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Nationalism after Communism: Lessons Learned

http://www.ceu.hu/cps/pub/pub_books.htm

Nationalism after Communism: Lessons Learned
Edited by Ivan Krastev and Alina Mungiu-Pippidi
January, 2004

What if a policymaker charged with crafting a peace arrangement in an ethnic conflict situation would ask an academic what practical wisdom can theory of ethnic conflict and nationalism offer in support? Can a bridge be thrown between the world of academia, suffocated with political correctness and driven by the empty intellectual ambition of system-paradigms, and the world of those who have to craft policies of interethnic peace and cooperation with little knowledge of theory, scarce time to order proper research, and limited resources of money to invest? This book tries to analyze in this context what the postcommunist experience of ethnic revival and conflict has in common with other nationalisms and nation-related conflicts of our world, and what, if anything, is special about it; what the best practices are of managing different ethnic conflicts within a state or in neighboring states; and what institutions work and under what circumstances?

The introductory chapter includes the only theoretical discussion, sketching briefly the basics recent research on nationalism and ethnic conflict with relevance for policymaking. The next three chapters look at the political economy of ethnic conflicts: Vladimir Gligorov's chapter analyzes the system on incentives which pulled Yugoslavian Republics apart, and the one now in place trying to bring them together again; Charles King looks at the small separatist Republics of the post-Soviet world to understand why some of them were more successful than legitimate Soviet successors in building states and running economies; and Gerald Knause and his collaborators use a case study from Macedonia to highlight the difficulty of two ethnic groups sharing equitably the state and public sector. The primordial-type hypotheses of ethnic social capital and ancient hatreds are tested in the chapter by Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, which analyzes public opinion surveys on nationalism and ethnic cohabitation in Kosovo, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary. A critical analysis of political institutions which try to prevent and then contain ethnic conflict is provided by Valerie Bunce and Philip Roeder on ethnofederalism, from former Yugoslavia to the former Soviet Empire; by Florian Bieber on power-sharing arrangements, and by Mathjis Bogaaards on voting systems, both on the Balkans. The book concludes with a review of policy options by the editors.


Co-ordination of Social Security in the Council of Europe: Short guide

      This short guide aims to provide its readers with a detailed introduction to the social security co-ordination instruments of the Council of Europe. It describes the basic philosophies behind social security co-ordination; why it is needed and how it may be achieved. It deals also with social security co-ordination in practice by looking at the range of legal instruments available and briefly introducing some of the agreements that are currently in force in Europe. The following Council if Europe provisions on social security co-ordination are reviewed in this guide: -The European Convention on Social and medical Assistance -The European Convention on Social Security -The Model Provisions for a bilateral Social Security Agreement -The European Social Charter    
            Author(s) :   Jason Nickless and helmut Siedl
          
            ISBN :   92-871-5391-4
            Format :   A5
            No. of pages :   105
            Price :   10 ?/ 15 $
                + 10% postage 

     Council of Europe Publishing
      Palais de l'Europe, 67075 Strasbourg Cedex, France
      E-mail : publishing@coe.int
      Visit our site : http://book.coe.int
      Tél. : +33 (0)3 88 41 25 81
      Fax : +33 (0)3 88 41 39 10


 Nation-Building, Ethnicity and Language Politics in Transition Countries
(eds. Farimah Daftary and Francois Grin)
ECMI-LGI Series on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues,  Vol.II
Budapest, 2003
ISBN 963 9419 58 3
Ordering
To order this book please send an email to
LGIpublications@osi.hu or fill in the Order Form at:
http://lgi.osi.hu/publications/RequestPrintedCopy.asp
  SUMMARY
In the wake of the momentous geopolitical changes of 1989, countries in Central and Eastern Europe, former Soviet republics and constituent states of the Russian Federation have engaged in various forms of nation-building or re-building. From the very beginning, language diversity has played a crucial part in this process.
This volume aims to take stock of the experience of the countries concerned in dealing with linguistic diversity. Its emphasis is on the interplay between, on the one hand, the politics of language, namely, the way in which internal power struggles and minority-majority relations crystallize around language and, on the other hand, the development of language legislation codifying the respective status of the different languages, against the backdrop of complex historical, ethnic and sociolinguistic realities.
The opening chapter, by Will Kymlicka and François Grin, discusses the ways in which these issues are linked to the main discourses about state intervention in language matters, namely, the discourse of rights and the policy analysis approach. The nine case studies in the book, from the high-visibility cases of the Baltic States and of Central and East European States, to much less known language policy developments in Armenia or Tatarstan, provide in-depth analyses illustrating the remarkable range of language politics and language policy in times of change. The book also includes the case of a stateless people, the Roma, and the politicization of the debate on the standardization of Romanes.


MARIE CURIE "INCOMING INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIPS (IIF)" Handbook
This handbook explains the principles of Marie Curie Incoming International Fellowships (IIF) to be funded under the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme FP6.
They are available on our web-site: http://europa.eu.int/mariecurie-actions
What are Marie Curie Incoming International Fellowships (IIF)?
They are individual fellowships that aim to respond to the needs for individual training and mobility of top-class researchers from third countries by giving them the opportunity to work and undertake research in Europe from 1 to 2 years (incoming phase), with the view to developing mutually-beneficial research co-operation. In the case of emerging and transition economies and developing countries, the scheme may include provision to assist fellows to return to their country of origin for, typically, half the duration of the first phase (re-integration phase).
Who can apply?
A researcher with the nationality of any third country with at least 4 years full-time research experience or a doctorate and wishing to spend a mobility period working in a host institution located in a Member State or Associated State. The researcher applies in liaison with the host institution (and with the re-integration host if there is a re-integration). Eligible host institutions are organisations active in research or research training (e.g. universities, research organisations, international organisations, enterprises, etc.).


Understanding Human Rights (Manual)
European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy
  Schubertstrasse 29, A-8010 Graz
Tel.: +43 (0)316 322 888 1; Fax.: +43 (0)316 322 888 4
e-mail: office@etc-graz.at
website: http://www.etc-graz.at
  A new Manual on Human Rights Education entitled Understanding Human Rightshas just been published. The Manual has been elaborated by the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (ETC) for the Human Security Network (HSN) on the initiative of the Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Benita Ferrero-Waldner as the chair of the HSN during 2002/2003. Its objective is to assist human rights education efforts worldwide and to be used in different cultural settings, by human rights educators and learners, looking for a basic understanding of human rights hence the title.  The manual has been endorsed by the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the HSN in Graz, Austria, from 8-10 May, 2003, together with the Graz Declaration on Human Rights Education and Human Security, also elaborated by the ETC.

Experts from Argentina, Austria, Canada, Greece, India, The Netherlands, Mali, South Africa, Switzerland and the United States contributed to the manual, edited by Wolfgang Benedek and Minna Nikolova from ETC Graz. The ICRC provided a module on human rights in armed conflict and the Peoples Movement on Human Rights Education (PDHRE) and its network helped with general advice and enabled contributions, in particular from the South.

The manual intentionally is an open-ended work on which human rights educators and learners can base their efforts to further develop it and adapt it by introducing additional elements (modules) relevant to their own social environment and needs. For this purpose, the structure of the Manual deliberately allows for its very flexible use.

After an introduction to the system of Human Rights, which deals with a series of issues from the concept and nature of human rights and the different regional systems of protection of human rights to initiatives in the cities, there are 13 modules on selected human rights issues, ranging from the prohibition of torture and the freedom from poverty to the human rights of the child and human rights in armed conflict as well as democracy, which allow the educator or learner to start with his or her main interests.

Each module is structured in the same way, starting with an Illustration Story and continuing with a Need to Know section, which introduces the substance and context of the right and the instruments of implementation, a Good to Know section, which, inter alia, contains good practices, trends, inter-cultural perspectives and a chronology, and a Selected Activities section, which offers proposals for games, role plays or debates to be organized with learners, and finally a section on References and sources of further information.

A third part contains various additional resources like an overview of the most important literature and internet sources on human rights and human rights education and contact information for international and regional intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations active in the field of human rights, as well as other useful materials.

For convenience the Universal Declaration on Human Rights has been included as well as an introduction into the methodology of human rights education, a glossary of main terms and an index, which make this a manual which can also serve as a handbook for human rights educators and learners. The methodology specifically developed for this manual and the fact that in the introduction and in all the modules the relationship between human rights and human security has been given special consideration make it a unique contribution to its field.

Thanks to the support of the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs copies will be available from Austrian diplomatic missions, other distributors still to be defined like the OHCHR and the ETC. The conditions will be published on the ETC website soon. The manual, which has 336 pages, can be downloaded from the websites of the Ministry (www.bmaa.gv.at) and the ETC (www.etc-graz.at).

Translations are being prepared into the French, Spanish and German languages.

The editors welcome feedback and comments to: office@etc-graz.at


The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora
The new and improved English edition of Asterios Koukoudis' work has been published and is available with the tittle "Studies on the Vlachs II, The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora", (hard cover, 28 x 21 cm, 516 pages, 15 colored maps, 388 old black and white pictures, Zitros Publications, Thessaloniki 2003, price 58,00 euros).
For more information and possible order go to: http://web.otenet.gr/vlachs/index-uk.htm


New Europe College Regional Program Yearbook
Please be informed that, besides the hardcopy, the New Europe College Regional Program Yearbook for 2001-2 has been published also on the Net at: http://library.nec.ro/papers/regional2001-2002/yearbook.htm . It comprises the research papers of the NEC Fellows within the 2001-2 Regional Program coming from Bulgaria, Moldova, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. The studies cover different fields, from sociology, to visual arts. More information: http://library.nec.ro/papers/regional2001-2002/yearbook.htm  imihai@nec.ro, Irina Vainovski-Mihai


Hurst Catalogue on the Balkans and Eastern Europe
The new complete 32pp. catalogue, listing all of Hurst's publications on the Balkans and Eastern Europe, is now available as a downloadable pdf at http://www.hurstpub.co.uk/
If you wish to receive a conventional printed copy in the post, please send an email with your name and address to: maria@hurstpub.co.uk
'With Bosnia after Dayton Hurst have added another valuable title to their unrivalled list of publications on the Balkans' (Professor Mark Mazower, Times Literary Supplement, 14 Feb. 2003)


US Foreign Policy in the Balkans/Middle east
"Zones of Conflict; US Foreign Policy in the Balkans and the Greater Middle East" by Vassilis K. Fouskas has just been published by Pluto press, London (Seven chapters-List of Abbreviations-Two maps-Bibliography-Index-182 pages. ISBN: 0 7453 2029 5 paperback and 0 7453 2030 9 hardback - www.plutobooks.com).
The book offers a sustained analysis of US policy objectives after the Cold War in the Balkans, Central Asia and the Middle East. It also looks systematically at the hegemonic antagonism between key EU states, Russia, China and the US for the strategic control of Eurasia and its oil and gas producing zones.
Praises for the "Zones of Conflict"
"Finally, an excellent counterblast to Zbigniew Brzezinski, written with verve and intelligence", Donald Sassoon, Professor of Comparative European History, Queen Mary, University of London
"An interesting interpretation of US policy in what the author describes as the Eurasian region of the Balkans and the Greater Middle East", Stevan K. Pavlowitch, Professor Emeritus of Balkan History, University of Southampton
"Thanks to the 'Zones of Conflict' we have a refreshing new interpretation of post-Cold War American foreign policy that challenges basic assumptions of the American foreign policy establishment", Van Coufoudakis, Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, Indiana, University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne and Rector Intercollege, Nicosia, Cyprus
"[Fouskas] is looking at both an interesting and under-theorised part of the world and the role of the US within it", Ray Bush, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Leeds
The author, Vassilis K. Fouskas, is the founding Editor of Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, Senior Research Fellow in European and International Studies at Kingston University, London, and a Leverhulme Fellow (2002-03).
 

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