This thesis explores the "sending down" of radical university students to work in factories and their subsequent effects on the radical organizations which sent them there.
The thesis examines the factors (experience of communism, secret police, government post-1989 and lustration) that led to the post-1989 transitional justice methods utilised in both Hungary and...Show moreThe thesis examines the factors (experience of communism, secret police, government post-1989 and lustration) that led to the post-1989 transitional justice methods utilised in both Hungary and Estonia.Show less
The issue of restitution is one that is witnessed throughout the world, at various levels. This thesis explores the type of restitution seen within Romania, and examines the procedures utilised by...Show moreThe issue of restitution is one that is witnessed throughout the world, at various levels. This thesis explores the type of restitution seen within Romania, and examines the procedures utilised by two museums in the return of cultural objects. The focus is placed in the procedures of the Brukenthal National Museum and the Medias Municipal Museum, in Sibiu County. The interesting aspect of these restitutions is that, unlike in many Western museums, restitution cases in Romania are often internal, and carried out between state museums and private individuals. The impact of the Communist regime, and their forceful nationalisation of privately owned cultural objects create a deeper understanding of why current restitution cases occur within the nation. This included their direct and indirect effect on current restitution claims at the two museums. The research was carried out using semi-structured interviews with curators at the museums, along with one former curator at the Medias Municipal Museum, and an interview with the claimant of the Gheorghe Cernea case. These were further supported by written surveys completed by four additional museums: Bran Castle, the National Museum of Transylvanian History, the National Museum of Romanian History, and the Moldovan National Museum Complex. Questions asked included their procedures related to unprovenanced objects, their procedures related to restitution cases, and their personal opinions on the ethics of the return of objects. The findings demonstrate three main points: acquisition procedures from the communist period, and unknown provenance of objects complicate current restitution claims; the Romanian government involved itself in museum exhibitions in an attempt to control the cultural identity made public, and thus by extension influenced the types of objects entered in the collection; and the restitution procedures of the participating museums are judicial in nature. Thus the Communist regime influenced current restitution claims in two ways: indirectly, and directly. The creation of law no. 182/2000 in response to these crimes committed by the government, to aid in the restitution of cultural objects further demonstrates the indirect influence of the former regime. An imbalance remains, favouring the return of immovable cultural heritage, in both laws and organisations helping individuals file claims. Whilst the research is limited in this thesis, it is hoped that it stimulates future studies on the subject, to bring the issue to a greater audience and reduce the taboo around cultural object restitution that remains in Romanian heritage institutions.Show less
De historiografie rond de participatie van moslims ten tijde van de Russische Revoluties van 1917 is doordrongen van (sovjet) oriëntalistische visies. Als men kijkt naar de gebeurtenissen in de...Show moreDe historiografie rond de participatie van moslims ten tijde van de Russische Revoluties van 1917 is doordrongen van (sovjet) oriëntalistische visies. Als men kijkt naar de gebeurtenissen in de periferie van het Russische Rijk ten tijde van de Revolutie blijkt echt dat de deelname van moslims sterker naar voren komt dan eerder gedacht. Het moslimreformisme in combinatie met pan-Turkistische ideeën leidden tot een nieuwe samenwerking tussen enerzijds de sovjets en anderzijds de moslimbevolking van Centraal-Azië. Het moslimcommunisme, oftewel sultangalievisme, is een alternatief voor het bolsjewisme in het centrum van het nieuwe Sovjetrijk. Het moslimcommunisme plaatst het bolsjewisme in een nationalistisch kader waarbinnen een ‘lokale’ revolutie moest plaatsvinden zodat zij zich vrij konden vechten van de imperiale mogendheden. Deze ideologie manifesteert zich voornamelijk rond de persoon Mirsaïd Sultan-Galiev die zich inzet om een nieuwe samenwerking te vestigen tussen Islam (groen) en de sovjets (rood). De participatie van de moslims van Centraal-Azië en hun houding ten opzichte van de bolsjewisten was actief te noemen, wat tegen de historiografie ingaat. Sultan-Galiev, de Tataarse moslimcommunist en nationalist is hier het best voorbeeld van.Show less
This historical thesis challenges the current consensus among scholars that Romania’s involvement in the 1992 Transnistrian War, on the side of the Moldovan government, was motivated only by desire...Show moreThis historical thesis challenges the current consensus among scholars that Romania’s involvement in the 1992 Transnistrian War, on the side of the Moldovan government, was motivated only by desire for reunification with its former territory of Bessarabia. The historical relationship between Romania and Moldova, the ethnic dynamics and distributions of Transnstria and the extent of Romanian intervention in the war are presented and analysed. A case is made that the Romanian government’s immediate goal was not a political union Moldova, but maintaining stability.Show less
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), an invention of the West, is on the rise in China. This research paper examines the specific Chinese cultural elements that have influenced the mechanisms and...Show moreCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR), an invention of the West, is on the rise in China. This research paper examines the specific Chinese cultural elements that have influenced the mechanisms and implementation of CSR in China, and more specifically in Wenzhou. The cultural elements that will be discussed in this thesis are Confucianism and communism, as these have had a large impact on Chinese society and culture. A study of the stakeholder and social dimensions of private companies in Wenzhou showed connections between Chinese cultural factors and how CSR policies were adopted. The Chinese CSR policies did not differ radically from Western ones, but principles of Confucianism and communism could still be found in the CSR policies and outcomes of these private companies, in some cases more explicitly than in others. This Chinese form of CSR provides both advantages and challenges for the further development of CSR in China, and can serve as an example of non- Western CSR.Show less
Cuba: a closed-off communistic island with a rich Caribbean culture, is slowly breaking down its walls to welcome foreign investors in a haven of opportunities and limited competition. However,...Show moreCuba: a closed-off communistic island with a rich Caribbean culture, is slowly breaking down its walls to welcome foreign investors in a haven of opportunities and limited competition. However, Cuba is still fighting its way out of a difficult position formed by a fascinating history, filled with political unrest and economic sanctions placed by the United States (U.S.). The current state of their cooperation has gradually been changing in the past couple of years, and a drastic overhaul of the political state is approaching. This changing political and economic environment marks the necessity of change that is eagerly awaited by Cubans who for many years have been deprived of the possibilities that capitalism could offer.Show less
Wat was de wisselwerking tussen de repressieve houding van de Russische staat en de naar vrijheid strevende niet-geregistreerde baptistengemeenten onder de jaren van het communisme?
This thesis examines the tense dynamics of trust and hatred within Latin America and looks into the involvement of the United States in its military and economic support for rightist governments in...Show moreThis thesis examines the tense dynamics of trust and hatred within Latin America and looks into the involvement of the United States in its military and economic support for rightist governments in Latin America. It starts with an analysis of the bilateral relations, the regional integration and the authoritarian state. Following is an extensive examination of the development of regional integration in Latin America, the threat of Communism and authoritarian responses to it. The authoritarian regimes threatened the social lives of millions of Latin American people and allowed a military regime to maintain the domestic economic and political structure according to the objective of the authoritarian leader and the military junta, which was centred around the eradication of Communism. Within Latin America, regional integration caused bilateral and multilateral successes and failures and conflicts. The high quantity of natural resources in several countries such as Venezuela, Brazil and Chile for example, provides the opportunity to maintain relations with other countries in the international system and to increase foreign investments. However, geographical factors limited bilateral relations in various countries in Latin America and territory remains a crucial factor in the analysis of bilateral relations within the region. The final chapter scrutinizes the bilateral relation between Chile and Argentina in the years from Pinochet’s coup d’état in 1973 until his successor Aylwin took over presidency in 1989. These 17 years are divided in two time periods. The first period goes from 1973 until 1983, a period in which military diplomacy acted out by both countries symbolized territorial conflicts, but where both countries’ governments and secret services cooperated to protect their countries against Communism in Operation Condor. The second period starts with the Peace and Friendship Treaty in 1984 in which it seemed like conflicts softened, and where the democratic transition in Argentina contributed to the lowering of the long-lasting binational security dilemma between Chile and Argentina. Hence, this thesis identifies the major factors that have been contributing to and have been restraining the bilateral relation between Chile and Argentina. The contextualization is characterized by military responses to the threat of Communism within both countries, territorial interventions in the Southern Cone of Latin America and the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1984 which fostered the incentives for bilateral integration and economic cooperation between Chile and Argentina.Show less
Art provides a reflection on political and social conditions and for that reason, has been a tool used to express opposition. In communist Poland, film became a popular means for engaging in...Show moreArt provides a reflection on political and social conditions and for that reason, has been a tool used to express opposition. In communist Poland, film became a popular means for engaging in political discourse that would otherwise not be allowed. This thesis seeks to explore the role of art and film in Poland between the 1950s and 1970s, using Andrzej Wajda's film "Man of Marble" as a case study.Show less
