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The Organized Crime – from a Threat to the Risk
No full textOrganized crime has become an extremely powerful concept that underlies many different policies for combatting it. A lot of countries, sensitive to the problem, are investing considerable resources – legislative, institutional, financial and human – in order to counter this phenomenon. However, then the question arises as to what they direct their efforts against, what they take into account, how they perceive organized crime. Legislative actions most often go through the creation of specialized institutional instruments (investigative structures or specialized courts), through which it is assumed that the fight against this type of crime would be more successful and effective. Before proceeding to specific institutional and structural-determining actions, however, it is important for each of the countries to determine how they perceive this social problem. Not so much from a conceptual point of view, but from a strategic point of view – whether as a threat, whether as a risk or as something else. Depending on this, policies to control and limit the level of organized crime would have a different focus. This text aims to illustrate precisely that perceiving this type of non-conventional crime as a risk reverses the institutional thinking and from reactive, it should become more preventive
Bad Mothers: Kristeva and the Undoing of the Natural Maternal?
Full text linkOne of the most sensitive representations in cultural, moral and political discourses is that of motherhood. The idea that a mother would feel estranged from her child, or even regret having a child, is a taboo that has only begun to be considered in the twenty-first century. What is a "bad" mother, how and why are idealized representations of motherhood now being questioned? In this analysis, the work of Julia Kristeva stands at the forefront. Through her reworking of Melanie Klein's object theory above all, Kristeva challenges "natural" motherhood as a fetishized construct. Most importantly, Kristeva's theory of the abject presents a critique of the fetishization of motherhood and its entwinement with consumer society. This essay mobilizes Kristeva to analyze fictional and cinematic works by Rachel Cusk and Maggie Gyllenhaal concerned with the undoing of idealized ideas of motherhood. Cusk's novel A Life's Work (2001) offers an autofictional narrative of her first experience of motherhood, one of boundlessness, exasperation, sleeplessness and fear; of fluids, smells and noise. Unable to fulfill her daughter's needs, unfulfilled herself, critical of her environment and her peers, she provides witness to an alienated experience, that of a "bad" mother. Further, in Cusk's novel, this is intimately connected to the development of consumer society and its mythology of motherhood. For its part, Gyllenhaal's film The Lost Daughter, which adapts a novel by Elena Ferrante, tells a story of abjection at the edge of the loss of self, and puts the question of what it means to be a "natural" mother in focus. Having recourse to theories of the object in capitalism, assisted by C. B. McPherson and Sigmund Freud, this essay argues for the contemporary significance of Julia Kristeva's work in the face of fantasies about motherhood in capitalist society
Black Sin: Confessions of a Melancholic
Full text linkChallenging Freud’s contention that the origin of religion is the need for a protective Father – rather than an oceanic feeling of eternity – Augustine’s Confessions (as I read it) indicates that such an oceanic experience generated the concept of original sin, in order to justify a theological procedure for returning to that ecstatic experience, thereby laying the foundation for Christianity. Kristeva’s theory of melancholia facilitates our realization that Christianity springs from a wish for maternal fulfillment, a propensity to cling to the plenitude that occupies the void of das Ding. Augustine’s melancholic subjectivity as it operates in his formation of Christianity allows us to grasp the psychosexual underpinnings of the concept of original sin, with its ironic capacity to compel belief in a purity of spiritual oneness. Through his analysis of City of God and Against Julian in Confessions of the Flesh, Michel Foucault not only underscores Augustine’s obsession with sex but also suggests that the consumption of the forbidden fruit might “be understood in a sexual way.” The Christian son/daughter therefore, ideally, fuses with the mother-Church to experience an oceanic state of completeness prior to sexual differentiation, an all-embracing fullness that enables a (Monica-inspired) victory – through evasion – over the Law of the Father, the disease of desire, and its concomitant lack. Although Augustine held psychoanalytic theory within his perceptual and conceptual grasp, he veers off personally as he imbibes mystical milk. Yet in doing so, he instigated two thousand years of Christianity: thanks to Augustine, Imaginary maternal protection can be enjoyed through the jouissance of an oceanic feeling, celebrated in dozens of Madonna del Latte paintings
Maximizing Efficiency: Harnessing second-hand computer systems for parallel computing in university micro cloud
Full text linkThis article explores the utilization of second-hand computer systems in the context of parallel computing for physics simulations at New Bulgarian University. With the increasing demand for computational power in scientific research, particularly in the field of physics, the affordability and accessibility of high-performance computing (HPC) resources become crucial. However, acquiring brand-new HPC systems can be cost-prohibitive for many laboratories and institutions. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility and efficacy of repurposing second-hand computer hardware to construct parallel computing clusters tailored for physics simulations. We discuss strategies for selecting, refurbishing, and integrating these systems into a parallel computing environment, highlighting the potential benefits and challenges. Through case studies and performance evaluations, we demonstrate the practicality of this approach in achieving significant computational capabilities at a fraction of the cost of new systems. Our findings underscore the importance of resourcefulness and sustainability in advancing computational physics research, paving the way for cost-effective solutions to address complex scientific challenges
Thomas Hobbes, philosopher of law or legal positivist?
No full textHobbes’s thought has had a significant impact on political and legal philosophy throughout history and is still present, directly or indirectly, in several approaches to state order and its interaction with civil society. This article aims to outline the convergence of Thomas Hobbes’s ideas with the theory of legal positivism, through an analysis of “Leviathan or The Matter and Form of State Power: Ecclesiastical and Civil” (1651) while also examining his views, which approach natural law. Initially, the main elements of legal theory regarding legal positivism will be presented through the reflections of the American philosopher Ronald Dworkin and the Italian thinker Norberto Bobbio. Subsequently, a thorough examination of the most relevant elements of Hobbes's political philosophy will be carried out, which will facilitate the understanding of its classification as a positivist theory in its essence. This analysis will cover key concepts such as the interpretation of the laws of nature as prudential prescriptions, the imperative to comply with civil law, and the autonomous power of the sovereign to make decisions in relation to the prevailing legal framework
Procedural rights of the suspected and accused persons in the criminal proceedings in the European Union. The right to interpretation and translation
No full textArticle 82(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides for the establishment of harmonised minimum standards which must be applied in both domestic and cross border cases to the treatment of suspects, accused and victims of crime. The necessary approximation of legislation would facilitate cooperation between competent authorities, and at the same time the extent of mutual recognition is very much dependent on a number of parameters, which include mechanisms for safeguarding the rights of suspected or accused persons and common minimum standards necessary to facilitate the application of the principle of mutual recognition. On October 20th 2010 the European Parliament and Council agreed on the Directive 2010/64/EU on the Right to Interpretation and Translation in criminal proceedings. The ratio legis of this directive is that common minimum rules should add to increased confidence in the criminal justice systems of all Member States
Pathways for smuggling in Firearms across Counries in Europe. Countermeasures of Law Enforcement entities and Organisations
No full textEurope stands at a civilizational crossroads. Heterogeneous societies make up the countries of the continent. Military conflicts are developing next to the continent. Organized crime has also developed, and in favor of domination, it was supplied with weapons. Countries on the continent control weapons-related activities differently. This is a gap used by crime to obtain weapons. At the same time, in response to threats, countries are coordinating efforts to reduce their intensity
Ontology, Biosemiotics, and Set Theory: New Turns in Kristevan Studies
Full text linkThe papers collected in this volume were presented at the Eighth Meeting of the Kristeva circle, which took place in Julia Kristeva's country of origin, Bulgaria, at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia, in May 2022. The small local organizing committee included Kristian Bankov, semiotician and Secretary General of the International Association for Semiotic Studies (IASS/AIS), Albena Stambolova, a writer and psychoanalyst, and myself, my research focus being on the juncture of literature and philosophy. I mention our research areas in order to foreground our ambition to have the conference address Kristeva's various facets and, more specifically, to see the conference bridge the division and almost complete lack of interaction between studies exploring the early "linguistic" or semiotic Kristeva and those dealing with her work after her psychoanalytic turn in the 1980s. It could be argued that the semiotic (with or without the chora) is the only early concept that has made its way into studies post-dating the psychoanalytic turn: it is as if we are dealing with two Kristevas, distinct and even opposed to each other. Emphasizing the semiotic as process, as "semiotization," and juxtaposing it to "transubstantiation" in the title of the conference was intended to highlight and overcome this split: the first term evokes Kristeva's early conception of the semiotizable chora; the second emerges from her study of Proust in the 1990s. Placing these concepts side by side was meant to foreground the shifts in Kristeva's perspective as extending rather than replacing her early preoccupations
The Beheading: Salome’s Gesture in the Works of Wilde, Moreau and Beardsley
Full text linkThe paper explores the problem of female subjectivity in nineteenth-century literature and visual art, focusing on the figure of Salome in the play by Oscar Wilde and the paintings of Gustave Moreau and Aubrey Beardsley. The biblical story of the Jewish princess Salome and John the Baptist, as well as the fascination with the severed head served on a silver platter, is of interest to Julia Kristeva in her book The Severed Head: Capital Visions. For Kristeva, John the Baptist can be thought of as “the figure of the figure,” he sets the course of the figure of “prophecy in actuality.” On the other hand, Kristeva sees Salome as the divine castrator who incorporates the powers of horror. She is the one who invites us to experience the figure of John the Baptist in its severing and its dance. By this manner, Salome is a singular figure who possesses the capacity of that which goes beyond representation.In the nineteenth century, we can see a shift in the artistic perspective through which Salome’s story is introduced. Using Kristeva’s theory, this paper will propose the term “disfigure” to refer to Salome as one who disfigures the whole. Beyond the tragic delight for the audience that such a gesture of “disfiguring” brings, it is a site of a turning point in the history of the reception of Salome’s figure in art. She is not just the seductive dancer, the object of perverse male gaze, but also the subject, the doer, and agent of the “incision”
The Subject Who Says “I Suffer”: The Semiotic in the State of Singularity
Full text linkThe aim of this text is to explore how Kristeva deals with the question of unity and singularity in her early work, particularly in Revolution in Poetic Language. In particular, the conceptual pair of the semiotic and the symbolic, which is commonly subject to schematic evaluation, is confronted: the symbolic is a unifying element in discourse, whereas the semiotic is a pluralizing or destructive force, and the latter is favored by Kristeva over the former. I will argue, however, that the above-mentioned characteristics do not exhaust this pair of concepts. I will read Revolution in Poetic Language alongside Georges Bataille’s texts, where he deals with the notions of heterogeneity, homogeneity, and experience, and I will try to highlight the intersections with Kristeva’s work. I will also take into account Kristeva’s own reading of Bataille. I turn to Kristeva’s 1972 “Bataille, Experience and Practice” to emphasize important aspects of her work, where unity is clearly privileged. I focus on the moment when the dissolution of unity results not in the emergence of a plurality (of the text) but of a singular experience, for which she finds inspiration in Bataille, and which becomes an important theme in her later work