The paper focuses on the Latin American perspective on modernity, especially on the Peruvian sociologist Anibal Quijano's notion of coloniality. Coloniality is explained as a theoret- ical framework for critical reflection of modernity with an emphasis on the forms of knowledge (episteme) and on non-Western, more specifically Latin American historical experiences and perspectives. The aim is to introduce some Latin American efforts to critically understand coloniality as the other face of modernity and to develop a distinctive critique of capitalism, globalisation and Eurocentrism in their historical dynamics, In the first part, the paper briefly introduces Latin America as a geocultural place and a object of social research in a historical perspective. Special attention is paid to the question of racial classification and authenticity. In the second part, the paper focuses on the notion of coloniality as it was conceptualised by A. Quijano and by other Latin American authors. In the third and fourth parts, the paper deals with the problem of coloniality in wider epistemic contexts of modern social sciences and in relation to the notion of alterity and to the question of decolonisation of social scientific thinking. The final discussion addresses some of inspirational and problematic points of this conception such as problems of decolonisation, intellectual dependency and critique, and the problem of conceptualisation of differences in scientific discourses.
The article proceeds from the concept of the actorness of the EU, especially from its attractivity dimension, and also from comparisons of the EU and the Latin-American integration blocs on both the political and the academic level. It examines whether the Latin American media consider the EU as a model for Latin American integration. On the basis of an analysis of various articles published in two newspapers, the Argentinean La Nacion and the Colombian El Tiempo, two basic issues were examined: 1) whether these daily newspapers perceive the EU as a source of inspiration for their own countries' integration, and 2) whether and how the discourse differs in the two countries and whether it is possible to deduce general conclusions from the similarities and/or differences in the discourses. In conclusion, we deduce that some inspiration by the EU in the media perspective exists but that it is only limited to a few concrete areas. Adapted from the source document.
Panel data are increasingly being used in both macro- & micro-level studies of economic problems. Macro-panel data (i denotes countries) are characteristic by sufficiently long time series to be able to analyze panel spurious regression & panel cointegration. According to the main stream of the economic theory the budget deficits leads to deterioration in the current account balance. The panel long-run causal relation is examined in the case of the four groups of countries. For the Granger causality test the panel cointegration analysis is needed. The panel cointegration relationships were not found in any case. Some similarities in the panels were found in the case of Latin America countries but they are not significant. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.
The main purpose of this article is to show by selected case studies to what extent the euro has already managed to establish itself as one of the key international currencies from the point of view of various aspects, to what extent it fulfills the functions of an important international currency, and what are the prospects of the euro's position in the future. Various signals indicate that the euro already fulfills some conditions which would allow it to become a serious competitor to the dollar in a relatively short period of time. The article is also taking notice of some obstacles and drawbacks that the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has to and will have to deal with.First of all, the author deals with the question of whether the eurozone is an optimum currency area. This is one of the principal theoretical problems which has been accompanying the EMU since the very beginning. Then he shifts his attention to the question, concerning what role does the euro play in the world economy at present from the point of view of the share of the eurozone on the world GDP, trade, officialforeign exchange reserves, selected indicators offinancial markets etc. Then he deals with the role of the euro in the world monetary system -- one of the main subsystems of the world economy. Here is presented a survey of countries which have accepted the euro as its single or main currency, and also countries whose currencies are narrowly linked to the euro by means of various exchange rate mechanisms. The next part of the article outlines the potential of the euro in its "conquest" offurther regions of the world. Both those where the euro is becoming or will become the number one currency (e.g. in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe) in a foreseeable future, and those where it will compete with the American dollar (e.g. in Latin America, in the Middle East etc.). In the final part, the author attemptes (use the same tense) to point out some problems which can influence what?missing subject, if and to what extent the euro really will become a strong and stable currency. At the moment, it is not yet possible to answer concisely and clearly the question of whether the euro will become an equivalent competitor to the American dollar. It is important whether the EMU will or will not break up in the course of the coming years or decades. So far, there have not appeared any signals of this kind. It will be substantial how the member countries of the eurozone will be able to handle the first serious crisis, e.g. analogical to that of 1992-1993. At that time, the exchange rate mechanism (ERM) was abandonned temporarily by the 1talian lira and permanently by the British pound. This crisis of the European monetary system has shown the difficulty or even incapacity to set such a monetary policy which would be simultaneously advantageous for all member countries of a certain monetary system. The question is whetlLer it is possible considering there are usually big differences in economical standing between individual countries. A similar or even a more serious crisis could emerge in a longer time horizon. The EMU thus stays a long term project and a long distance run. It is, however, possible to assume that within the next ten years, it could become totally clear whether the EMU project is a great success or a great error. Adapted from the source document.
