post-Soviet Society Research Articles

Политизация интеллектуалов в ранних постсоветских обществах (грузино-кавказские параллели)

Политизация интеллектуалов в ранних постсоветских обществах (грузино-кавказские параллели)

LANGUAGE PERSONALITY OF THE UKRAINIAN BUSINESS WOMAN ON THE WOMAN’S JOURNAL

The article presents the features of verbalizing the image of a business woman on the pages of the periodical «Woman». The purpose of the article is to deepen and systematize the features of the verbal means of defining the identity of a business woman in the texts of the periodical magazine, as well as to reflect, function and transform traditional gender stereotypes and the formation of stereotypes of femininity in the post-Soviet period of Ukrainian history. The subject of this research is the linguistic personality specifics of the Ukrainian business woman during the independent epoch of Ukraine. The results of the analysis of business woman’s speech features make the following conclusions: the texts of the articles appear English, borrowed terms to indicate new relations in the economy, often use professionalism and patterns without emotional color. The speech of women is expressed by expletive words, but they do not create unnecessary information, their usage helps the speaker to orient, focus, and makes the expression more organized and clear. Also, the texts of modern periodicals are characterized by the activation of various word-forming components, for example, to signify exaggerated meaning: superwoman, superstar, etc. The speech of the modern business woman of the magazine is distinguished by the use of a large number of foreign language words, especially when describing the market experience of Ukrainian women. This is explained by the change of values of personality, openness of post-Soviet society and penetration into different spheres of society of new concepts and phenomena.

Motyw choroby i dysfunkcji w powieści Marii Matios Słodka Darusia

The text concerns the subject of the disease in Ukrainian literature based on the novel by Maria Matios Sweet Darusia. The novel was published in 2003, has received many awards and is one of the most famous Ukrainian novels of the last decades. Many Ukrainian literary scholars have written about this novel, including Sofi a Filonenko, Jaroslaw Holoborodko, Nila Zborowska and Tamara Hundorowa. Maria Matios analyzes in Sweet Darusia an illness as a metaphor for social and cultural phenomena. In the fi rst part of my paper, I analyse the metaphor of a disease and dysfunction in Ukrainian literature. The second part of the text is about a disease as a consequence of the traumatic experience of the heroine, in which Maria Matios illustrates the problems of memory of the Ukrainian nation. Diseases, dysfunctions, and pathological states are quite popular motifs in the Ukrainian prose of the independence period. They appear, among others, in the texts of Yuri Andrukhovych, Stepan Procuik, Oksana Zabuzko, Yuri Gudz, and Yuri Izdryk. All mentioned authors combine a state of disease with the mental, political and economic condition of post-Soviet society. In Ukrainian prose, the disease is a posttraumatic symptom, manifested in both the individual plan – in the hero’s body and psyche – and also with a broader, over-individual dimension, allowing to diagnose the condition of post-totalitarian space residents. In the novel Sweet Darusia, physical suff ering and illness of the main character is an image of a historical trauma experienced by totalitarian society. The illness in this novel is the starting point for self-refl ection and the stimulus to construct new identifi cation, basing on what is individual, human, intimate but often painful and difficult to accept.

Świat po katastrofie. Motywy postczarnobylskie w powieści Очамимря Ołeksandra Irwańca i w dramacie Na początku i na końcu czasów Pawła Arje

The subject of the article is the analysis of post-Chernobyl themes in the novel by Oleksandr Irwaniec Ochamimriya and in Pawel Arje’s play At the beginning and end of time. The Chernobyl disaster played a key role in the development of contemporary Ukrainian literature and culture. Chernobyl very quickly became a universal metaphor that have gone far beyond ecology and into a cultural and political context. In both works, the atomic explosion (taken literally by Arje, as the explosion of the No. IV reactor in Chernobyl and by Irvacek more vaguely as an explosion) is a key element of the plot, aff ecting both the fate of the characters and the shape of the surrounding reality. Although these works belong to two diff erent literary genres and showcase two diff erent conventions of presenting reality, they are connected by a post-apocalyptic vision of the world and the concept of a looping time. The heroes of both texts live in a time after the catastrophe, deprived of civilized goods and isolated from the rest of the world. In the novel by Irwaniec, this time after the catastrophe is a sort of “new medieval” with a decidedly pessimistic expression while in Arje’s drama the return to the pre-industrial worldview contains hope for fi nding traditional values. Both texts also address issues relevant to the modern post-Soviet society, but they do so in very different ways. Irwaneć uses grotesque, to deprive his characters of complexity, while Arje makes his characters deeply tragic and psychologically probable.

RUSSIA IN THE FOCUS OF THE EXISTENCE AND THE DUE

Purpose: In the center of work is the philosophy of history of Russia for the last hundred years of its existence through a prism real and due. Proceeding from a recognized thesis that it is natural to eat development of society - historical process authors focused the attention on modeling social development.
 Methodology: Methods of our analysis of the Soviet and Post-Soviet society will be based on documents of a political character, and, first of all, on the attestations of eyewitnesses reflecting daily occurrence language as in it the life of the person and society affects more adequately.
 Result: In the early nineties the last century the project of Post-Soviet Russia as a synonym of "the highway of a human civilization" began to be embodied. However, over time and it appeared under criticism fire as did not consider the identity of Russia. There was a requirement of the embodiment new due where the dialectics of the general, special and single is the leader.
 Applications: This research can be used for the universities, teachers, and students.
 Novelty/Originality: In this research, the model of Russia in the Focus of the Existence and the DUE is presented in a comprehensive and complete manner.

Rethinking solutions for re-balancing the education–job mismatch

Purpose In the international graduate job market, education–job mismatches are affecting recruitment, and consequently efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to identify a widening gap in “global operating skills”, then put forward a structure for addressing the education–job mismatch, based on data gathered from higher education teachers and graduate recruiters. Framed as a case examining the contemporary context in Russia, the objective is to identify a cross-cultural management (CCM) skills set for graduates who are pursuing a career in an international environment. The study therefore has implications for managers and educators who work in this sector. Design/methodology/approach The study identifies a number of factors that need to be taken into account for developing CCM competence among graduate job seekers. Set in the specific case of a Russian higher education institutions and one of its international partners, stakeholder theory is used for theoretical underpinning and data collection. A qualitative-oriented mixed-methods approach was designed to: explore the education–job mismatch by using documentary sources and direct observations; collect data in a three-step sequence (focus groups, interviews and interactive seminar). Findings The key findings revealed the extent of the education–job mismatch. Specifically: a lack of transferable CCM skills, mismatch between the provision of CCM skills development in higher education and the needs of recruiters, and curriculum shortfall in terms of CCM skills. Furthermore, areas such as cross-cultural communication and cross-cultural awareness require urgent attention; new approaches are needed to enhance the knowledge transfer of CCM skills to students, in order to better equip them to work in an increasingly international workplace. Research limitations/implications The enquiry provides a snapshot of knowledge transfer regarding CCM skills based on a particular case, from the perspective of teachers and recruiters. While care was taken to respect the language and cultural norms, the interview guide captured only a narrow dimension of the subject area. The modest size of the sample does not allow any generalisations when interpreting the data. The findings should not be applied to other national contexts, disciplines or sectors. Practical implications The authors put forward actions for enhancing the implementation of an international education programme (IEP), emphasising the importance of co-creating with stakeholders. The distinguishing features of an IEP are identified and a framework for explaining the opportunities generated by such a programme is developed. Failing to address the “skills gap” may trigger long-term ramifications for both business and society. Social implications Academics and students claim to be dissatisfied with the current delivery of CCM skills. The identification of an education–job mismatch implies that CCM skills are not being effectively transmitted within higher education. This study sets out to identify and explain the current situation of CCM skills development in contemporary society. The genesis of this study stems from the topical debate surrounding reconceptualising higher education to reflect a more international-oriented approach. Originality/value Research into CCM is frequently undertaken from an Anglo-centric perspective, or sets out to compare an “Anglo” environment with a non-Anglo setting. Few CCM studies are set in the context of a contemporary Post-Soviet society.

THE HISTORICAL MEMORY OF THE RUSSIA’S CITIZENS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CURRENT SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT

Analyzing the data of the long-term sociological research, the author analyses the influence of the current socio-political circumstances on the perception of historical periods and personalities by the Russia’s citizens. The author argues that despite citizens sympathize with some historical and socio-political achievements and attributes of the post-Soviet society, the Soviet period of the state’s history provides the main components of the national myth to many persons in Russia. Even the most popular present-day attributes of the national greatness, such as military successes and the annexation of Crimea, significantly concede to the achievements of the Soviet era. As it is noted under the influence of shortage of relevant examples of civil consolidation, Russians are attracted by nostalgia for the period of soviet economic stability, social order and solidarity. In the absence of a critical historical assessment and under the influence of both foreign political isolation and a fall of the living standard, many citizens used to look for the foundations of a civil community in the Soviet past, idealizing and mythologizing it.

Orthodox actors and equal opportunities policies in the Republic of Moldova in the context of the transformation of post-Soviet societies

This article examines how the key Orthodox actors in Moldova have reacted to challenging equal opportunities legislation. The author suggests, on the basis of an economic approach to religion, that under the conditions of a deregulated religious market they use various strategies to promote their agendas. The Moldovan Orthodox Church (the Metropolitanate of Moldova), autonomous within the Russian Orthodox Church, previously relied on making private bargains with the government; but this policy ended with the adoption of the 2013 Law on Ensuring Equality in the Republic of Moldova. Now the Metropolitanate tries to assimilate the strategies of direct action, but without success. The so-called ‘non-mentioning’ radicals, technically being part of the Metropolitanate of Moldova, but not praying for its bishop, are involved in direct political activism – from setting up protest camps to street fighting – to confront de-stigmatization of homosexuality. The Bessarabian Metropolitanate of the Romanian Orthodox Church utilizes the strategies of European ‘public’ churches and gains influence through performing some useful social functions. This article concludes that all actors have their own advantages and weaknesses; nevertheless, so far the Metropolitanate of Moldova remains the strongest; while the other competitors are serving specific religious niches, it is this body which still possesses the potential to influence society more broadly.

Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe: A Critical Anthology by Janevski Ana (review)

SEER, 97, 4, OCTOBER 2019 778 Janevski, Ana and Marcoci, Roxana, with Ksenia Nouril (eds). Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe: A Critical Anthology. Primary Documents. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2018. 408 pp. Illustrations. Figures. Notes. Index. $40.00: £31.00 (paperback). The difficulty of defining Central and Eastern European art after the region’s transition from socialism to neoliberal capitalism hangs over the introduction to Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Ana Janevski and Roxana Marcoci with Ksenia Nouril. Keen to avoid reifying the East/West binary, the editors of this ambitious follow-up to MoMA’s Primary Documents: A Sourcebook for Eastern and Central European Art since the 1950s (New York, 2002) turn to Jelena Vesić, an independent curator and member of the Belgrade-based Prelom collective. Vesić claims that ‘Eastern European art’ can refer to everything from all art made in conditions marked by socialism to only art that engages with the socialist legacy — or even only those practices that were supported by the Soros Centers for Contemporary Art (SCCAs), a network of twenty institutions established around the region to grease the wheels of post-socialist transition in the 1990s (p. 13). Wisely, the volume avoids any clear consensus on the meaning of Central and Eastern Europe and its art as it divides its seventy-five contributions into seven themed chapters rather than organizing them into geographical or chronological schema. Certain themes, particularly the focus on activism and collectivity in the second chapter, reflect the collaborative structure of the book itself, which is a product of multiple research trips and seminars organized by the Central and Eastern Europe group of MoMA’s Contemporary and Modern Art Perspectives (C-MAP) project between 2015 and 2017 (these exchanges are listed at the end of the book). Each section comprises a mix of re-publications from English and other languages and newly commissioned texts. Each chapter begins with three new texts: the first is a theoretical introduction by an outside adviser and expert in the field, the second a chapter summary by a C-MAP member and the third an interview with an artist or collective. The first chapter, titled ‘Reckoning with History’, delves into the legacy of the socialist era. In an email conversation with compatriot Jonas Valatkevičius from 2000, Deimantas Narkevičius emerges as the rare Lithuanian artist ready to violate a major taboo on the country’s art scene by engaging with history through the prism of personal experience. Exploring the extra-legal codes that guide interpersonal conduct in post-Soviet society, Narkevičius frames them as a kind of popular truth that protects against both the obligatory rule of law and the trauma of processing past events (pp. 37–38). Socialist baggage remains a topic of interest in the second chapter, ‘Exhibiting the “East” since 1989’. In one highlight, Polish art historian Piotr Piotrowski argues that REVIEWS 779 the unstable nature of borders after the fall of socialism compelled Central European artists to submit their work for Western inspection, and that the thematics of transition and EU integration of the early 1990s and early 2000s, respectively, were informed by geopolitical lines that ‘exist and at the same time do not exist’ (p. 85). As the post-Communist context began to retreat from view, interest shifted from centre/periphery relations to relations between various peripheries (p. 85). Through all this, the concept of Central Europe only maintained coherence from the perspective of actually existing socialism. Once its memory began to wane, the concept was kept alive by nostalgia for the Hapsburg Empire in countries like Hungary and Czechoslovakia (p. 84). Chapter three expands this look at the ideological value of exhibitions to consider the value of archives. Slovenian curator Zdenka Badovinac leads the charge with a look at the strategy of self-historicization adopted by artists at a time when state institutions either ignored or condemned the neo-avant-garde (p. 145). Key projects include Romanian Lia Perjovschi’s Contemporary Art Archive (begun in 1985) and East Art Map (begun in 2001) by the Slovenian retro-avant-garde group IRWIN. The Romanian collective...

ЗМІНА ПАРАДИГМИ РОЗВИТКУ ОСВІТИ В УКРАЇНІ ЯК ВИМОГА ЧАСУ

The modern stage of the development of Ukraine is gaining the independence; the leading concept of Ukrainian society life is the modernization, the essence of which was to change the social life in an evolutionary way, transforming the basic foundations of Soviet society. Modernization is considered as the self-development of capitalism, on the other hand, the modernization of the post-Soviet society, which is an industrial extension of the semi-feudal society of the Russian Empire with its characteristic features. That is, instead of the theory of a revolutionary break-up and a qualitative change in the whole system of social relations, the modernization of society was planned, which was not intended of modernization according to its basic principles. This led to constant social upheaval, the formation of an oligarchic system of authority in Ukraine, and the periodic confrontation of authority with the people. This is particularly acute in the field of education and science, where the theory of modernization has had a significant impact and had certain objective preconditions. The beginning of the 90s of the twentieth century characterized by a low level of education, which is connected to the deteriorating staffing of teachers and educators of higher education institutions, and a large number of private institutions. For the Soviet system of education, the following features were specific: education was sufficiently adequate for an industrial, totalitarian, closed ideologized society, which led to a significant backlog of Soviet education, science and technology from the West. And technological lag influenced the development of science and education, because the latter largely depend on the level of development of production. Another harmful rudiment of the Soviet system of education is the use of the experience of Soviet teachers. In the country, the whole system of social relations, values, ideologues has radically changed, and in the system of education, the principles and methods of Soviet pedagogy continue to be imposed. Another problem of Soviet education is the very weak inclusion and interaction with the world educational process, with the achievements of world science. For the transformation of national education, it is necessary to raise the prestige of the teacher, the educator, the scholar, effective interaction with the European and world educational space, financing innovative directions of education development and motivation of the creative personality.

Impact of Gender Equality on Socio-Economic Development of Kazakhstan

Achieving gender equality in the 21st Century is one of the global priorities of every state. The Republic of Kazakhstan on its way of development also focuses on this problem, because gender equality is the basis for the economic and social development of the state. International organisations prepare reports reflecting indices (gender gap index, gender inequality index, gender development index and others) which characterise the state of equality between men and women in different countries. It was established that Kazakhstan had practically reached gender equality at the stage of education. Even the first steps towards market reforms showed the unequal impact of the socio-economic transformation on the position of men and women in society. The transition to the market was followed, on the one hand, by the curtailment of social programmes and the social sphere, and on the other hand, by an increase of labour force requirements. Under these conditions, women, who traditionally bear family care, were more disadvantaged than men, both in the family and in the workplace. Democratic reforms in the post-Soviet societies created the conditions for more active participation of women in the political and economic life of the country, securing them more rights and freedoms, yet there has been a sharp deterioration in the status of women, an increase of female unemployment, the feminisation of poverty, the displacement of women in the informal economy and increase of domestic labour. Determined that the Gender Gap Index affects the gross domestic product per capita which is one of the indicators characterising the economic condition of the state. The greater the gender gap index is, the smaller is the inequality between the sexes and the higher GDP per capita is. The article presents a correlation-regression analysis which characterises the interrelation of gender equality indicators with economic indicators.

Regulation of informal employment in a transition economy

The regulation of informal employment requires in-depth analysis. The aim of this article is to provide a framework for understanding the approaches for tackling undeclared work. The main directions of the regulatory influence of the state, such as non-mixing, de-regulation, eradication and transfer of informal employment into the formal economy. It is shown that post-Soviet society predominates only direct punitive control. Akin to many other contemporary societal problems, tackling the undeclared economy has perhaps previously been conceptually framed as a ‘tame’ problem (i.e., a problem that is complicated but easily solvable, often with a discrete response that can be replicated anywhere). Here however, the undeclared economy is reframed as a ‘wicked’ problem which is complex, rather than complicated, and the outcome of a number of inter-related drivers, each of which if addressed has unforeseen and unintentional knock-on effects. Responsibility for tackling the problem moreover, stretches across multiple stakeholders and profound behavioural changes across both citizens and stakeholders are required to address the issue. Such wicked problems therefore, have to employ ‘clumsy’ approaches rather than ‘elegant’ solutions. However, indirect control measures that change formal and informal institutions, although necessary, are insufficient on their own to tackle undeclared work. Given that undeclared work is a wicked problem with multiple drivers, a multi-pronged approach is required that uses both direct and indirect controls. For example, governments might seek to change the culture of government departments towards a more customer-oriented approach and introduce public campaigns to elicit greater commitment to tax morality, whilst simplifying regulatory compliance and introducing incentives (amnesties, tax deductions) to enable undeclared work to move into the declared realm. At the same time, and in relation to those who fail to comply, they may also pursue improvements in the probability of detection and tougher sanctions for those subsequently caught. Voluntary compliance arises where there is trust in the authorities. When there is no trust in the authorities, and the authorities have no authority, no means are sufficient to influence informal employment. For qualitative regulation and influence on it, it is necessary to increase either the powers of the authorities or the trust in the authorities. In the approach of direct control, emphasis is placed on increasing the authority of the authorities, whereas in the indirect control approach the emphasis is on increasing confidence in the authorities. In practice, these approaches are not mutually exclusive, on the contrary, you can use both to enhance their effectiveness.

Institutional and organizational dimensions of legitimacy of public power

The article reveals the institutional and organizational dimensions of the legitimacy of public power.In the context of the Weberian tradition of understanding the legitimacy of order, it is determined that ensuring the legitimacy of individual political actors – individuals and organizations – is impossible without the legitimacy of the conventional and legal order. It is noted that not only the distinction between institutions and organizations, but also the refusal to reduce the whole organizational diversity of the “state” to a single actor is of utmost importance for ensuring the legitimacy of public power.It is emphasized that democratic rules of the political game should not just be declared by individual political players, but be recognized by the majority of citizens as at the level of convictions, and be implemented at the levels of daily life and political activity. This means that the social convention on the implementation of democratic institutions should become legitimate for all social activities and social relations. Using the Weberian category of “octroying”, another legitimate way of establishing a new order for the post-authoritarian regimes is demonstrated. It is noted that artificially established institutions (the rules of the game that operate in the societies of consolidated democracy) are often not effective in the post-Soviet space and do not always contribute to the legitimacy of power. At the same time, the “constitutionalization” of the political process, even if it takes place through a vote in the parliament or is passed in a referendum, does not ensure the automatic establishment of democracy and legitimacy of public power.Based on the distinction of institutions and organizations (D. North), there are shortcomings in both electoral democracy and the octroying of the legal order in terms of the theory of legitimacy. It is determined that one of the main tasks for post-Soviet societies is to establish the legitimacy of the democratic order, without which the transition from the electoral democracy to the consolidated one cannot be completed.The necessity of simultaneous institutional and organizational political transformations to ensure the legitimacy of the social order and public power under conditions of democratization in Ukraine is substantiated.

On the issue of countering the spread of religious extremism among prisoners in western Europe, Russia and the CIS

The purpose of this scientific article is to determine the actual problems of combating the spread of religious extremism among prisoners in Western Europe, Russia and the CIS. The question of activation of ideology of radical political Islam and its new forms – «Islamism» and «jihadism» is raised. The process of spreading radical Islamism among the criminal part of Western and post-Soviet society is comprehensively studied and analyzed. It is emphasized that in the context of the decline of all ideological constructs of European origin, claiming to own and universal project, Islamism is becoming more and more clearly and clearly a «new alternative style» with impressive prospects of covering a variety of social groups not only in the countries of traditional spread of Islam, but also in Western Europe. It is emphasized that Islam with its egalitarian ethos has a historical experience of ideological expansion to the masses. The problem of the wide spread of Islam as a religion and ideology of Islamism among those serving sentences in the penitentiary institutions of Western Europe is particularly raised. In particular, the authors draw attention to the existing processes of symbiosis of Islamic radicalism and criminality both in penitentiaries and in the wild after release from prison. Such processes tend to further entrench and spread on the territory of Russia and the post-Soviet States of Central Asia. The reasons for the spread of radical Islam in places of deprivation of liberty are formulated. The article analyzes the most effective measures in the world to counter radicalization in places of detention, examines domestic and foreign programs of de-radicalization. The author emphasizes the timeliness and importance of the development of Islamic education as a factor to prevent the influence of extremist ideology on believers.

From Sectarians to Extremists: The Language of Marginalization in Soviet and Post-Soviet Society

This article examines the history of marginalizing rhetoric in Russia as applied to evangelizing faiths, particularly the Jehovah’s Witnesses, from the postwar period to the present day. Such churches have been portrayed as presenting a distinct threat to Russian society, even as the cited reasons for this perceived danger have shifted over time. While obviously connected to legal definitions of toleration, the language of religious (in)tolerance existed apart from state policy. Moreover, public rhetoric frequently adopted a hostile tone toward evangelizing churches regardless of their legal status. Seen from this perspective, the recent “extremism” label is part of a broader history of sustained marginalization of evangelizing faiths in modern Russia. The article argues that Russian media has not fully embraced the rhetoric of “extremism” as applied to evangelizing communities, but has also done little to challenge the underlying state policy it represents.

Soviet & Post-Soviet Wars: An Oral History Project

For some years now, the Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies has introduced in its issues the publication of interviews with veterans, war reporters, or other witnesses of the Soviet and post-Soviet wars. Indeed, it seemed important to us to gather the testimony of witnesses who are still alive in order to shed light on past or current conflicts. Today, PIPSS wishes to intensify the practice of collecting oral testimonies which was initiated in 2011. To mark its 15th anniver...

"No Coward Soul is Mine": The Year in Portugal

"No Coward Soul is Mine"The Year in Portugal Cláudia Faria (bio) If you are not a famous football player, involved in a political or private scandal, or recovering from cancer, your autobiography will surely fail to make any bestseller list in Portugal. It is not only the general public who is disinterested in everyday life stories; Portuguese academe also appears reluctant to embrace life writing as a legitimate field of study, which explains the few publications and projects available for consideration this year. Portuguese Perspectives on Twentieth-Century Wars However, a closer look at the publication spectrum suggests that life stories associated with the two World Wars (in particular, Portuguese overseas war memories) have become a popular topic for the general public. Perhaps the topic's popularity is directly correlated to the celebration of the centennial of the end of WWI. Public interest in this war indicates that Portuguese society is finally coming to terms with this moment in history, as is suggested by Fernando de Castro's O meu diário de campanha and Maria José Oliveira's Prisioneiros Portugueses da Primeira Guerra Mundial. Two works related to WWII are also worth mentioning: Portugal e os Nazis by Cláudia Ninhos and Aristides de Sousa Mendes: Memórias de um neto by António Moncada Sousa Mendes, grandson of the famous consul who saved many Jews from Nazi persecution. We have also been witnessing a series of books written by veterans of the Guerra do Ultramar—the official name in Portugal of the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974)—as well as by scholars researching this period. Why is this happening? Without attempting to provide a sociological justification for this war or its consequences, we can note that Portugal as a nation has been shaped by this dark period, and that the Portuguese people have only recently gained public access to sensitive archives, like the ones held by the Secret Police Department (PIDE), thus allowing comparative studies to be made. War veterans and families have realized [End Page 119] the time has come to reveal "the other side" of the story in order to bring to light their own experiences of suffering and injustice. Struggling with ambivalent feelings about their participation, veterans have kept diaries, letters, photos, and other types of private documents. However, by now, most appear to have accepted their sons' and grandsons' lack of interest in the matter. Fearing this information will be eventually lost forever, some have decided to write their own version of the story of these conflicts, while others have relied on specialists to help them with the retrieval of their past. As Ioana Luca puts it, referring to the situation in post-Soviet societies, "[there is] a personal and/or collective urge to talk about a forcefully silent past, as well as a need to reassess political figures or events" (656). A master's thesis entitled "As cicatrizes da ditadura: memórias autobiográficas de ex-presos políticos Portugueses" by Ana Pinto Pereira, an article entitled "La resistance à la dictature Portugaise et le sceau de la memóire: l'archive sensible d' Aurora Rodrigues" by anthroplogist Paula Godinho, and the book Os Flechas: A tropa secreta da PIDE/DGS na Guerra de Angola by Fernando Cavaleiro Ângelo all contain first-person accounts from this period, while Miguel Carvalho's Quando Portugal Ardeu: Histórias e segredos da violência política no pós-25 de Abril includes testimonies and private documents concerning the days after the Carnation Revolution on April 25, 1974. These projects demonstrate Portuguese scholars' emerging interest in discussing a silenced moment in the country's history. Other works that treat this topic include Retornar: Traços de Memória do Fim do Império edited by Elsa Peralta, Joana Oliveira, and Bruno Góis, Abril, caderno de memórias by Nuno Pinto Soares, and Luanda, como ela era: 1960–1975 by Rita Garcia. Identity Card: "No coward soul is mine" In June 2017, sociologist Maria Filomena Mônica republished her autobiography Bilhete de identidade, which originally appeared in 2005. Mônica was born in Lisbon in 1943, graduated in philosophy and history, completed a PhD in...

The Colour of History

Does History have its own colour? And what about the colour of the disaster? Where does it meet with a reflection on photography? This essay combines considerations on the use of colours in Boris Mikhailov’s photography and their historiosophical role in reflection on the decline of the Soviet Union and the years of transformation, with the question about “Chernobyl effect” in Soviet and post-Soviet society, especially in the context of political visibility/invisibility of radiation.

Трансформация национального государства в условиях меняющегося мирового порядка

The article analyzes the main factors and trends in the transformation of national state as a result of deep social and political shifts in the modern world. The key determinants of this transformation include the rising role of non-Western countries, ethno-social and ethno-political changes in the developed Western countries, the split of elites, growing political tension in societies, formation of supranational and transnational political entities, the divergence of transnational and national elites’ interests. The EU member states face numerous challenges caused by demographic shifts, mass foreign cultural migration, identity crisis, ethno-political conflicts, separatism, as well as by political consequences of technological shifts and social innovations, formation of new regional alliances and centers of power in the single global world. The article investigates adaptive changes and politico-institutional transformation paths of national states as a response to these challenges. The authors study the main prerequisites and reasons for the strengthening of Euroscepticism and populism in the EU member states, concluding that these political phenomena are closely connected with the crisis and transformation of the classical European national state. Furthermore, it is shown that attempts to forcefully form a nation and build nation-states in the post-Soviet space often lead to serious social, cultural and political problems in multi-ethnic post-Soviet societies. Such countries face political instability, up to the onset of symptoms peculiar to incapacity of a State and fundamental degradation of national statehood. These problems are caused, on the one hand, by the lack of social consolidation, the presence of powerful clan and oligarchic structures, political divisions and the alienation of elites from the general population; on the other hand – by global processes and external pressure on the post-Soviet states.&nbsp

«Stockholm Syndrome» as the ultimate goal of a totalitarian regime: from origins to modern times

The article talks about totalitarianism, the desire of the authorities to keep people in subjection, the famines, fear and torture in the USSR. The author shows the difficult life in Ukraine and emphasizes that it occupied an important place in the empire, which was the Soviet Union, where there were hot and famine wars. To denote the phenomenon of obedience in society, D. Graham uses another name - syndrome. The researcher proposes to apply this concept in a broad sense, ie bearing in mind the traumatic psychological dependence not only of hostages but also of other social groups. Attempts to understand the psychological basis of post-Soviet society (most often deformations of Ukrainian national identity, loss of historical memory, social passivity, inferior elite, etc.) are often found on websites and blogs, where the term Stockholm syndrome is used to explain Soviet worldviews. Historian Lyudmila Hrynevych also compares the Holodomor and the Holocaust, but in a different aspect. Analysis of the consequences of the Holocaust shows that many people who witnessed and suffered torture, in spite of everything, managed to cultivate a new desire to live and develop business and social activity. Signs of syndrome include symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in Holodomor victims and some symptoms of historical trauma in their descendants, a strong emotional connection with the aggressor, the dominance of the Soviet cultural paradigm over the national, lack of self-consciousness, rejection of selfconsciousness victims of genocide, fear of liberation (desire to return to the USSR), fear of revenge, aggression against the descendants of the rich who destroyed the Soviet Union, expectations of the return of the leading role of the Communist Party and the revival of the Soviet state, rationalization and distortion of episodes of violence aggressor (caring Stalin) both in the direct participants of events, and in their descendants who through the relatives have mastered the changed memory of the past.