Search results

The article analyzes the intelectual and institutional history of communication and media studies in Croatia using a mixed methods approach. Content analysis of articles dealing with communication and media topics published in social science journals, as well as all articles in specialized media and communication journals in the period between 1969 and 2011, shows the intelectual history of the discipline, with the comparative position of Politicka misao in the theoretical and methodological development of the discipline. The sample includes 481 articles, consisting of all full original articles dealing with communication and media topics published in odd years. Included are articles published in social science journals -- Nase teme and Kulturni radnik (both discontinued in 1990), Politicka misao, Revija za sociologiju, Drustvena istrazivanja and Informatologia, and in scientific journals devoted exclusively to communication and media studies (all started after 1990) -- Medijska istrazivanja, Medianali, Medijske studije. Institutional approach was employed for increased understanding of processes which influenced the development of the academic discipline of communication and media studies in Croatia. Results show an increase in number, the diversity of topics, theoretical approaches, and the scientific quality of published articles, and highlight institutional problems in the development of the discipline. Adapted from the source document.

The perceptions of science by the Croatian public & the political elite are a combination of scientific-technological optimism, the exemption of science from social responsibility, the skepticism regarding the speed of changes that science brings into people's lives, & a mixture of cognitive realism & optimism, & the reservations towards the cognitive possibilities of science. Also, the perceptions of science by the public & by the elite differ significantly. The public perceptions link modernism & traditionalism, confidence & a lack of it in the socially responsible role of science (& technology). Politicians nurture three different views of science. The first view implies both the beneficial & the neutral social role of science. The second view implies the reservations of the elite regarding the humanistic social role of science & its cognitive power, while the third way links the cognitive limitations of science & the skepticism regarding the way in which it changes the traditional way of life. The perception of science by the public depends on the social composition, while the politicians' views are significantly influenced by their political worldview & orientations & party allegiance. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

Did the social changes of 1989/90, both on the territory of the former Yugoslavia & the entire Eastern Europe, surprise political analysts? Or did the research in social sciences, particularly political science, sociology, & psychology, perhaps supply enough material pointing to the possible changes as well as to the course they were going to take? In this work, the author gives a critical review of his studies conducted & published between 1980 & 1990 &, by hindsight, shows their relevance for understanding the recent radical & dramatic changes. Inevitably, the conclusion is that the author's research had pointed to the existence of all psychological conditions necessary for the events that followed. The long crisis, first economic & later political, gave rise to social unrest, which soon turned into general agitation. The powerful presence of the authoritarian structure of personality in these territories, the enduring xenophobia that, in combination with the appropriate ideological manipulation, easily leads to open inter-ethnic conflicts, the lack of both an adequate political culture & the democratic mechanisms of overcoming conflicts, within the context of decrepitude of an ideological project in a multiethnic community rife with historical conflicts, inevitably led into open conflicts. 5 Tables, 2 Figures, 15 References. Adapted from the source document.

Education & breeding, like culture in general, are, in the broadest sense, universal human phenomena inseparably linked & interactive. Anthropology, generally speaking, is a holistic science of man, his nature, & culture, so its approach & findings are always current, even in the scientific pedagogic treatment of education & its application. Because of that, the notions "education & breeding" & "anthropology," as a science of man & culture, are first theoretically determined so they can both contextually & explicitly be deduced & their necessary dialectical connection & mutuality be ascertained. The second, applied part of this paper is about religious education (scientifically, religiologically based) as a school subject & studies in the context of democratic social & political changes in Croatia & their relation to catechism. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks into the studies Hrestomatija politologije 1962.-2002. (Chrestomathy of Political Science 1962-2002) & Fakultet politickih znanosti 1962.-2002. (The Faculty of Political Science 1962-2002) & contends that these are the first serious contributions to the history of Croatian political science. The history of this discipline in the last 20 years has turned into a new subdiscipline of political science. The author shows that -- especially during the 1960s -- the so-called political science of the "new community" prevailed, a fact overlooked in these studies. Besides, he analyzes the concept of progress in Croatian political science used by the authors of Chrestomathy & shows that they lack understanding of the general idea of progress in political science. The author thinks that the rationalist-progressivistic concept of progress should be conceptually replaced by a contextual concept of progress in political science. 39 References. Adapted from the source document.

The essay deals with the evolution of the theory of transformation in German political science of the 1990s. This research was given fresh blood by the collapse of the communist systems in Eastern Europe. Realizing that the existing theories of transformation cannot be applied to Eastern European countries due to a plethora of important distinguishing features, German political scientists used two general starting points in their research. The first starting point is the theory of universal waves of democratization, which focused its research on the application of comparative methods & comparative politics. The second starting point is the assumption that Eastern Europe is undergoing the social system change & not the political regime change, which enormously broadened the research scope. These general starting points gave rise to a series of studies, which are among the best works from the field of the theory of transformation in contemporary political science. This also resulted in the first political science handbook on the theory of transformation. 31 References. Adapted from the source document.

The perceptions of science by the Croatian public & the political elite are a combination of scientific-technological optimism, the exemption of science from social responsibility, the skepticism regarding the speed of changes that science brings into people's lives, & a mixture of cognitive realism & optimism, & the reservations towards the cognitive possibilities of science. Also, the perceptions of science by the public & by the elite differ significantly. The public perceptions link modernism & traditionalism, confidence & a lack of it in the socially responsible role of science (& technology). Politicians nurture three different views of science. The first view implies both the beneficial & the neutral social role of science. The second view implies the reservations of the elite regarding the humanistic social role of science & its cognitive power, while the third way links the cognitive limitations of science & the skepticism regarding the way in which it changes the traditional way of life. The perception of science by the public depends on the social composition, while the politicians' views are significantly influenced by their political worldview & orientations & party allegiance. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

The first part of the article is a review of contemporary comparative politics research in Qennany. The conclusion of the first part is that serious attempts to-overcome the structural weaknesses of this political science sub discipline are made only from the 1990's on. The biggest credit for it goes to the research on political & social transformation that has also contributed substantially to the development of regional comparative studies. In the second part, the author shows both the structural weaknesses & the new positive developments by reviewing five recently published comparative studies. The most important among the weaknesses is the "lockedness" into the traditional framework of studying systems of government, as well as a lack of methodological consciousness, theoretical eclecticism, strong descriptive normativism & a bias in the selection of study cases. References. Adapted from the source document.

Croatian readers are provided with an alphabetic glossary listing & explaining terms that are seldom clearly defined in current reference works on sociology but the knowledge of which is indispensable for participating in contemporary discourse in & on social sciences. Some of the terms included are: paradigma 'paradigm,' postmoderna 'postmodernity,' paradoks 'paradox,' samoreferencija 'selfreference,' autopoeza 'autopoiesis,' globalizam 'globalization,' medij 'medium,' fairness 'fairness,' binarni kod/bipolarnost 'binary code/bipolarity,' & others. Z. Dubiel

Croatian readers are provided with an alphabetic glossary listing & explaining terms that are seldom clearly defined in current reference works on sociology but the knowledge of which is indispensable for participating in contemporary discourse in & on social sciences. Some of the terms included are: paradigma 'paradigm,' postmoderna 'postmodernity,' paradoks 'paradox,' samoreferencija 'selfreference,' autopoeza 'autopoiesis,' globalizam 'globalization,' medij 'medium,' fairness 'fairness,' binarni kod/bipolarnost 'binary code/bipolarity,' & others. Z. Dubiel