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This paper provides a framework for the analysis of social movements, drawing on political process theory (PPT). The author argues that the concept of political opportunity structure is still adequate, although it has to be re-conceptualized at various points. Firstly, when analyzing contentious politics or collective action, it is much more suitable to handle the social movement as the unit of analysis rather then the protest event. Attention should also be paid to how the concept is applied. Finally, cultural aspects & the context of multilevel governance are implemented into PPT. This framework is used in the second part of the paper to analyze the Czech women's movement between 1989 & 2006. Adapted from the source document.

The article argues that many failures of economic policies, especially in the developing world, are accountable to the methodological biases of the underlying mainstream economic science. While the new institutional and development economics have substantially improved economic models, they still rely on the neoclassical assumptions of methodological individualism and utilitarism. Therefore, they cannot fully grasp the gender and cultural aspects of the societies living in developing countries, the dynamic character of their economies and their embedment in the natural, social and institutional environment. These scientific biases are analysed from the standpoint of four heterodox economic schools: those of feminist economics, evolutionary economics, ecological economics, and economic anthropology. The subsequent failure of the economic policies is documented by the cross-cutting example of the Structural Adjustment Programmes of the Bretton Woods institutions. The article concludes by emphasizing the common points of the heterodox schools and advocating for a methodological plurality in the Czech economic research and education. Adapted from the source document.

Since the 1970s, the World Bank has had a new goal: poverty eradication. This essay evaluates the Bank according to this objective. Persisting poverty judges the organization's work negatively. The Bank's many policies were often even contradictory over time, bringing strong criticisms, which its current policies reflect. These are the lessons of former failures in the Banks poverty reductions policies: The Bank's strategies now concentrate on both the market & the state to promote "development." The causes of underdevelopment lie not only in bad governance, but also in states' unfavorable economic positions. It is important to cooperate with the poor while trying to reduce poverty. "Development" is not only an issue of domestic economic reforms: political & social reforms are also important. The World Bank's newest Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) reflect these changes. They should achieve the ambitious Millennium goals, but time will be their judge. Adapted from the source document.

Americans were neither victims nor perpetrators of the Holocaust. Why, then, does this horrific event occupy such a prominent place in their public life & political discourse? With the help of the works by American Jewish historians Norman Finkelstein & Peter Novick, this review article offers a tentative solution to this puzzle. Finkeistein stresses that the Holocaust has been used by the American Jewish elites & organizations for their financial, political & symbolic benefits. Novick does not deny the role of elites & of their instrumental motives but claims that sincere & profitless activities of innumerable "private" Jews & of their informal networks have played no lesser role. According to Novick, four factors contributed to the elevating of the Holocaust to the public pedestal: (1) the transformation of the general atmosphere in theAmerican society from the "integrationism" of the 1950s & 1960s to the "differentialism" of the 1970s & 1980s, (2) the ensuing competition of ethnic & racial groups for the status of the most historically aggrieved minority which motivated Jews to use the Holocaust as a trump against the claims of other groups, (3) the crisis of Jewish identity (brought about by waning religious practices) which made it possible for the Holocaust to function as an Ersatzidentity for Judaism, &, finally, (4) the overrepresentation of the Jews in the media, cultural institutions & entertainment industry which confers upon them a privileged role in the creation & reproduction of hegemonic discourses & images of the larger society. In addition, the reference to the Holocaust has proved useful in justifying tough policies of Israeli governments vis-a-vis the Palestinians & in gaining support for those policies with the American public & government. 11 References. Adapted from the source document.