European Culture Research Articles

Does managerial ability matter in corporate sustainability-related dynamics? An empirical investigation

This study aims to assess the intricate interplays between managerial ability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and firm value, focusing on 3,498 company-year observations sourced from the RANKINS CSR RATINGS and China Stock Market & Accounting Research (CSMAR) databases representing China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2018. Employing a rigorous sample selection process and utilizing data from reliable databases, the research employs a comprehensive methodology to explore the intricate corporate sustainability-related dynamics influencing organizational success and societal impact.The findings reveal a compelling negative correlation between managerial ability and CSR performance, corroborating previous research and suggesting potential challenges in reconciling managerial competence with social responsibility priorities. Furthermore, this paper establishes a negative correlation between CSR and firm value, with managerial ability influencing the magnitude of this impact, underscoring the significance of managerial skills in moderating the relationship between CSR initiatives and overall corporate performance. Moreover, the study uncovers a robust positive correlation between managerial ability and firm value, emphasizing the pivotal role of adept leadership in achieving higher corporate valuation. It provides valuable insights for practitioners, policymakers, and scholars, creating a conducive environment for well-informed decision-making. In the ever-changing corporate landscape, a deep understanding of these interconnections is essential to nurture business practices that are both sustainable and value-oriented. AcknowledgmentThis paper is co-funded by the European Union through the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) within the project “Embracing EU corporate social responsibility: challenges and opportunities of business-society bonds transformation in Ukraine” – 101094100 — EECORE – ERASMUS-JMO-2022-HEI-TCH-RSCH-UA-IBA/ERASMUS-JMO-2022-HEI-TCHRSCH https://eecore.snau.edu.ua/Oleh PASKO expresses sincere gratitude for the support from the Kirkland Research Program, generously provided by the Leaders of Change Foundation established by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation.

WIDER DEN ENGLISCH-WAHN. ERHALT DER MEHRSPRACHIGKEIT IN DER EUROPÄISCHEN WISSENSCHAFTSKULTUR AGAINST ENGLISCH DOMINATION. PRESERVING MULTILINGUALISM IN EUROPEAN SCIENTIFIC CULTURE

The problem of everyday scientific language is gaining in importance both in today's linguistic and language didactic research. It will also be central to today's science conception. From the perspective of the current Anglophone scientific community, the article discusses the effects of some standards in scientific practice – including the quantification culture – on publication practices and the associated displacement of the traditionally multilingual European scientific culture. In this context, some measures are discussed that can reduce the influence of English, e.g. in the humanities. In general, this also touches on the question of what effects the language changeover in science will have on smaller research communities and languages.

Cultivating a capability for empathy in the Bologna system—the shortcomings of economics and the importance of the civil

Abstract A central aim of the original Bologna Declaration in 1999 was to give the opportunity of advancement in education to every European citizen. According to the Declaration, this goal is worth achieving not simply in order to provide better-qualified workers within the European Union, rather, the aim of higher education within the European Union is understood in a holistic sense as a prerequisite for the composition of a well-functioning European civil society. How can such an ambitious goal be achieved? In this article, we propose that the core capability at stake is that of empathy which, for this reason, should be central to programmes of European higher education. Empathy is not regarded as just a property of specific individuals but as an attribute which must be ascribed to specific forms of civil intercourse. Therefore, what is needed in European higher education is the provision of a social environment for students which allows for civil-cultivation, and for processes of self-cultivation. Self-cultivation, as described here, means more than a refinement of manners; rather, it refers to the development of a civil mode for approaching others: a mode that is sensitive and self-aware at the same time, and which can be regarded as arising out of a shared European heritage interconnecting rhetoric and sociability.

Zadania edukacji międzykulturowej w kontekście wojny w Ukrainie

The war in Ukraine initiated by the Russians makes one aware every day of the destruction of ideas and principles of peaceful problem solving developed over the years, and of the paradigm of cultural coexistence created in intercultural education. The aim of the article is to point out the need to undertake new tasks through intercultural education in the face of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Shaping a culture of peace, “making peace” has now become the leading task of intercultural education. The text points to the task of building on “good memory” as an opportunity and possibility of dealing with “bad memory”, the emancipation of national memories, the revitalization of heterology – the science of the Other, intercultural competences, the elimination of stereotypes and prejudices, one-sided negative and aggressive propaganda, etc. The article emphasizes the responsibility of intercultural education for creating the principles of democracy, revitalizing values symbolizing the common history with Ukraine, cooperation and collaboration in the process of functioning in European culture.

From Symbol to Culture: Julia Kristeva’s Fascination with the Chinese Language

Kristeva has a close relationship with China. Not only has she obtained a degree in Chinese and been active in the “China Period” of Tel Quel, but she has also focused on the Chinese language, thought, and culture in both her academic research and her literary work. Kristeva’s early concern with Chinese primarily revolved around linguistics and semiotics. Influenced by the Chinese language, she proposed theories such as “logique poétique” and “le paragramme semiology.” After the 1970s, Kristeva began to introduce psychoanalytic and feminist perspectives into her research, focusing on understanding the Chinese language from the standpoint of Chinese thought, culture, and historical traditions and considering Chinese as a “tonal language.” Since the 1990s and especially in the 21st century, Kristeva further explored the potential for dialogue between Chinese and European cultures within the context of their “encounter.” Thus, Kristeva’s fascination with the Chinese language has become a prominent case of Western practice in the mutual learning between Chinese and Western literary theories.

IRANIAN ART OF THE QAJAR ERA: EUROPEAN INFLUENCES AND «PERSIAN STYLE» FOR EXPORT

The Qajar era (late XVIII-1925) gave the world a unique style, unmistakably recognizable in painting, crafts, and photography. Clumsy, striking the imagination with its amazing brightness of colors and bold artistic techniques, it was formed largely due to active interaction with European culture via respect for the Persian traditional styles. The article deals with the significance of Europe and the European in the formation and development of Qajar art, addressing two opposing processes. Borrowing Western methods and techniques, educational models and new products on the one hand, and European fashion for Persian things, which influenced local production and its transformation on the other. The first process is seen in easel painting and the fashion for "european«details in interior decoration, the second — in «re-creation» of an updated carpet and ceramic production in Persia. The illustrative effect will be provided by selected items from the collection of the State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow, including court portraits, glass paintings, qalamkaras, tiles, etc.

Происхождение и различия немецкой и японской культуры роботов и построение «Третьей китайской робокультуры»

With the rapid development of AI technology, robots are no longer restricted to industrial and social fields, and their cultural connotations should be paid more and more attention. The paper focuses on the robot culture within the scope of human culture and attaches importance to the inherent humanistic and cultural traditions of robots, which helps to understand the relationship between humans and machines and is also closely related to today’s robot application practice. Significant differences can be found in the robot culture between the East and the West. Germany（Europe and the United States）and Japan have formed anxiety- and visionary-type robot cultures respectively, which are closely related to their religious human relations and science fiction culture. In this article, using the example of the analysis of German and Japanese robotic cultures, the differences and specific features of literary images of robots are revealed on the basis of a direct dialogue between scientists of these countries. At the same time, the cultural roots of religion and science fiction, which have had a huge influence on the formation of German and Japanese robot culture, are explored. The attitude of scientists towards robots is rooted in their different cognitive attitudes regarding the nature of a human being and his interaction with the world. German robot culture represents classic anthropocentrism, in which humans occupy a central position in the universe. Japanese robot culture demonstrates a different - non-anthropocentric - concept of human beings, emphasizing the unity of technological artifacts and people. The study of robot culture is based on the method of cultural interpretation, data analysis and other methods. This article is based primarily on cultural components such as literature, religion, philosophy, as well as film and television. The discussion on the differences of robot culture can help to reflect on human nature and human culture. The discussion of robot ethics needs to have a cross-cultural perspective, and it can also bring inspiration to the construction of Chinese robot culture. Different from the European, the U.S. or Japanese robot culture, the “third Chinese robot culture” that is eclectic, pragmatic, active and emphasizes the coexistence of humans and machines is taking shape.

Life Wins in the West. Agnieszka Holland’s East-European Interpretation of The Secret Garden

The author of this essay interprets Agnieszka Holland’s cinematographic adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden as a work of an East-European creator musing on the essence of Western civilisation and comments on it in the context of the present-day questioning of the European unity, values, and standards in Polish culture. In the analysis of Holland’s cinematographic version of the novel, a special relevance is given to cultural (in)visibility of the dangers of pregnancy and childbirth. The East-West divide is interpreted in terms of divergent conceptualisations of the major human transformative actions: work and sacrifice. In the multimodal idiom of Holland’s film, the music composed by Zbigniew Preisner occupies a special place. The East-European interpretation of the children’s classic promotes a vision of Englishness (treated as a pars pro toto exemplification of the broader concept of “the West”) as a space of resilience and triumphant life, against manipulative messages presenting the West as a space of corruption and “culture of death”.

ISLAM SEKULER DI TURKI DAN PEMIKIRAN KEMAL ATATURK

There are three areas that can be observed in applying secularism in the era of the Kemalis reforms. First, is the secularization of the state, education, and the law in the form of attacks on the traditional power centers of the institutionalized clergy. Second, is the attack on the symbols of European civilization. Third, is the secularization of social life and attacks on Islam that its people adhere to. The aspects of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's thinking include those in the political system. At that time, Turkey was a very dictatorial one-party regime. Second, in religious reform. The state guarantees freedom of worship, for citizens, in its implementation carried out in the spirit of radical nationalism and imposed by Kemalis. And the third, in the field of education. Kemal's efforts in his policy showhow his desire should be completely sterile from sharia interference. 
 However, the author at this point agrees with Al-Attas's opinion that Islam rejects any application of a secular concept in any form. Because all of that does not belong to Islam and is contrary to everything.

Crimean Tatars and Kazakhs: a Comparative Analysis of the Imperial Policy of Acculturation in the Management System, Social, Military and Educational Spheres

The article examines the acculturation policy pursued by the tsarist government and regional authorities in relation to nomadic, semi-nomadic and sedentary peoples living in the Black Sea and Central Asian regions. Crimean Tatars and Kazakhs were selected for comparative analysis. The study analyzes the main directions of state policy pursued to integrate the Crimean Tatars and Kazakhs into Russia. These areas of work define the management system, social, military and educational spheres. The article also raises the question of whether the tsarist government had a unified program according to which the integration of nomadic, semi-nomadic and sedentary peoples took place in the southern and south-eastern outskirts of Russia. The chronological framework of the work is determined by the end of the 18th — beginning of the 20th centuries, since it was during this period that the Russian authorities carried out the main activities aimed at integrating the Crimean Tatars and Kazakhs into the empire. Archival documents, legislative acts, statistical data and scientific publications were used to cover this topic. The article indicates that this topic has not previously been the subject of special study. The study showed that the tsarist government did not have a single program in accordance with which the integration of the newly annexed peoples living in the southern and southeastern outskirts of Russia took place. In each individual case there were regional peculiarities. It is noted that the acculturation of the Crimean Tatars and Kazakhs in the management system, social, military and educational spheres cannot be assessed unambiguously. Administrative acculturation led to the gradual replacement of traditional institutions of power and the introduction of a general imperial system of management. Legislative consolidation of the rights of new subjects representing different class groups contributed to their rapid incorporation into Russian society. Acculturation in the educational sphere cannot be viewed unambiguously. The main task of the tsarist government in creating Russian-foreign schools was the gradual Russification of new subjects. At the same time, Crimean Tatars and Kazakhs, studying the Russian language and Russian literature, became familiar with the achievements of European civilization.

ЗАРУБІЖНИЙ ДОСВІД УПРАВЛІННЯ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЯМИ

The article is devoted to the topical issues of management of organizations in the world. It is determined that effective enterprise management is an important prerequisite for success in any business, regardless of its size and scope of activity. The purpose of the article is to study the systems and methods of business management in the world. To implement this task, scientific methods of content analysis, analysis, synthesis, comparison, and system method were applied. It is noted that the organization of enterprise management in the world is determined by local cultural management paradigms. In modern European cultures, emphasis is placed on interaction with employees, which is aimed at maximizing their interests and is manifested in respect for human dignity. Also important is the rational use of resources and readiness for innovation in the technological and scientific spheres, which contributes to the introduction of managerial innovations, albeit with a certain delay, into the activities of organizations and enterprises in Ukraine. The American experience is based on flexible management, because American enterprises often have a flexible hierarchical structure. In addition, an important factor is corporate culture, although the manifestations of this culture may be different in different companies, but common to them is a democratic environment in which employees can freely express their ideas and opinions. In particular, Ukrainian enterprises can learn from the Asian experience in creating long‐term development strategies and plans. Asian cultures emphasize community and cooperation, so an approach to creating a team work environment and promoting mutual support among employees is important. Most Asian enterprises prefer long‐ term relationships in work teams, with partners and customers, which promotes stability and trust in the market. The conclusions emphasize that the need for a competent combination of world experience with Ukrainian realities will become an important task for managers when establishing an effective management system shortly.

Українсько-польські мовні контакти в другій половині ХVІ – першій половині ХVІІ ст.

Ukrainian Polonistics has comprehensive studies tracing UkrainianPolish linguistic contacts over various chronological intervals. Despite this, the «golden» period of Ukrainian culture remains a relevant subject of study, spurred by the penetration of European cultural, architectural, and painting trends and genre-style and lexical enrichment through Polish mediation. This article examines the penetration and functioning of the lexeme сеймъ and its phonetic-graphic variants сеимъ, соимъ and съемъ, which were used in different genre-stylistic affiliations with the same semantics in written Ukrainian monuments from the second half of the 16th to the 17th century. These texts reveal the uneven distribution of this lexeme on Ukrainian linguistic ground, limiting its use to official texts from the Right Bank and works of other genres, including chronicles, poetry, etc., predominantly in the western and northern parts of the Left Bank The initial penetration of the variant соимъ into the Ukrainian language occurred under the influence of legal official texts, particularly the Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as the most authoritative legislative sources that, due to the presence of such a social institution, facilitated the consolidation of this term in the Ukrainian language, which, however, in the 20th century, under the influence of the Soviet government's language policy, shifted into the passive vocabulary. Simultaneously, derivatives сеимикъ and соимикъ penetrated the Ukrainian language, serving to denote regional assemblies where decisions of the corresponding level were made. The words сейм, сеймик, сойм and соймик have been codified in lexicographical works with stylistic differentiation: the variants сойм, соймик are qualified as historicisms. We see research prospects for expanding and deepening the chronotope of the source base for Ukrainian-Polish linguistic contacts.

THE GENERAL INTEREST AS A FUNDAMENTAL LEGAL CONCEPT – AN ESSAY IN COMPARATIVE STUDY

The public interest is generally said to be a concept that varies over time and space. The article aims to present the ways of understanding this concept in legal science and tries to find a “common denominator” that could be a starting point for undertaking comparative research on the meaning of this concept for lawyers from the European cultural circle. Although the analyzed concept is deeply rooted in administrative law, this does not mean that it does not function in other branches of law, even under a different name. By presenting the functioning of this concept in the law of countries of European legal culture and assessing attempts to introduce legal definitions of this concept by the EU and national legislators, the author shows that this concept ceases to be a “property” of administrative law, but also becomes useful in other branches of law.

The prejudice and the virtue. The re-education of the antisocial child in the pages of the “Rivista di Pedagogia Correttiva” (1907-1915)

In the European pedagogical culture, between the end of the Nineteenth century and the first decade of the Twentieth century, particular attention is paid to a category of children and adolescents who are called “corrigendi”. They are poor children, almost always from large families and deprived, left to their own and in a daily idleness. Medical Doctors, pedagogists, jurists and criminal anthropologists – in the wake of the pioneering works of Pinel, Itard and Séguin – agree on the need for the education of these children, who must be “corrected” in character and moral action. Since the Twenties of the Twentieth century, this category, further defined, described and identified, will be replaced by the other, more extensive but also more intrusive, of “antisocial and deviant boys”. In this perspective, the material contained in the “Rivista di Pedagogia Correttiva”, directed by Mario Carrara and Camillo Tovo, published between 1907 and 1915, allows to identify the genealogy of this process in the attention given by pedagogists, medical doctors and jurists on the need to “correct” any kind of deviant manifestation of the child and adolescent. This is the pivot of a reflection that has, since the second half of the Twentieth century, a specific place in the concepts and practices of “rehabilitation” and “occupational therapy”.

Cultural Confrontations and its Impacts in Henry James' Daisy Miller

Everyone stands on his / her own ground absorbing own shadow. This shadow always stands amid us and it has more or less influences on our being. This shadow, in fact, is culture; the set of thoughts, rules, norms, and values that the people assimilate in the particular place and time; and this most ambiguous term is culture. As a matter of fact, literary study is understood as 'cultural study'. The most inevitable issue of culture is its differences. The differences appear in the disguise of shock, clash, collision, confrontation, differences and cultural dimensions
 This article proposes the bicultural study of America and Europe through the American visitors in Europe and cultural clash in Henry James’s narrative novella Daisy Miller. The characters of this novella young Daisy Miller, her brother Randolph Miller and her mother Mrs. Miller culturally confront while visiting Europe. They embody both tradition and translation; and fail to assimilate themselves in the 'host land'. Within tradition, they represent American culture, visible in the kind of cultural proximity they establish, as Daisy establishes with Winterbourne. Within translation, they try to reflect European culture, symbolized by the sort of affective relationship they keep, as Daisy keeps with young Italian Giovanelli. As migrant selves, they are able to conciliate Schenectady and Vevey, they transform tradition and translation into cultural identities that mutually nurture one another in spite the fact that they are judged vaguely through the European eyes.

“The Teachings of Neagoe Basarab” – a Manual of Leadership and a Model of Dynamic Embodiment of the Eternal Word

The work of the Wallachian ruler Neagoe Basarab “The Teachings to his son Theodosius” remains an essential landmark of medieval Romanian culture and spirituality. The writing synthesizes an original vision of Christian teaching with the great models of universal political thought, becoming a manual for future rulers. Its importance is reflected in its overwhelming influence on later Romanian culture, as well as in the timeliness of its perspective on leadership based on enduring values. This study highlights the author's multiple sources of inspiration, harmoniously integrating biblical, patristic and philosophical traditions in a work that goes beyond medieval political treatises. From a theological perspective, the writing reflects a unified conception of divine revelation, promoting a mystical pedagogy that proposes a model of integral human formation. And the virtues and values enunciated have universal anthropological resonances. Thus, the integral message of Neagoe Basarab's work is not only a major expression of local political literature but also a permanent invitation to rediscover the Christian ethos that was the basis of European culture. And the recovery of this spiritual paradigm remains indispensable for overcoming the contemporary crisis.

Європейська ідея та національна ідентичність в українській літературі кінця ХІХ – початку ХХ століття

The article presents the process of modernization of Ukrainian literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. On the one hand, the author analyzes the adaptation of the European idea and culture to Ukrainian realities, on the other hand, the evolution of nationalism reaching its maturity phase is observed in the text. This is evidenced by the declarations and programs published in such magazines as Ukrain'ska Khata [Ukrainian Hut] during the years 1909–1914, especially by the articles of Mykola Yevshan and Andriy Tovkachevsky. The discussions that took place during that period were particularly signifi cant in establishing the direction for the development of national culture. Ukrainian literature acquires the features of cultural openness and dialogue, which are clearly illustrated by the works of its prominent authors such as Ivan Franko, Lesia Ukrainka, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Olha Kobylianska, Ahatanhel Krymsky.

The European idea and national identity in Ukrainian literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

The article presents the process of modernization of Ukrainian literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. On the one hand, the author analyzes the adaptation of the European idea and culture to Ukrainian realities, on the other hand, the evolution of nationalism reaching its maturity phase is observed in the text. This is evidenced by the declarations and programs published in such magazines as Ukrain'ska Khata [Ukrainian Hut] during the years 1909–1914, especially by the articles of Mykola Yevshan and Andriy Tovkachevsky. The discussions that took place during that period were particularly signifi cant in establishing the direction for the development of national culture. Ukrainian literature acquires the features of cultural openness and dialogue, which are clearly illustrated by the works of its prominent authors such as Ivan Franko, Lesia Ukrainka, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Olha Kobylianska, Ahatanhel Krymsky.

Other "Hamlet" in Puppet Theatre: A Contribution to Central European Theatre Diversity of the 1980s-1990s

This study aims to address the stigmatization and reductionism of Central European culture by many scholars and to decentralize it. At the Crossing Borders with Shakespeare Since 1945 conference, the roundtable discussion raised questions about naming and defining “Central Europe” and revealed several discrepancies. However, the discussion lacked cultural, political, and historical context. To address this, the author examines a lesser-known artistic genre, puppet theatre, for answers and comparisons. Zlatko Bourek, a Croatian artist and director, offers a unique perspective on the theatre of the 1980s and serves as an example of the diversity and heterogeneity of Central European cultural expression. Bourek’s work draws from the tradition of Central European puppetry and explores connections between the Iron Curtain and Yugoslavia. His artistic style is exemplified in his adaptation of Tom Stoppard’s play Fifteen-Minute Hamlet, which masterfully condenses the entire plot of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet into a fifteen-minute performance. Bourek’s concept of combining Shakespearean tragedy with farce, presented through Japanese traditional Bunraku theatre, represents an important experiment of the 1980s. The use of syncretism and the aesthetics of ugliness are notable features of this experiment. It is a breakthrough in the perceived history of puppet theatre for adults and an aesthetic experiment in the era of Central European totalitarianism.

Cultural Diplomacy as a Tool of the External Relations Between the UE and the USA

The paper will analyse political strategies deployed for promoting European culture in America. It will compare ‘theoretical’ goals with ‘actual’ actions, that is, cultural activities undertaken by the cultural operators in Washington DC, focusing on spreading the achievements of European art in the US. Finally, it will evaluate the activities undertaken within of cultural diplomacy conducted by the EU and its partners. The paper focuses on how policy/policies is/are performed, discursively negotiated and constructed in different political and cultural environment abroad. Effectiveness of various type of actions such as European Month of Culture, European Days, or European Houses, in propagating knowledge about European history of the nations, its culture. The paper investigates strong/weak points of the current state of affairs in implementing the external cultural relations between the EU in the USA, as well as the issue of implementation of the EU’s soft power in America. The paper aims to verify the following research hypothesis: The European Union interacts with the US audiences through culture. In line with the EU’s capacity and institutional limitations within the sphere of external relations, the EU’s cultural diplomacy in the USA is formal, hierarchical and proper, which in effect builds a stable but not deepened intercultural bond. Additionally, a research question was formulated: What kind of intercultural dialogue is being formally conducted between the European Union and the USA through the cultural actions of the EU Delegation?