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From his Problem of Genesis in Husserl's Philosophy (1953–4) to the address given on the fiftieth anniversary of Le monde diplomatique just before he died in 2004, Derrida made constant reference to the subject of Europe. A recent volume of essays, Europe after Derrida: Crisis and Potentiality, seeks to explore this work and the current paper gauges the extent to which it correctly accounts for it. It is suggested that many of the chapters are seriously flawed in failing to note how Derrida's interest in Europe follows that of a long line of philosophers from the phenomenological school, going back to Husserl and including Heidegger and Patočka. Consequently, many of the contributors resort to ideas of identity current in sociology and cultural studies and appear not to understand that central to Derrida's thought is a challenge to such notions. Unlike Gasché's Europe, or The Infinite Task, the only single-volume treatment of Derrida's work on Europe and a text mentioned by only two contributors, they overlook the way in which he proposes that Europe could be precisely a project of pioneering the rethinking of identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation of a Centre for Cultural Witness at Lambeth Palace, to serve the Church of England within an ecumenical partnership that already stretches across Europe, offers an opportune time to reflect upon the place—even the meaning—of "culture" in witness of the church. The analysis presented here identifies three senses in which that term might be applied to witness: as that from which the witness comes, that through which it comes, and that to which it comes. At least in theory, a strong cultural emphasis might (or might not) be placed on each of these dimensions independently. However, while this may prove to be a useful distinction, it risks perpetuating an assumption that churches, and Christians, stand outside the culture of those they address, speaking as if from beyond it. In the second half of this paper, I work, instead, from the recognition that the Christian speaks from a position of a shared creaturehood, shared humanity, and—in myriad ways—a shared culture. Approached that way, the mission of the church can fruitfully be seen as witness to a theologically specific understanding of that which is shared. I conclude with the suggestion that this can be ably resourced from the broad tradition of a Platonic "Christian humanism". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1992, culture has been an official competence of the European Union. De facto, the EU has the legitimacy and means to intervene and change collective representations and social dynamics, including in border regions, in order to bring people together and build a Europe 'united in diversity'. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the cross-border dynamics in cultural matters, and to examine the realization of cultural projects as a driving force in the process of cross-border integration. The approach is based on a spatial analysis of the cultural projects co-financed by Interreg over the 2000–2020 period, enabling to provide an overview of the cross-border cultural initiatives undertaken. The results reveal first that strong spatial disparities exist between programming spaces in terms of cultural investment. Second, that cross-border cultural cooperation mainly involves municipalities, and not primarily cultural actors. Third, although a diverse range of cultural projects have been developed over the last twenty years, the emphasis has been more on tourism projects. These achievements bring into question the role of Interreg programming in cultural matters in the dynamics of cross-border integration, since it fosters an economic approach to culture at the expense of social and identity issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uncertainties and scale of the Covid-19 pandemic has mobilised global anxieties and insecurities, and many cultural groups have conjuncturally embedded conspiracy theories within millennial and apocalyptic thought to explain and find meaning in the pandemic. The apocalypse lends itself well to conspiratorial thinking because conceptually it is flexible enough to reflect any crisis. To this end, the global development of Covid-19 conspiracism is what the authors term 'contagious conspiracism' which is defined as viral global cultural conspiracism. The paper explores how millennialist responses to Covid-19 in various media outlets transcend academic categories of analysis and cultural boundaries between, say, religious and secular, far-right and radical left. First explored is how the crisis became embedded in established (mainly American) contemporary millennial beliefs and prophecies through selected far-right, evangelical and radical left narratives. Second, it is shown how these theories have been 'improvised' to include 5 G and also travelled to Europe and taken on geographical significance in Belfast and Berlin. Third, the authors illustrate the shared ingredients, motivations, and semiotics across apocalyptic conspiratorial Covid-19 narratives, all of which resonate with concerns about power, specifically emergent surveillance technologies, governmental abuse of power, and neoliberal capital, with divergent truths about who is blame from 5 G/vaccine theories to corporate technocapitalism. The paper concludes that these shared discourses across apocalyptic and conspiratorial Covid-19 narratives mean many of us are conspiracists and/or conspiracy theorists at some level and is therefore both revealing of the similarities and has the potential to create democratic constituencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines the impact of communication technology and human-related factors on teacher, student and course performance, in particular on teacher's clarity, perceived value of the course and student learning. Design/methodology/approach: Communication technology factors are analyzed in terms of social media use, while human-related factors are considered through teacher expertise and communication skills, more specifically non-verbal communication (NVC). The research model is tested on a sample of 303 students from two European universities, one in Southwestern and another in Southeastern Europe. Findings: Findings reveal dominance of human factors over technology ones. Culture moderates some of the relationships examined. Research limitations/implications: Notwithstanding the relatively limited sample of students according to their national culture, this work offers valuable insights into the impact of technology use in classroom and teacher communication skills. Practical implications: Teacher NVC and expertise override their use of technology-mediated communication in classroom. Findings have raised important questions whether social media applications should actually have place in nowadays education systems. What seems clear from this research is that technology advancements cannot replace teachers, although further research is necessary to re-examine their impact on different student outcomes and in different cultural contexts. Originality/value: The originality of this paper lies in comparing the impact of technology vs human-related factors on classroom performance. An additional contribution is provided by considering the moderating role of national culture within the proposed research model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to identify and describe the European evidence on opportunities and barriers to access and utilization of palliative care among non- western migrants. A systematic review in accordance with PRISMA guidelines was conducted in June 2020, searching Medline, CINAHL, PsychINFO and EMBASE databases. PROSPERO# CRD42020193651. Studies included empirical research published between 2011 and 2020. Search words were, for example, ethnic groups and palliative care. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data. Twenty nine qualitative and six quantitative studies were included. Four main themes were identified: communication and language; knowledge and awareness; patient preferences, cultural and religious issues; and lack of resources at different levels of palliative care service provision. Migrants' access to palliative care is impeded at system, community and individual levels, yet, recommendations are mostly at the individual level. Closer attention is required to these different levels when designing future palliative interventions for migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reworks the notion of active ageing through analysis of a case which reverses the retirement-migration nexus – people in the post-socialist realm who approach retirement age and then migrate to begin a new working life. They are thereby introducing a new and complex arrangement to the general concept of 'international retirement migration'. In the post-socialist world, new retirement migration frontiers emerge in the context of a severe weakening of welfare systems. I illustrate this case with data from long-term research with ageing Latvian migrant women to the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries. Even those whose old-age pensions are more or less adequate nevertheless seek temporary employment and new cultural experiences abroad. However, the dominant trend has been towards the pauperisation of older parents and those approaching retirement age due to the significant decline in state welfare. This case of many older-age Latvians who de facto cannot retire due to low disposable income reveals 'reverse frontiers of retirement': working as long as they can, pushing their personal geographical frontiers outward by emigrating for work and making national frontiers more porous through transnational practices. Conceptually and geographically, the research holds relevance for a wider discussion of trends and contextual factors in other post-Soviet and post-socialist countries with increasing diversities among retirees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internationalization of universities and the aging of the global population are two current issues that converge and challenge undergraduate gerontology curriculum development in Canada. One response to this challenge is to envision an intercultural gerontology curriculum. What might this curriculum encompass? How might it be taught? An exploratory study was undertaken to address these two questions. This paper presents findings from this study based primarily on interviews with university-based stakeholders from Canada, the United States, and Europe. Thematic analysis of the interviews resulted in five themes: multiple perspectives on cultural diversity; the dynamic nature of cultural diversity and aging; flow of an intercultural curriculum; institutional culture and intercultural curricula; and principles and practice for intercultural gerontology. Framed by principles of gerontology theory and educational approaches, this paper focuses on the principles and practice suggested by study participants. Scaffolding learning, active learning strategies, experiential learning opportunities, teacher modelling, and internet-based learning are discussed as key to intercultural learning. An appendix includes a list of resources that may be useful to developing an intercultural gerontology curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By applying a comparative method and analysis of documents, this paper studies the altered position and role of culture as a delicate field of intervention in the field of European integration policies. From that standpoint we approach the sociocultural and anthropological analysis of the basic directions of development in European policy in the fields of culture from the beginning of the process of EU integrations to this day. The aim of the research is to indicate the causes and consequences of increased interest of the European political agenda for the concept of cultural heritage, in particular from the 1970s, with the intention to critically analyze the conceptual interpretations and strategic uses of cultural heritage as part of European cultural policy. For that purpose, the paper provides insight into the basic research findings on the priorities and practices in the field of affirmation of the cultural heritage of Europe, obtained by analyzing and interpreting secondary sources (research papers, numerous internationally accepted documents, various European programs and projects). Conclusions are drawn on the unique contradictoriness in the rhetoric of European political actors, which in the field of cultural heritage balances between European particularism and universalism, as well as the unique strategic shift in European cultural activities from the primary affirmation of the symbolic and social potential of cultural heritage towards the increasingly emphasized use and abuse of its economic dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since much of the discussion about Islamophobia has been concerned with positive-self and negative-other representations of Muslims, understanding it as a culturally racist discourse foregrounds the way Muslims are constructed as deeply threatening to the values and identities of the spaces they occupy. These representations invoke an essentialised and determinative Muslim culture that can be understood as the central organising principle of Islamophobia: the belief that relies upon binary oppositions that allow its proponents to advocate a host of positive values, while repudiating and denigrating Muslims. This paper explains how Islamophobia can be conceptualised as the racist discourse that upholds a system of Eurocentric supremacy, a historical development based on the universalising aspects of Western culture that led to the development of a racialised social system in Europe. By demonstrating the form and content of Islamophobic discourse, the paper draws attention to a wide array of issues ranging from the securitisation discourse, institutionalisation of Islamophobia, to its modes of articulation in specific European countries. It further argues that given the rise of racist, especially Islamophobic, far-right parties in European countries, combating Islamophobia becomes an institutional priority that requires outspoken and brave initiatives and persons who not only challenge this pervasive form of racism but also address structural forms of discrimination affecting Muslims or those perceived as such. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of modern cremation was much more than a notion of a more hygienic, ecological and aesthetically acceptable method for the disposal of human remains. From its inception at the end of the 18th century, all the way into the second half of the 20th century, it was tied to various political, national and cultural ideologies, with the common factor throughout being anticlericalism and secularisation. In this paper, I will explore the development and status of the idea and practice of cremation in countries which found themselves behind the Iron Curtain after the Second World War. Did modern cremation serve in the interest of socialist social order and communist ideology, and if so, in what way? What was the fate of the idea in relation to the specificities of different communist regimes and what factors affected its adoption or rejection? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We provide a "bottom-up" perspective on Europeans' evaluations of what belongs and what does not belong to culture, innovating the typically theoretical approach to such scholarly debates. • Based on new survey data from nine European countries, using latent class analysis we identify five distinct ways to evaluate the contents and boundaries of expressive culture. • Differences in Europeans' ways to evaluate culture align with cross-national differences in cultural policy models and levels of inequality. • We add to the cultural stratification literature by showing how the ways to evaluate culture are socially stratified and associate with Europeans' wider politico-cultural attitudes. • Contrary to traditional assumptions, the narrow evaluations are associated with lower-status groups, while the upper-status groups embrace broad notions of expressive culture. Despite the long history of debating its meaning and its current unprecedented ubiquity both in scholarly and popular discourses, little is systematically known about how "culture" is conceived by ordinary people. This paper examines how evaluations of the contents and boundaries of expressive culture are patterned among people in and across present-day European societies, and to what degree these evaluations associate with sociodemographic and politico-cultural divisions. Using survey data collected in 2021 in nine European countries and applying latent class and multinomial regression methods, the analysis reconstructs Europeans' boundaries of the concept of culture – which objects, places and practices they see as belonging or not belonging to culture, and with which objects they remain ambivalent. The results show that the classical distinction between narrow (exclusive) and broad (inclusive) notions still structures Europeans' evaluations of expressive culture, but it operates in several modes and with national and sociodemographic variations. In contrast to traditional assumptions, the narrow evaluations are associated with lower-status groups, while the upper-status groups embrace broad notions of culture. Moreover, the broad evaluations are associated with factors such as cultural cosmopolitanism and liberal-progressive political attitudes, highlighting the potential of extending cultural stratification research by the "bottom-up" study of patterned evaluations and understandings of the concept of culture itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arts and cultural activities have become an increasingly important aspect of urban and regional development. Can such projects be seen as socially innovative? Socially innovative projects are here understood as those that create new ways of looking at problems, new organisational means for dealing with problems and solutions that go beyond market efficiency. This paper considers arts-based redevelopment projects at regional, municipal and neighbourhood scales. Its focus is on US cities with some examples drawn from Europe. Initiatives to build regional creative economies and creative clusters, and to revitalise buildings and neighbourhoods through cultural activities can be seen as socially innovative, although they can also catalyse market processes that can have deleterious impacts on vulnerable communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Due to changes in Polish society resulting from a significant inflow of immigrants to Poland, the need to develop the cultural competences of various professional groups who have contact with immigrants in their work has increased. These groups should include healthcare professionals, especially because of the significant increase in the number of culturally diverse patients. Therefore, medical education in Poland has had to rapidly adapt to this novel situation. For instance, the teaching process should be now more focused on the development and evaluation of the cultural competences of prospective health care workers. However, there is still a lack of standardized, valid and reliable instruments to assess cross-cultural competences among healthcare professionals. The purpose of the present paper was to describe, for the first time, the translation, adaptation, and psychometric evaluation of the Polish version of the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory. Methods: Across two studies, we examined psychometric properties of the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory (CCCI) such as reliability (i.e. internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor structure) and validity (i.e. theoretical, criteria, convergent). In the first study, 408 participants (75% were healthcare professionals) completed the Polish version of the CCCI and the Positive/Negative Attitude Towards Culturally Divergent People Questionnaire. In the second study, 317 participants (97% were healthcare professionals) completed the CCCI twice, with an interval of at least 22 days. In addition, across two study sessions, participants completed questionnaires constructed to measure (a) cultural intelligence, (b) need for cognitive closure, (c) emphatic sensitiveness, (d) emotional intelligence, (e) self-esteem, (f) social desirability, and (g) personality. Finally, to additionally examine the theoretical validity, 36 professional cross-cultural competence trainers completed the CCCI during a one-session study. Results: Our findings confirm the reliability and validity of the CCCI. More precisely, in study 1 we proved the theoretical validity and reliability (i.e. internal consistency) of the CCCI. While the assumed structure did not fit the data well, all items were significantly related to the general factor, thus providing strong support for the usage of the total score of the CCCI. In study 2, we additionally estimated the test-retest reliability and theoretical, criterion and convergent validity. Across two studies we were able to successfully confirm these psychometric properties. The reliability was satisfactory and ranged from .83 to .86. We also observed a high and significant positive correlation between CCCI and the Cultural Intelligence Scale, which measures a concept similar to the one measured by CCCI. In addition, a significant relationship between intercultural competences (CCCI) and other variables such as personality, empathic sensitivity, emotional intelligence, self-esteem (positive correlations) and the need for cognitive closure (mainly negative correlation) were demonstrated. Conclusions: The obtained results support the usage of the CCCI questionnaire in scientific research, such as, for example, among healthcare professionals (nurses, doctors) and students of medical fields (nursing, medicine). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, particularly for respiratory tract infections (RTI) in ambulatory care, has become a worldwide public health threat due to resulting antibiotic resistance. In spite of various interventions and campaigns, wide variations in antibiotic use persist between European countries. Cultural determinants are often referred to as a potential cause, but are rarely defined. To our knowledge, so far no systematic literature review has focused on cultural determinants of antibiotic use. The aim of this study was to identify cultural determinants, on a country-specific level in ambulatory care in Europe, and to describe the influence of culture on antibiotic use, using a framework of cultural dimensions.Method: A computer-based systematic literature review was conducted by two research teams, in France and in Norway. Eligible publications included studies exploring antibiotic use in primary care in at least two European countries based on primary study results, featuring a description of cultural determinants, and published between 1997 and 2015. Quality assessment was conducted independently by two researchers, one in each team, using appropriate checklists according to study design. Each included paper was characterized according to method, countries involved, sampling and main results, and cultural determinants mentioned in each selected paper were extracted, described and categorized. Finally, the influence of Hofstede's cultural dimensions associated with antibiotic consumption within a primary care setting was described.Results: Among 24 eligible papers, 11 were rejected according to exclusion criteria. Overall, 13 papers meeting the quality assessment criteria were included, of which 11 used quantitative methods and two qualitative or mixed methods. The study participants were patients (nine studies) and general practitioners (two studies). This literature review identified various cultural determinants either patient-related (illness perception/behaviour, health-seeking behaviour, previous experience, antibiotic awareness, drug perception, diagnosis labelling, work ethos, perception of practitioner) or practitioner-related (RTI management, initial training, antibiotic awareness, legal issues, practice context) or both (antibiotic awareness).Discussion and Conclusion: Cultural factors should be considered as exerting an ubiquitous influence on all the consecutive stages of the disease process and seem closely linked to education. Interactions between determinant categories, cultural dimensions and antibiotic use in primary care are multiple, complex and require further investigation within overlapping disciplines. The context of European projects seems particularly relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the potential of technology transfer in prevention interventions. It argues that contextual factors are more identifiable and more malleable than the cliché of “culture” as a barrier to implementation might suggest. The key question is how various contextual factors impact on programme implementation and effectiveness in the different cultures of a multifaceted continent such as Europe, and how successful programmes adapt to various contexts. Design/methodology/approach – Using a questionnaire survey, input was collected from people involved in the adaptation and implementation of the Strengthening Families Programme (SFP) in several European countries. Findings – The publications and experiences of the SFP implementers and evaluators in most of the European countries where it was introduced suggest that the programme is both feasible and effective (where outcomes are available). To achieve this, however, the implementers spent a considerable amount of time and effort to prepare, pre-test and consult with their target populations in order to adjust SFP to culture and context. This paper suggests restricting the use of “culture” to a set of norms and values, and to distinguish this from “context” which describes social and political organisation. Even though both condition each other, it is helpful to address culture and context separately when adapting prevention programmes. Research limitations/implications – Outcome data were not available for all implementations of SFP and some very recent ones in Austria, France and Italy could not be included in the questionnaire survey. Practical implications – An examination of social capital might help implementers to anticipate resistance from the target population that seems to emanate from history, culture and context. The level of trust of others and institutions and the willingness to co-operate with them can heavily influence the readiness of drug prevention service planners, commissioners and providers, as well as the target population, to adopt interventions and other behaviours. Programmes seem to have key principles that make them effective and that should not be modified in an adaptation: a particular example is the programme protocol. Other aspects, such as wording, pictures and the content of examples used to illustrate some issues do have to be modified and are essential for an intervention to be well-accepted and understood. In some programmes, the effective principles – so-called “kernels” – are identifiable although, overall, prevention research still strives to identify them. Social implications – Implementing complex programmes that require the cooperation of many stakeholders might increase social capital in the communities involved. Originality/value – The paper examines the common belief among many European prevention professionals that programmes from abroad, particularly from North America, cannot be implemented in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The recognition of medical professionalism as a complex social construct makes context, geographical location and culture important considerations in any discussion of professional behaviour. Medical students, medical educators and practitioners are now much more on the move globally, exposing them to cultural and social attitudes, values and beliefs that may differ from their own traditional perceptions of professionalism. Aims and Methods: This paper uses the model of the intercultural development continuum and the concept of 'cultural fit' to discuss what might transpire when a student, teacher or doctor is faced with a new cultural environment. Using our own experiences as medical educators working abroad and supported by evidence in the literature, we have developed four anecdotal scenarios to highlight some of the challenges that different cultural contexts bring to our current (Western) understanding of professionalism. Results and Conclusions: The scenarios highlight some of the potentially different regional and/or cultural perspectives and nuances of professional behaviours, attitudes or values that many of us either take for granted or find difficult, depending on our training and socio-cultural upbringing. With this paper, we hope to start a long overdue conversation about global professionalism amongst medical educators, identify potential areas for research and highlight a need for medical schools to embrace a 'global' approach to how professionalism is embedded in their curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores practical and ethical dilemmas for professionals when securing the protection of children in the complex non‐clinical setting of individual families. It is based on a cross‐country study on cultural encounters in interventions against child physical abuse and neglect in four countries (England/Wales, Germany, Portugal, and Slovenia). Drawing on national reports of legal‐organizational frameworks and socio‐cultural backgrounds of European child protection systems, it also presents the results of a series of focus groups with professionals. Data were analysed to identify implicit and explicit discursive constructions as well as normative representations and from this deriving the key ethical issues and dilemmas. Despite a shared normative framework across Europe, intervention cultures vary across the four countries and between the different stakeholder groups. Although each child protection system faced widespread mistrust, policy approaches differ, some relying on strong and detailed guidance whereas others stress professional skill and judgement. We conclude that despite a shared commitment to the protection of children, deliberations and perceived ethical dilemmas suggest interdependency between differences in system cultures and policy approaches that inform the character of professional interventions in the four countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: Culture is an important factor influencing how students develop learning and how educators provide support to students. The aim of this paper is to explore a concept of national European cultures, and relationships between culture and educational practice with the intention of helping the dental profession gain a better understanding of effective teaching and learning in dentistry. Content: Culture represents the collective behaviours, values and beliefs of people in a society. How people react to education is partly explained by culture. Students utilise different culturally based strategies to develop learning. We apply Hofstede's model to explore European cultures and implications for dental education and educational practice. Most Western students possess assimilating learning styles enabling them to learn effectively in student‐centred contexts while most Eastern students have accommodating learning styles and are more familiar with teacher‐centred learning. Eastern students may need to adapt their approach to learning to better benefit from student‐centred learning. Conclusion: Culture influences students’ learning and educational practice. Dental educators should be aware of such influences and provide support that acknowledges students’ different cultural backgrounds. Cultural competence is fundamental for effective teaching and learning in dentistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews recent literature on factors influencing suicide behaviours, including thoughts, plans, and attempts, in immigrant and ethno-cultural minority groups, to inform a more comprehensive understanding of suicide behaviours in increasingly culturally diverse populations. Thirty-three studies published between 2002 and 2013 were identified through digital databases searches and included in this review. Analysis of study findings focused on impacts of ethno-cultural identity and acculturation, other cultural and immigration influences, and family and community supports on suicide behaviours. Policy, practice, and research recommendations are identified, to inform relevant suicide prevention efforts and enhance mental health supports for immigrant and ethno-cultural minority populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to define a set of smartness and sustainability indicators applicable to European cities and to assess their outcome in an ex ante perspective with regard to the implementation of Europe 2020 strategy. Following the DPSIR (Driving forces, Pressures, State, Impact, Response) model, we select a bundle of indicators for three relevant sustainability domains (environmental, social and cultural), which are proper to the smart city definition. Then we define groups of homogeneous cities for each domain by using a two-step cluster analysis. Results show the existence of heterogeneous groups of cities that are likely to become smart in the cultural domain, side by side with groups of more developed urban areas that have acquired a substantial advantage in the environmental and social dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fundamental thesis of this paper represents the fact that only the understanding between cultures could offer the path to peace. Today we are facing the pluralism as a very important issue of the human coexistence. Trying to surpass the analytical and conceptual thinking, the philosophers (F. Julien, R. Pannikar, etc.) present philosophical and (inter) cultural conclusions on the understanding between cultures and on changing the scale of values that could lead to peace. Today the philosophy and religion tend to become rather systems of faith than vital orthopraxis. The interculturality mission is to remember the revolutionary essential role of religions. In the case of cultures that don't have evident cultural contiguity, the development of stability will begin with intercultural and inter-religious dialogues which represent the main instrument of mutual knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper analyzes the concept of security, emphasizing the difference between political security and societal security, referring to the different types of threats to security, depending on the traits that social groups will define as essential to their identity. Our paper aims also to draw attention upon the significant facts of culture and civilization in a region situated at the confluence of Central and South-Eastern Europe, it aims to reflect the understanding of the plural character of the historic development, and it also aims to pin-point the intercultural character of the Banat region as an example of inter-regional tolerance. The chosen case study - the region of Banat - proves balance between various religions, traditions, customs and between various lifestylesThe intellectual work and the improvement in the degree of civilization conveyed by Romanians, Serbs, Hungarians, Jews, Bulgarians and Slovaks in Banat have become a common inheritance. Another important feature of the culture of this region would be that it was promoted by the entire community, and one can notice the interactive feature of the inter-cultural phenomenon as an outstanding approach of a peaceful living together. Our research can be considered a synthesis regarding the relationship between the coexistence of different ethnicities and cultures and the economic and social performance and, respectively, the setting up of an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual assistance, in fact a manifestation of inter-territorial solidarity aiming towards a better life and in which the diffusion of historical experiences becomes factor of development and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a core element in Richard Florida's popular theory on growth to be able to attract the creative class to a geographical area. But Florida is not very specific on which kind of amenities are important for attracting and keeping the creative class. The purpose of this paper is to analyse which kind of cultural activities the creative class is actually using. Which kind of cultural activities does the creative class use more intensively than other groups in society? This paper presents new empirical results on preferences for leisure and culture. Richard Florida's theory can be, and has been, criticised - especially on the issue of causality. The analyses presented in this paper show that being part of the creative class has an independent and significant role in explaining preferences for leisure and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current approaches to science-technology-society (STS) education focus primarily on the controversial socio-scientific issues that arise from the application of science in modern technology. This paper argues for an interdisciplinary approach to STS education that embraces science, technology, history, and social and cultural studies. By employing a case study of traditional papermaking technology, it investigates how the interactions between technology and science can be explored in an authentic societal and cultural context across a historical time span. The term technology-society-science (TSS) is used to represent an alternative approach to linking technology, society, and science that aims to redress the imbalance between science and technology, and to resolve the tension between two diverging goals of STS education. The educational implications of this alternative approach to STS education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to analyse past European legacies of colonialism, Orientalism and racism and show their contemporary influence on European encounters with and discourses on the 'other'. By showing some examples of European deep and historical implications in many contemporary disputes 'between cultures', we claim that Europe thus fails to recognize its hypocrisy and is therefore not able to approach and solve its 'problems' with the 'other'. Indeed Europe created its 'problematical other'. The paper thus analyses and problematizes general assumptions about the Islamic headscarf issue and its assumed oppression of women, and understandings of minority and immigrant cultures as immanently violent, especially towards women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a legal philosophical overview of the operation of European law, the paper aims at describing the mentality working in it by also answering the query whether the European law itself is to be regarded as the extension of some domestic laws or it offers quite a new and sui generis structure built upon all member states' laws. In either option, the connection between the European law and the composing national laws recalls the embodiment of post modern clichés, as the former's actual working (both purposefully and through its by-effects) exerts a destructive impact upon the bounds once erected by the latter's anchorage in the traditions of legal positivism. In addition, the excellence in efficacious operation of the European law is achieved by transposing the control on its central enactments to autonomous implementation and jurisdiction by its member nations. According to the conclusions of the paper, (1) the (post) positivism as the traditional domestic juristic outlook is inappropriate to any adequate investigation of the reality of European law. As part of the global post modernism itself, the European law stems from a kind of artificial reality construction (as the attempted mnaterialisation of its own virtuality), which is from the outset freed from the captivity of both historical particularities and htuuan experience, i.e., of anything concretely given hic et nunc. At the same time, (2) by its operation the European law dynamises large structures, through which it makes to move that what is chaos itself. For it is the reconstructive human intent solely that may try to arrange its outcome according to some ideal of order posteriorly-without, however, the operation itself (forming its construct and assuring its daily management) striving for anything of order (or ordered state and systemicity). This is the way in which the European law can be an adequate reflection upon the (macro) economic basis to which it fonims the superstructure. Accordingly, (3) the whole construct is frameworked (i.e., integrated into one working unit and also mnobilised) by an artificially animated dynamism. Concludingly, no national interest can be asserted in it without successful national self-positioning ready to launch it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the relationship between fiction narratives and endorsement of multiculturalism and how reading of foreign authors can enrich the reader `s experience and help crossing mental or opinional borders of people. In other words, the aim of this paper is to support reading in general. Education (usually understood as factual information) is commonly used to prevent or eliminate negative effects of xenophobia, racism or any other conflicts between groups of people. Existing work in this field advocates mentioned idea but they do not stress enough emotional side of the problem. Education holds very important role in representation of multiculturalism, on the other hand it very often lacks the emotional aspect of educating which can be found in fiction. The aim of this paper is to display various ways of how (narrative) literature or prose can be useful in bringing nations closer to each other. Literature combines both aesthetic and informative functions and thus explains the cultural background of its author. To know something about a certain entity is only a step to understanding it. Today's Europe needs to function on this kind of principle, it needs to understand Besides political, economical, sociological etc. cooperation, the cultural one represents a very interesting way of how to open borders for our geographical neighbours. The borders that are usually the most difficult to open are those mental ones. Subsequently, all the other questions or conflicts can be dealt with much more easily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This survey focuses on food history writing on nineteenth and twentieth-century Europe, by using a selection of book introductions, colloquium papers, critical reviews, and papers from specialized journals. It provides a chronological survey that starts in the 1980s, and ends with recent trends. It explores tensions between socioeconomic traditions and ethnological approaches, looks for the cultural, linguistic and other turns, and puts forward as a promising field of study the integrated approach of the food chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines some of the key challenges critical terrorism studies will have to face. Starting from the premise that a critical turn must both challenge traditional approaches to ‘terrorism’ and provide an umbrella under which traditional and critical perspectives from ‘terrorism studies’ and cognate fields can converge, the article reflects on the tensions this will introduce, ranging from how to define the boundaries of a critical field and whether to adopt the term ‘terrorism’ as a field delineator, to the need for policy-relevance and the tensions this introduces between striving to influence policy and avoiding co-optation. The paper ends with a reflection on the challenge of being sensitive to cultural and contextual differences while remaining true to one's emancipatory agenda.European Political Science (2007) 6, 236–243. doi:10.1057/palgrave.eps.2210144 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of the constructivist and discourse approaches, this paper views national image as a multifaceted social–psychological construct, representing both the self-concept of nationality and the attitudes of non-members towards it. National self-image is stored in collective memory and crystallized in collective self-narratives. In Southeast Europe, these are the three major discourses of ‘self’, ‘other’ and ‘the Balkans’. Strong prejudices towards neighbouring nationalities are paradoxically combined with a sense of Europeanness and Eurocentrism in the peninsula. This means that European identity does not necessarily rival national identity, but under certain circumstances may even underline and strengthen it. Finally the paper sees intercultural education and intercultural marketing as the two main goals of intercultural dialogue in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the juridical Genetic Modified Organisms statu artis and its legal definition in Italy, Europe and in the rest of the world in order to compare different cultural approaches to needs, interests, fears and precautions against a not scientifically certain innovation. It also stresses the legislative processes towards an extended participation that unifies economic interests, political goals, customer satisfaction, collective safety, and human construction for a sustainable future, a new form of governance. The paper ends with a sociological and comparative analysis of needs, fears, interests and responsibilities related to GMO in Italy and Europe, with the aim of defining some possible evolutions of ruling uncertainty today.

This issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies focuses on the role of the media in an increasingly multicultural Europe. It investigates the significance of a diversity of media through an analysis of a diversity of cultures and cultural practices. It links often-small-scale specific empirical studies of particular media or minorities with big questions that go to the heart of current intellectual debates on the present and future character of fluid societies and conflicting identities. In so doing it takes media seriously. Without presuming their centrality, contributors nevertheless take as their starting-point the reasonableness of inquiring into the ways in which engagement with media—with print, broadcast, internet media—may be seen as key resources in the struggles for visibility, presence, community, influence and symbolic power which many, if not all, minority groups seek. This introductory paper identifies key questions and issues for debate, and presents an integrated summary of the papers that follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big technological projects have long been an object of study within the history of technology. This paper looks at large transnational projects in Europe during the 20th century, a class of projects not dealt with so far in any comprehensive way. It is argued that such transnational projects have characteristics distinct from national ones and that they have, in different ways, contributed to the creation of Europe in the 20th century. After a thematic outline, the paper deals with projects in Europe in a chronological order, indicating that the number of transnational projects increased dramatically during the Cold War period. Some perspectives for further research are then discussed, including areas such as military projects and the role of European institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While decline and/or extinction threaten an ever-increasing number of languages, most of these are minority tongues that struggle for survival against dominant languages. The present paper reports the case of Belarusian, a national and co-official language, which the great majority of the population of Belarus considers as its mother tongue, but which has become endangered due to sustained official policies discriminating against it, and the general apathy of the population. The paper places this complex and puzzling situation in the historical context of people long accustomed to changing cultural and linguistic elites, with a succession of rulers that paid little regard to the wishes or needs of the majority of the country’s inhabitants. Recent data are presented showing the rapid decline in the teaching of Belarusian language in schools and other public domains and the use of mixed dialects as the prevailing mode of communication, shifting through a Belarusian-Russian mix (trasianka) to Russian. The effort of a small national linguistic elite to sustain the use of standard Belarusian is examined against the concept of language as a core value of culture and Fishman’s framework for reversing language shift, in order to evaluate the prospects of maintaining Belarusian as an integral part of the linguistic heritage of Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Convergence, media cross-ownership and multimedia newsrooms are becoming increasingly part of the vocabulary of contemporary journalism—in practice, education, as well as research. The literature exploring multimedia is expanding rapidly but it is clear that it means many different things to different people. Research into what multimedia in news work means for journalism and journalists is proliferating. In this paper the social and cultural context of multimedia in journalism, its meaning for contemporary newsrooms and media organizations, and its current (emerging) practices in Europe and the United States are analyzed. The goal: to answer the question in what ways ‘multimedia’ impacts upon the practice and self-perception of journalists, and how this process in turn shapes and influences the emergence of a professional identity of multimedia journalism. This paper offers an analysis of the professional and academic literature in Europe and the United States, using the concept of media logic as a theoretical framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an overview of the panel papers on cybernetics and systems research presented at a session on Cultural Systems in Europe. Mathematical approaches applied to central problems addressed by cultural anthropologists; Awards and achievements of the panel papers; Discussion on mathematical methodology in the published work.

'Culture' and 'change' are not words typically yoked together in social science. Indeed, the whole point of explanatory recourse to culture is to account for permanencies. Nonetheless, subject to certain conceptual precautions, middle range cultural analysis can work in conjunction with mainstream political science to clarify processes of policy change. The paper illustrates this by focusing on the case of European research policies and practices. After presenting a conceptual framework designed to bring together cultural analysis and policy science, the paper elaborates, on the basis of the framework, a theoretical scheme for the analysis of research policy. It then reports on some empirical findings from recent research and assesses the extent to which they validate the conceptual and theoretical framework. Finally, the paper offers some conclusions about the scale and innovative nature of policy change in contemporary European polities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces papers in the December 2003 issue of the "Journal of European Studies." Origination of the papers as contributions to a conference hosted by the School of English and the Kent Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities at the University of Kent in October 2002; Constitution of the history of melancholia and its cultural inventions or mediations; Concern with the temporality of melancholia; Idea of a cultural tradition of the melancholic.

This paper examines some implications for cultural policy in the context of globalisation of trade and convergence of technologies. Issues are specifically examined in the aftermath of the inconclusive World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Seattle in 1999. The paper argues for the relevance of Australian experiences in the formulation of a cultural response and cites examples which may be relevant to Europe and elsewhere. It asserts that the concepts of ‘creative infrastructure’ and ‘communications platform’ offer a particularly effective formulation of the necessary resource base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes up the discussion on the relationship between culture and economic development and places it in the context of one British and several German case studies whose main interest it was to demonstrate the importance of cultural aspects (in the widest sense) for understanding regional development in general and the development of the study areas in particular. Despite the growing interest in the issue during the recent past in various academic disciplines there is as yet no consistent theoretical approach to it. This paper does not venture to fill that gap, but it addresses some of the open questions by looking into the case studies. The lessons learned are mainly two-fold. Firstly, the findings emphasize the general importance of the socio-cultural dimension for understanding regional development. Secondly, not least because of the empirical slant of the studies a closer link between the different theoretical approaches would seem very desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on ethnography among Dutch Muslim women who chose to practice Islam (whether they were born Muslim, known as 'Newly practicing Muslims,' or they chose to convert, known as 'New Muslims'), which is often considered by the native Dutch population as a religion oppressive to women. This paper is part of a larger project that seeks to understand how these Dutch Muslim women build their identity in a way that it is both Dutch and Muslim, whether or not they mix Dutch parameters in their Muslim identity, while at the same time intersplicing Islamic principles in their Dutch senses of self. This study is based on an annual ethnography conducted in the city of Amsterdam from September 2009 to October 2019, that combines insights taken from in-depth interviews with Dutch Muslimas, observations in gatherings for Quranic and Religious studies, observations in a mosque located in a block of neighborhoods with a high percentage of immigrant and Muslim populations, and one-time events occurring during special times (i.e., Ramadan, the summer, Christmas, and the Burka Ban). This paper has a special focus on the ethnography and the positionality of the author as a researcher who is both an insider and outsider in this specific field and her subjective experiences that could be methodologically relevant for other scholars and ethnographers. This paper will explore the techniques that helped the author enter the field, collect data for this ethnography and the construction of knowledge in this specific field, including the insider–outsider axis, code switching, emotions and assumptions in the field and positionality, which will all be explained in detail. This paper takes the reader on the journey of entering the field and shows them the various techniques that were used to enter the field in order to build report and trust between the researcher and the participants in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with examining the meaning of different forms of work found within the EU. Despite the increasing acknowledgement of the importance of the diversity of work forms within Europe, both within the Commission and the European academic literature, it is argued that existing formulations are highly problematic. Existing research, both academic and policy-related, is shown to be characterized by a bewildering terminology, which is often used interchangeably, and which works to reinscribe existing lines of power within the EU. Moreover, this work is shown to be theoretically problematic. The centrality of distinct measurable categories to representations of the diversity of contemporary work within the EU is argued to be a way of thinking which constructs difference in terms of statistical differences, which encourages homogenizing and oppositional representations of North and South, and which also facilitates thinking as the same that which may be very different. Correspondingly, we argue for an alternative analysis of the diversity of work forms, one which is grounded in the different meanings these forms assume in different cultural contexts. Taking three categories of 'atypical' work (part-time, self-employed and undeclared) in three EU member states (Greece, Denmark and the UK), the paper proceeds by demonstrating how categories which are constructed as same/different statistically are rather more complicated when considered in terms of the meanings invested in them. The categories of work are argued to be contextually and culturally embedded; they are inscribed with and reconstituted through culturally specific sets of meanings in each of the three member states under consideration. We conclude the paper by reflecting on the possibilities opened up by this kind of analysis, its implications regarding debates over European labour markets, and its positioning with respect to debates over the relationship between the cultural and the economic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe today seems to be undergoing a serious crisis. Its several sub-regions and nations, however, are affected very differently by it. Does Europe constitute a meaningful unit from a social scientific point of view at all? The paper argues that this is the case because of its common historical-cultural heritage and because of the increasing density of direct interrelationships between its nations and peoples. Nevertheless, internal differentiations continue to make of this `continent' one of the most complex and variegated culture areas in the world. Three dimensions are of particular relevance in this regard: (a) the level of socio-economic development; (b) linguistic-cultural and religious traditions; (c) the type of political system. If we allocate 25 of the larger European nation-states to this 3-dimensional typology, we can demonstrate a limited number of relatively internally homogeneous clusters of nations. These are distinguished from each other not only in terms of political system, but also in terms of socio-economic development, language and religion. The paper concludes with the thesis that the macro-context Europe' constitutes an ideal base for carrying out international comparisons and pleads for making full use of this potential by including all European nations in such comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenomenology enjoys striking popularity in Eastern Europe. For those concerned with phenomenology before the collapse of communism it was an antidote to Marxism in its Soviet version. Its popularity was due to the perhaps naive striving for a true philosophy not manipulated by politics, in that its idealism was interpreted as a protest against the materialistic degradation of the human being. What would Husserl say if he was told about this role of phenomenology? Perhaps he would it consider it as self-evident. His allegedly completely apolitical philosophy had political ambitions, since the struggle for phenomenology was for him not merely a philosophical discussion, but a political struggle with pragmatists, advocates of Realpolitik, nationalists and traditionalists. This paper analyses phenomenology as a radical social philosophy which aimed at the revolutionary renewal of European culture. Well-known for his inclination to work on details and for an arduous theoretical analysis, Husserl was not an advocate of small steps in politics. His political philosophy is then contrasted with that of Helmuth Plessner. From Plessner's point of view Husserl's programme can be seen as a manifestation of the striving for the abolition of society and its replacement by community. In his defence of society, Plessner developed a philosophy of the public sphere as a sphere of social roles, prestige ceremonial, tact and diplomacy, in which the absolute character of the Ego is negated in contact with others. The paper poses questions such as which of these philosophies is more adequate for our time and whether the way shown by Husserl in his programmatic writings is still open to us today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]