Suchergebnisse

The text focuses on the description & evaluation of an Islamic social system in the framework of the so-called Islamic moral economy based on obligatory alms (zakat) & the waqf system. Attention is paid to the main institutions of the Islamic social order such as mosques, madrasas, foundations, waqf property & forms of financing. The main principles & differences in charitable activities in Sunni, Shi'a Islam, Christianity & Sufi orders are highlighted & analyzed. The article defines & clarifies the main historic landmarks of Islamic charity while providing a survey of contemporary Islamic NGO. Common features of the Islamic NGOs & their sporadic links to Islamist movements & terrorists are also discussed. The article concludes with an identification of the main reasons for the relatively small impact of the measures taken after the September 11. Adapted from the source document.

Foreign and Internal Trade as the main disciplines in the field of research and study have developed theoretical systems that reflected historical development of international economic and business environment, governmental trade policy and international and domestic businesses. They created a basis, on which the Faculty of International Relations after 1989 has designed a new profile discipline "International Trade" in the framework of the "International Economic Relations" program. Very important features of the discipline, both of study and research areas, are a deep internationalization and an interdisciplinary approach. The discipline's development reflects world trends, international scientific knowledge and domestic specificities and introduces new terminology for new qualitative processes of international business to the Czech economy. To the discipline's development, very many excellent teachers and important personalities of the Czechoslovak and Czech economy contributed. The modern discipline comprehends analysis of global economic and institutional relations and of theoretical concepts, together with practical managerial branches. A prove of high standards of teaching and research is a prestigious accreditation EPAS by which the discipline "International Trade" has been awarded by the European Foundation of Management Development in 2012. Adapted from the source document.

Zsfassung in engl. Sprache

The enlargement crisis of the EU has been triggered by problems related to enlargement toward the East, but its roots extend far beyond that issue. To date, European integration has developed in a structure of a wealthy core territory & concentric circles around this centre. The emergence of this pattern has been driven by the dialectics of integration & expansion. But the institutional obstacles & legitimation problems linked to EU enlargement to the East indicate that very little room to maneuver will remain for future expansion. As the expansion process reaches its limits, differentiated forms of EU integration, creating different classes of EU members, are likely to appear.

Political communication has been undergoing a profound transformation in recent years following the appearance and rapid spread of new media. The use of new media, such as social networking sites and other internet platforms, is increasingly being exploited by all types of political actors, but particularly by those involved in electoral campaigns. Attempting to explore the presence of these trends in the Czech Republic, this paper focuses on the Senate and Regional Council electoral campaigns that took place in October 2012 in the Czech Republic, with the primary aim of comparing the differences in new media usage between candidates. A comprehensive analysis was based on a dataset obtained by monitoring the use of various types of new media by candidates, namely traditional websites, blogs, and the online social networking sites Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The results show that younger candidates in regional elections engage in online campaigning more intensely than older candidates. The findings also demonstrate that Senate candidates use new media more extensively than candidates for the Regional Council. The most commonly used new media in both types of elections were traditional websites and the online social networking site Facebook. Regarding the candidates' political affiliations, the analyses came to the conclusion that the usage of new media was generally similar for all major parties with one exception. The candidates from the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia used new media very sporadically and, moreover, most of them used no new media platforms at all in either type of election campaign. Adapted from the source document.

The article focuses on the differences in political participation among post-communist countries. First, it explores the variation in the level of political participation among post-communist states. Second, it deals with the differences in the determinants that account for political participation in individual countries. The second objective is met by introducing a three-dimensional explanatory model of political participation: individual resources, motivations, and social networks. In an empirical analysis political participation in nine post-communist countries is examined using data from the International Social Survey Programme 2004. Results show that the countries under study vary in the level of political participation both at the aggregate and individual levels. The most active citizens are in the former East Germany and Slovakia. Polish and Hungarian citizens participate in politics the least. Further, two modes of political participation – protest activity and contacting – are identified and used as dependent variables in further analysis. In the second part of the article, the explanatory model is tested against data from individual countries. The analysis shows that there is a difference in the factors that account for political participation in various post-communist countries. Generally, the three-level model of political participation works best in Hungary, Bulgaria, and East Germany. It explains very little variation in Russia and Poland.

A reply to Jan Keller (2007), Jaroslaw Kilias (2006), & Johann Arnason (2007) as critical reviewers of Machonin's Ceska spolecnost a sociologicke poznani. Problemy spolecenske transformace a modernizace od poloviny sedesatych let 20. stoleti do soucasnosti ([The Czech Society and Sociological Knowledge. Problems of Social Transformation and Modernization from the Mid 1960s to the Present] Prague: ISV, 2005). Keller's critique is found to be fed by his personal, 'hyperskeptical' & overly pessimistic, view of modernization. Kilias misreads the book in the context of his own theoretical-methodological conceptions. Arnason's criticism is discussed in more detail, addressing the following issues: (1) the variety & diversity of epistemological approaches in sociological research, (2) the liberal thought in classical Marxism & the notions of social liberalism & democratic socialism, (3) the theory of multiple modernities, & (4) the concept & term 'state socialism' & the question whether state socialism, as practiced in the Soviet bloc countries, qualifies as a special type of modernity.

This paper introduces an alternative concept of corruption. The cornerstone of the analysis is the model of secret transactions for profit, in which the actors give priority to informal particular norms over universal norms of democracy. Further, a model of corruption as a process is constructed. This model is applied to the social conditions as they have developed in the Czech Republic after 1989. Corruption seems to be a stable part of the social organization of the Czech society. It closely relates to the influence of pre-1989 networks, clientelism & nepotism. The combination of a weak official system (that should assert universal norms) & strong unofficial systems of community interests (that encourage corruption) builds a strong corruptogenic setting in the macrostructure. On the micro-level this outcome is fostered by the weak loyalty of nationals to the state & their tendency to distrust & resist the authorities. 5 Figures, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.

This paper compares the standard economic & a complementary socioeconomic approach to the transition. While the economic approach looks at social problems from the outside & views them as costs of transition, the socioeconomic approach looks at these problems from the inside & views them as a part of the social change taking place. Both approaches are used here to analyze four frictions, concerning (1) the PAYG pension system, which emphasizes intergenerational dependence & turns pensioners into a socially needy population; (2) the relation between low market wages & a higher welfare provision, which creates a poverty trap & leads to a culture of dependency; (3) the insufficient incentives for middle-class expansion, which contrasts with the key role this class should play in the future prosperity of society; & (4) tensions between various sections of the middle class. 6 Tables, 2 Figures, 4 Graphs, 17 References. Adapted from the source document.

5. Doping ve sportu dětí a mládeže z psycho-sociálního hlediska5.1 Adolescenti jako riziková skupina; 5.2 Doping u českých adolescentů jako výzkumný problém; 5.2.1 Užívání a postoje k dopingu; 5.2.2. Role motivace v prevalenci dopingu; 5.3 Situační aspekty tendence užívat doping; 6. Doping ve sportu adolescentů z kvalitativního hlediska; 6.1 Co je doping z pohledu respondentů a jaké jsou důsledky jeho užívání; 6.2 Rozšíření dopingu ve sportu z pohledu respondentů; 6.3 Záměr a tendence užívat doping; 6.4 Zkušenosti s dopingem; 6.4.1 Možnost dopovat vědomě a cíleně