Publications / Tr@nsit Online

Bruce P. Jackson talks about the problem of interpreting the post-war world. Specifically, the interpretation of post-Soviet states in Western policy and the manner in which interpretation shapes policy.

Wie eine Witwe aus dem Widerstand und ein DDR-Bürgerrechtler dem Gut des Feldmarschalls Moltke neues Leben einhauchten

The article discusses the situation of religious and ethnic minorities in Poland in the light of post-1989 historiography and history dissemination. Drawing on Bronisław Geremek’s work on “marginality”, it illustrates the processes that make the bond between Polishness and Catholicism an expected norm and which, simultaneously, lead to the symbolic exclusion of non-ethnic Poles and non-Catholics from the national community. However, the article’s aim goes beyond recognizing the mechanisms of the reproduction of dominant discourses. Presenting a study of a multi-religious and multi-ethnic community in rural Poland, it argues that there are multiple ways in which local people challenge the “Pole-Catholic” norm, demonstrating the arbitrariness of the “taken-for-granted” and their own ways of “being a Pole”.

Es gibt wenige Bereiche der Kulturwissenschaften, die in den letzten Jahren so produktiv und kreativ waren wie die Erinnerungsforschung. Sie hat begonnen, sich aus der Nationalgeschichte zu lösen und befasst sich zunehmend mit der transnationalen Erinnerung an die Shoa und/oder mit einem konflikthaften europäischen Gedächtnis. In der Folge dieser Verschiebung wird kollektives transnationales Gedächtnis oft mit Trauma gleichgesetzt. Der Essay zeigt die Konsequenzen der Gleichsetzung von Gedächtnis und Trauma auf und beleuchtet Perspektiven für einen breiteren Zugang zur Erforschung transnationaler Erinnerung, die nicht auf der Kategorie „Trauma“ basieren.

The Habsburg Monarchy lasted five centuries. It was both solid and flexible; it aroused genuine affection among its citizens. But it vanished in a puff of smoke. Should we expect the European Union, shallow in history and unloved by those it serves, to do better?

On September 9, 2012, US financier and philanthropist George Soros was a guest of the Institute for Human Sciences at its Political Salon. In a talk on The Future of the Euro, held before invited guests, Mr Soros presented his vision of how the European financial crisis can be solved. His considerations were commented by Austrian Minister of Finance Maria Fekter and subsequently discussed with the audience.

When, ten years ago, Richard Florida first argued that cities with a lively cultural scene and a high concentration of artists, technology workers, gay men and lesbians — “creative folks” — encouraged rapid economic development, he turned into a star overnight. His theory became the most discussed topic in cultural and urban studies circles...

The Ukraine-European Union summit planned for 19 December, 2011, was supposed to be a milestone in Ukraine’s European integration process: the completion of talks on an Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU is expected to be announced there, accomplishing a negotiation process that had started in 2007. However, recent developments in Ukraine, particularly the criminal prosecution of former prime minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, raise serious doubts about the European aspirations of the current Ukrainian leadership.

Die Moral der politischen Gewalt ist so alt wie die politische Macht und die europäische Demokratie. Der politische Mord – und darum geht es hier – ist also kein Spezifikum Südosteuropas oder des Balkans, das „bequeme Vorurteile“ (Maria Todorova) erlaubt: Revolution, Gewalt und Mord sind vielmehr Teile des gemeinsamen europäischen politischen Erbes.

The “shock tactics” to which the Polish economy was subjected during the 1990s have discredited liberalism as a political movement in the country. Over the last five years, Poland’s two major rightwing parties have come to dominate the political landscape. Their anti-communism, national conservatism, and distrust of “moral relativism” find ample support among the electorate. The Centre-Left, meanwhile, tarnished by corruption scandals, fails to offer convincing alternatives. With re-elections set for 21 October, it seems unlikely that Poland will alter its political course rightwards.

In August 2011 Alexander Rahr, one of Germany’s key experts in post-Soviet affairs, claimed that Poland as the then EU presiding country had to get more involved in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus . His stance presumably expressed the prevailing expectations in the German political class. The logic of his “Go East” appeal was quite obvious: Due to the emergency situation in North Africa and Greece, Germany will not be able to streamline the EU’s efforts at “Ostpolitik” in the near future. Poland, Germany believes, should shoulder this function in its place given Warsaw’s co-authorship of the Eastern Partnership program.