Globalisation, Neo-liberal Restructuring and Rising Inequality: the Response of European Labour
What does neoliberalism mean to the European labour movement and labour representation? To which extent is this labour able to limit capital or at least effectively represent workers? The study disproves the common belief that unions in West-Europe supported neoliberal policies without any critique, betraying workers. This belief arose from the weakness of the unions. The European labour movement was organised on the national level and its bargaining positions were weakened by outsourcing, the penetration of IT in work, and the fact that the economy needs less jobs than in the Fordist period of capitalism. Nevertheless, the author still sees positive signs for European cooperation in the labour world.
Victory – the 65th Anniversary of the Great Patriotic War
The 1968 Invasion in Czechoslovakia in Forming the Borders and Principles of Eurocommunism
At the 40th anniversary of the 1968 events, the aftermath of the reforms launched by the Prague Spring and consequences of the Soviet intervention were discussed rightly in detail. The study presents a less frequently examined field: the reaction of West-European – mainly French and Italian – communist parties, the road of their gradual disaffection with the Soviet Union. The program and politics of the Czechoslovak Communist Party lead by Dubcek announcing "socialism with a human face" feed the hope of Western comrades that the "Eastern Block" can be changed.
A World Trend in Culture: Museum Development
Visiting museums is trendy again. The number of visitors is growing even though it seems surprising in the age of being 'uncultured'. Museums on the one hand are part of the cultural industry but on the other hand – by images, theatricality and entertainment in focus – they are getting closer to their audience who are now not passive visitors any more as they used to be.
Corruption as a System: Theory and Russian Evidence
The article describes the historical and theoretical grounds of the concept, mostly based on Russian experience and literature. Actual forms of corruption are grabbed in the frame of the systemic change and its consequences, regarding corruption the immanent character of the capitalist world economy, which cannot be eliminated. During the era of the systemic change, the Russian state was itself the main vehicle of corruption, aiming the private acquisition of state property. The author also depicts the apathy of the present Russian society towards corruption
Under publication in Novaya i Noveyshaya Istoriya.