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The study investigates the history of prisons in general. In particular, the author outlines how this process has been developed in Romania. The study is conceived and analysed taking into consideration the historical evolution of humanity, firstly the appearance of prisons is approached and afterwards their evolution until the XVIIIth ce ntury. Later on the reform process of the punitive feudal systems until the establishment of modern prisons is analysed. The study pays special attention to the penitentiary system under the communist regime (in particular, the author analyses the penitentiary system in communist Romania). At the end of the study, the penitentiary system in the post-communist period is analysed, suggesting some prospective visions on the future of penitentiaries.

An insightful look through the history of punishment and prisons offers a new perspective on the changes that have been undergone or would occur in the Romanian penitentiary system. In the last instance the Romanian punishment and prisons have not displayed the same functions from their origin till now. The study of documents, old chronics and writings of various historians unveil huge differences in thinking the punishment and the role of prison in different historic ages. There were times when the prisons were situated either in the center of society (in country's Principe or boyars' courts) or times when they were placed at society's periphery. The execution was public or hidden. A trip in the history of the Romanian detention system opens a wide window toward the future of this social system.

This essay wishes to debate the concept of History in Karl Marx's work, in opposition to the "end of History" theory proposed by Francis Fukuyama. In a historic setting that involved the end of the communist era in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe, the American author introduces his ideas about the victory of liberal democracy being the culminating point in the history of humanity. Well, to what extent is it possible to consider a system like the one advocated by Fukuyama as the ultimate goal of mankind? Furthermore, to what extent can we consider that there actually is a goal that humanity is seeking to achieve? This essay intends to answer these questions through a Marxist understanding of History.

Concepções, métodos e formas do conhecimento histórico são expressos em diversos estudos na área de comunicação social. Buscamos analisar, na interface história e narrativa oral, aspectos da chamada mediação cultural, na qual a comunicação está para além da condição de canal. Acreditamos que os estudos comunicacionais não recaem, necessariamente, sobre especificidades técnicas, mas sobre a posição que a comunicação assume no campo histórico-cultural. Interações, expressas nos trabalhos de história oral, se configuram (e resultam) em processos comunicacionais que indicam construções sócio históricas e diferentes referenciais de pertencimento.

This article presents a comparative analysis of two concepts proposed and developed in two very different areas: the concept of themata, proposed by Gerald Holton in the area of ​​the history of science and related to the processes of production and diffusion of scientific knowledge, and the concept of Pathosformeln, proposed by Aby Warburg in the area of history of art and related to some important historical and epochal continuities of artistic production. Despite the very different disciplinary contexts in which they were proposed, and despite the specificities that naturally ensure the identity of each of the concepts, it is shown in this article how themata and Pathosformeln have undeniable and important affinities. In fact, both correspond to entities that have a long historical persistence, a cyclical nature, and a great disciplinary, cultural and epochal transversality, in conjunction with a great capacity to assume specific forms at a given time and in a given context. Despite the roots in very different areas, the affinities are strong enough to recognize that themata and Pathosformeln belong to a conceptual network with great potential for understanding, not only the science and art, but also the historical and transdisciplinary dynamics of culture in general.