The article is dedicated to contemporary political situation in Lithuania, emphasizing sociopsychological content of the opposition between different political competitors in modern Lithuania. The article emphasizes the role of intelligentsia as the basic group of politicians, its' forms, intentions of their political activity, and, especially, the motive of their "self-importance". This competetive activity has moral "cover", opponents reveal each other, using the fact, that under the cover of popular slogans they satisfy their own needs and values. As a result, a morality occurs a kind of tool in political game. ; Straipsnyje, atsižvelgiant į profesionalios politinės technologijos atsiradimą visuotiniuose rinkimuose, analizuojami šiuolaikiški Lietuvos politiniai papročiai, įskaitant socialinį psichologinį politinės kovos turinį. Šiomis sąlygomis sąmoningas anoniminės rinkėjų masės "politinis pasirinkimas" įgauna naują prasmę. Èia nagrinėjamos inteligentijos, sudarančios pagrindinį politikų korpusą, politinio aktyvumo formos bei motyvacijos. Politinių konkurentų kova dėl valdžios dažniausiai turi moralinius "rūbus". Oponentai kaltina vieni kitus, kad jų konkurentai į pirmą vietą iškelia privačius savanaudiškus, o ne visuomeninius, interesus. Galiausiai moralė tampa "preke" politinėje rinkoje.
This article deals with the EU Structural and Regional Policies and their financing mechanisms in the EU Member States and Lithuania, as one of the Candidate Countires. Although EU is one of the most prosperous regions in the world, disparities between countries and regions remain visible. To address existing socio-economic disparities between regions, the EU has adopted its structural and regional policies, which, based on financial solidarity of its Member States, aim to promote competitiveness and employment by helping regions to generate sustainable development and adapt to new conditions on the labour market and to global competition. The EU has at its disposal Structural Funds through which it channels financial assistance: the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund and the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance. Support channelled through these funds amount to one third of the European Union' Budget. In addition, support to four least prosperous Member States infrastructure development is being provided through the Cohesion Fund. The article makes an overview of the main principles of the operation of the Structural Funds and their role in economic development of Member States. The article also deals with three pre-accession instruments: SAPARD, ISPA and Economic and Social Cohesion, which correspond to the main areas of assistance provided through the Structural Funds and imply operational aspects similar to those used by the Structural Funds. In addition, the Article draws conclusions On the effectiveness of structural assistance in the previous years, which may be useful to consider while making transfers to Lithuania under pre-accession instruments and subsequently while programming and receiving transfers through the Structural Funds. The article also draws lessons from the management of Structural Funds and pre-accession facilities for the application in the management of public finances of Lithuania. ; Beveik nekyla abejonių, kad Lietuva jau 2004 metais taps Europos Sąjungos nare. Narystė, kuriai aktyviai rengiamasi, reikš, jog Europos Sąjungos teisės aktai taps privalomi ir mūsų šalyje. Lietuva, tapusi Europos Sąjungos nare, įgys ne tik prievolių, bet ir teisę naudotis ES biudžieto lėšomis, kurios yra perskirstomos mažiau išsivysčiusioms narėms arba regionams ir yra skirtos paspartinti ekonominį ir socialinį jų augimą. Pagrindinė šių lėšų dalis yra struktūriniai fondai, iš kurių yra finansuojamos regioninės ir struktūrinės programos Airijoje, Graikijoje, Ispanijoje, Portugalijoje, Pietų Italijoje, Rytų Vokietijoje ir kitose šalyse. Šio straipsnio tikslas-panagrinėti Europos Sąjungos regioninės-struktūrinės paramos politiką ir finansavimo šaltinius. Ypač dėmesys yra kreipiamas struktūrinių fondų paskirstymo mechanizmo analizei, kadangi jo pagrindai gali būti panaudoti kuriant efektyvų valstybės lėšų paskirstymo ir kontrolės mechanizmą.
Theatre by its definition is a communal and social institution, representing as well as establishing certain socio-political functions. However, at the end of the 20th century there was a real sense, that "political theatre" as a form was thought to be dying (not to mention the notorious nature of the term political theatre in post-soviet space), and the ambition of theatre as cultural practise that inspires social change or at least some kind of active reflection was corrupt. As contemporary culture aspires to the condition of theatre and "society of spectacle," a lot of differences, especially those between theatre and reality, entertainment or social action, are constantly blurred, the meanings and locations of political need to be retraced and redrawn. When the real live dramas are staged on a daily basis it ofen seems irrelevant, even disrespectful or impossible to engage in the luxury of making theatre. If we agree, however, that personal is the political, we must note that quite a number of theatre artists declare that to engage with theatre today means to take a position which is inherently oppositional or political and doesn't need any further articulation. There is anger and sense of unarticulated frustration underlying many Lithuanian theatre productions, and that it can be read as a statement about the context in which politics and theatre might be currently played out. Therefore, the notion of political should not be so easily rejected as outdated or obsolete. [to full text]
Theatre by its definition is a communal and social institution, representing as well as establishing certain socio-political functions. However, at the end of the 20th century there was a real sense, that "political theatre" as a form was thought to be dying (not to mention the notorious nature of the term political theatre in post-soviet space), and the ambition of theatre as cultural practise that inspires social change or at least some kind of active reflection was corrupt. As contemporary culture aspires to the condition of theatre and "society of spectacle," a lot of differences, especially those between theatre and reality, entertainment or social action, are constantly blurred, the meanings and locations of political need to be retraced and redrawn. When the real live dramas are staged on a daily basis it ofen seems irrelevant, even disrespectful or impossible to engage in the luxury of making theatre. If we agree, however, that personal is the political, we must note that quite a number of theatre artists declare that to engage with theatre today means to take a position which is inherently oppositional or political and doesn't need any further articulation. There is anger and sense of unarticulated frustration underlying many Lithuanian theatre productions, and that it can be read as a statement about the context in which politics and theatre might be currently played out. Therefore, the notion of political should not be so easily rejected as outdated or obsolete. [to full text]
Theatre by its definition is a communal and social institution, representing as well as establishing certain socio-political functions. However, at the end of the 20th century there was a real sense, that "political theatre" as a form was thought to be dying (not to mention the notorious nature of the term political theatre in post-soviet space), and the ambition of theatre as cultural practise that inspires social change or at least some kind of active reflection was corrupt. As contemporary culture aspires to the condition of theatre and "society of spectacle," a lot of differences, especially those between theatre and reality, entertainment or social action, are constantly blurred, the meanings and locations of political need to be retraced and redrawn. When the real live dramas are staged on a daily basis it ofen seems irrelevant, even disrespectful or impossible to engage in the luxury of making theatre. If we agree, however, that personal is the political, we must note that quite a number of theatre artists declare that to engage with theatre today means to take a position which is inherently oppositional or political and doesn't need any further articulation. There is anger and sense of unarticulated frustration underlying many Lithuanian theatre productions, and that it can be read as a statement about the context in which politics and theatre might be currently played out. Therefore, the notion of political should not be so easily rejected as outdated or obsolete. [to full text]
On the basis of qualitative research (over 20 semistructured interviews) study concerning interrelations between women's career and political environment, political-cultural norms as well as organizational situations and factors has been carried out. The main assumption is that career associates a person and the public sphere, reflects personal self-realization in society, community (career here is understood as personal trajectory to socially important positions in the decision making structure). Politics is analyzed through three axes. First, politics is a social game of legitimacy, influence, and authority. Second, politics is a concrete set of instruments (laws, regulations, unwritten rules, etc.) operating in a society in order to solve conflicts and to secure functioning of communal life. Third, politics is a structure of influences and value orientations in a close personal environment that is always vibrant, dynamic and open. Such politics means efforts, intentions and orientations of a concrete person to self-realize and to consolidate personal position in any concrete environment. In the present study life histories and stories of women from the middle class in the post-soviet Lithuania are being analyzed with an attempt to recognize how they operate in their environment and what are peculiar "feminine" political moves. Recommendations how it could be possible to change the existing situation into more career women favorable direction are provided at the end of the text. ; Kokybinio tyrimo pagrindu (daugiau negu 20 pusiau struktūruotų interviu) atliktoje studijoje gilinamasi į moters karjeros ir politinės aplinkos, politinių-kultūrinių normų bei organizacinių situacijų ir veiksnių tarpusavio sąryšius. Pagrindinė sąvoka - karjera - sieja asmenį su viešąja sfera, išreiškia asmens savirealizaciją visuomenėje, bendruomenėje (karjera čia suvokiama kaip asmens trajektorija į socialiai reikšmingą poziciją visuomenės sprendimų priėmimo struktūroje). Politika nagrinėjama pasitelkus trejetą pjūvių. Pirma, politika kaip galios, teisėtumo/neteisėtumo, autoritetingumo, įtakingumo ir t.t. žaidimas visuomenėje. Antra, politika – tai konkreti sąranga, veikianti visuomenėje ir pateikianti vienokius ar kitokius instrumentus (įstatymus, potvarkius, nerašytas tradicijas ir pan.) konfliktams reguliuoti ir visuomenės funkcionavimui garantuoti. Trečia, politika – tai įtakų, vertybinių orientacijų asmens artimoje socialinėje aplinkoje struktūra, kuri dėl savo politiškumo esmės yra gyva, dinamiška ir atvira. Tokia politika iš esmės reiškia konkretaus asmens įsitvirtinimo ir savirealizacijos konkrečiomis aplinkybėmis pastangas, užmojus, orientyrus, aplinkybes. Pateikiamoje studijoje minimais aspektais nagrinėjamos posovietinės Lietuvos viduriniosios klasės moterų gyvenimo istorijos ir pasakojimai, atkreipiant dėmesį į tokių moterų veikimą savo aplinkoje ir atpažįstant savitą "moteriškų" politinių judesių repertuarą. Pateikiamos rekomendacijos, kaip būtų įmanoma keisti esamą situaciją moters karjerai palankesne kryptimi.
Driven by the rapid shift to information-based products and business strategies the discipline of knowledge management is emerging as the inevitable next step toward productivity and competitiveness in modern business – and a major market opportunity for vendors of a variety of information-related computer products. The proper analysis of the terminology of technologies that contribute to knowledge management solutions is the subject of this paper. This paper provides a high-level overview of a number of key terms and concepts, describes the framework, provides examples of how to use it and explores a variety of potential application areas. The main comparative analysis of the definitions which were received from different terminology systems has been completed. It provides a framework for characterizing various tools (methods, practices and technologies) available to multiple criteria decision-making in the dwelling-housing procedure. In this paper we present a short description of "BRITA in PuBs" project.
Driven by the rapid shift to information-based products and business strategies the discipline of knowledge management is emerging as the inevitable next step toward productivity and competitiveness in modern business – and a major market opportunity for vendors of a variety of information-related computer products. The proper analysis of the terminology of technologies that contribute to knowledge management solutions is the subject of this paper. This paper provides a high-level overview of a number of key terms and concepts, describes the framework, provides examples of how to use it and explores a variety of potential application areas. The main comparative analysis of the definitions which were received from different terminology systems has been completed. It provides a framework for characterizing various tools (methods, practices and technologies) available to multiple criteria decision-making in the dwelling-housing procedure. In this paper we present a short description of "BRITA in PuBs" project.
Social or Cultural Anthropology, in the Western sense, is little known territory in parts of contemporary East Europe. It is the case in Lithuania where biological anthropology traditionally claims the term anthropology for itself. Lithuanian ethnology and sociology partially fill the void normally covered by anthropology. There were definite political, academic and practical factors that stunted the growth of anthropology in Lithuania. The aim of this article is to identify these factors, and to define the sphere and the field of research and instruction, that should be allocated to anthropology. I seek also to present the case for an urgent need of the discipline to be established in the educational, research and applied frontiers of contemporary Lithuanian society. It has been even more complicated to establish the importance and capability of socio-cultural anthropology as a separate field of endeavour vis-à-vis Lithuanian ethnology. While socio-cultural anthropology in the West examined the other and otherness, there was no political interest for a newly independent nation-state in a discipline with a wrong focus.
Social or Cultural Anthropology, in the Western sense, is little known territory in parts of contemporary East Europe. It is the case in Lithuania where biological anthropology traditionally claims the term anthropology for itself. Lithuanian ethnology and sociology partially fill the void normally covered by anthropology. There were definite political, academic and practical factors that stunted the growth of anthropology in Lithuania. The aim of this article is to identify these factors, and to define the sphere and the field of research and instruction, that should be allocated to anthropology. I seek also to present the case for an urgent need of the discipline to be established in the educational, research and applied frontiers of contemporary Lithuanian society. It has been even more complicated to establish the importance and capability of socio-cultural anthropology as a separate field of endeavour vis-à-vis Lithuanian ethnology. While socio-cultural anthropology in the West examined the other and otherness, there was no political interest for a newly independent nation-state in a discipline with a wrong focus.
Social or Cultural Anthropology, in the Western sense, is little known territory in parts of contemporary East Europe. It is the case in Lithuania where biological anthropology traditionally claims the term anthropology for itself. Lithuanian ethnology and sociology partially fill the void normally covered by anthropology. There were definite political, academic and practical factors that stunted the growth of anthropology in Lithuania. The aim of this article is to identify these factors, and to define the sphere and the field of research and instruction, that should be allocated to anthropology. I seek also to present the case for an urgent need of the discipline to be established in the educational, research and applied frontiers of contemporary Lithuanian society. It has been even more complicated to establish the importance and capability of socio-cultural anthropology as a separate field of endeavour vis-à-vis Lithuanian ethnology. While socio-cultural anthropology in the West examined the other and otherness, there was no political interest for a newly independent nation-state in a discipline with a wrong focus.
The controversial war in Iraq has revitalized the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU), which has been stagnant since Maastricht Treaty and the failure in the Balkans. The development of the CFSP is accumulating acceleration: the EU will soon have not only a common market, common institutions and a single currency, but also a common constitution, minister of foreign affairs and even a common army. The leaders of the larger states are especially enthusiastic about a stronger CFSP as a counterweight to the US dominance in the international security affairs. The authors of this article contend that clearly articulated and globally projected CFSP will not be possible unless common European interests stemming from as common European identity and implemented by common supranational institutions will emerge. The impact of the CFSP on Lithuanian foreign and security policy will depend on the pace of European integration in this area and the strength of European identity within the political elite of Lithuania and the society itself. Will this impact be of a positive nature? It will depend on the way Europe will choose: creation of an independent defence structure as an alternative to NATO or development of a cohesive strategic partnership with the US and NATO. In any case, Lithuania will have to constantly seek for a subtle balance between her commitments to NATO, implications of the EU membership and the strategic partnership with the US. In this. [to full text]
The controversial war in Iraq has revitalized the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU), which has been stagnant since Maastricht Treaty and the failure in the Balkans. The development of the CFSP is accumulating acceleration: the EU will soon have not only a common market, common institutions and a single currency, but also a common constitution, minister of foreign affairs and even a common army. The leaders of the larger states are especially enthusiastic about a stronger CFSP as a counterweight to the US dominance in the international security affairs. The authors of this article contend that clearly articulated and globally projected CFSP will not be possible unless common European interests stemming from as common European identity and implemented by common supranational institutions will emerge. The impact of the CFSP on Lithuanian foreign and security policy will depend on the pace of European integration in this area and the strength of European identity within the political elite of Lithuania and the society itself. Will this impact be of a positive nature? It will depend on the way Europe will choose: creation of an independent defence structure as an alternative to NATO or development of a cohesive strategic partnership with the US and NATO. In any case, Lithuania will have to constantly seek for a subtle balance between her commitments to NATO, implications of the EU membership and the strategic partnership with the US. In this. [to full text]
The controversial war in Iraq has revitalized the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU), which has been stagnant since Maastricht Treaty and the failure in the Balkans. The development of the CFSP is accumulating acceleration: the EU will soon have not only a common market, common institutions and a single currency, but also a common constitution, minister of foreign affairs and even a common army. The leaders of the larger states are especially enthusiastic about a stronger CFSP as a counterweight to the US dominance in the international security affairs. The authors of this article contend that clearly articulated and globally projected CFSP will not be possible unless common European interests stemming from as common European identity and implemented by common supranational institutions will emerge. The impact of the CFSP on Lithuanian foreign and security policy will depend on the pace of European integration in this area and the strength of European identity within the political elite of Lithuania and the society itself. Will this impact be of a positive nature? It will depend on the way Europe will choose: creation of an independent defence structure as an alternative to NATO or development of a cohesive strategic partnership with the US and NATO. In any case, Lithuania will have to constantly seek for a subtle balance between her commitments to NATO, implications of the EU membership and the strategic partnership with the US. In this. [to full text]
The controversial war in Iraq has revitalized the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU), which has been stagnant since Maastricht Treaty and the failure in the Balkans. The development of the CFSP is accumulating acceleration: the EU will soon have not only a common market, common institutions and a single currency, but also a common constitution, minister of foreign affairs and even a common army. The leaders of the larger states are especially enthusiastic about a stronger CFSP as a counterweight to the US dominance in the international security affairs. The authors of this article contend that clearly articulated and globally projected CFSP will not be possible unless common European interests stemming from as common European identity and implemented by common supranational institutions will emerge. The impact of the CFSP on Lithuanian foreign and security policy will depend on the pace of European integration in this area and the strength of European identity within the political elite of Lithuania and the society itself. Will this impact be of a positive nature? It will depend on the way Europe will choose: creation of an independent defence structure as an alternative to NATO or development of a cohesive strategic partnership with the US and NATO. In any case, Lithuania will have to constantly seek for a subtle balance between her commitments to NATO, implications of the EU membership and the strategic partnership with the US. In this. [to full text]
