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The paper aims to discuss the remarks and criticisms that have been raised in the essays discussing my book The Life of Concepts. Hegel, Bachelard, Canguilhem. I focus firstly on the relationship that I establish between conceptual history and epistemology of concepts; then, I consider some purely epistemological criticisms; finally, I focus on the problem of political science and its relationship with the social sciences. In the last section of the paper, I attempt to address the more comprehensive question of the role of philosophy and its relationship to sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking Pierpaolo Cesaroni's book La vita dei concetti as a starting point, this paper addresses the problem of the political concept within the framework of an epistemological inquiry into the epistemic status of political science. After engaging with the major theoretical implications of Cesaroni's work, whose method and design are assumed as key to examining the subject at issue, the paper proposes a schematic analysis of the general structure of the specifically political end. In the conclusive remarks, I suggest taking Aristotle's political science seriously in order to build some preliminary guidelines towards the scientific comprehension of political teleology in terms of the constitutional good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the dynamics of democratic norms formation in the MENA region, with a particular emphasis on Egypt’s normative duality. Grounded in the norm life cycle framework advanced by Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, this research analyses the promotion, dissemination, and internalization of democratic norms. A pivotal facet of this study lies in the juxtaposition between the normative stages delineated by the United States and Egypt’s distinct normative approach. More precisely, Egypt’s role has oscillated between serving as a normative leader and a normative disruptive force. By examining normative interactions, this study unveils Egypt’s normative duality and its broader implications in the MENA region. Employing a constructivist perspective, the research is structured into two distinct phases spanning the years from 2000 to 2011 and aims to analyze the promotion of democratic norms and their consequential impact. For the research framework, the article uses a qualitative methodology, focusing on the analysis of discourses from U.S. and Egyptian officials. Additionally, this work incorporates succinct quantitative details, rooted in the number of amendments and laws adopted in Egypt between 2005 and 2007, in order to ascertain the tangible outcomes of the normative influence exerted by the United States. Consequently, the research relies on both primary and secondary sources to assess the intersubjective meanings ascribed to democratic norms. Finally, this paper contributes to an enhanced understanding of normative dynamics in the MENA region, highlighting the normative pressure applied by the U.S. and its ensuing impact on the Mubarak regime.

This paper traces Foucault's confrontation with modern political science and Hobbes's model of sovereignty and, in its central part, discusses Foucault's own position on the theme of war in Hobbes's thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scienza & Politica is the property of University of Bologna, Department of Political & Social Sciences Alma Mater Studiorum and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Palaeontologia Polonica is the property of Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Paleobiologii and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aims to study the Baathist-Nasserist dialogue occurred in the years preceding the establishment of the United Arab Republic (1952-1958). After providing a historical overview of the evolution of Arab nationalism, this study tries to understand the mutual ideological influences and differences between Baʿathist and Nasserite terminology. In addition, it discusses the effects of such dialogue within the ideological and political context. The research relies on a thorough analysis of Arabic primary sources, from the writings of Baʿath founders to ʿAbd al-Nāṣir’s speeches and writings. Keywords such as “revolution”, “struggle”, “socialism” and “Arabism” will be analyzed and compared. By examining the most relevant conceptual issues from a linguistic and historical perspective, this paper aims to enrich the already existing field of studies about the historical and ideological reassessment of the UAR and, more broadly, of the so called “secular” pan-Arab movements.

This paper aims to illustrate the legal framework related to the right to food and food sovereignty in Nepal, highlighting some problematic aspects related to access to food. In particular, the paper focuses on provisions that aim to counteract land grabbing and seed biopiracy. The research reveals that in Nepal the concept of food sovereignty is considered equivalent to the right to food security and the right to be free from hunger.

This research examines the relationship between anarchist culture and Gothic literature, focusing on the study of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The aim of this paper is to show the political, conflicting, and revolutionary scope of the Gothic genre, for a study of literary genres that also focuses on their transcultural and transnational scope. At first, it will be evaluated the weight that the thought of Mary Shelley's father, William Godwin, had on her artistic production. And, secondly, an eminently political analysis of Frankenstein will be assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to consider a series of political, identitarian, and dyspian aspects of the Netflix's series, Squid Game. More specifically, the analysis of the TV series implies different considerations related to the theme of merit. Sociological and philosophical debate recently focused on this political topic. Three different concepts (i.e. game, merit, and money) are herein introduced to further contextualize the debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia’s war on Ukraine has taken both the Western Balkans and the rest of the world by surprise. Stuck in its inability to make progress in its EU accession efforts, the region is now reliving memories of the ‘90s – refugees, bombed buildings, corpses in the streets. While the new geopolitical reality of the entire world from February 24, 2022, will continue to have economic and political implications, the continuation and even increase of military, political and economic commitments in the region of both the EU and the US are playing a crucial role in defining the future of the Western Balkan states. The main goal of this paper is to discuss the impact of the war in Ukraine on the Western Balkans countries (WB6), and to assess how these implications are influencing their EU accession path. While the research is focused on the analysis of the current situation, the aim is to highlight those critical points where EU strategic action is needed in order to mitigate the effects of the war in Ukraine on the WB6. The paper also addresses the idea that only through an increased resilience of the WB6 and a strong engagement in this region, EU will be able to counteract the subversive actions of the Kremlin. In this sense, the paper presents the dependencies of the WB6 on Russia and how its influence can drive the region into more instability, by analysing the reactions to the war in each of these countries. Ultimately, the paper focuses on the implications the war in Ukraine has on EU’s strategic autonomy, as well as on the priorities which need to be calibrated to the current needs and in the logic of an open strategic autonomy, in which the WB6 are an essential piece of the puzzle, helping the EU build a stronger profile in the global arena.

Copyright of Ploutarkhos is the property of International Plutarch Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present essay explores Carl Schmitt’s interpretation of Rousseau’s Contrat social in his early works. The essay aims at investigating the role of concepts such as dictatorship, democracy, general will and homogeneity of the people in Carl Schmitt’s political theory. In particular, the essay will be focused on three texts: Diktatur und Belagerungszustand (1916), Die Diktatur (1921) and Die geistesgeschichtliche Lage des heutigen Parlamentarismus (1923), where Rousseau’s theory is vigorously discussed by Schmitt, although in a partial and sometimes ideological way. In the end of the paper, some critical remarks on Schmitt’s interpretation and his problematic theory of “identitarian” democracy are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that, despite a very large volume of management reform in the EU over the past quarter century or more, our knowledge of the impacts of these efforts is patchy and fragile. It calls on a number of key studies which each, in a different way, carries this same basic message. In the second part of the paper the reasons for this state of affairs are analyzed. One set of reasons is concerned with the considerable methodological difficulties of evaluating major reforms, which are commonly complex, evolving and spread out over time. A second set of reasons concerns the limited incentives for politicians and top officials to take a sustained interest in evaluation. A concluding reflection is that, while this basic situation is not likely to change, there are nevertheless ways in which the academic contribution to reform evaluation can be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The main goal of this paper is to discuss the need for EU to achieve strategic autonomy in the upcoming years and shed light on how this concept is shaping EU’s future. The question underpinning this research is focused on the reasons why strengthening EU’s strategic autonomy matters so much in shaping said future. Strategic autonomy cannot be limited only to security and defense, as many more fields need to embed this concept in 2021. In this sense, the paper does not address directly the complementarity with NATO and the defense and security dimension of strategic autonomy, but rather focuses on the political and economic implications of EU’s strategic autonomy. Also, as more global actors begin to review their dependencies and try to identify alternatives, especially after the Covid-19 crisis, a more in-depth and a multi-pronged approach is required in relation to the geopolitical interests of external actors and their impact on creating a stronger European strategic autonomy. The paper also addresses the idea that the strategic autonomy is rather a question of survival of the European project, otherwise EU is running the risk of becoming irrelevant in the event that its “weight” and economic power in the world would diminish to worrying levels. Thirty years ago, EU represented 25% of the global wealth. It is foreseen that in 20 years, EU will not represent more than 11% of the world’s GNP, far behind China and the US. Ultimately, the paper focuses on the compelling role the EU needs to take as a global leading leader in order to protect and promote its values and interests worldwide and to address the current geopolitical challenges. There is no better starting point for this than to engage in an extensive and inclusive dialogue with the citizens about the way ahead, and the Conference on the Future of the EU seems to be the appropriate platform. The topics of the Conference included amongst other, climate change, jobs and economy, EU’s role in the world, or digitalization issues. In other words, every priority that needs to adapted to the logic of strategic autonomy and help EU build a stronger profile in the global landscape.

Nicolae Iorga (1871-1940) was Romania’s best-known historian and public intellectual between the two world wars, both at home and abroad. He is seen as the father of Romanian nationalism, as well as the main provider of historical continuity and legitimacy for the new Greater Romania of 1918. The aim of this paper is to argue that Iorga’s nationalism has been a political story from the very beginning. It was a politically motivated commitment toward reshaping society, through culture. This political reading contradicts the standard narrative that interprets Iorga as a cultural nationalist who only helped raise national consciousness in the wake and during the First World War. Instead, in the first part of this text, my reading of his political career depicts an intellectual who sought not only to cultivate the nation, but to advance his own political platform (based on the rejection of modernity, antisemitism, and irredentism) and to contribute to the establishment of a single strong territorial state reuniting all Romanians around the Old Kingdom. In the second part of the paper, I move from a short survey of the politics of memory by the main political regimes following Iorga’s assassination, namely the military dictatorship of Ion Antonescu and the communist regime, to a discussion of some strategies used in the post-1989 era to condone or obfuscate some beliefs and actions of Iorga by interpreting his nationalism as a cultural one.

The paper explores basic political relations between the European Union and India which are at theoretical level almost “terra nullius”. The paper starts from the present epochal situation and enters the realm of EU–India geopolitics from the perspective of Gandhian moral practice on one side, and challenges presented by the impact of Coronavirus politics on the other. Our question is – on which platform is strategic negotiating between the EU and India possible? Despite their Lisbon summit in 2000 as well as virtual summit in 2020, it is obvious that until today the EU and India could not find a common denominator. Our idea is that the missing link of a better understanding partly lays in the new perspective that may be unexpectedly found from the Balkans’ point of view. Only unprecedented cognizance today may set up the roadmap for the times to come.

The paper aims at investigating the current status of Afghan women’s human rights from the perspective of constitutional and comparative public law in light of the debate on minority women’s condition in multicultural and multiethnic legal systems. Moving beyond the analysis of the Afghan legal system and hinging on selected statistics on Afghanistan’s ethnically diverse composition, the first part of the paper examines Afghan’s women condition following the coming into force of the 2004 Constitution by interlacing the constitutional provisions with the existing rules of Personal and Customary Law. The second part of the paper goes on by comparing the Afghan legal system with selected European and extra-European Countries featured by systems of law, that similarly to Afghanistan rely on a mixture of State Laws, Personal, and Customary Laws to highlight the extent to which these systems affect women’s human rights and, especially, those of minority women

The paper focuses on women’s condition in totalitarian regimes, in the light of the principles of the Italian Constitution. To this end, the paper will examine three main aspects. Firstly, the analysis will focus on the condition of women during the Nazi and Fascist totalitarian regimes. The proposed historical and legal reconstruction aims at identifying some key traits featuring the condition of women in the context of totalitarian regimes: the exclusion of women from the labour market and, more broadly, from the public sphere; the propaganda of an ideal-type of woman; the segregation of minority women (e.g. prostitutes, homosexuals, women with disabilities); the creation of masses of refugees fleeing regimes. Secondly, the paper will hinge on the Italian Constitution, that promoted a vision in clear rupture with the previous fascist regime with regard to women’s condition and to the strong protection granted to people fleeing regimes set forth under Article 10, paragraph 3 of the Italian Constitution. At the outset, the paper aims at reflecting on the current system of human rights protection in light of the 2021 takeover of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, by way of underlying the specifics of the actual status of Afghan women

Departing from the direct testimonies gathered in Afghanistan during over 20 years of fieldwork, the paper offers an overview of Afghan women's resistance, especially following the experience of the RAWA association, in their fight against all the oppressive regimes that have featured Afghanistan's history, from the resistance against the Red Army, to that against the United State’s and NATO invasion, to the restored Taliban regime. The paper, also, focuses on the struggles of the Afghan democratic resistance in the years of the Soviet occupation, which the A. personally witnessed in 1980.

Recently, international refugee law has undergone important gender-sensitive developments that have made it possible to overcome the only apparent neutrality of the 1951 International Convention on the Status of Refugees. Nonetheless, States maintain a standoffish position that does not guarantee certainty in protecting women’s rights. This situation is linked to the fact that international refugee law was created to respond to the needs of a particular context, that of displaced persons of the Second World War. Its original version did not include a gender or sex perspective. In this paper, taking as a starting point the situation of Afghan women after the return of the Taliban to power last August, we will first analyze the gender-sensitive developments in international refugee law. First of all, the possibility of interpreting the elements necessary for granting refugee status in light of the gender perspective will be emphasized. Furthermore, the gaps that still exist, especially regarding the possibility of considering the so-called domestic or private violence as a form of gender-based violence justifying the granting of international protection under the 1951 Convention will be considered. In addition, the paper will propose a test that judges or competent authorities in each country should apply to consider whether the granting of international protection to women victims of gender-based violence would be justified. This test will be constructed in the light of the criteria developed by national and international case law, regarding gender-based violence.

The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it aims to explain the political background of the 2019 parliamentary elections in Ukraine and the profile of the parties represented in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament). Second, it intends to analyse the role of European integration in the political agenda of the Ukrainian Parliament in the years 2019-2022 (before the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine) and the nature of EU-Ukrainian relations in the said period. Finally, the article investigates the consolidating potential of European integration among different political actors in the Ukrainian Parliament after February 2022. By doing so, we will try to assess whether Russia’s military aggression has triggered the Ukrainian Parliament to unify efforts in adopting legislation on the democratisation of Ukraine

On 16 December 2020 the Regulation on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget was finally approved, after having been long-awaited by scholars to test the adequacy of the response of European institutions to the rule of law crisis that is severely affecting some EU countries. From a substantive perspective, the paper aims at highlighting some elements that, albeit crucial for the functioning of the instrument, do not seem to be sufficiently defined in the final text. Moreover, since the European Council conclusions of 10 and 11 December 2020 seem to introduce some ex-post amendments to the Regulation, the paper will investigate – through a comparative analysis of the two texts – if that is the case and if the scenario can be considered as a breach of EU law by the European Council. Finally, taking into consideration the principles governing conditionality mechanisms, a preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of the Regulation as an instrument to safeguard the rule of law within the EU legal order will be developed.

During the draing process from the 1920s to 1940s, the Weimar Constitution (WRV) played a decisive role in shaping Chinese social(-ist) con- stitutions, especially the part related to the social- economic issue. Through the lens of cultural trans- lation, this paper seeks to explain how the WRV was adapted, reinterpreted, and recontextualized throughout several rounds of constitution making in China. By focusing on the roles played by the translators, legislators, and interpreters, this paper discusses how the social rights created by the WRV were translated into the fundamental policy of the 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China. More- over, regarding »policy« as the legal instrument for regulating the social-economic life, and even broader fields, it triggers the modern transforma- tion of Chinese meritocracy and reinforces the national legal tradition depicted in its modern form. To some extent, this case study on cultural translation of constitutional law discloses the mechanism, both temporarily and spatially, for the intercultural communication of the normative information.

This paper deals with the use of matrimonial dispensations to marry relatives in prohibited degrees by Canon law, mainly among the indigenous peoples of Charcas (present Bolivia) during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As a source to understand social and religious practices, the dispensations provide a privileged place of observation, insofar as they constitute a gap between the norm and the social practice, and a space of interaction and agency, from the anthropological point of view, since the request for dispensations was part of the social and material reproduction strategies of indigenous groups. Even when, in this sense, the use of this legal recourse does not seem to differ much from what the population of European origin did, which secularly employed the same resource, this paper proposes that the reasoning behind the use of matrimonial dispensations, as well as the arguments employed varied in both socio-ethnic groups. From the vantage point of a global history of law which involves the Tridentine Church, expanded around the globe, dispensations are an example of the accommodation in terms of »time, place and circumstances«. Taking into account that the Council of Trent had extended matrimonial impediments, the granting of dispensations among the indigenous population serves as an example of the paradoxes of the Christianisation of marriage in colonial Hispanic American territories, which frequently forced the Church to dissimulate and make concessions rather than to restrict and discipline.

The paper analyzes the relationship between law, reason and emotion in the light of recent changes in the field of social and online activism, particularly with regard to social interactions within digital networks. With the consolidation of the Internet, freedom of expression gave rise to several social phenomena throughout the world, from the Arab Spring uprisings in Africa and in the Middle East, to Wall Street protesters occupying parks in New York City. Internet tools and social platforms have been enabling an array of forms of social mobilization. Under contemporary law, digital interactions decreased the distance between users and information, allowing citizens to better claim rights, organize protests, express political views and identify peers with similar interests online. However, it also hampered the establishment of traditional face-to-face social relations, raising the awareness of the importance of transparency, compliance and information mechanisms related to the origin of online posts and online profiles. In many jurisdictions, legal mechanisms have been put into force to make more stringent liability rules, condemn users, take down webpages and remove allegedly offensive content. In different trends, online activism can be purported as wrongful and even criminalized, whereby digital freedom is considerably restricted. Such governmental stance can bring about the derangement of civil liberties and freedom of speech. In an evergrowing online community, it is particularly relevant for Internet users to be able to express themselves freely and to have their civil rights assured in digital environment. In view of that broader spectrum, the paper discusses the urgent needs for legal institutions and the Internet community to gather efforts in order to ensure that freedoms and users rights are properly safeguarded. What is the proper legal framework for protection of online users interests? Would it foster development, freedom of speech and democratic values? What is the role played by law under the aegis of the world wide web and contemporary society at a national, regional and global level?

En el siguiente texto se expone una visión crítica del Working paper de Jorge P. Gordin “La sustentabilidad política del clientelismo: Teoría y observaciones empíricas en América Latina”, publicado por la Fundación CIDOB en julio de 2006. En este Working paper se presenta un indicador para la medición del clientelismo-patronazgo, así como dos casos de estudio utilizando la metodología y los procesos que el autor propone. El término clientelismo es un concepto sobre el que los académicos no han dado una definición definitiva, pero existe una aproximación común a través de la que es posible identificar una relación clientelar. Por ello, la crítica se centrará en la poca fidelidad para con el concepto y la imposibilidad de ser un indicador cross-national.

The effects of emotions on the military personnel are as important as the techniques used in the tactical field. Therefore, psychological features should also be considered in military training and education process to enable the cadets - future officers to manage stressful situations. The aim of the paper is to analyze the effects of emotional states on the training of the cadets in the Military Lyceum. The significance of the psychological health of the cadets in their training has been discussed. The types of emotional states observed in the cadets, like mood, affect, stress and frustration have been scrutinized. At the same time, positive and negative impacts of various emotional states on the training of the cadets have been studied. The ways for preventing the negative emotional states have been examined. The paper is concluded with the recommendations on the stated problem in order to further increase the efficiency of the training in the Military Lyceum.

The Caspian region is one of the most important regions of the world with its rich hydrocarbon resources, which in turn draws attention from different countries. The purpose of this paper is to underscore the geopolitical importance of the Caspian basin and the impact of its energy resources on the energy security of non-regional countries. The realization of the “Contract of the century” has been specified in the paper. Russian hegemony has been evaluated and the characteristic features of Northern route have been introduced. The authors attempted to delineate the US’ strategy in the Caspian region and to judge the security of the Western route stretching from the Caspian Sea. The status of the Caspian Sea has been clarified based on the most recent information. Threats to the security of the transit routes have been identified and measures have been offered to prevent possible incidents. A formula was suggested for the mathematical evaluation of possible terrorist attacks on the pipelines in the foreseeable future.

By analyzing the encounters at the borders between the Kingdom of Castile and Granada, and those on the Canary Islands, this paper delves into the dynamics of slavery and captivity practiced by Christians, Muslims, and the Indigenous inhabitants of the Canarias archipelago between the 15th and 16th centuries. Legal and judicial documents from this period show how common human trafficking was in the peripheries of the Spanish dominions even before the overseas expansion. This activity often included revolts, horseback raids, robberies, death, the capture and enslavement of people, and other notions such as slavery under ›just war‹, which sometimes blurred the margins between slavery and captivity. Whether at sea or on land, life in the frontier was a difficult one, with people exposed to many dangers. Furthermore, these local practices had global significance once the Spanish Empire expanded its frontiers to America and beyond.

This paper analyzes the institutional and legal organization of the Brazilian Empire during the transition from the Old Regime to a liberal world, in a country still deeply affected by its colonial status. The paper tries to answer the following questions: With the country moving towards independence, how was the new liberal order put in place in a continental, agro-exporting, slave-owning and predominantly illiterate country like Brazil, whose source of power came mainly from large rural estates? And how was the new normativity established during this huge and long period of transition? It is determined that the liberal framework involved new constitutional and infra-constitutional laws, while also accepting the survival of old legal and judicial rules and doctrines.

The civil war in Syria, whichbroke out in 2011, saw the emergence of two alternative political projects facing the nation-state with revolutionary ideologies and aspirations for territorial control over large areas. On the one hand, the Caliphate project of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS); on the other, the Democratic Confederalism project of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). This paper aims to analyse these alternative social orders, often defined as natural enemies, inside the framework of rebel governance, moving beyond the description of civil wars as a state of chaos and the exclusive state-centric discourse on governance. Initially, the concept of rebel governance is defined underlining its implications; secondly, the ideological foundations, the administrative, economic, and legal structures of the projects are discussed. The last section focuses on their similarities, differences and their power-ideology trade off in the context of their regional and international relations.

On 15th October 2023 Polish voters decided to put an end to the 8-year period of the Law and Justice Party in power, widely seen as “authoritarian populism”. The paper analyses the electoral programmes of the major contenders (Law and Justice, Civic Coalition, Third Way, New Left and Confederation) as well as a variety of election-related statistics (e.g. by voters’ age, education, occupation and residence) revealing a more complex image of the Polish society and its political preferences in 2023. The author argues that due to remarkable ideological and socio-cultural polarization contemporary Poland remains “a house divided” or even “two nations [with] no sympathy [for each other]”. Even if Poland has now chosen a path back to the future, the new pro-EU liberal government will face a number of identifiable challenges.

The paper analyzes and describes continuities of authoritarian regimes in Africa since the return to multipartism by classifying cases which have been stable in the authoritarian form in the last thirty years. Special attention is devoted to political successions, whether these are ruled by a party and/or the military or took the form of dynastic ones. In particular, the existence of collegial control on personal power is presented as an important way of ensuring continuities of party and/or military hegemony over the authoritarian regime. Collegial control may also strengthen the stability of the regime in its authoritarian form. However, it is not excluded that a moderate degree of personal power may also be helpful in ensuring stability if combined with collegial control as it helps in limiting factionalism.

Between the years 1930-1960, Chile experienced some of the same physiognomy changes that Latin American societies had been facing since the beginning of the 20th century. At the time, Chilean immigrants were formulating their identities and perceived the middle sectors as their equals. The middle sectors were developing their social class sensibility and thus helped foster a general sense of open attitude and inclusion. At the same time, immigrants were dealing with their ‘Chileanization’ process and took advantage of the middle sectors’ feelings of respect for the immigrants’ efforts and accomplishments. Therefore, in general, the middle sectors symbolized a space of coexistence and neutrality, following the same path of aspiration that neutral peace theory proposes. This paper examines the linkage between immigrants and middle sectors in Chile from the viewpoint of the neutral peace theory. The narrative of the social collective imaginary of middle sectors facilitated immigrants’ integration into Chilean society. For middle sectors their specific memberships and senses of belonging were valued more than a “middle class” identification. In fact Chilean middle sectors preferred to imagine themselves there only as a momentary station, in transition, on their way to something better, similar to the way their immigrant counterparts felt. In fact, middle sectors admired the immigrants’ sacrifices and identified with them. This translated into a mutually beneficial openness as the immigrants sought harmony in their new environment. Here the neutral peace theory plays a role in understanding the scope of immigrants’ acculturation into local society, as well as exposing the ways in which sectors in the middle served as a unifying agent. Gradually immigrants ‘chileanized’, by integrating and assembling new components of their Chilean identities while retaining their ethnic ones. Therefore, a key figure in unraveling the convergence and divergence of the linkage between neutral peace, immigrants vis-á-vis middle sectors experiences, is what I introduce in this paper as the ‘Selfless Chilean’.

Throughout history, changes in the character of war have always been difficult for contemporaries to identify and assess. The context of future conflicts and wars can help the nations to make sound decisions on designing the tasks and missions of future forces. This paper offers a view on the character of future conflicts, seeks to describe what Armed Forces are likely to experience in future conflicts in light of dynamic changes in current security environment, and provides recommendations on the areas with the shortfalls, which could be essential to their success. It assesses how we think about future war, drawing attention to its associated caveats, obstacles, and intellec­tual problems. The author focuses attention on the issues related the activities referred to as “hybrid”, and the possibility of using the Armed Forces’ potential in terms of identification and elimination of threats. The conclusion of the paper presents a clear picture of future generations of the soldiers based on the requirements predicted throughout the article.

The presented paper concerns press in the period of the Warsaw Uprising, especially “Biuletyn Informacyjny”. Polish underground editing movement was the greatest amongst European countries covered by the World War II. Differently than underground press published during occupancy, press of the Warsaw Uprising is considered as open. The purpose of this paper is to present press of the Warsaw Uprising on the example of the “Biuletyn Informacyjny” (1939−1945). The author analyzed 68 numbers of the newspaper edited during the Warsaw Uprising to show the genre structure of the “Biuletyn Informacyjny” on the background of the Warsaw Uprising press, with the reference to underground press of the period of World War II.

The paper offers a methodological reading of the process of the Italian research quality evaluation 2004-2010 (Vqr 2004-2010). In particular, it addressed the issue of peer review in political and social sciences areas (Pssa), with specific discussion on the criteria of selection of reviewers and the product-reviewers matching. On this points some omissions are found out in the final report of Pssa Vqr (2004-2010), that presents a lack of care on the side of accountability. The paper proposes a more thorough analysis in order to explore possible bias in the data-base, so they can be eliminated. Only then the Pssa Vqr (2004-20 10) final report results could support university research sound policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weber's thought has been the object of recurrent interpretative controversies regarding its ontological and epistemological assumptions, its theory of action, the notion of axiological rationality and its position toward values, power and the state. Recent scholarship has however strived to outline a more balanced reading of Weber' opus. The paper revisits some classical Weberian passages and arguments with a view to identifying and highlighting theoretical «links» capable to mediate between the interpretative polarities which have been confronting each in the literature. The focus is on the nexus between science and politics, i.e. a foundational theme of the Weberian doctrine regarding ontology, knowledge, power and values. Such theme s of particular interest as it cuts across a theoretical agenda which currently engages virtually all the neo-institutional schools in political science, i.e the inquiry about the relationship between knowledge and political decisions, «puzzling» and «powering», expertise and democracy. After reconstructing the basic traits of Weber's ontological assumptions, the paper reconstructs the internal logics of the intellectual and political spheres and the nexus between objectivity and truth, on the one hand, and the ethics of principles and responsibility, on the other hand. The conclusion outlines the contours of a possible neo-Weberian consensus on some foundational questions of contemporary political science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the evolution of public performance evaluation from the early nineties to the present, age of the so-called spending review. It is a re-reading of facts with an operational dimension, also to orient future choices and the growth of the country, promoting policies for the development of productive public spending and acknowledging merit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at thoroughly analyzing the relation between Thucydides's political realism and Hobbes's one, first of all by examining the Hobbesian translation of The Peloponnesian War, then by stressing the peculiarities of the political theory of the English philosopher. Compared to Thucydides, Hobbes presents a more complex, problematic - and truly more useful to define a theory of modernity - version of political realism, which considers not only power and security, but also ideological elements in order to understand human conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is a contribution to the debate on the evaluation of the scientific production in the Italian sociology. Starting from an analytical section devoted to the problematic application of the concept of paradigm in sociology as a scientific discipline, the author discusses some negative consequences of its constant pre-paradigmatic status, together with a lack of selection criteria based on quality at national level: no shared consent on evaluation criteria, parochialism, scanty application of standard peer review procedures, no application at all of ISI. These negative consequences have weakened the relative position of sociology against other competing social sciences, especially economics and political science, and have worsened its average scientific level because of a too quick increase of domestic academic positions in recent years. Some proposals are put forward in order to foster international publications and to increase the quality of sociological production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to anthropologist Pierre Clastres, State and politics have always been seized, in Western culture, as two necessarily connected concepts – State is a political entity, there is no politics without the State. His studies try to de-construct this paradigm by considering primitive societies as societies without and against the State. This paper examines Clastres’ texts seeking to contextualise his thought within frameworks of legal and political sciences, demonstrating so that political anthropology and political sciences have strong epistemological links.

This paper will evaluate the convenience of using the legal concept of human dignity in the human rights discourse and its effectiveness to address injustice in a twenty-first century democratic society. This article will argue that the difficulty of defining human dignity does not diminish its merits and allows it to be both solid and adaptable to new challenges. Then, this paper will argue that human dignity is a powerful concept due to its capacity to bring change and modernise society and will conclude that there is a strong relationship between time, human dignity, human rights and democracy.

Reworking the republican tradition is a basis of a contemporary philosophy of government. This paper attempts to give a sense of the direction in which a reworked republicanism would take democratic theory. The paper is in three sections. The first presents a sketch of neorepublican theory. The second develops an example: el condominium. And the third spells out the broad lessons for democratic theory -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Repensar la tradición republicana es una base para una filosofía contemporánea del gobierno. Este trabajo trata de dar sentido a la dirección en la que un republicanismo repensado tomaría la teoría democrática. Se divide en tres secciones. La primera presenta un esquema de la teoría neorrepublicana. La segunda desarrolla un ejemplo: el condominio. Y la tercera explica las amplias lecciones que se derivan de lo estudiado para la teoría democrática.

This paper reflects on legal pluralism. How did medieval societies incorporate both unwritten customs and written law at the same time? How did they constitute the process of finding justice? What is the essense of legal pluralism, and will it help us understand the situation of Taiwan’s indigenous population? We aim to solve these problems by taking a closer look at medieval Saxony: for around 400 years, both laws given by the authorities and traditional customs in Saxony worked fine in parallel. The latter were put into writing by the legal practitioner Eike von Repgow around 1230 for reasons unknown. We refer to his collection of laws and customs of the Saxons as the Sachsenspiegel (»Mirror of Saxons«). While Saxons certainly differed from Taiwan’s indigenous population for many reasons, such as the supposedly weaker egalitarianism among the Saxons than among at least some indigenous groups, the two show some remarkable similarities nonetheless. Just like the Taiwanese Gaya, the Sachsenspiegel’s spiritual origin raises the claim to validity. Furthermore, comparing the handling of a person’s sale of inherited property, the legal situations in the Sachsenspiegel and Taiwan’s unwritten customs resemble each other. The heir can transfer only property he acquired personally. Furthermore, the author discusses the different character of courts and procedure under oral law in contrast to written modern law. Finally, the paper concludes with some remarks about a learned commentary on the Sachsenspiegel written around 1325, combined with an outlook on the possible future of Taiwanese customs.

Based on anthropological and historical considerations, this paper analyses the evolution of the relationship between Western law and aboriginal custom in Latin America by focusing on the most tangible and problematic issue in customary law: land tenure. My aim is to provide a critical review of the impact of the rule of law in the arrangement of the alternative cosmologies that flows from the material and spiritual relationship of indigenous groups with their lands. Historical and political issues will be emphasised to illustrate the current problems concerning the interaction between custom and formal law in the case of the Mapuche people from Chile. By looking at some recent developments in the arena of public law, indigenous legislation and legal doctrine, the paper finally suggests how private law discourse, which traditionally has paid almost no attention to the discussion of indigenous law, might be integrated into the legal systems that widely recognise indigenous customs.

The question of what the law is may preoccupy some legal theorists. Answering it is definitely the legal professionals’ nightmare. Constitutional and statutory requirements now require Taiwan’s officials and lawyers to confront the problem of ascertaining and applying indigenous customs in the exercise of all state powers. Yet, the most widely accepted juridical concept of custom results in a choice between two evils, to wit, breaching either the general duty to uphold law or the concrete obligation to respect indigenous values. So far, efforts have only been made to document the customs, but the documentation thus produced is too ethnographic to be legally useful. The challenge, therefore, is one of translation. Values are to be carried from an indigenous world into the modern one, and the little-known form of custom is to be expressed in the language of the science of law. This paper argues for the translation of indigenous customs with conceptions available in an array of examples from European legal history. This paper explains that, in cases like Taiwan, the solutions known to the English-speaking literature all end in the dilemma I call »modern state centralism« (MSC). The solutions are divided into two types: legal pluralism and Francisco Suárez’s conception of custom. The former defeats itself in that its criticism against the state’s monopoly of law amounts to suggesting that the state tolerate all kinds of non-state normativity. The latter reduces to MSC because recent literature ignores Suárez’s legal historical references and important studies written in German. The rest of the section shows how »non-modern« legal techniques may help. This paper concludes by suggesting that the concept pair of law and custom be dissociated from four others, to wit, written and unwritten law, state and society, law in books and law in action, and, finally, alien and native law.

This paper discusses the importance of integrating an interseccional approach into the feminist research process. From this perspective, it is no longer sufficient to only visibilize the relationship of domination with regard to gender only, while forgetting how this system of power is articulated by, and co-constituted with other factors (e.g. race, social class, sexuality, etc.), which would mean to reinforce the logics of oppression and exclusion criticized by feminism itself. Thus, this paper focuses particularly on the concept of coloniality of gender. Proposed by decolonial feminism, a notion which enriches the way of understanding feminist researches.