Suchergebnisse

This research focuses on the role played by youth religious organizations in the shaping of young people's social capital in Romania. Based on a series of interviews and focus groups with young people engaged in religious organizations and the leaders of those organizations, we find that youth religious socialization is an important process in creating or reinforcing social and political values, and thus, it may be conducive to social capital. Although nuanced comparisons across denominations are difficult to make due to the unavailability of data, a distinction seems to appear between Orthodox and Catholic religiously active youth. For example, while young people in Catholic organizations are encouraged to forge relationships with people outside their organizations (bridging social capital), those belonging to Orthodox groups tend to keep to themselves, and, at times, even employ a strict access policy for newcomers wanting to join (bonding social capital). Conclusions suggest the need to approach the effects of youth religious socialization in a nuanced way.

This book explores the state of media literacy and media education in several Central and Eastern European countries. The main argument centers around the connection between media literacy and media education on the one hand, and liberal democratic values on the other.

Higher social capital is often associated with better quality of democracy (Putnam 1993, Warren 2001). Social capital is a unique type of resource in the sense that the more it is used, the more it becomes available, and therefore it is important to explore how social capital can be generated. In this paper, we evaluate the potential that churches and religious organizations present in creating social capital. We identify structural constraints faced by churches and religious organizations engaged in this process. We argue that institutional survival concerns and social understandings of the roles played by religion and church in democratic societies may influence the potential for social capital to be constructed in the context of religious participation as well as the type of generated social capital. Moreover, we also discuss the implications of epistemological choices on measuring the relationship between church participation and social capital, and advocate methodological diversity and interdisciplinary research initiatives, at times, in the detriment of generalizability.

Hungarian-Romanian relations are difficult to assess because they involve a vast set of actors: from diplomats to civil society, from political parties to churches. If convergence in foreign policy is to be achieved and if genuine reconciliation is to take place, all these actors have to be taken into consideration and have to engage in a concerted manner. Bilateral relations between Hungary and Romania benefit from a dense network of cooperation initiatives, but they are neither sustainable, nor integrated into a vision aiming for convergence and reconciliation. Political will, joint historical research projects and youth bi-ethnic socialization are critical in creating a bilateral relation supported by true reconciliation.

Illiberalism recently became a favorite catchphrase of several political actors around the world. Although not necessarily precise, the term conjures alternative understandings of democracy, by contesting the inherent need of a democratic political system to be intimately tied to liberal values. This lack of precision is often instrumentalized to boost popular support for taking measures leading to discrimination and resisting or even fighting pluralism. This text aims to familiarize the reader with the existing conceptual debates surrounding the concept of illiberalism, while also offering a glimpse into the causes responsible for its popularity. Theoretical knowledge is then juxtaposed with information regarding an awareness raising project aiming to fight illiberalism in countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The conclusion stresses the need for communication and education campaigns regarding the perils of illiberalism, especially in the more fragile democratic contexts of post-communist Europe. Citizens need to be aware of how illiberalism endangers democracy and have at their disposal mechanisms for raising awareness regarding illiberal measures taken by various governments. Keywords: illiberalism, Central and Eastern Europe, post-communism, democracy, awareness-raising project, civil society