Suchergebnisse

Recent historical developments in the relationship between Croats and Serbs are discussed, refering to an article by V. Vujacic (Theory and Society, No. 6, 1996). The idea of an Illyrian and later a Yugoslav commonwealth of all South Slavs, originating in Croatia in the 19th century, had its legitimating psychological foundation in a "illusion of centrality", developed at the time by a part of the Croatian political and intellectual elite, a view of the preeminent position of Croatia and the Croats among all the Slav ethnic groups in the region and, therefore, of a natural central role of Croatia in the future commonwealth. In a similar way, the armed struggle of the Serbs for independence from the Ottoman empire in the 19th century and for the expansion of the Serbian State in the 19th and 20th century has generated a Serbian belief in the dominant role of Serbia and the Serbs in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes established in 1918, later Kingdom of Yugoslavia. These incompatible illusions are believed to be the roots of a number of political positions and decisions taken by both Croats and Serbs in the 20th century. The views of Max Weber on nationality and nationalism are discussed in relation to the problem of cooperation and conflict between Croats and Serbs in the 20th century. (SOI : PM: S. 17)

This article firstly focuses on the initial recognition, in the final period of the second Yugoslavia, of the existence of social inequalities, as the first serious symptoms of abandoning the ideology of social equality and socialism as a whole. Moreover, the nationalist mobilization was used as a lever for restoration of capitalism as a typical class society. After that it briefly outlines two post-war periods of structuring social opportunities in societies in the West, and partly also in the East. The first period is designated primarily by egalitarian tendencies, which is manifest in increased popularity of critical and radical trends in social sciences. The second period, which still lasts, is quite opposite in orientation, and this is, in turn, manifest in ever greater relevance of social Darwinism as a discursive foundation of a series of sciences. The next, and largest, part of the article is dedicated to an attempt at explaining the permanence of social inequalities, and the author stresses the inexhaustible character of Rousseau's question regarding the origin of social inequalities. In the present-day quest for an answer to that question, certain similarities are noticeable between (neo) evolutionism and (neo) Marxism. Although Marx himself stressed the correspondence of his conception of class struggles in history with Darwin's conception of struggles for survival in nature, but also took into account the differences (between natural evolution and human history), the conclusion on the identity of their conceptions imposes itself through observations about the constant defeat of the proletariat in age-long struggles against the oppressors, which continue to this very day in the epoch of neo-liberal global capitalism. Reflecting on possibilities of a generally different outcome in the struggles for a more just society, the author finds that there are two interrelated prerequisites to their existence. The first has to do with connecting the theory and practice of liberalism and socialism with the aim of establishing a balance between the mechanisms of individual freedom and competition on the one hand, and social sensitivity or solidarity on the other. The second prerequisite is the construction of a world democratic state. Its political interest and scope of governing would neutralize the key concept (and self-reproduction mechanism) of social Darwinism -- inclusive fitness. Quite simply, the latter means to favour "one's own" group while humiliating or excluding the other. In a society with a globally ruling government, the division between "one's own" and "somebody else's" parts of the world -- the boundaries of which are nowadays all too often shifted to and fro as a consequence of the erratic character of expansion and contraction of the market and the breaking out of conflagrations of war, producing a permanent Hobbesian "state of nature" -- would make way for wisdom of governing and for work of all for the benefit of all. Adapted from the source document.

As regards the concern for and protection of artifacts of Croatian culture, the Society occupies an unparalleled place in Croatian history. Innumerable times it has supported, when it has been allowed the means, the restoring, building and archeological research of important Croatian cultural objects. The largest project undertaken by the BHZ, besides the restoration of Ozalj, was the building of the St. Cyril and Methodius Basilica in Duvno (today's Tomislavgrad), as a monument to the celebration of the millenary of the Croatian kingdom. Its construction, in 1925, made a large impression on Croatians both at home and abroad. (SOI : CSP: S. 40) + The BHZ ("Braca Hrvatskog Zmaja": "Brethrenhood of the Croatian Dragon") Society appeared on the Croatian cultural scene at the beginning of the twentieth century. Its objective was to protect monuments dedicated to important Croatian cultural figures and historical events, as well as to protect and restore artifacts of Croatian culture. But above all else, its main activity was the erection of monuments and memorial plaques. Even today, more than two hundred of these exist throughout Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, and Austria. In Zagreb, the society founded the City Library in 1907 and the City museum in 1909. It also began a Popular University, founded the institute for conservation, the ethnographic museum, and supported the creation of a number of popular libraries in many Croatian cities. In particular, the Society supported and protected the monuments dedicated to the Zrinskis and Frankopans, old Croatian noble families who played a very important role in the political and cultural life of Croatia. In 1928, the Society was given the city of Ozalj to administer, where it then created the Zrinski-Frankopan museum. During the period of the Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945), the Society was transformed into the Knightly Order of the Croatian Dragon. In 1946, after the communists came to power, the Society was disbanded. When democracy was established in 1990, the Society was reconstituted

Mixed government, which is commonly regarded as a distinctly medieval form of government, is relevant also to contemporary constitutional states. It is the best form of government, since the aristocratic element is a continuous source of virtue, especially of justice, and a check not only on the executive, as the monarchical element which is the seat of political power, and the legislature, as the democratic element which expresses the will of the majority, but also groups and institutions that have the might and will to impose themselves as oligarchies. Mixed government is also the form of government that is practised by most developed contemporary constitutional states: USA, UK, France, Switzerland, Germany etc. European nobility is the original aristocratic institution, by virtue of the fact that it was a system for the transfer of both virtue and general conditions of life. Three institutions that emerged in the late Middle Ages assumed structures and functions of the nobility. + The first is the clergy. When, as a result of the differentiation of feudal society ethical and intellectual virtues of the nobility could no longer maintain general conditions of life, the clergy, by virtue of their abstract knowledge that ranged from philosophy and theology to law and medicine, became a class of new experts in generalities and thereby a new aristocracy. The second modern aristocratic institution is the judiciary, which has a structure and function similar to earlier aristocracies. The task of judges is to establish the highest virtue o constitutionalism. It is justice by law, which regulates general conditions of life in the state and society. What qualifies judges for the task is expertise in the new generality. The expertise includes not only education and experience in law but also impeccable private life and demonstrated professional ethics. + The third modern aristocratic institution is the profession, whose most important instance is the legal profession. It shares its structure and function partly with the judiciary and partly with other professions. It seems that modern professions are degenerating. In the key area of data processing, due to rapid changes of technology, professions as systems of the transfer of virtue do not even seem to be possible. Professional aristocracies are replaced increasingly by oligarchies of capitalists and technocrats. (SOI : PM: S. 111)

This article deals with problems of poverty in Croatian society. The introductory part points out the economic and political circumstances in which the poverty of a considerable number of citizens becomes an important social problem. In the next part, concepts of absolute, relative and subjective poverty are defined. This is followed by an overview of the results of research into the extent of absolute and relative poverty in Croatian society conducted from 1998 to 2009. The results show that the rate of relative poverty basically remained the same throughout the above-mentioned period. Furthermore, it is shown that the risk factors causing citizens' poverty are the following: low level of education, unemployment, low retirement pensions, old age, and large number of children in the family. The author concludes that the Croatian government neither developed nor carried out any systematic and efficient plan of fighting poverty in Croatian society. Adapted from the source document.

The Bosnian Hercegovinian society, which immediately after the World War II was predominantly peasant, has undergone since 1953 some social transformations. In this article, the author attempts to explain ideological premises and basic features of economic policies, following transformations in agriculture and industry. At the end of the WW II, 80 per cent of the population of Bosnia and Hercegovina lived in villages, and only 2 per cent worked in factories. Communist regime, inspired by the Soviet economic policies, forced industrialization of the country, a process which placed the agriculture in the background. A low technical education of workers, however, did not allow significant changes of the agrarian society of BiH, even though some progress in industrial production was noted since 1953. This is the main reason why under the aegis of industrial development we witness a development of agrarian society. (SOI : CSP: S. 376)

This article deals with problems of poverty in Croatian society. The introductory part points out the economic and political circumstances in which the poverty of a considerable number of citizens becomes an important social problem. In the next part, concepts of absolute, relative and subjective poverty are defined. This is followed by an overview of the results of research into the extent of absolute and relative poverty in Croatian society conducted from 1998 to 2009. The results show that the rate of relative poverty basically remained the same throughout the above-mentioned period. Furthermore, it is shown that the risk factors causing citizens' poverty are the following: low level of education, unemployment, low retirement pensions, old age, and large number of children in the family. The author concludes that the Croatian government neither developed nor carried out any systematic and efficient plan of fighting poverty in Croatian society. Adapted from the source document.

Due to the increasing globalization and the danger of reducing all beings to things, it is central to point out again and again that a human being is not a thing among other things, and that the appreciation and realization of their life requires nurturing and cultivating the variety of human knowledge pertinent to different spheres of the historical world of life. Thus, the relevance and the role of practical philosophy is gaining significance regarding the - to the historical Being - proper understanding and fulfilIment of human potentials in today's world. (SOI : PM: S. 25) + The author first defines the various facets of globalization in today's world and emphasizes the key changes that are stepping up and intensifying communication among peoples, nations, and cultures all over the world. However, parallel to this there are other pressing problems: from the ecological crisis, to the realization of human rights, to the anomie of life and work. All this proves that globalization is not only an economic and technical but, ultimately, practically an ethic/political issue. Along the lines of Hegel's philosophy of world history and Aristotle's practical philosophy, the author has come to view the contemporary globalization as a step forward of world civilization, i.e. as a possibility of the realization of freedom and good life. Globalization, of course, scares people with its unpredictability and the erratic development of "global society" which (in line with Beck's distinction between the First and the Second Modernism) today is represented as a society of nation-states on the one hand, and as a "global society of transnational actors" on the other

The author analyses the concept of neo-classicism in contemporary political philosophy. The study begins with a description of contemporary neo-classic developments and continues with a precise delineation of Plato's and Aristotle's philosophy of politics. In the end, the author concludes that the antiquity-inspired philosophy of politics today has the corrective function to steer liberal society towards community. (SOI : PM: S. 156)

In a totalitarian society, the journalist profession could not grow; that is why politics still takes precedence in Croatian journalism. The journalists have remained socio-political activists. This has stunted the professional development of the journalistic profession, so that Croatian journalists cannot separate truth from fallacy, they equate (accurate) facts and (truthful) opinion, and conceive of commentaries in a rather odd way - as the ultimate and subjective journalistic form. (SOI : PM: S. 185)

The aim of this article, through an analysis of Veljko Vujacic's text and other pamphlets and manifestos by the Serbian political elite, was to show that the Serbian elite and the Serbian society have not got rid of their nationalist bias in explaining the events which led to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. They claim that the main culprit for this failure was the communist national policy and the failure to use adequate means (meaning Rankovic's technology of violence) in order to preserve the unity of the state. The second part of the article serves to demonstrate how Weber's view on the politics of power does not suffice to explain away the bolshevist and the communist form of the populist Serbian nationalism. The moment when the former Yugoslav political elite split into the anticommunist and anticentralist on the one hand, and the bolshevist and the centralist on the other, there was no possibility for a compromise. The third part suggests that Vujacic (and not only he) thinks that a way of overcoming the Serbian "dominant" nationalism is the catharsis of Serbian intellectuals and the Serbian society. However, as the latest events and proclamations of the Serbian elite show, his is a solitary case. (SOI : PM: S. 37)