The central objective of this article is to trace the ideological background of the frequent exclusion of the Serbian minority in Croatia from Croatian history books. Croatian avoidance or non-recognition of its Serbian history is sought-after in relation to the development of the Croatian state-nation ideology in the nineteenth century. In tracking the ideological background for exclusion the explanations appear not to be purely local ones, but to be closely linked to developments of nineteenth-century European nationalism and national ideologies. This paper analyzes some key modern historical events and processes that have influenced the relationship between Croats and Serbs in Croatia. The topic is exemplified through examination of history textbooks for high schools in Croatia. The article suggests strategies to support for achieving inclusion and identifies the main obstacles in this regard, but methodologically it concentrates on bringing about awareness of the background of exclusion as a necessary step in fostering inclusion.
I 30 år har OECD trummat ut sitt budskap om behovet av strukturreformer på arbetsmarknaden. Receptet har varit likartat oavsett patient och ofta tycks förskrivningen ha skett enligt devisen ”ju beskare medicin, desto trovärdigare behandling”. Många blev därför förvånade när OECD, efter en ambitiös översyn av sin jobbstrategi, år 2006 gav upp tanken om en enda gyllene reformväg. Artikeln pekar på viktiga förändringar i den reviderade jobbstrategin och analyserar vilka faktorer som låg bakom OECD:s omsvängning i arbetsmarknadspolitiken.
Landscape characteristics influence both vector and host habitats affecting the spatial and temporal distribution of vector-borne diseases. Anaplasma phagocytophilum is one of the most widespread tick-borne diseases in Europe causing tick-borne fever (TBF) in domestic ruminants, and granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans, horses and companion animals. The aim of this study was to identify landscape factors associated with Equine Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (EGA) cases in a refined temporal and spatial analysis by combining land cover data and presence/absence disease data, using a geographical information system (GIS). This study is a retrospective analysis utilizing 1030 EGA diagnostic test results extracted from the National Veterinary Institute (SVA, Sweden). The association between EGA and different land cover types was analyzed with generalized linear models. To analyze the relation between landscape heterogeneity and EGA, we calculated the Gini-Simpson index. Our results showed a significant increase in the proportion positive EGA cases from 2002 to 2015 and marked differences in the seasonal within year distribution of EGA cases. The association with landscape configuration is shown by the positive relationship between A. phagocytophilum and coniferous forest, water bodies, and landscape heterogeneity, respectively. The information on the eco-epidemiological drivers for EGA can be central for disease control and prevention. Our method of linking land cover to disease risk may be applied to other vector-borne diseases and to other study regions.
Russia has one of the highest suicide mortality rates in the world. This study investigates the development of Russian suicide mortality over a longer time period in order to provide a context within which the contemporary high level might be better understood. Annual sex- and age-specific suicide-mortality data for Russia for the period 1870-2007 were studied, where available. Russian suicide mortality increased 11-fold over the period. Trends in male and female suicide developed similarly, although male suicide rates were consistently much higher. From the 1990s suicide has increased in a relative sense among the young (15-34), while the high suicide mortality among middle-aged males has reduced. Changes in Russian suicide mortality over the study period may be attributable to modernisation processes.
Not all couples live together; some partners live far from each other, causing potential challenges to relationship maintenance in terms of keeping the relationship ongoing. In the present study, complications in relationship maintenance experienced by heterosexual long-distance partners in post-Soviet Latvia are analysed. The complications are examined in the light of social norms as conceptualized by Parsons and Shils (Toward a general theory of action. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1962) in their notion of dominant value orientations. The article suggests that the norm conflicts experienced by the long-distance partners are illustrative of the value transitions in societies undergoing rapid social change, such as in Latvia. The analysis is based on 19 in-depth interviews with individuals with long-distance relationship (LDR) experience. The social norms complicating or hindering LDR maintenance were found to be generation-specific and gender-specific. The interviewees born and raised in Soviet Latvia referred to collective-oriented norms while the interviewees born in the independent neo-liberal Latvia referred to their own interests that complicated their LDR maintenance.
Weblogs and life journals are popular forms of reflecting and reporting online about one’s everyday life. In this article the author examines whether solicited online diaries can be used in qualitative research. She discusses advantages and disadvantages of the online research, diaries as a source of data, and narration as a method. The discussion is exemplified by the presentation of an online diary study conducted in two parts in the spring and autumn of 2009 with students from Tartu, Narva, and Tallinn, Estonia. This article shows the illuminating potential and richness of solicited online diaries applied in an open-ended, qualitative understanding as a way to investigate everyday life. At the same time, the main challenges are presented and discussed.
The Occupy movement, which started with a group of activists in New York, soon grew into a global movement with protesters gathering and occupying public spaces worldwide. This article provides a critical discourse analysis and examines the representation of the global as well as local expressions of the Occupy movement in Latvian and Swedish major newspapers. It shifts the lens from the financial centres to the European periphery and asks how the movement is recontextualized in Latvia and Sweden. In the analysis four main discursive strategies are identified and discussed comparatively for the two countries; nomination, predication, perspectivation and mitigation. Although the discursive strategies in both contexts are similar, the recontextualization in Latvia and Sweden reflects the distinct historical and cultural circumstance in which the mediation of the Occupy movement emerged.
Research on digital activism has gained traction in recent years. At the same time, it remains a diverse and open field that lacks a coherent mode of inquiry. For the better or worse, digital activism remains a fuzzy term. In this introduction to a special issue on digital activism, we review current attempts to periodize and historicize digital activism. Although there is growing body of research on digitial activism, many contributions remain limited through their ahistorical approach and the digital universalism that they imply. Based on the contributions to the special issue, we argue for studying digital activisms in a way that traverses a two-dimensional axis of digital technologies and activist practices, striking the balance between context and media-specificity.
The increased influx of refugees in 2015 has led to challenges in transition and destination countries such as Germany, Sweden and Denmark. Volunteer-led initiatives providing urgent relief played a crucial role in meeting the needs of arriving refugees. The work of the volunteers in central stations and transition shelters was mainly organised with the help of Facebook, both in terms of inward and outward communication. This article examines the role of social media for civic participation drawing on Swedish volunteer initiatives that emerged in the context of the migration crisis in 2015 as a case study. Theoretically the article provides an analytical framework including power relations, technological affordances, practices, and discourses that helps to shed light on the interrelation between social media and civic participation.
In this paper, we explore the interaction between the levels and forms of labour force participation and outputs of family policy realisation in Russia and Sweden. The study explores statistical indicators of public social services/assistance for families and labour force structure, as well as survey data obtained from International Social Survey Program, module 'Family and Changing Gender Roles' (1994, 2002). The results show that both Sweden and Russia facilitate the 'dual-earner' family model, but that Sweden places a greater emphasis on dual-caring and f lexible work arrangements for women. The support for traditional gender roles was much higher and more uniform in Russia than in Sweden. The proportion of 'dual-earner' and female led families was nevertheless higher in Russia than Sweden, especially in 1994, when major restructuring in the social and economic sphere was occurring. The findings suggest that family policy is instrumental in facilitating female employment, but does not necessarily bring changes in either family or gender-role attitudes.
Polish-American Relations since 1989 Is Warsaw the United States’ Trojan Horse? Shortly after the end of the cold war (1989), Poland found itself in a radically modified geopolitical environment which obliged it to redefine its foreign policy. In the beginning of the nineties, Warsaw was busy building an “Atlantic consensus”, moving closer to the United States in order to gain NATO membership (1999). These close links between Washington and Warsaw caused some suspicion in Western Europe to the extent that some readily see Poland as the United States’ Trojan Horse, a role given credence by concrete facts, such as the Polish government’s purchase of 48 fighter planes and, in particular, its unreserved deployment of troops on the side of the Americans at the beginning of the Iraq war (2003). After evoking the development of Polish-American relations since 1989, the author of this article questions the validity of the role attributed to Poland, considering that this might require substantial reconsideration in the wake of Warsaw’s disappointment over its “best friend’s” hesitancy to consider Poland an essential player on the European scene on the same basis as, for example, Great Britain
Scholars of women’s parliamentary presence have suggested that the proportion of women parliamentarians rests on the interaction between intra-party and party external conditions, and that these can be discussed in terms of necessity and sufficiency. Still, the field lacks systematic cross-case assessments of such relationships. This research takes an explorative approach to necessity, sufficiency and interaction in the field of gender and party. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to study 57 individual West European parties, it demonstrates that party behaviour is a function of intra-party and party-external conditions. Furthermore, it shows that when the external factors are not present, parties are themselves able to achieve gender-balanced parliamentary delegations. The article reveals that there are several paths to gender balance, and that the absence of conditions sufficient for balance does not explain why parties do not become gender balanced
The neighbouring towns of Haparanda and Tornio, separated only by a narrow strip of grass and wetland, are divided by the only inhabited land boundary between Finland and Sweden in the southern part of the Torne River. The population represents four different groups in relation to linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In the daily lives of the inhabitants, the state boundary is probably of less significance than linguistic, social and 'ethnic' differences. On the local government level there is a strong will to unite forces to make the total area a viable region in spite of its peripheral location, but state legislation makes co-ordination difficult. This may be seen as a necessity, but in the daily lives of the populations, the state boundary defines an area of unequal access, sometimes working in favour of and sometimes barring contacts and co-operation. The media consumption reflects a clear 'national' interest with a strong local bias. In their attitudes, Finnish speakers and bilinguals show a greater appreciation of 'the other' than unilingual Swedes. This may reflect the actual possibility space (reach) in the local area.
The Swedish East India Company (SEIC) has been traditionally seen as nothing but a peculiar and exotic adventure in Sweden's eighteenth-century history. Hence, only limited attention has been paid to the SEIC's international role, its relationship with other chartered companies, and to the development of international markets for colonial goods. The paper focuses on this unexplored chapter in the company's history. More specifically, it looks into the SEIC's re-exports of Chinese commodities to Western European markets. Although the Swedish operation was limited compared to that of the other East India companies, the SEIC was an important tea trader on the world markets. The major part of the tea imports was re-exported through merchant networks to other European countries, especially to the Austrian Netherlands and Holland. Through illicit trade, part of the SEIC's tea went to Great Britain. The paper shows in detail how the transactions between Gothenburg, Ostend, Gent and Antwerp were organized. The examples are mainly drawn from the business correspondence of the Flemish merchants.
The legitimacy of international institutions has in recent years received growing interest from scholars, yet analyses of stakeholder perceptions of the legitimacy of institutions that coexist within a governance field have been few in number. Motivated by the proliferation of institutions in the field of global climate and energy governance, this study maps stakeholder perceptions of legitimate institutions and their sources of legitimacy in global renewable energy governance. Specifically, the article makes three contributions to the existing literature. Theoretically, it unpacks the legitimacy concept and offers a multidimensional conception of legitimacy. Methodologically, it captures these different dimensions of legitimacy by relying on three open survey questions. Empirically, it maps legitimacy perceptions among climate and energy experts and not only shows which institutions are considered most legitimate, but also why they are considered legitimate and how this varies between different stakeholders. The article thereby contributes to the literature on legitimacy by providing new insights into the sources of legitimacy among international institutions that operate under institutional complexity.
Sediment cores from three sites along the east-coast of Sweden, north-western Baltic Proper, have been studied with respect to lithologies, geochemistry and diatom assemblages to trace and date early human impact with emphasis on nutrient discharge. The three sites Bråviken, Himmerfjärden and Ådfjärden, have been impacted to various degree during the last millennia by multiple stressors like excessive nutrient discharge and hazardous substances, leading to coastal hypoxia, eutrophication and pollution. These stressors are mainly caused by drivers in the drainage area as increased human population, changed land use and point sources as industries and a sewage treatment plant. Even though their detailed history differs, the results show similar general patterns for all three sites. We find no evidence in our data from the coastal zone supporting the hypothesis that the extensive areal distribution of hypoxia in the open Baltic Sea during the Medieval Climate Anomaly was caused by human impact. Timing of the onset of man-made eutrophication, as identified from d15N and changes in diatom composition, differs between the three sites, reflecting the site specific geography and local environmental histories of these areas. The onset of eutrophication dates to 1800 CE in Bråviken and Himmerfjärden areas, and to 1900 CE in the less urban area of Ådfjärden. We conclude that the recorded environmental changes during the last centuries are unique in a thousand year perspective.
This paper examines how different social, economic, historical and physical conditions coincide in the formation of space and processes of decline in the period of transformation in Poland. The focus lies on a specific residential area in the centre of the Polish city of Gdansk and the question why no improvements have been done in this particular area to stop its successive decline. It is among other things argued that clear urban policy together with improved urban planning and clear legislation on ownership are needed in order to improve conditions in this and other deprived areas of the city.
The aim of this article is to analyze how social class markers are constructed in the discourse on gated communities in a postsocialist urban context. The case of Poland is used as an example of apost-Communist country where the number of gated communities is increasing rapidly in urban areas. The material of study consists of 50 articles published in the largest national newspaper.
This article argues that the discourse on gated communities is constituted by and constitutes class divisions and social class markers prevalent in the country since the fall of Communism. The “new” capitalistic system with its inherent social divisions is described as creating demands for “new” forms of housing where gates function as separators, protectors, and class identifiers. Residential differentiation is a reality in Polish society, and private space has become a symbol of exclusivity and spread throughout the country along with the popularity of gated forms of housing.
Having founded the rasbiologiska institutet in Uppsala under the leadership of Herman Lundborg in the 1920s, Sweden took over a leading roll in eugenic discourse. Lundborg’s concept of population policy aimed at measuring the racial value of the Swedish popula-tion and to reduce the number of “inferior population elements”. Only a couple of years later, Alva and Gunnar Myrdal assessed the decline in the Swedish birthrate to be a “population crisis”, thus turning the once volkish-conservatively coloured discourse on population policy into a part of social democratic agitation. In spite of obvious ideologi-cal and political differences between the concepts of Lundborg and the Myrdals, some continuity in the premises of their argumentation can be pointed out. In both cases the argument of “population quality” justifies the subordination of individual interests and needs to the collective of the race or the folkhemmet (the people’s home) respectively
Migration literature has traditionally distinguished between different motivations of migration, such as labour, family and newly also lifestyle migration, never fully exploring the background of these motivations. This article suggests that these different motivations may be explained by different modes of reflexivity as distinguished by Margaret Archer. Linking modes of reflexivity with migration motivations addresses two problems in current migration literature. First, it provides for practical application of reflexivity in explaining migration motivations, which has been missing so far. Second, the article advocates using psycho-social approach as opposed to more commonly adapted ethnical or class based explanations in understanding migration behavior, hence avoiding the potential trap of falling into the trap of methodological nationalism or classism. Through the interview with highly-skilled Estonian migrants it is shown that the reasons of migration among highly skilled are versatile and cannot be explained solely by their class background.
Walter Benjamin spent the fall and winter of 1926-1927 in Moscow. His experience and observations were recorded in “Moscow Diary” and essay “Moscow” (1927). In the present paper, the author refers to the latter text, in which Benjamin reflected on the space of Soviet capital that was undergoing severe transition. Without even mentioning Avant-garde architecture that was being constructed in his presence and that was transforming the living space of the new state on all levels, Benjamin left deep analyses of Moscow's post-revolutionary urban constitution, revealed its nature, and predicted its future. Benjamin came to Moscow to observe the Revolution in action, but could not find it. Instead, he saw Constructivism as already dismissed. While recording those huge transformations that he witnessed during his stay, Benjamin had not described them either in terms of new functionalist architecture, or through the reflection on demolition of Empire's architectural symbols. He turned to other features and spatial dimensions that were not directly related to any particular architecture, such as mobility, rhythm, aura and through which he fully revealed reformation of Moscow space that was initiated by functionalists and supported by the new regime. The “Moscow” essay along with another text that I refer to, “Experience and Poverty” (1933), enable for deeper analyses of Avant-garde aesthetics, of its origin, development and end, which is the major objective of the present article.
The article provides a closer reading of Walter Benjamin’s essays Experience and Poverty and Moscow, by juxtaposing the records of his visit to Russia in 1926–1927 with the author’s reflections on the nature of the transformations in the urban space of an early Soviet city. By using the dystopian image of Mickey Mouse as the desired inhabitant of modernity introduced by Benjamin in Experience and Poverty, Seits gives the allegorical and comparative interpretation to the substantial changes in the living space of Moscow that were witnessed by Walter Benjamin.
Aleksei Semenenko: Sergej Dovlatov’s Estonian Period: From “Hackwork” to Myth-Making
Sergej Dovlatov as journalist is known to the readers as a character in hisbooks, specifically Kompromiss (1981) which is dedicated to his “Estonianperiod.” From 1972 to 1975, Dovlatov had been working as a regular reporterin the Soviet Estonian newspapers in Tallinn – Molodež Ėstonii and SovetskajaĖstonija. However, his actual articles have not been analyzed until now. Thefirst part of this paper is dedicated to the description of Dovlatov’s articlesthat have been published in these newspapers.The second part analyzes the structure of Kompromiss and elucidates themethod of Dovlatov, who constructed his book as a sort of “disclosure of thejournalistic hackwork.” The comparative analysis is used to describe themechanisms of myth-making and the creation of a special type of narrative inDovlatov’s book (“storytelling”). The paper shows how Dovlatov exploits thegenre of anekdot to reveal the phenomena of Soviet reality through grotesqueand ironic discourse.Finally, the paper attempts to elucidate two central strategies in Dovlatov’soeuvre: biography-making by means of literature and mythologization of reality.