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The astonishing range of writings about the social causes and consequences of the Icelandic 2008 financial crisis proffers a unique opportunity to analyse comparative-ly how scholars from different disciplines in the humanities and social sciences deal with one and the same subject. How does the scholarly approach differ regarding the employment of theories, hypotheses, empirical data and concepts? Is the methodology of the humanities noticeably different from that of the social sciences? Did the boundaries of philosophy and related sciences change in times of crisis, momentarily or permanently?

Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Dans cette approche on aborde la question des facteurs principaux qui ont déterminé ou influencé l'historiographie espagnole pendant les dernières décennies: d'une part, les conditions politiques et surtout la présence du régime franquiste. Et d'autre part, les facteurs scientifiques, propres à la science de l'histoire. On examine les directions générales de l'historiographie du pays, de sa thématique et de sa méthodologie, ainsi que les interprétations de l'histoire espagnole proposées par les historiens, avant la guerre civile, pendant le régime franquiste et après la consolidation de la démocratie dans le pays. On constate que les facteurs politiques, bien qu'importants, ne sont pas les seuls qui ont influencé les sciences sociales. La situation de l'historiographie avant la guerre civile, la tradition conservatrice catholique, renforcée par le régime franquiste, la tradition libérale et d'autres facteurs liés aux sciences sociales, ont joué un rôle significatif dans le processus historiographique. Après la saturation de l'historiographie dithyrambique et nationaliste des années quarante, on assiste à un renouvellement de la science, dans les années cinquante, dû, en partie, à l'ouverture timide du régime et aux relations scientifiques avec d'autres pays. Sur la base de ce renouvellement, où la figure de Jaime Vicans Vives prédomine, s'effectuent toutes les transformations de la thématique, de la méthodologie et d'interprétation qui caractérisent la science de l'histoire dans les années suivantes.

Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Powerful revisionist currents are now flowing through the social sciences against what have been termed «society-centred» modes of explanation. The swift away from social determination has centred on the problem of the material referent of political motivation. This essay, talking about the language, wants to discuss some of the most problematic legacies of the social historical methodology. Linguistic turn in history focuses on the ways meaning is constituted in and through language in order to explain the world. Discourse is the organising concept term for conceptualising and practising the history of meaning. Discourse operates so as to structure thought and speech in certain ways and to preclude being structured in others. The problem of organising a social identity becomes one of representation: ideas certainly do matter, but the ways in which they matter, indeed their very existence as identifiable ideas, depend on processes of institutional and cultural mediation. That's why there is always an element of discordance between «social being» and its interpretation in «social consciousness». The disequilibrium results from the fact that their linkage is a product of human convention. People's responses to their experiences help shaped social change.

Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Kostas E. Lambrinos, Nobles and Cittadini in the Community of Venetian Sitia. Social Fermentations and Rearrangements (late sixteenth-seventeenth century) This study highlights the community of upper social class in Sitia, a small town in eastern Crete, in the late period of the Venetian dominion. Using new evidence from the State Archives of Venice, the article examines unknown aspects of the topic, such as the social identity of the community council (the so-called consiglio della comunità), the political functions and the evolution of this body, its internal social rearrangements and its particularities by comparison with the community dynamics in the other Cretan towns. The archival data indicate that this socio-political organ played a central role in local public life, but had a secondary position within the Venetian political system. Regarding its social composition, the community originally consisted of nobles-feudatories, according to the model of strict social organization in the island under Venetian rule. However, multiple factors of crucial importance, such as the small number of nobles in Sitia, the inadequate fortification of the town and the increasing financial needs of this region, had a catalytic effect on the local social fabric and, consequently, on the structure of the community: in the early seventeenth century it lost its aristocratic profile and acquired characteristics, which differentiate it from the other community entities of Crete. This decisive evolution occurred with the social advancement of the cittadini. Τhis intermediate social group acquired, with the consent of the Venetian authorities, the right to participate in the community in order to meet government targets in this politically sensitive area of the island. Hereinafter the cittadini had an increasingly strong presence in the community processes, gained more social power and enjoyed privileges previously monopolized by the aristocracy.

This chapter explores the possible influences of Sweden, Denmark and Finland on the Environmental Policy of the EU. We focus specifically on the reputation, expertise and role model behaviour of the Nordic EU members and their possibilities to use these factors as cognitive power resources.The chapter discusses several examples where the Nordic EU member states have successfully promoted their national environmental interests within the EU. We also make use of interviews with environmental representatives at the Swedish, Danish and Finnish Permanent Representations to the EU in Brussels, officials from other member states, DG Environment of the Commission and the European Environment Agency. The results indicate that the Nordic EU members have to some extent minimised their quantitative disadvantages, such as small administrations and limited voting powers, by successfully using the cognitive power resources in question within the Environmental Policy of the European Union.

The article recounts the account from the Árna saga about Loftur Helgason's trip to Bergen in 1282 and his stay there over winter, explained in terms of the formal sources about the organization of the government and changes in the law in the latter half of the 13th century. These changes were aimed at introducing into Iceland the power of both the King and the Church and in fact marked the actual changes throughout the Norwegian state. Loftur was Skálholt's official and the story about him was part of a long-standing dispute about the position of the chieftains versus the new power of the Church and the opposition to its introduction. The article defines the political confusion described in the Árna sagain Bergen in the winter of 1282-1283 as, on the one hand, changes in the constitution and, on the other hand, legislation, and at the same time whether the Kings Hákon Hákonarson and his son Magnús had systematically pursued a policy of having the Church be an independent party to the government of the state from 1247 onward until the death of the latter in 1280. When the disagreement is looked at as continuing, it is seen that Icelanders had made preparations for changes in the constitution with assurances of introduction of the power of the Church beginning in 1253 and the power of the King from 1262, but, on the other hand, the disagreements in both countries disappeared in the 1270s in the face of the conflict of interests that resulted from the laws that followed in the wake of the constiututional changes. Árna saga tell of this and how the disputes were described, but also that their nature changed as King Erikur came to power in 1280, as he gave the power of the King a new policy that was aimed against the power of the Church. Ousting of the archbishop from Norway and the Christian funerals of the excommunicated chieftains are examples of the conditions of government that could not have been, if the King had no longer had executive power over Christian concerns, as he had already conceded power over spiritual issues to the Pope in Rome with the Settlement at Túnsberg in 1277.

Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Vasso Théodorou, Approches interprétatives de la philanthropie. Du contrôle social à la réciprocité Cet article s'intéresse à suivre les déplacements théoriques de l'histoire sociale des trente dernières années en ce qui concerne l'interprétation du mouvement philanthropique. Dans une perspective comparative, on essaie de mettre en évidence les catégories analytiques utilisées au sein des traditions britannique, française et grecque, afin d'approcher les divers aspects de la pratique, les differentiations et les nuances qui s'inscrivent dans le contexte de l'évolution de chaque tradition intellectuelle. Puisque le phénomène de la philanthropie a été considéré comme un champ privilégié pour l'étude des relations sociales au cours du 19ème siècle, et surtout celle du processus d'insertion des couches inférieures aux valeurs bourgeoises pendant la période de l'industrialisation, la notion du contrôle social a présidé dans la plupart des travaux publiés dans les années '70 et '80. L'influence de M. Foucault a été évidente sur la tentative de compréhension du geste généreux dans le contexte de la normalisation des comportements des indigents jugés dangereux, tandis que la consolidation du capital social par le biais de la donation a trouvé un excellent champ d'investigation en sociologie. Dans ce cadre, on a tenté de faire le lien entre la participation philanthropique des milieux bourgeois et leur ascention au pouvoir politique, les rythmes d'accroissement des villes et la genèse des inquiétudes provenant des groupes marginaux, enfin les initiatives des femmes et leur émancipation. Or, l'enrichissement de la bibliographie tant française que britannique des années '90, et raffinement des outils analytiques empruntés aux autres sciences sociales, ont amené au réfléchissement sur les significations, la durée et le contenu de la pratique. D'ailleurs, la problématique des acteurs sociaux, militant pour la diminution du phénomène de l'exclusion sociale et l'émergence du mouvement volontariste actuel, ont sans doute influencé les tentatives interprétatives de l'action philanthropique du 19ème siècle, changeant leur orientation vers un contexte plus humanitaire. La contestation du contrôle social en tant que cadre d'interprétation exclusive de la philanthropie, a donné sa place à des approches qui prennent en considération le sens propre du mot: l'altruisme et la réciprocité. L'ouverture du dialogue à des outils théoriques des disciplines voisines, surtout ceux de la sociologie et de l'anthropologie, ont amené à la redéfinition du domaine de la philanthropie en tant que système de rapports matériels et culturels tenant en compte tant les structures intellectuelles de la période étudiée que les stratégies des acteurs sociaux.

1 Introduction: The Economics of Friendship --  1  Friendship: Money Can't Buy It? --  2  Φιλια --  3  An Economic Mentality --  4  Apparatus and Argument -- 2 Grace under Pressure: The Anatomy of χάρις --   The Argument --  1  Three Cases of Isomorphism --  2  χάρις and Successful Interaction --  3  Perception and /méconnaissance --  4  Conflicts and Cynicism --  5  Concluding Remarks -- 3 The Most Ancient of Obligations: The Nature of Filial Duty --  1  The Parent-Child Bond: A Paradigm-Case --  2  The Debtor Paradigm of Obligation --  3  The Gratitude Theory --  4  The Gratitude Theory Analysed --  5  Tensions in the Script: The Possibility of χάρις --  6  Concluding Remarks -- 4 A Debtor Paradigm of Obligation: Principles of Moral Accounting --  1  Moral Bookkeeping --  2  Morality as Paying Debts --  3  Debts, Gifts and Morality --  4  Concluding Remarks: The Ledger under Taboo -- 5 Pricing the Invaluable: Socrates and the Proper Use of Friends --   The Argument --  1  Framing Socratic Conversation --  2  False Friends, Part One: Utility, Ancient and Modern --  3  False Friends Part Two: Economics, Ancient and Modern --  4  Education and the Logic of Wage-Earning --  5  Concluding Remarks: The Givenness of the Good -- 6 Active Partnership: Socrates and the Art of Seduction --   The Argument --  1  Amazing Grace: Looking as a Reciprocal Endeavour --  2  The Hunter Hunted: Role Reversals and the Paradox of the Hetaera --  3  Desire Management --  4  The Secrets of Love Magic --  5  The Socratic Principle: Pay It Forward --  6  Concluding Remarks: Language Games at the Market Frontier -- 7 Relational Economics: Aristotle on Value and Equivalence --  1  Aristotle Discovers the Economy? --  2  Equivalence --  3  Value and Values --  4  The Politics of Need --  5  Concluding Remarks -- Epilogue: Hostile Worlds -- Bibliography -- Index.

This article discusses the phenomenon of self-harming or "non-Suicidal Self-In-jury" (nSSI). The International Society for the Study of Self-Injury defines non-sui cidal self-injury as the deliberate, self-inflicted damage of body tissue without suicidal intent and for purposes not socially or culturally sanctioned." The article discusses the cultural and social representations of self-injury, what is implied in it, who engages in it, and for what reasons. A lot can be deduced from interviews with self-harmers who use it to gain control over bad feelings and stress, by hurting their body and participating in risky behaviour. This dangerous activity often has more complicated sides with reference to rituals and spiritual associations to bloodletting, cleansing of all evil and healing, absolution and much wanted peace of mind. Finally, the changes in self-harming discourse and channels of communication are discussed. It has opened up during the last two decades with the arrival of social media. The self-harmers have built their own subcultures with special aesthetics and often preferring theatrical staging or performances instead of verbal expres-sion. These channels can have an uncanny power and influence over young and vulnerable people. The conclusion of the article is that all this requires an informed discussion as a special world, a special angst which is expressing itself in ways that might develop into suicidal behaviour if it is not taken seriously.

Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα Ελληνικά. ; In the years 1830-1860 the formation of the newly established Greek State was based theoretically and practically on the political views of 19th century European liberalism. In accordance to the liberal beliefs, the Greek state political power was based on a small section of the adult male population. This section disposed additional economic and cultural qualifications compared to the rest of the population of the country. It is worthnoting that only to the above mentioned section of the population the state recognized full civil and political rights. In this context the term eligible citizens is used to describe those social strata which held the above mentioned special qualifications. In view of these qualifications the eligible citizens could not only exercise their electoral rights but they could be also elected or appointed as political, magisterial or administrative officials. Within the framework of the historical study of social stratification in the Greek society, during the period 1830-1860, it is worth concentrating on the analysis of historical sources relevant to the eligible citizens. These sources should supply information about the economic and cultural characteristics of these citizens. Based on this type of approach we present in this study the catalogues of candidate jurymen in the period 1849-1861 concentrating on the analysis of the year 1860. These catalogues constitute an important source of information about the characteristics of the eligible citizens. The candidate jurymen catalogues, for the year 1860, include information regarding the value of estate property, income, profession, age and place of inhabitancy for 8.337 adult men. These men amount to the 3.4% of the over 25 years old male population of the country in 1860. The quantitative analysis of the above mentioned catalogues led to the following general conclusions: In 1860 the greatest percentage of the eligible citizens derived from the middle social strata of property owners and income earners. These strata included mainly land owners, wealthy farmers and merchants. But there was also a much smaller section of social strata of wealthy men who possessed a relatively large amount of estate property and income of the country. The sharp economic inequality observed among the eligible citizens of the country permits the assumption that there was also among them a sharp social inequality. According to this we propose the continuation of the research with a more detailled study. This study will examine particular aspects of economic and social inequalities between the lower, the middle and the higher social strata. The same study will also examine in detail the regional aspect of these inequalities.

Icelandic politics are analysed from the perspectives of three normative models of democracy: the liberal, republican and deliberative democratic theories. While the Icelandic constitution is rooted in classical liberal ideas, Icelandic politics can be harshly criticized from a liberal perspective, primarily because of the unclear separation of powers of government and for the extensive involvement of politics in other social sectors. Despite strong nationalist discourse which reflects republican characteristics, rooted in the struggle for independence from Denmark, republicanism has been marginal in Icelandic politics. In the years before the financial collapse, Icelandic society underwent a process of liberalization in which power shifted to the financial sector without disentangling the close ties that had prevailed between business and politics. The special commission set up by the Icelandic Parliament to investigate the causes of the financial collapse criticized Icelandic politics and governance for its flawed working practices and lack of professionalism. The appropriate lessons to draw from this criticism are to strengthen democratic practices and institutions. In the spirit of republicanism, however, the dominant discourse about Icelandic democracy after the financial collapse has been on increasing direct, vote-centric participation in opposition to the system of formal politics. While this development is understandable in light of the loss of trust in political institutions in the wake of the financial collapse, it has not contributed to trustworthy practices. In order to improve Icelandic politics, the analysis in this paper shows, it is important to work more in the spirit of deliberative democratic theory ; Peer Reviewed

This article is written on the occasion of the 500 years anniversary of the Lutheran reformation (siðbót) which started in 1517. The aim is to point out new perspectives worth considering in research on the main implications of the reformation in the political field (siðaskipti) and cultural and / or social field (siðbreyting). In this regard, it is pointed out that in researches of such a complex historical process is inevitable to assume pre-defined pardigms that can serve as prerequisites for the interpretation of the subject. It is also pointed out that, up to present time, a single one-sided paradigm which describes the reformation as a revolution has been assumed in Icelandic studies of the reformation which assumes that the transition from a catholic to a lutheran church in Iceland has been sudden and for more or less political reasons, ie. for the efforts of Christian the III:rd of Denmark to increase his assets, properties and power in the country. The article argues that the relationships between religion and politics was much more complexed at this time than has generally been expected, as well as that Christina the III:rd and his representatives in Iceland considered it as their duties as christians to promote the reformation in the country and in that way respond to the demand of Luther to the christian nobility to rescue the Church on the basis of the gospel. In the article it is assumed that the reformation in Iceland happened in the period 1539-1600 and the development took place on various religious, ecclesial, political and cultural fields. In that way it is meaningful to describe it as a viscous reformation.