Bücher veröffentlicht von ibidem-Verlag, Jessica Haunschild u Christian Schon

Sophie Falsini presents a fascinating analysis of the current state and future prospects of Ukrainian civil society in light of the 2013¿2014 events. Since then, the country has been shaken by both socio-political disorders and a deep humanitarian emergency, also exacerbated by the crisis of internally displaced people. Yet, it is under these same premises that civil society emerged as a main societal actor in post-Euromaidan politics, development, and reform. Through its war relief work and the endeavors to lead Ukraine towards democratization, civil society has, to a considerable degree, offset the lack of an efficient state administration and activated vital components of Ukrainian social capital.In respect to these achievements, Falsini explores the way and the extent to which the events occurring in Ukraine since late 2013¿the Euromaidan revolution, the annexation of Crimea, and the war in the East¿have contributed to the growth of social capital as well as to the resulting change in the shape and in the structure of civil society in the country.Through a multidimensional approach, combining theoretical interpretation with empirical analysis, the study examines Ukraine¿s transformed civil society in terms of its social relations, societal networks and resources, and collective action. Based on the theory of social capital after Lin Nan, the empirical analysis revolves around the case studies of 12 civil society organizations active in providing help to internally displaced people. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Kiev, Dnipro, and Kharkiv aiming to confirm or discard the thesis of a post-Euromaidan civil society powered by increased levels of social capital. The collected data show that the 2013¿2014 events did indeed contribute to the reshaping of the structure of Ukrainian civil society as they reversed people¿s preference for informal and cross-level networks, mistrust towards the system, and disappointment with public institutions. Compared to the past, Ukraine¿s ¿civil society 2.0¿ saw the rise of grassroots and voluntary movements which triggered social mobilization, and a long-term investment of resources for the benefit of the public good. These developments have significantly contributed to an increase of the level of social capital in post-Euromaidan Ukraine.

Vasily Yan (Vassily Grigoryevich Yanchevetsky, 1874¿1954) was a writer of historical novels whose popularity survives the test of time. He was widely read throughout the Soviet era and continues to be popular in the post-Soviet era. This book is not just a biographical sketch of an important Russian/Soviet writer basically unknown to the Western public. The focus on Yan and his work also impressively demonstrates the dominant role of ideology in a totalitarian society, which is not just a socio-economic and political system of the past, but could reemerge in the future as ISIS has demonstrated. Shlapentokh shows that ideology and the cultural and intellectual life in totalitarian regimes are more complex than is often assumed. Intellectuals often enough engaged in stressful, but¿in its literary outcome¿captivating ¿cat and mouse¿ games with censors, the powerful, and the government.

This book on the Auschwitz Concentration Camp provides a chronological account from the camp's beginning in 1940 right up to its liberation in January 1945, and beyond. Chris Webb manages to find a balance between detailing the sufferings of the victims and the actions, characters, and fates of the perpetrators. He gives, in a concise form, a thorough and deeply disturbing overview of all aspects of Auschwitz and its many satellite camps. In addition, the book contains a vast collection of photographs and documents, some of them never shown in public before. It ends with the 2017 recollections by students who visited Auschwitz from Teesside University.

This is a book about the crisis of the European integration project as seen from the vantage point of people''s movements across and to the European continent. But why should the issue of refugees or of migration have anything to do with the dynamics of the integration or disintegration of the European Union? If anything, the existing global refugee protection regime was conceived in Europe at about the time when Europe began to integrate: It was seen as a moral imperative in the context of European solidarity and in the face of crisis. How did refugee protection become so controversial as to usher in a crisis of its own? Why do European governments and their peoples see refugees and migrants as the cause of a crisis in and of Europe? Solidarity, legitimacy, democracy, welfare, rights: How has refugee migration undermined European positions on all that has defined EU integration so far? This collection engages with these questions by focusing on the construction of the crisis narrative, offering an insight into distinctly European perspectives on and analyses of political responses to refugees, migration, and economic challenges. The aim of the volume is to provide an empirical and thematic context for understanding the link between refugee migration and the overpowering perception of Europe in crisis.

This book dissects-from both philosophical and empirical viewpoints-the peculiar developmental challenges, geopolitical contexts, and dystopic stalemates that post-Soviet societies face during their transition to new political and cultural orders. The principal geographical focus of the essays is Ukraine, but most of the assembled texts are also relevant and/or refer to other post-Soviet countries.Mikhail Minakov describes how former Soviet nations are trying to re-invent, for their particular circumstances, democracy and capitalism while concurrently dealing with new poverty and inequality, facing unusual degrees of freedom and responsibility for their own future, coming to terms with complicated collective memories and individual pasts. Finally, the book puts forward novel perspectives on how Western and post-communist Europe may be able to create a sustainable pan-European common space. These include a new agenda for pan-European political communication, new East-Central European regional security mechanisms, a solution for the chain of separatist-controlled populations, and anti-patronalist institutions in East European countries.

"Is Bulgaria''s Left heading towards decomposition or to a new identity? Popivanov offers an excellent analytical answer."?Georgi Karasimeonov, Professor of Political Science at Sofia University

This book offers a comprehensive history of the Czechoslovak Ocean Shipping Company (C. O. S.) from its beginning in the late 1940s until the fall of communism. Owned by the Czechoslovak state, C. O. S.''s activities were shaped by Soviet standards. This unique study is structured according to the different phases of the Cold War and highlights the political aspects that determined C. O. S.''s fate.Lenka Kratka focuses on two contradictory economic dimensions that C. O. S. had to engage with. Being part of the planned economy of a socialist state, it also dealt with companies in the capitalist West. Another paradoxical aspect of C. O. S. emerges from the memories of former Czechoslovak seamen, who experienced relative freedom when being aboard and strict communist regime control while at home with their families. Kratka''s book offers fascinating insights into a neglected topic, using thus far untapped sources and building on primary research in oral history and personal memory.

More than 20 years have passed since the introduction of the Universal Character Set. However, legacy applications still cannot even render German umlauts correctly. Part of this problem is a hidden political agenda: Consciously or unconsciously, patterns of the Cold War are continued in the interaction between Western and Eastern European languages. This book examines the current use of diacritical marks in Western Europe, such as the use of names from Slavic languages in electronic data processing systems. The role of the media as multiplier receives particular attention, with most error examples taken from actual media coverage.Considering international, EU, and national law and referring to landmark court decisions, Kappenberg answers the question: ''Is there a right to diacritical marks in people''s names?'' This is followed by a description of current practice in several European countries.Finally, Setting Signs for Europe answers the question how in the framework of the EU''s multilingualism policy, effective approaches can be created to raise awareness among software vendors, the media, government agencies, and individuals regarding the correct handling of diacritics. Kappenberg also assesses the use of diacritics as a style element and offers an improved input method for diacritics.

This timely book offers an integrative and critical approach to the conceptualization of diversity of social ties in contemporary urban migrant populations. It explores the informal relationships of migrants in London and how the construction and the dynamics of their social ties function as a part of urban sociality within the super?diversity of London.Based on the results of a qualitative study of Russian-speaking migrants, it targets the four main themes of transnationalism, ethnicity, cosmopolitanization, and friendship. Acknowledging the complexity of the ways in which contemporary migrants rely on social relationships, the author argues that this complexity cannot be fully grasped by theories of transnationalism or explanations of ethnic communities alone. Instead, one can gather a closer understanding of migrant sociality when adding the analysis of informal relationships in different locations and with different subjects. This book suggests that friendship should be seen as an important concept for all research on migrant social connections.