The Republican Alternative. The Netherlands and Switzerland Compared

The Republican Alternative seeks to move beyond the mere notion of scholarly inquiry into the republic—the subject of recent rediscovery by political historians interested in Europe’s intellectual heritage—by investigating the practical similarities and differences between two early modern republics, as well as their self-images and interactions during the turbulent seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Among the world’s most economically successful societies, Switzerland and the Netherlands laid much of the foundation for their prosperity during the early modern period discussed here. This volume attempts to clarify the special character of these two countries as they developed, including issues of religious plurality, the republican form of government, and an increasingly commercially-driven agrarian society.

Bevezető: utak és úton lévők

A kvalitatív módszerekkel nyert kutatási eredményeink értelmezése során a transznacionális tér, a transznacionális és az etnikai migráció elméleti és szemléleti kereteit egyaránt figyelembe vettük. Az általunk vizsgált migrációs folyamatok transznacionális térben zajlanak, és a transznacionális irodalomban leírt migráns élethelyzetek, gyakorlatok – különböző nemzetállamokban elhelyezkedő lokalitásokhoz való egyidejű, bár eltérő intenzitású kötődés, kapcsolatok – több példájával is találkoztunk. Ludger Pries nyomán a transznacionális migrációt és a transznacionális migráns alakját olyan ideáltípusnak tekintettük, amelyhez az egyes migráns utak és helyzetek csupán közelítenek, és empirikus eredményeink alapján azt mondhatjuk, hogy a valóban plurilokális, vagyis a két helyhez való egyidejű, intenzív és tartós kötődés s az ehhez kapcsolódó gyakorlatok csupán a migránsok kisebbségét, illetve a migrációs életpályák egy-egy szakaszát jellemzik. A vizsgált migrációs folyamatokban az etnicitás strukturális tényezőként és a migráns tapasztalatok értelmezési kereteként egyaránt perdöntő szerepet játszik. Az etnikai migráció szakirodalomban tárgyalt mindhárom magyarázó modellje – az anyaországba való hazatérés, a gazdasági okokból való, illetve a kisebbségi létben elszenvedett sérelmek által ösztönzött migráció – alkalmas a migrációt kiváltó és mozgató okok elemzésére, a migráns narratívák értelmezésére, azt azonban nem állíthatjuk, hogy bármelyikük kizárólagos érvényre tehet szert. Más kutatókhoz hasonlóan Rogers Brubaker meghatározását tartjuk a leginkább gyümölcsözőnek, aki az etnikai migráció tág értelmezését használva minden olyan vándorlási folyamatot etnikai migrációnak tekint, amelyben az etnicitás kulturális és szimbolikus tőkeként szabályozó szerepet játszik. This special issue of Tér és Társadalom presents some results of an international research project carried out by researchers from Switzerland, Hungary and Serbia between 2010 and 2012. The topic of the research was “Integrating (Trans-)national Migrants in Transition States” (TRANSMIG) and was financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The research aimed to explore and interpret migration flows from the Vojvodina (Serbia) to Hungary and from ex-Yugoslav republics to the Vojvodina. In the first period of the last twenty years, wars which contributed to the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the formation of new national states have caused migration flows. After the change of the millennium, educational migration of Vojvodina Hungarian youth can be considered the most important migratory movement from the Vojvodina to Hungary. Labour (economic) migration also occurs, but this cannot be understood as a one-way movement, since in the Hungarian–Serbian border zone migrants from the Vojvodina who already resettled to Hungary commute to the Vojvodina. While interpreting the qualitative research data the theoretical frameworks and approaches of transnational space, transnationalism and ethnic migration were taken into consideration. The migration movement in question occurs in a transnational social space where migrants are in constant motion. By their movements and actions that space is continually recreated. With Ludger Pries we see a transnational migrant as an ideal type to whom individual migratory movements and positions only approximate. Based on our empirical results we can conclude that real pluri-local, intensive and long-lasting bonding to two places at the same time and the relating practices only characterise a minority of migrants and certain sections of migratory careers. In the migration processes studied, ethnicity as a term is needed as a “structural factor” and frame of interpretation to approach migrant experiences. All three explanatory models for ethnic migration – return migration, economic migration, migration motivated by grievances suffered in a minority situation – are suitable to analyse the reasons that initiated migration and kept it in motion. They are helpful in interpreting migrant narratives. However, none of the reasons can claim exclusive validity. Agreeing with other researchers, we find Roger Brubaker’s definition the most useful: Ethnic migration should be comprehended in a broad sense. In addition, every migration can be considered as “ethnically” motivated where ethnicity plays a dominant role as a cultural and symbolic capital.

Possible earthquake trigger for 6th century mass wasting deposit at Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania)

Abstract. Lake Ohrid shared by the Republics of Albania and Macedonia is formed by a tectonically active graben within the south Balkans and suggested to be the oldest lake in Europe. Several studies have shown that the lake provides a valuable record of climatic and environmental changes and a distal tephrostratigraphic record of volcanic eruptions from Italy. Fault structures identified in seismic data demonstrate that sediments have also the potential to record tectonic activity in the region. Here, we provide an example of linking seismic and sedimentological information with tectonic activity and historical documents. Historical documents indicate that a major earthquake destroyed the city of Lychnidus (today: city of Ohrid) in the early 6th century AD. Multichannel seismic profiles, parametric sediment echosounder profiles, and a 10.08m long sediment record from the western part of the lake indicate a 2m thick mass wasting deposit, which is tentatively correlated with this earthquake. The mass wasting deposit is chronologically well constrained, as it directly overlays the AD472/AD 512 tephra. Moreover, radiocarbon dates and cross correlation with other sediment sequences with similar geochemical characteristics of the Holocene indicate that the mass wasting event took place prior to the onset of the Medieval Warm Period, and is attributed it to one of the known earthquakes in the region in the early 6th century AD.

A tephrostratigraphic record for the last glacial-interglacial cycle from Lake Ohrid, Albania and Macedonia

ABSTRACT: Here we present a tephrostratigraphic record (core Co1202) recovered from the northeastern part of Lake Ohrid (Republics of Macedonia and Albania) reaching back to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6. Overall ten horizons (OT0702-1 to OT0702-10) containing volcanic tephra have been recognised throughout the 14.94m long sediment succession. Four tephra layers were visible at macroscopic inspection (OT0702-4, OT0702-6, OT0702-8 and OT0702-9), while the remaining six are cryptotephras (OT0702-1, OT0702-2, OT0702-3, OT0702-5, OT0702-7 and OT0702-10) identified from peaks in K, Zr and Sr intensities, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and washing and sieving of the sediments. Glass shards of tephra layers and cryptotephras were analysed with respect to their major element composition, and correlated to explosive eruptions of Italian volcanoes. The stratigraphy and the major element composition of tephra layers and cryptotephras allowed the correlation of OT0702-1 to AD 472 or AD 512 eruptions of Somma-Vesuvius, OT0702-2 to the FL eruption of Mount Etna, OT0702-3 to the Mercato from Somma-Vesuvius, OT0702-4 to SMP1-e/Y-3 eruption from the Campi Flegrei caldera, OT0702-5 to the Codola eruption (Somma-Vesuvius or Campi Flegrei), OT0702-6 to the Campanian Ignimbrite/Y-5 from the Campi Flegrei caldera, OT0702- 7 to the Green Tuff/Y-6 eruption from Pantelleria Island, OT0702-8 to the X-5 eruption probably originating from the Campi Flegrei caldera, OT0702-9 to the X-6 eruption of generic Campanian origin, and OT0702-10 to the P-11 eruption from Pantelleria Island. The fairly well-known ages of these tephra layers and parent eruptions provide new data on the dispersal and deposition of these tephras and, furthermore, allow the establishment of a chronological framework for core Co1202 for a first interpretation of major sedimentological changes.

The research-action interface in sustainable land management in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: Challenges and recommendations

International agencies and programmes introduced sustainable land management (SLM) to Central Asia after the former Soviet Republics became independent in 1991. An aim of early SLM initiatives was to address challenges linked to the transformation of the agricultural sector from a centrally planned economy to a decentralized market economy. This article analyses the knowledge–action interface in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as it relates to SLM. The analysis focuses on the influence of underlying land management concepts by means of a literature review. Contemporary barriers at the research–action interface were identified using participatory appraisal. And a historically contextualized understanding of the effectiveness of interactions between researchers, policy makers and practitioners is based on an analysis of purposefully selected cases. The study concludes that knowledge of different stakeholder groups is often highly disconnected. Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies are rare, and academic research on SLM has subsequently been ineffective at contributing to substantial benefits for society. Further, researchers, policy makers and practitioners in this context must recognize the differences between SLM and what is often referred to as the equivalent Soviet-era concept—rational use of land resources—and the resulting implications of these differences. The authors recommend the following: creating an enabling environment for SLM research through academic institutional reform removing structural constraints, making research outcomes more effective by applying systems approaches that produce evidence for policy makers on the multiple benefits of SLM, helping land users evaluate SLM strategies and investing in the establishment and maintenance of a multi-stakeholder SLM platform that allows dynamic exchange.

The invention of democratic parliamentary practices in the Helvetic Republic

In this book, leading historians of the French, Batavian, Helvetic, Cisalpine, and Neapolitan revolutions bridge the gap between the historiographies of the so-called Sister Republics and explore political culture as a set of discourses or political practices. Parliamentary practices, the comparability of "universal" political concepts, late-eighteenth-century Republicanism, the relationship between press and politics, and the interaction between the Sister Republics and France are all examined from a comparative, transnational perspective.