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The Space of Enforced Disappearance
Full text linkEnforced disappearance is a pertinent issue, particularly in the context of Pakistan and many other developing countries. However, the phenomenon of ‘enforced disappearance’ and the presence of a corresponding ‘penal architecture’ characterized by its ‘invisibility’ and ‘unknowability’ has not been given sufficient scholarly attention. Most of the literature available on enforced disappearance describes it as a tool of terror used by the state (or its agents). What is not focused on is the relation that exists between the phenomenon of enforced disappearance and the sovereign in the modern state. I unveil this relationship and explore its implications on our understanding of the concept of sovereignty by formulating arguments derived mainly on Arendt and Agamben’s concepts of ‘appearance’ and ‘bare life’ respectively. I argue and establish that enforced disappearance is an ‘exceptional’ phenomenon that results in the placement of an individual outside the protection of law into the ‘space of exception’ that is a complete and imposed negation of the space of appearance. Furthermore, the relationship between the sovereign and appearance is explored
Negotiating Identity During the Macedonia’s Name Change Period in Media Discourse
Full text linkThe name is an essential mark of one’s identity, and if someone is pressured to change it under any circumstances it would naturally lead to feelings of uncertainty, fear, anxiety and doubt, because it is not only important how people see themselves, but also how they want to be seen by others, as well as how others see them. This paper analyses the discursive processes used by the media sources to negotiate and construct the identity of Macedonians in the period before and after the change of the name of the country from the Republic of Macedonia into the Republic of North Macedonia in 2019. Taking interaction and language as central to the construction, enactment and negotiation of identity, a corpus of 20 articles of both pro- and anti-governmental newspaper outlets, written before, during and after the name change were analysed and parallels were drawn in terms of the language used by both media sources to discuss the identity of Macedonian people. The analysis showed that while the pro-governmental media were attempting to portray a new identity of Macedonians in the EU, the anti-governmental ones presented the name-change as a threat to a complete identity loss (Trajkova, 2020). This situation left the Macedonian citizen confused, scared and in doubt of what was the right or wrong path to take
Harmonization of state legislation with EU legislation – the case of the so-called anti-defamation media law in Albania
Full text linkAlbania is a European country that has been involved in the long process of EU accession since the fall of the communist regime at the beginning of the 90s’, but is yet to meet a number of requirements to join the European Union. One of the policies that is being scrutinized and going through the EU adaptation framework is the media policy. This article adopts a single case study approach, specifically the most debated media law package in Albania in the last three decades, the so-called anti-defamation media law. The focus of my research analyses concerns the role of the stakeholders involved in the process for the alignment of the media legislation in Albania with the EU regulations. To that end, I have used the expert interviews method, with experts who have been engaged and set out recommendations in this long process which has not finished yet. The research gives a general overview of the interactions of the stakeholders involved in this process, such as national and international journalists and human rights NGOs; international institutions which operate in Albania and have been quite active in this debate, and independent journalists. Another crucial part of my research is investigating through policy analysis methods how the stakeholder’s input has been incorporated into this complicated policymaking process or most of the time totally ignored by the decision-making institutions such as the Albanian government and parliament
The Duplex World: Keizaburo Maruyama’s Elaboration on Saussure’s Principle of the Arbitrariness of Linguistic Sings
Full text linkThis paper has two objectives. It intends, first, to elucidate Ferdinand de Saussure’s discourse on the arbitrariness of linguistic signs and, second, to expound Keizaburo Maruyama’s unique, epistemological thesis developed based on Saussure’s ideas. The argumentation goes as follows. After illustrating that the Swiss linguist’s case, having been understood too diversely, requires an accurate recapitulation and Maruyama’s texts have received little heed, the first section which proves Saussure’s original opinion entails that not only the relationship between a linguistic sign’s signifier and signified but a language’s classification system itself is absolutely contingent. The second section, scrutinizing Maruyama’s theory about our interpreting the world, shows its gist is humans construe the universe through the duplex articulation structure. The third, concluding section describes his view on music as another attribute of his thought, and closes the discussion by indicating that his texts, albeit written decades ago, can help us address today’s conundrums
Authoritarianism, Conspiracy Theories and Covid 19 Pandemic in Serbia
Full text linkBy placing two key narratives about the origin and the implications of Covid-19 in the global context, the author analyzes their media representations in Serbia in order to highlight their potential correlation with widely understood authoritarianism. Conspiracy theories in Serbia are present in several interrelated and interdependent forms: 1. Theory of experimental totalitarianism; 2. Economic-political conspiracy; 3. Theory of the Third World War/New Order. Tensions and conflicts between the proponents of the official and unofficial versions of pandemic are visible, mostly on social media, and resemble other forms of filtering and dosing aggression against labeled enemies. In the moments of social crisis this becomes one of the basic characteristics of the authoritarian structure of personality. “Enemies” are stigmatized by various formulations, from “the masters of the new order”, to “the servants of the world pharmacomaphy.” Therefore, the aim of this paper is to make an overwiew of the most common conspiracy theories about Covid 19 in Serbia and to analyze them in the frames of theories that emphasize the importance of dogma within the authoritarian personality structure
The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) in the Workplace: Case study at the Recycling Company Rec-Kos, Kosovo
Full text linkThis research examines whether there exists a positive correlation between the transformational leadership style and factors such as civic virtues, responsibility, altruism, correctness, and civility to practice Civic Organizational Behaviour (OCB) constructively. Employees who tend to support colleagues with the above factors become more outstanding later on. Additionally, these employees excel by acting beyond the set minimum to successfully complete a task. Indeed, OCB can be stimulated by the transformational leader. The quantitative data from the case study in REC-KOS, a private company based in Kosovo, highlight that factors such as age and less work experience are related to the creation of an OCB-supportive work environment. An environment in which the flexibility of rules is praised by the transformational leadership style shows no relevant influence on the promotion of the empathic side of employees. On the other hand, full identification with the company for which one works is achieved primarily through organizational culture
The western Balkans and EU multilingualism: A focus on translation and interpreting
Full text linkTo date, four countries in the western Balkans have attained EU candidate country status: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. However, little research has focused on the logistics of how the official languages of these countries will eventually be incorporated as official and working languages of the EU. Therefore, in contextualising the unique historical, political and sociolinguistic situation of the western Balkans, this literature-based study examines current translation and interpreting provision for Albanian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, and Serbia within the EU’s language services. In addition, specific attention is focused on the availability of relevant translator and interpreter training options, as well as on further areas for potential cooperation
“Il faut défendre la subjectivité”: Vulnerability in Levinas’s Ethics
Full text linkLevinas conceived ethics as a contestation of the ontological imperialism and its asphyxiating order dominating Western culture, arguing that, rather than ontology, ethics is first philosophy. Supported and led by a phenomenological description of the concrete life of the embodied subject, his philosophical work achieves a radical critique of the sovereign subject by emphasizing the exceptional ethical significance of subjectivity. This paper discusses three key features that, according to Levinas, define human subjectivity, namely, vulnerability, passivity, and weakness, stressing how he thinks of subjectivity in terms of both welcoming and persecution at one and the same time. Lastly, by relying on Butler’s critique of the Levinasian ethics, the paper addresses Levinas’s take on politics, pointing out why political issues enter his ethical discourse
Documenting architecture. From 3D simulations to virtual restoration
Full text linkThe Casa del Mutilato (House of the Mutilated) in Ancona, Italy, is a significant example of twentieth-century architecture and the current initiatives aimed at its recovery and restoration can represent a useful and interesting test bed for experimenting with the most innovative IT methodologies for documenting the history and state of conservation of the building. This contribution therefore intends to propose some possible strategies for the design and implementation of a new concept of digital information system to preserve all the documentation relating to the Casa del Mutilato, make it accessible online also to citizens and the wider public, create a useful service for the management of the building itself, and enhance the asset, making known its history, constructive and artistic characteristics, and the possibilities of use. The results so obtained can then be usefully utilized for the documentation and planning of the recovery of monumental buildings of the twentieth century of historical and artistic interest in Europe
Overweight, obesity, and reality television: Exploring health data and the popularity of local versions of The Biggest Loser in the European context
Full text linkWith rates of overweight and obesity on the rise around the world, there have been numerous reality television shows dedicated to this complex and enduring issue. This exploratory contribution outlines the global epidemiological situation relating to overweight and obesity in the European context, before seeking to discover whether there is any linkage between the rates of overweight in a given European country and the popularity – as demonstrated through the number of seasons broadcast – of the local version of the weight-loss reality show The Biggest Loser. Through the analysis of online sources,
preliminary data is gained, providing useful information for further research on the topic at a later date