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This study concentrates on the analysis of social structure of medieval society and accordingly on the acquisition of knowledge (1) about their orderliness, (2) inner processes (3) and least partially their influence on the process of formation of West civilization. In the next sequence article deals with development medieval structure in the context Elias civilization's theory as well as and closely knots on the inquiry of distinguished contemporary medievalists, mainly G. Duby, J. le Goff, A. Gurevič, F. Cardini, M. Bloch, etc. In addition, submitted study focuses on deeply understanding specific structure of medieval society through application binary and dichotomous approaches, theory of three orders, also theory of feudalization. In the end the research is attending on the phenomena of knighthood and the process of formation of the courtly society.

The spatial polarisation of society is open to various research perspectives. It takes several forms and involves various epiphenomena. Consequently, it is the subject of research interest to scholars in various fi elds, especially sociologists, economists, regionalists, and regional geographers. The article focuses on selected aspects of peripherality and peripheral regions. The first part is devoted to the theoretical aspects of the polarisation of society, developmental interactions between the centre and the periphery, the relationship between peripherality and levels of hierarchy, peripherality and time, and the primary criteria of peripherality in inland and borderland regions. The second part applies theoretical-methodological findings to regions of Slovakia using selected quantitative methods. The author attempts to describe peripherality in multidimensional terms, and to identify the interconnections between various types of peripherality. Based on detailed statistical data on municipalities, he uses a broad range of indicators divided into four groups: human resources, economic potential, personal amenities, and access to centres. In conclusion the author identifies and categorises the peripheral regions of Slovakia and notes the existence of peripherality at regional and local levels.

Engl. Zsfassung u.d.T.: A long-term vision of the Slovak society development

The aim of this article is to explore the various ways in which people represent social groups. The author shows that a prominent role in such processes is played by psychological essentialism. People represent some of their social identities as inherent qualities that are based on the sharing of a presumed 'essence': something unobservable, diffi cult to remove, irreversible, and causally responsible for overt behaviours. Empirical evidence suggests that no particular causal process of essence acquisition is constitutive for essentialism in folk models of society. Some authors believe that folk essentialism is necessarily connected with the presumed innateness of an essence (its biological transmission across generations). Innate potential and biological inheritance, however powerful they may be for the human cognitive mind in the domain of folk models for biology, are far from necessary in essentialist folksociological classifications. Essentialism in folk sociology is not defined by any particular causal process of essence acquisition. Even when it is possible to detect that a given group of people claim the innate essence of a particular folk sociology, it is always necessary to look for other features of essentialism (inherence, sharp boundaries, the immutability of identity, etc.). The article reviews some influential cognitive proposals concerning folk models of society (Astuti, Gil-White, Hirschfeld) and ethnicity, and provides arguments and empirical evidence collected in Western Ukraine in support of the claim that presumed innateness is not the constitutive part of folk models of society, let alone of psychological essentialism.

In 2017 the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation was celebrated. Then there was a huge discussion about the impact of the Reformation on church, culture and society. In this article and in an another one published in last number of this journal, this question will be raised, especially in Icelandic context. Here it is assumed that it is only possible to state that a change has occurred or a novelty has arised because of Lutheran influence if it can be demonstrated that the Reformation is a necessary prerequisite for the change / innovation being discussed. Here it is particularly pointed out that various changes that until now have been traced to the Reformation can have been due to the development of the central-controlled state power. It is also pointed out that, due to the small population, rural areas and simple social structure, various changes that occurred in urban areas did not succeed in Iceland until long after the Reformation. Such cases are interpreted as delayed Lutheran effects. Then, in Iceland, many changes, which were well matched to the core areas of the Reformation, did not work until the 18th century and then because of the pietism. Such cases are interpreted as derivative Lutheran effects.In Iceland two generalizations have been evident in the debate on the influence of the Lutheran Reformation. The first one emphasizes extensive and radical changes in many areas in the Reformation period and subsequent extensive decline. It is also stated that this regression can be traced directly to the Reformation and not to other fenomenons, e.g. the development of modern, centralized state. The other one states that the Reformation was most powerful in the modernization in both the church and society in Iceland.This article focuses on the influence of the Reformation in the field of culture and society. These include e.g. the closure of monasteries and the consequences of it in the field of welfare, which have been widely discussed in recent times.The final conclusion of these two articles is that the main influence of the Reformation is found in the field of faith itself, and that the Reformation made it easier for the Lutheran Church than the two traditional denominations, the Roman Catholic Church and that Orthodox one, to meet the modernization in culture and society.

Numerous studies have confi rmed that caring for small children is still the domain of women in Slovakia. Maternity as such is considered the natural and expected role of women and is part of the construction of femininity in Slovak society. At the same time, it is expected and routine that Slovak women participate in the labour market, and the prevailing form of employment is full-time work. This complicates efforts to harmonise work with the need to care for a small child. It is not just the country's legislative and institutional framework that shape notions about caring for small children; they are also influenced by the views and attitudes of society towards this issue. The image of a good mother is constructed, and women then try to approximate it when performing their maternal role. The prevailing ideal is of a mother who devotes herself full-time to caring for a child for the first three years of the child's life. The author of this article focuses on the context surrounding the construction of the image of a good mother as one who cares for her child until the age of three, and examines how the image of the good mother is reflected in the opinions of women on returning to work and on work/life balance. The data in this analysis are drawn from public opinion polls about early childcare and the reality of caring for small children in Slovakia and from in-depth interviews with mothers of small children. The mothers are aware of the views of society, refl ect on them, and many try to fulfil them so that they are perceived as 'good' and not 'inadequate' mothers.

Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was (Mánasteinn: Drengurinn sem aldrei var til, 2013) by Sjón tells of three eventful months in the life of Máni Steinn in the fall of 1918. In this short period the volcano Katla erupts, the Spanish flu rages and Iceland regains its sovereignty from Denmark. Building on Judith Butler's, Mary Douglas's and Michel Foucault's theories regarding the body as a cultural construct, this article focuses on body discourse as presented in Moonstone. According to Douglas there is a direct link between boundaries of the body and boundaries of society. Everything that endangers the stability of society's boundaries is considered social pollution. Foucault's theory on panopticism likewise identifies surveillance and discipline of citizens' bodies as means of maintaining society's social structure. Because Máni Steinn is queer, his body is considered abnormal according to the period's definitions on what constitutes a healthy and stable body. Aberrations from the "healthy", heterosexual body creates divergence within society's fabric. To regain the appearance of a "pure" society Máni needs to be hidden or banished from it. Yet the arrival of the Spanish flu to Reykjavík deconstructs conventional definition of the body and unravels the social hierarchy. The distinction between the healthy and the infected is obliterated, as the body becomes a site where irreconcilable opposites merge. During the turmoil of the Spanish flu boundaries of the body become as unstable as society's boundaries become fluent.

Since 1992 Russia is on the way to reform and decentralizing ist government, which means the differentiation of power and property, between the state and society, the center and regions. The country was able to keep its area, but not a peaceful process of changes. Two extreme conflicts developed during the last period of time in this area, OSETIN-INGUSSIAN and CHECHENIAN conflicts, which grew up into an armed conflict, both were settled down, but no termination by peaceful political settlement was possible. The danger of a widespread violence is still a current emergency. All these events are occuring in the backgrouud of the massive political crisis, which developed in Moscow in the fall of 1993, and a later socieconomic crisis, causing a new wave of inflation aud destabilization of existing regime in August 1998. (SOI : MO: S. 63f.)