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Samizdat, Tamizdat, and Beyond
In many ways what is identified today as “cultural globalization” in Eastern Europe has its roots in the Cold War phenomena of samizdat (“do-it-yourself” underground publishing) and tamizdat (publishing abroad). This volume offers a new understanding of how information flowed between East and West during the Cold War, as well as the much broader circulation of cultural products instigated and sustained by these practices. By expanding the definitions of samizdat and tamizdat from explicitly political print publications to include other forms and genres, this volume investigates the wider cultural sphere of alternative and semi-official texts, broadcast media, reproductions of visual art and music, and, in the post-1989 period, new media. The underground circulation of uncensored texts in the Cold War era serves as a useful foundation for comparison when looking at current examples of censorship, independent media, and the use of new media in countries like China, Iran, and the former Yugoslavia.
One Hundred Years of Communist Experiments
Why has communism’s humanist quest for freedom and social justice without exception resulted in the reign of terror and lies? The authors of this collective volume address this urgent question covering the one hundred years since Lenin’s coup brought the first communist regime to power in St. Petersburg, Russia in November 1917. The first part of the volume is dedicated to the varieties of communist fantasies of salvation, and the remaining three consider how communist experiments over many different times and regions attempted to manage economics, politics, as well as society and culture. Although each communist project was adapted to the situation of the country where it operated, the studies in this volume find that because of its ideological nature, communism had a consistent penchant for totalitarianism in all of its manifestations. This book is also concerned with the future. As the world witnesses a new wave of ideological authoritarianism and collectivistic projects, the authors of the nineteen essays suggest lessons from their analyses of communism’s past to help better resist totalitarian projects in the future.
Marginal Spaces and Cultures of Dissent in Socialist Romania's Black Sea
This book analyzes two Romanian villages – 2 Mai and Vama Veche – as spaces of relative freedom during the last decades of socialist rule. This microhistorical study refutes simplistic views of the communist past which focus on political figures and events, and instead explores ordinary people and everyday life. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, it considers a broad range of sources, including official Communist Party documents, secret police files, personal memoirs, oral history interviews, ethnographic films, songs, and artistic performances. This book intertwines three narrative threads: that of the visitors (mainly members of the Romanian intelligentsia, young people, and hippies); that of the local inhabitants; and that of 'authority' (local and central state agents actively engaged in surveillance and supervision). In doing so, it interrogates the spectrum of consent/dissent and resistance/collaboration hitherto neglected in scholarship.
Secret Agents and the Memory of Everyday Collaboration in Communist Eastern Europe
The collection of essays in Secret Agents and the Memory of Everyday Collaboration in Communist Eastern Europe addresses institutions that develop the concept of collaboration, and examines the function, social representation and history of secret police archives and institutes of national memory that create these histories of collaboration. The essays provide a comparative account of collaboration/participation across differing categories of collaborators and different social milieux throughout East-Central Europe. They also demonstrate how secret police files can be used to produce more subtle social and cultural histories of the socialist dictatorships. By interrogating the ways in which post-socialist cultures produce the idea of, and knowledge about, “collaborators,” the contributing authors provide a nuanced historical conception of “collaboration,” expanding the concept toward broader frameworks of cooperation and political participation to facilitate a better understanding of Eastern European communist regimes.
The Test of Terrorism
This book offers a timely and critical reflection on how states have responded to the test of terrorism in the long shadow of 9/11. Terrorism has become the hallmark of international relations in the early twenty-first century. This book provides a policy-focused analysis of how certain states have responded to its test by employing a range of viewpoints that encompass state level responses down to a close interrogation of the nebulous non-state actors who have orchestrated spectacular political violence in contemporary times. It engages with the challenges of terrorism from a variety of perspectives that include philosophical discourses, the perils of counterterrorism encapsulated in the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, learning in counterinsurgency, the effectiveness of counterterrorism spending, Al Qaeda’s modus operandi and the threat posed by Boko Haram to Nigeria. This eclectic collection of chapters is an important contribution to the wide-ranging and contested debate about terrorism that has dominated the political discourse in the West since 2001. This book was published as a special issue of Defense and Security Analysis.
European Multiplicity
European Multiplicity does not conform to the expectations of a narrow EU studies agenda wherein European integration is seen as the destiny for the continent, each country (including non-members) being compelled to seek a place in an unfolding order “united in diversity”. Rather, the book demonstrates the benefits of an agenda shift, away from an overriding concern with integration towards a consideration of the possibility that a singular ‘Europe’ may not exist and that the multiplicity of Europe is all around us. As the chapters in this volume highlight, multiplicity reveals itself across the range of EU studies as a key dimension in Europe’s transformation. Multiplicity is evid...
Balkanmedia
First media magazine of the Balkans.
God Is Dead, Long Live the Gods
Powerful New Perspectives on the Integration of Science and Spirit Examining the relationship between polytheism and quantum physics, biology, and ecology can open new vistas of sacred discovery. God Is Dead, Long Live the Gods develops a bold new vision for polytheism's evolving role in our society and in our individual and collective spiritual experiences. Join author Gus diZerega as he explores contemporary science to show why consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality and why polytheistic experiences are as varied as the vast array of living organisms that enrich our world. This book shows why monotheism is actually a form of polytheism, and it explores fascinating spiritual concepts such as thought forms, mystical experiences, shamanism, spiritual healing, and universal love. Whether you're interested in the mind-bending implications of emergence theory or want to know if the universe is alive, you will discover transformative answers and a new integration of science and spirituality.
