Stretching from the end of the Middle Ages to the Second Industrial Revolution (c. 1500-1900), the authors in this volume analyze spiritual kinship in Europe and its associated social customs - with special attention given to godparenthood. These customs had great importance for Early Modern and Modern European societies, and this collection represents an interdisciplinary effort to combine the work of social and economic historians, historical demographers, anthropologists and sociologists. Arranged chronologically and geographically, chapters cover specific areas of the European continent, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Reconstructing changes in theological thought about spiritual kinship, particularly before and after the Reformation, and comparing Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox views and practices, Spiritual Kinship in Europe provides a comprehensive picture of how social practices and religious ideas related to spiritual kinship and godparenthood.
When the Iron Curtain lifted in 1989 it was seen by some as proof of the final demise of the ideas and aspirations of the radical left. Not many years passed, however, before the critique of capitalism and social inequalities were once again the main protest themes of social movements. This book provides an account of radical left movements in today’s Europe and how they are trying to accomplish social and political change. The book’s various chapters focus on social movement organizations, activist groups, and networks that are rooted in the left-wing ideologies of anarchism, Marxism, socialism, and communism in both newly democratized post-communist and longstanding liberal-democratic polities. The questions addressed include: How are radical left movements influenced by the political and social contexts in which they are situated? How do they interact with other political actors? How does contemporary radical left activism differ from “new” and “old” social movements on the one hand, and radical left parliamentary parties on the other? And what does it mean to be ”radical left” in liberal-democratic (or semi-democratic, or even semi-authoritarian), capitalist European societies today after the fall of state socialism.
This volume analyzes the evolution of geo-political and economic integration in the Eurasian area. The Eurasian integration is a growing phenomenon and the largest scale analysis proves necessary to avoid simplistic judgments based only on the geo-political approach. The editors of this publication present different profiles of integration, such as the geo-political and constitutional aspect, the relations with the European Union, migration issues, energy flows, the compatibility between the Eurasian and the WTO law, and the comparison with the European integration model. The book presents a wide range of viewpoints through essays of specialists from Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Italy, France.
In the next two years, the UK will be faced with a complicated geopolitical situation. The relations with its two key partners – the EU and the USA – will be changed. The USA, when dealing with European issues, will begin to rely on Germany rather than on the UK. It will be necessary to negtiate with the EU a new relationship model that will envisage that the UK should not participate in the decision-making process inside the European Union, and should have no internal influence there. Simultaneously, there will be a need for negotiations on new trade agreements with a number of countries that are not EU member states, because the UK, once it has withdrawn from the US, will automatically fi nd itself outside of the international trade agreements concluded on behalf of the EU, including those in the framework of the WTO.
The article discusses the contemporary state of political regional science in Russia. The author outlines three approaches towards the key notion of political region (political administrative, political system and political sociological), based on its own region-making factors, such as administrative borders, political interests and political identities. The author points out two main parts of political regional science; these are comparative federalism and regionalism on one hand and cross-regional comparative politics on the other hand. The key concepts of political regional science are intergovernmental (or inter-level in broader sense) relations and regional politics. The successful development of Russian political regional science needs for the integration with the Western political science and the resolution of contradictions with some of its traditions.