Reconciliation of the Spirits and Fusion of the Interests. “Ottomanism” as an Identity Politics
The history of the different national traditions of social and political thinking in Southeastern Europe is usually examined in their relationship with the developments in the leading European nation states. This is certainly a legitimate approach, but it should be added that beside the multiple interactions between the “marginalized,” “small nations” in the “periphery” and the “European core” there was one more major actor—the multinational empires in the Eastern part of the continent. They ...
Regions and regionalism in "new" European Union member states: the cases of Istria and Pirin Macedonia
The research studies regionalism in two sub-national border regions, Istria in Croatia and Pirin Macedonia in Bulgaria, by testing empirically existing theories on regions and regionalism. Identifying two regions where regionalism is likely to be strong, the research seeks to answer the question why comparable initial conditions have led to different levels of regionalism. While Istria has developed strong and stable regionalism with self-governance on political, cultural and economic matters, Pirin Macedonia’s regionalism has been largely limited to expressions of its cultural specificity. Theories on regionalism have been predominantly based on quantitative research of a large number of regions, which has often spanned across continents and time. Few contextual case studies have been carried out, in particular in “new” EU Member States where regionalism is altogether not widespread or at least not well articulated politically. This research provides such a contextual study and empirical backing of theories focusing on the factors leading to regionalism. Its findings indicate that economic and political uncertainly is more conducive for the emergence of regionalism than economic prosperity and political routine, but also that regionalism is more likely to be stable in the long run if it is built on such premises as affluence, cooperation and peaceful tackling of regional issues. Furthermore, at least in the case of “new” EU Member States, regionalism appears to be more about the vested-in interests of regional players than about processes of democratization and improved efficiency. An increased independence on the regional level appears to lead to stronger regionalism only if there is an overlap between political and administrative functions, i.e. if regionalist political actors are successful in establishing control over public institutions.
Same Same But Different - also in Europe! A New Methodological Approach in Cross-Country Analysis of Communication Structuresapplied to five EU member states
The EU still lacks a truly European public sphere. On this level, there is still a clear lack of integration between individual member states. This means that national public spheres and cultures are still of great importance for European communication and media professionals. Comparative research into the similarities and differences between different nations is therefore valuable for cross-border PR communication activities. This paper lays out the methodological foundation for such research, discussing possible approaches and difficulties associated with comparative research. The author then introduces a potential heuristic framework for comparative analysis: the International Corporate Communication Compass. This framework is applied to five case-study EU countries (Denmark, Germany, France, Poland and the UK), showing the differences and similarities in a range of different contexts that affect public communication in all its forms. The conclusion examines how the results of such studies could be used in order to compare communication identities of different countries. This can potentially help in the development of a European public identity on the long run and in a first step can led towards a better, more adapted communication structure about European citizenship. Ultimately, communication structures within the EU might become more Europeanized than they