"Viewers should not try this at home". Die Verfassungsgerichte Bosnien-Herzegowinas und Kosovos in deren Rolle als Schlichtungsinstanzen in ethnopolitischen Konflikten = The constitutional courts of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo in their role as arbitration bodies in ethno-political conflicts. EDAP 01/2014

The article analyzes the role of constitutional courts in Bosnia and Kosovo, both characterized by their partly internationalized membership, in the adjudication of cases that are highly controversial between the different ethno-political factions. The main focus is on the Constitutional Court of Bosnia, which presents one of the richest and most interesting examples of “lawfare” in divided societies. The concept of lawfare has been adapted to refer to the continuation of political battles by ethno-political actors through legal means, in this case, constitutional adjudication. In Kosovo, the Constitutional Court has been an important defender of diversity, albeit its primary focus and merit are to have contributed to the establishment of a concept of democracy close to the people of Kosovo. The article concludes that constitutional courts represent important institutions of internal conflict resolution in divided societies, which have been instrumental in shaping multiculturalism in these post-conflict societies divided by deep ethnic cleavages.

The Language of Political Conflict: A Logico-Semantic Approach

A semantic approach towards political conflict first emerged in the 1930s and provides the methodological foundations for the description of political conflicts, in particular as the correlation between the language of description and reality. Any military or political confrontation presupposes axiological, conceptual and ideological confrontation. The form of adequate description can only be comprehended if the characteristic features of its language (structure) and thesaurus are revealed. Admitting the possibility of different descriptions implies the necessity of analysing this possible ambiguity, i.e. the characteristic features of the language which enable us to form various statements, including mutually exclusive ones. The insoluble task of finding a middle ground between the viewpoints of the conflicting parties should be replaced by soluble procedures of explaining and assessing the conflicting axiologies. For the description of conflict situations, when it is essential to represent various positions within a uniform system, an apparatus of model semantics seems to be the most appropriate one both for generating alternatives and for bringing them together in a modal system of a world in which procedures of transition from one world to another (i.e. the transworld compatibility between them) are also reflected. Reality is reconstructed not as a sort of middle ground between the mutually exclusive approaches nor as their sum, but as a result of the overlapping of various worlds and the procedures of transition from one state of affairs to another. The description of a conflict is therefore seen as a system of worlds connected by modal relations, with a system of worlds emerging as a reality to be described. This approach makes it possible to describe the processes from the points of view of the participating parties and, at the same time, to reveal their basic attitudes. The main idea of this research is shown by the problems analysed: the description of conflict as methodology; language and behaviour (general problems of semiotic description), the logico-semantic analysis of the notions of "problem and conflict", "Genesis and Chronology", "the recurrent model of the (historical) explanation and interpretation of the conflict". Zolyan used data on the Karabagh conflict to demonstrate the dependence of the structure of semio-cultural codes on current political development and considered post-soviet history as a semio-cultural problem. He sought to consider and reveal the logic of manipulations with history, and proposed the logic of preferences as a possible instrument for achieving compromise.

Fiscal adjustments and sovereign default in different government systems

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

The Swiss Willensnation at Risk: Teachers in the Cultural Gap during the First World War

As a neutral and multilingual country, Switzerland struggled with major domestic political conflicts during the First World War due to the two cultures of the French-speaking and German-speaking parts of the country. The divided cultural loyalties ('fossé moral', 'Röstigraben'), consisting of Swiss-Germans supporting Germany and Swiss-French supporting France, were discussed intensively in both of the main teachers' journals in Switzerland. Teachers felt the need to react and to promote unity from the beginning of the war. Despite the fact that the cantons are responsible for public education and, therefore, for the education of their students, teachers considered themselves called to educate their students to be national citizens rather than to be members of a language group. This threefold citizenship - communal, cantonal and national - was not scrutinised, but national unity became crucial due to the critical political circumstances. How did teachers promote and constitute citizenship for themselves and for their students in a nation united by free will during the First World War, a time of severe internal political conflicts?

Cobertura y desamparo: garantías jurídicas de los españoles en el Perú (1870-1945) = Coverage and helplessness: legal guarantees of the spanish in Peru (1870-1945)

The archives of the Prefecture of the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs provide a perspective from which to reconstruct the broad range of legal circumstances in which Spanish residents in various regions of the country find themselves immersed (assets of relatives who have died without wills or family in Peru, political conflicts, legal problems -whether criminal or civil as a result of business activities- or the requested intervention ofconsular authorities when decisions considered detrimental to their compatriots are made by prefects and sub-prefects). The legal framework protecting Spanish nationals in Peru is analysed to understand the mechanisms of immigration in the country and the mechanisms that led them to keep their Spanish nationality, even after establishing wide-reaching family and business interests

Pour un modèle chrétien de réconciliation dans la société luba : une interprétation des pratiques traditionnelles luba de réconciliation à partir de Genèse 32–33 et une proposition d’appropriation chrétienne contemporaine

Pour des raisons de limitation, cette thèse analyse le thème de la réconciliation à partir des pratiques traditionnelles des Baluba du Katanga; elle concerne et s'applique également aux autres ethnies bantu en Afrique Centrale où ces pratiques sont similaires.

Zur denkmalpolitischen Praxis der Gegenwart - institutionelle Handlungsspielräume und diskursive Prozesse

Die Arbeit behandelt im Rahmen eines induktiven Ansatzes die Problematik aktueller kommunalpolitischer Zielkonflikte im Umgang mit Baudenkmalen in Deutschland. Dabei wird das Politikfeld Denkmalschutz in seiner kulturell-politischen Mehrdimensionalität unter der Ausgangsfrage untersucht, wie Entscheidungsprozesse verlaufen, bei denen entwicklungsbezogene Interessen und Belange des Denkmalschutzes eine besondere Rolle spielen. Vier Beispielfälle bilden den empirischen Kern der Untersuchung: Ein ortsbildprägendes und architektonisch qualitätsvolles Industriedenkmal wandelt sich mittels staatlicher Förderung zu einer Brachfläche; der Umgebungsschutz eines Gartendenkmals von Weltrang muss den Bedürfnissen des kommerzialisierten Fußballsports den Vortritt lassen; ein historisches Lichtspieltheater wird trotz Massenprotesten von Bürgern zu einem Buchladen umgebaut; eine freistehende Gründerzeitvilla wird unter der Maßgabe maximaler Verkaufsflächengröße durch ein Einkaufszentrum eingehaust. Aufbauend auf einer Analyse der jeweiligen Entscheidungsprozesse werden die Spezifika politischer Auseinandersetzungen um Denkmale fallübergreifend herausgearbeitet. Das Untersuchungsprinzip entspricht einem explorativen Verfahren, wobei der argumentative Austausch als empirischer Schlüssel zu sprachlich materialisierten Deutungsangeboten von Akteuren einen Schwerpunkt der Untersuchung bildet. In der Gegenüberstellung diskursiver Prozesse wird untersucht, wie Deutungsangebote im politischen Prozess entstehen, sich verändern und diskursiv vermittelt werden. Im Mittelpunkt steht der Einblick in das Zusammenspiel empirisch bestimmter Einflussgrößen. Dabei kristallisieren sich mehrere Thesen heraus, die das kulturelle Verständnis, die Rolle des institutionellen Kontextes und die politische Aushandlung als Prozess betreffen. Es wird aufgezeigt, weshalb die Kluft zwischen dem elitären Erhaltungsinteresse der Fachwelt und dem Denkmalverständnis des „Durchschnittsbürgers" als notwendige Triebfeder der denkmalpflegerischen Vermittlungsarbeit und für eine kreative Auseinandersetzung mit dem Denkmal ebenso wie der hoheitliche Denkmalschutz unverzichtbar bleibt.

Bancos comunitários de desenvolvimento como instrumento de políticas públicas: o caso do Banco Cidade de Deus

O objetivo dessa dissertação foi investigar os desafios da utilização dos Bancos Comunitários de Desenvolvimento (BCDs) como política pública. Segundo a Rede Brasileira de Bancos Comunitários estes podem ser definidos como serviços financeiros solidários, de natureza associativa e comunitária, voltados para a geração de trabalho e renda na perspectiva de reorganização das economias locais por meio da constituição de redes de economia solidária. Desde o surgimento da primeira experiência de banco comunitário, em 1998 em Fortelza/CE, até o presente momento os BCDs foram replicados em mais de 100 localidades. Pela singularidade em lidar com a concessão de microcrédito e por conseguir uma capilaridade junto as populações em situação de pobreza ou extrema pobreza, os BCDs despontaram como alternativas a algumas políticas públicas do microcrédito tradicional e tem recebido apoio do governo federal para replicação de novas experiências e consolidação das já existentes. Além disso, os governos estaduais e municipais também vem adotando políticas de replicação dos bancos comunitários e em alguns casos, como é o estudo de caso desta investigação, a iniciativa para a constituição dos BCDs tem partido das prefeituras. A pergunta de pesquisa que norteia este trabalho foi analisada por meio de uma abordagem qualitativa, com a utilização de entrevistas e observação participante junto ao Banco Comunitário Cidade de Deus, situado na cidade de Rio de Janeiro/RJ. A pesquisa de campo abrangeu os meses de maio a agosto do corrente e ano e os resultados apontam para existência de três dimensões de desafios aos processos de instrumentalização dos BCDs como políticas públicas, quais sejam: eficiência técnica, sustentabilidade financeira e conflitos políticos internos.

Instituições e conflitos comerciais no Mercosul

De que forma a evolução da estrutura institucional do Mercosul, desde sua criação até sua atual conformação, facilita a transformação de conflitos econômico-comerciais, de menor e maior grau, em conflitos políticos. Acredita-se que uma parte significativa dos conflitos no Mercosul poderia ser solucionada tecnicamente, sem resvalar nas relações políticas globais dos Estados membros, como tem ocorrido regularmente.

O Circuito inferior da economia urbana em Mossoró: a dinâmica do comércio ambulante

This study was based on the analysis and understanding of the dynamics of the lower circuit of the economy and the size of the street trading in the city of Mossoro (RN). The operationalization of the theory of the two circuits of the urban economy, based on Santos (2008a) was essential to understand the street trading as part of the entire city of Mossoro. It was given emphasis on the study of the lower circuit of the economy and its coverage in the street trading in the commercial center of the city, specifically in street trading in Coronel Gurgel. The dynamics of that street reveals the different ways that the territory is used simultaneously by different social actors as pedestrians, consumers, business owners, and especially by street vendors. These vendors occupy the spaces along the streets of the city commercial center, placing their tents or stalls, especially on sidewalks, excellent strategic locations for the marketing of their products, due to the large influx of people seeking goods and services nearby. As methodological and technical procedures for gathering primary data, we opted for the use of questionnaires and interviews, with many users of the lower circuit, both consumers and vendors. The analysis of these questionnaires, along with the theoretical background, has revealed that there are several social and political conflicts related to the use of public spaces, such as sidewalks and flowerbeds, in the city commercial center, and that these conflicts are increasingly demonstrating that vendors need a space endowed with infrastructure to conduct their activities. The lack of efficiency of the government, as well as the slowness of their actions to organize a space that is able to properly fit salespersons, constitutes one of the main problems faced by these small traders who have limited financial resources and materials to get their activities through in the globalized world. At the same time, this study revealed the importance of these agents, as the last link of the urban economy, in the distribution of various consumer goods, enabling the satisfaction of some needs of the population, especially the poorer people

Ponta do Abunã: no fim de Rondônia e no começo do Acre

Pós-graduação em Geografia - FCT

Governar é povoar: a influência alberdiana na organização do Estado argentino nos meados do século XIX

Pós-graduação em História - FCHS