centuries – one linked, not to nations and regions, but to a set of essentially trans-national relations and connections. It argues that capitalist development has, everywhere and from the start, involved—not whole nations or societies–but only sectors or geographical areas within states. By bringing this aspect of historically ‘normal’ capitalist development into clearer focus, the book clarifies the specific conditions and circumstances that enabled European economies to pursue a more broad-based development following World War II, and what prevented a similar outcome in the contemporary ‘third world’. It also clarifies the nature, spatial extent, and circumstances of current globalising trends. Wide-ranging and provocative, this book is required reading for advanced level students and scholars in development studies, development economics and political science.
