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This study concentrates on the analysis of social structure of medieval society and accordingly on the acquisition of knowledge (1) about their orderliness, (2) inner processes (3) and least partially their influence on the process of formation of West civilization. In the next sequence article deals with development medieval structure in the context Elias civilization's theory as well as and closely knots on the inquiry of distinguished contemporary medievalists, mainly G. Duby, J. le Goff, A. Gurevič, F. Cardini, M. Bloch, etc. In addition, submitted study focuses on deeply understanding specific structure of medieval society through application binary and dichotomous approaches, theory of three orders, also theory of feudalization. In the end the research is attending on the phenomena of knighthood and the process of formation of the courtly society.

The aim of this article is to explore the various ways in which people represent social groups. The author shows that a prominent role in such processes is played by psychological essentialism. People represent some of their social identities as inherent qualities that are based on the sharing of a presumed 'essence': something unobservable, diffi cult to remove, irreversible, and causally responsible for overt behaviours. Empirical evidence suggests that no particular causal process of essence acquisition is constitutive for essentialism in folk models of society. Some authors believe that folk essentialism is necessarily connected with the presumed innateness of an essence (its biological transmission across generations). Innate potential and biological inheritance, however powerful they may be for the human cognitive mind in the domain of folk models for biology, are far from necessary in essentialist folksociological classifications. Essentialism in folk sociology is not defined by any particular causal process of essence acquisition. Even when it is possible to detect that a given group of people claim the innate essence of a particular folk sociology, it is always necessary to look for other features of essentialism (inherence, sharp boundaries, the immutability of identity, etc.). The article reviews some influential cognitive proposals concerning folk models of society (Astuti, Gil-White, Hirschfeld) and ethnicity, and provides arguments and empirical evidence collected in Western Ukraine in support of the claim that presumed innateness is not the constitutive part of folk models of society, let alone of psychological essentialism.

The spatial polarisation of society is open to various research perspectives. It takes several forms and involves various epiphenomena. Consequently, it is the subject of research interest to scholars in various fi elds, especially sociologists, economists, regionalists, and regional geographers. The article focuses on selected aspects of peripherality and peripheral regions. The first part is devoted to the theoretical aspects of the polarisation of society, developmental interactions between the centre and the periphery, the relationship between peripherality and levels of hierarchy, peripherality and time, and the primary criteria of peripherality in inland and borderland regions. The second part applies theoretical-methodological findings to regions of Slovakia using selected quantitative methods. The author attempts to describe peripherality in multidimensional terms, and to identify the interconnections between various types of peripherality. Based on detailed statistical data on municipalities, he uses a broad range of indicators divided into four groups: human resources, economic potential, personal amenities, and access to centres. In conclusion the author identifies and categorises the peripheral regions of Slovakia and notes the existence of peripherality at regional and local levels.

"The aim of this paper is to introduce one of the classical sociological research conducted by Paul F. Lazarsfeld and Elihu Katz in the city of Decatur (Illinois) in the Midwest of United States in 1955. The subject of the research was nonformal everyday interpersonal influence in areas of marketing, fashion, public affairs and movie going and the object was the population of women older 16 years (n = 718). By means of indicators of life cycle, social status and gregariousness the research report describes the profiles of opinion leaders in given areas and provides an answer to question if the two step flow of communication hypotheses is applicable in mentioned spheres of social life." (author's abstract)

Numerous studies have confi rmed that caring for small children is still the domain of women in Slovakia. Maternity as such is considered the natural and expected role of women and is part of the construction of femininity in Slovak society. At the same time, it is expected and routine that Slovak women participate in the labour market, and the prevailing form of employment is full-time work. This complicates efforts to harmonise work with the need to care for a small child. It is not just the country's legislative and institutional framework that shape notions about caring for small children; they are also influenced by the views and attitudes of society towards this issue. The image of a good mother is constructed, and women then try to approximate it when performing their maternal role. The prevailing ideal is of a mother who devotes herself full-time to caring for a child for the first three years of the child's life. The author of this article focuses on the context surrounding the construction of the image of a good mother as one who cares for her child until the age of three, and examines how the image of the good mother is reflected in the opinions of women on returning to work and on work/life balance. The data in this analysis are drawn from public opinion polls about early childcare and the reality of caring for small children in Slovakia and from in-depth interviews with mothers of small children. The mothers are aware of the views of society, refl ect on them, and many try to fulfil them so that they are perceived as 'good' and not 'inadequate' mothers.

The study is focused on the relations between Czechoslovakia and Egypt in the years 1945-1948. The first part outlines the relations at the time of World War II because even in this period they were not interrupted. The study also describes the internal and foreign policy of Czechoslovakia and Egypt for the sake of gaining a better understanding of their interrelationships. The greatest amount of attention, however, is paid to the two countries' business relations, their embassies and Czechoslovaks who lived and worked in Egypt. The study describes the transformation of the relations in connection with how the international situation was altered in the examined period. The research is based primarily on a processing of archival materials and their subsequent analysis. Adapted from the source document.

Maģistra darba mērķis ir izvērtēt Āfrikas Savienības (ĀS) nozīmi miera un drošības uzturēšanā, darba sākumā izvirzot apgalvojumu, ka ĀS lielākie izaicinājumi miera uzturēšanā un konfliktu risināšanā ir nespēja nodrošināt nepieciešamo resursu mobilizāciju un spēku ģenerēšanu. Darba teorētiskajā ietvarā tiek aplūkoti miera uzturēšanas un konfliktu pārvaldības principi, kā arī reģionālo organizāciju loma miera uzturēšanā. Darba tālākajā gaitā tiek aplūkoti drošības izaicinājumi Āfrikā, ĀS izveides vēsturiskais konteksts un tās galvenie darbības principi un miera uzturēšanas un konfliktu pārvaldības instrumenti. Pētījuma analīzes daļā tiek izvērtētas ĀS miera uzturēšanas misijas Burundi, Sudānā un Somālijā, analizējot ĀS ieguldījumu šo konfliktu risināšanā. Darba noslēgumā tika apkopoti ĀS miera un drošības uzturēšanas ierobežojumi un izaicinājumi. ; The main aim of this thesis is to assess the role of the African Union (AU) in the maintenance of peace and security in Africa. This study focuses on the argument that the main challenge affecting the AU's peacekeeping and conflict resolution capabilities is the inability to provide the necessary resource mobilization and force generation. The theoretical basis of this thesis consists of peacekeeping, conflict management and resolution principles, as well as the role of regional organizations in the maintenance of peace and security. Further discussed topics are the security challenges in Africa, the establishment of the AU, as well as its key operating principles and peacekeeping and conflict management tools. The analysis section focuses on the AU peacekeeping missions in Burundi, Sudan and Somalia, which were selected to evaluate the role of the AU.