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In the American legal system valid witness-testimony is supposed to be invariable and unchanging, so defense attorneys highlight seeming inconsistencies in victims' accounts to impeach their credibility. This book offers an examination of how and why victims of domestic violence might seem to be 'changing their stories,' in the criminal justice system, which may leave them vulnerable to attack and criticism. Latinas' Narratives of Domestic Abuse: Discrepant versions of violence investigates the discourse of protective order interviews, where women apply for court injunctions to keep abusers away. In these encounters, two different versions of violence, each influenced by a range of ethnolinguistic, intertextual and cultural factors, are always produced. This ethnography of Latina women narrating violence suggests that before victims even get to trial, their testimony involves much more than merely telling the truth. This book provides a unique look at pre-trial testimony as a collaborative and dynamic social and cultural act.
This is the first history of the revolutions that toppled communism in Europe to look behind the scenes at the grassroots movements that made those revolutions happen. It looks for answers not in the salons of power brokers and famed intellectuals, not in decrepit economies--but in the whirlwind of activity that stirred so crucially, unstoppably, on the street. Melding his experience in Solidarity-era Poland with the sensibility of a historian, Padraic Kenney takes us into the hearts and minds of those revolutionaries across much of Central Europe who have since faded namelessly back into everyday life. This is a riveting story of musicians, artists, and guerrilla theater collectives subvert...
In this book, Edward Snajdr demonstrates how concerns about ecology generated a social movement that led to political dialogue about freedom, ethnicity, and power. He connects the role that green dissidents played in communism's collapse with the forces in Slovak society that replaced them. Through ethnographic interviews and archival materials, he explains why Slovakia's ecology movement, so strong under socialism, fell apart so rapidly despite the persistence of serious ecological maladies in the region. Synthesizing theory in anthropology and political ecology, he suggests that the fate of environmentalism in Slovakia marks the beginning of a global post-ecological age, where nature is culturally maginalized in new ways.
This book makes the case that several East Central European countries have emerged as fully consolidated democracies. As such, they may be integrated into the mainstream of political science research, and not consigned forever to a transitional category encompassing countries that are now fully democracies as well as some that are not democratic at all. The author outlines the steps of another transition - from post-communist studies to political science research. He demonstrates how institutionalist, or rational choice, theories can be applied to the analysis of political processes in the successfully democratized countries, and proposes a new research agenda for political scientists studying the region. The results of this work can enrich political science as well as our understanding of both democracy and the polities of contemporary Eastern Europe.
As societies around the world are challenged to respond to ever growing environmental crises, it has become increasingly important for activists, policy makers, and environmental practitioners to understand the dynamic relationship between environmental movements and the state. In communist Eastern Europe, environmental activism fueled the rise of democratic movements and the overthrow of totalitarianism. Yet, as this study of environmentalism in Slovakia shows, concern for the environment declined during the post-communist period, an ironic victim of its own earlier success. Through ethnographic interviews and archival materials, Edward Snajdr explains why Slovakia's ecology movement, so st...
Zehntausende Menschen protestierten am 12. September 1988 vor dem ungarischen Parlament gegen das Wasserkraftprojekt Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros. Was mit vereinzelten kritischen Stimmen in der Untergrundpresse begann, entwickelte sich innerhalb weniger Jahre zu einer schlagkräftigen Bewegung gegen den kommunistischen Megabau. Es war kein Zufall, dass sich unter den DemonstrantInnen zahlreiche ÖsterreicherInnen befanden. Die Donaubewegung bildete einen Kristallisationspunkt für Protest, der weit über die Grenzen Ungarns hinausreichte. Dies war die Leistung von einer Handvoll AktivistInnen, die es wagten, jenseits des Eisernen Vorhang nach Verbündeten zu suchen. Denn spätestens als bekannt wur...
In the last three decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, there has been a vast amount of study looking at transforming the planned economy to a market economy from both theoretical and empirical aspects. This book provides an overview and insight into transition economies in the recent decades and looks at key economics topics from the so-called “transition strategy debate” to environmental reform. The book also includes an analytical review and meta-analysis of the existing literature. By integrating theoretical discussions and synthesizing empirical findings in a systematic manner, this book may help to enlighten the debate on the timing, speed, and policy sequence of economic transition. The book will particularly appeal to researchers, policy makers, other practitioners, and under- and post-graduate students who are interested in transition economies in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Southeast Asia, and China. It aims to be read as an advanced reader.
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