Search results

Language is one of the most important elements of cultural identity, but also an expression of economic & political structures & relations. This article is mostly dealing with the role of languages in political processes on three levels: national, regional & international. Presently, all of them are changing together with the structure of contemporary international politics. However, the process of economic globalization does not mean the end of the traditional role of national languages in the process of nation-state building. Nation states are traditionally against policies of multilinguism & against political rights for minority languages. These processes are still quite visible, particularly in Asia. Nevertheless, globalization is also connected with new regionalism, on intrastate as well as international levels. The new role of languages on the regional level often reflects, especially in developed countries, processes of political decentralization. On the international level there is a special role for imperial languages. However, processes of integration in developed countries, particularly in Europe, in contradistinction to some other regions, are haunted by problems & limits because of language diversity & the lack of one unifying language. 10 References. Adapted from the source document.

An edition of 15th-century German-language tax records from the Cheb region, accompanied by extensive historical introduction and appendices in Czech

The book by Premysl Macha Small Flame in the Mountains, Fire in the Lowlands. Indian Uprising in the Mexican Chiapas describes the development of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). Czech political scientist P. Macha used to be an uncritical supporter of the uprising in the south of Mexico, but today he finds some problems in the activities of the EZLN. The book analyzes in detail the roots & history of this guerilla struggle. However, the success of the Zapatista propaganda among intellectuals in Western countries could have been given more critical attention. Nevertheless, it is the best work about the EZLN in the Czech language. 8 References. Adapted from the source document.

From the beginning of social thinking, social class has been used as an explanatory factor for social phenomena in both the Marxist & Weberian traditions. However, many sociologists have pointed out that during the second half of the 20th century & especially at the beginning of the 1990s the usefulness of social classes in explaining social phenomena is declining. This article presents three recent debates on class analysis. The debates outline two opposing arguments. The first position accepts the "death of class" argument & conceptualizes contemporary socio-economic inequalities in terms of a status-based society. The second position rejects the "death of class" argument & conceptualizes contemporary socio-economic inequalities in terms of a new language of class. The question remains as to which of these arguments will be more persuasive for sociology in the next decade. 1 Figure, 55 References. Adapted from the source document.