Zdzislaw Mach - Böcker

This book investigates cultural and social identity in contemporary complex societies, focusing especially on Eastern Europe. Mach explains the role of symbols and symbolic forms in he relations between groups and the protection and development of their identities, especially ethnic identity. He places his study within the context of social order and the structure of power, using case studies which deal especially with the significance of politics, state rituals and national identity (Great Britain, Israel, Russia, Poland); in the conflict and displacement of migrating groups (Polish and German); and in regional questions of identity and inter-ethnic relations (Poland, United States, Great Britain).Mach presents a clear conceptual framework for analyzing the symbolic construction of identity. He views cultural identity as a dynamic, creative process which clarifies issues that are particularly significant in contemporary society, such as nationalism, new ethnicity, minority culture, and the cultural dimension of political conflicts.

Essays on the church and religion in contemporary Europe.

Essays on the church and religion in contemporary Europe.

This collection of articles is the result of the research project «The Polish local society in the process of European integration – a decade of experience», financed by the Polish National Science Centre (NCN). The aim was to investigate the process of integration in the EU of six selected local Polish communities. The same six communities had been studied ten years before, when Poland was preparing for the EU accession. The research was based on qualitative methodology. The results show that the knowledge of the EU in local Poland remains at a very low level. The exception is competence in the field of EU structural funds. These funds are the main factor which determines the positive attitude of Poles towards the EU and the Polish membership in it. At the same time the process of the construction of a European identity in terms of values remains very problematic.

This volume presents the outcomes of qualitative research on the meaning of religion in selected CEE regions. In several case studies, we reveal some features of social perception of religion present in verbalized and institutionalized social experiences and practices. We argue these societies develop their own social model of religion, which seems to be largely based on cultural, religious, and historical schemes dating back to the Habsburg Monarchy. They locate religious identity on a continuum with civic identity. Historical diversity may be endorsed as “traditional pluralism” while equality and tolerance is considered unnecessary. Capturing contradicting images of historical and contemporary pluralism may offer new insight into the puzzle of religion and politics in the CEE region.

This book presents the evolution of Germany’s stance on the reform of the European Union in the years 2002–2016. The objectives of the book are threefold: first, to analyse the positions of the German government and parliamentary opposition on the reform of the European Union’s political system in 2002–2009; second, to describe their stance on the system reform of the Economic and Monetary Union and the Eurozone in 2012–2016; and third, to analyse their positions on the EU immigration crisis in 2015–2016. The study employs a triangulation of a variety of qualitative methods: case-studies, analysis of official documents, literature, speeches and historic items. The result is an in-depth and multidimensional picture of the activities and positions of members of the German government and parliamentary opposition regarding the reform of the EU’s political system.

The book offers an interpretive approach to the Europeanization of heritage as found in museums. In order to make the analysis of museum diversity feasible, the research proposed and applied an analytical framework. Some general remarks conclude the work, which aims to map both the timeless and current phenomena of European identity construction.

Ambient intelligence and the profiling activities authorized by modern technologies oblige us to renew our legislation in different directions. Traditionally, data protection law considers only the relationship between data controllers and data subjects positioned as independent entities. However, in the ambient intelligence reality where profiling activities proliferate, enabled by more and more sophisticated software algorithms, their societal impacts have to be taken into consideration by legislative bodies.

The European Capital of Culture is one of the European Union’s most important cultural programmes, its significance transcending a narrow understanding of the cultural sphere. The scheme has been one of the foremost mechanisms contributing to the urban revival of European cities and increasingly close integration in many areas of social and cultural activity. The ECOC 2016 competition (2007-2011), entered by 11 Polish cities, took place in an exceptionally favourable context. The ECOC 2016 competition in Poland served as an impetus for many changes to take place in the participant cities. These particularly applied to the sociocultural sphere, encompassing such issues as a city’s identity and social capital. Consequently, it became possible to create new urban narratives which also contributed to changes regarding the cities’ images. In some cases, this could even be described as a real revolution which was able to take place as a result of unprecedented social mobilisation.

The monograph explores the heritage of Central and Eastern Europe, which is particularly important nowadays in the era of globalization, on the one hand, and nationalism, on the other, and the war on the third hand. It can indicate ways to "face" the challenges Europe is currently facing. The research on the heritage issue aims to foster a greater understanding of the various mechanisms of today’s social and political decision-making. This publication is the result of the work of a team of scholars whose research explores the subject of the heritage and who represent countries and cultures belonging to the region. This is, therefore, research done from within according to the Latin principle: "Nihil novi nisi commune consensu" (Nothing new without the common consent). The publication allows defining terms and shows the distinctive features of the culture and value system characteristic of Central and Eastern Europe. It deals with issues related to the commemoration of the region’s heritage and the issue of what is excluded from the heritage, what is forgotten, and what is overlooked.

The book consists of four chapters. The first one contains information about the topic which introduce the project’s characteristics, and, at the same time, provide the background for further theoretical and methodological reflection. The second chapter contains a list of research problems and questions, a presentation of the philosophical worldviews (research paradigms) of the project team who guided the planned research and which resulted in the adoption of research strategies compatible with them, and, consequently, procedures and techniques for obtaining source materials and their analysis. In the third chapter, we present a set of terms, ideas, and concepts which inspired the project team as useful tools for describing and analysing the phenomenon under study. The fourth chapter is a kind of ligature that binds together all the previous findings, it is a summary of integrating ideas, concepts, as well as the adopted research procedures and techniques.