This volume brings together leading scholars to examine how the Church has brought its values into the political sphere and, in the process, alienated some of the younger generation. Since the disintegration of the communist one-party state at the end of the 1980s, the Catholic Church has pushed its agenda to ban abortion, introduce religious instruction in the state schools, and protect Poland from secular influences emanating from the European Union. As one of the consequences, Polish society has become polarized along religious lines, with conservative forces such as Fr. Rydzyk's Radio Maryja seeking to counter the influence of the European Union and liberals on the left trying to protect secular values. This volume casts a wide net in topics, with chapters on Pope John Paul II, Radio Maryja, religious education, the Church's campaign against what it calls "genderism," and the privatization of religious belief, among other topics.

The book chronicles the evolution of the church's political power throughout Poland's unique history. Beginning in the tenth century, the study first details how Catholicism overcame early challenges in Poland, from converting the early polytheists to pushing back the Protestant Reformation half a millennium later. It continues into the dawn of the modern age-including the division of Poland between Prussia, Russia, and Austria between 1772 and 1795, the interwar years, the National Socialist occupation of World War Two, and the communist and post-war communist eras-during which The Church only half-correctly presented itself as a steadfast protector of Poles, with clergy members who either stood up to foreign authorities or collaborated with those same Nazi and Communist leaders. This study ends with a consideration of how the Church has taken advantage of the fall of communism to push its own social agenda, at times against the wishes of most Poles.

Gaining its independence in 1991, after having been included in socialist Yugoslavia for more than four decades, the Republic of Macedonia has struggled to consolidate its democratic system and independence, and to gain admission into the European Union and NATO, against dogged opposition from Greece. One of the central challenges facing Macedonia, along with other Yugoslav successor states, is to develop civic values and to combat such uncivic values as ethnic intolerance, religious bigotry, and homophobia. This volume brings together leading specialists in Macedonian affairs, both from within Macedonia and from other countries, to offer insights into the experiences and values of the Macedonians, with separate chapters devoted to the media, history textbooks, fiction, the Albanians of Macedonia, and smaller ethnic minorities, as well as other subjects.

"This book brings fresh light to previously marginalized subject in German history. It is an original approach, up-to-date written without scholarly jargon, easily accessible to students, both at undergraduate and graduate. It is highly focused departing from the usual "histories" of a single country arguing for the "two German states", and the three political systems."- Prof. Dr. Laszlo Kurti, Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Miskolc, Hungary This book contrasts three very different incarnations of Germany - the totalitarian Third Reich, the communist German Democratic Republic, and the democratic Federal Republic of Germany up to 1990 - in terms of their experiences with and responses to nonconformity, dissent, opposition, and resistance and the role played by those factors in each case. Although even innocent nonconformity came with a price in all three systems and in the post-war occupation zones, the price was the highest in Nazi Germany. . It is worth stressing that what qualifies as nonconformity and dissent depends on the social and political context and, thus, changes over time. Like those in active dissent, opposition, or resistance, nonconformists are rebels (whether they are conscious of it or not), and have repeatedly played a role in pushing for change, whether through reform of legislation, transformation of the public's attitudes, or even regime change.

The communists of East Central Europe came to power promising to bring about genuine equality, paying special attention to achieving gender equality, to build up industry and create prosperous societies, and to use music, art, and literature to promote socialist ideals. Instead, they never succeeded in filling more than a third of their legislatures with women and were unable to make significant headway against entrenched patriarchal views; they considered it necessary (with the sole exception of Albania) to rely heavily on credits to build up their economies, eventually driving them into bankruptcy; and the effort to instrumentalize the arts ran aground in most of the region already by 1956, and, in Yugoslavia, by 1949. Communism was all about planning, control, and politicization. Except for Yugoslavia after 1949, the communists sought to plan and control not only politics and the economy, but also the media and information, religious organizations, culture, and the promotion of women, which they understood in the first place as involving putting women to work. Inspired by the groundbreaking work of Robert K. Merton on functionalist theory, this book shows how communist policies were repeatedly undermined by unintended consequences and outright dysfunctions.

The increasing radicalization of political life in most countries in Europe lends special relevance to studies of the antifascist legacies on the continent. This insightful collection of essays is an in-depth review of antifascism in Slovenia, setting it in the context of related movements elsewhere in Europe. The period treated by the 19 essays comprises the interwar period, World War Two, and the post-war decades. The comparative and transnational perspectives advanced by the volume change our understanding of antifascism. The essays deal with the right-wing but also left-wing instrumentalization of antifascism, with a particular focus on the communist and post-communist periods. The authors point out that antifascism comes in various strains, whether inspired by liberalism, social democracy, communism, monarchism, anarchism, or even Christian conservatism. The contributors bring to light several overlooked antifascist actors, campaigns, and organisations, mostly in Slovenia and the Adriatic area.

A valuable and objective reassessment of the role of Serbia and Serbs in WWII. Today, Serbian textbooks praise the Chetniks of Draza MIhailovi? and make excuses for the collaboration of Milan Nedi?'s regime with the Axis. However, this new evaluation shows the more complex and controversial nature of the political alliances during the period.

The communists of East Central Europe came to power promising to bring about genuine equality, paying special attention to achieving gender equality, to build up industry and create prosperous societies, and to use music, art, and literature to promote socialist ideals. Instead, they never succeeded in filling more than a third of their legislatures with women and were unable to make significant headway against entrenched patriarchal views; they considered it necessary (with the sole exception of Albania) to rely heavily on credits to build up their economies, eventually driving them into bankruptcy; and the effort to instrumentalize the arts ran aground in most of the region already by 1956, and, in Yugoslavia, by 1949. Communism was all about planning, control, and politicization. Except for Yugoslavia after 1949, the communists sought to plan and control not only politics and the economy, but also the media and information, religious organizations, culture, and the promotion of women, which they understood in the first place as involving putting women to work. Inspired by the groundbreaking work of Robert K. Merton on functionalist theory, this book shows how communist policies were repeatedly undermined by unintended consequences and outright dysfunctions.

This book considers the state of Czech democracy, following the rise of authoritarian regimes in Poland and Hungary and the ascent of billionaire oligarch Andrej Babis to the office of prime minister of the Czech Republic, leading to concerns about conflict of interest. The authors argue that civic values, such as tolerance, respect for the equality of people, and readiness to play by the rules of the political game, are key factors in determining whether the Czech Republic will maintain its democracy in the coming years. The book employs a broad perspective, bringing together insights from political science, sociology, cultural studies, and other disciplines to analyse changes in the democracy of the Czech Republic since 1989, taking into consideration various dimensions of civic values, including politics, gender inequality, film, and the media.

The Bosnian Diaspora: Integration in Transnational Communities provides a comprehensive insight into the situation of the Bosnian Diaspora, including not only experiences in 'western' countries, but also the integration experiences of Bosnian migrants in neighbouring territories, such as Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. The book presents the latest trans-national comparative studies drawn from the US and Australia as well as countries across Europe, to explore post-crisis interactions among Bosnians and the impact of post-conflict related migration. Examining the common features of the Diaspora, including the responses of migrants to changes within Bosnia and the position of displaced people in both Bosnian society itself and local political discourses, this volume addresses the influence of global anti-Muslim rhetoric on the Bosnian Diaspora's self-identification and refugees' relationships to their home country. The extent to which refugees and returnees can be described as agents of globalization and social change is also considered, whilst addressing the issue of Bosnian integration into various receiving countries and the influence exercised by European reception policies on receiving nations outside Europe. An extensive exploration of a major post-conflict European Diaspora, this book will appeal to those with interests in migration, ethnicity, integration and the displacement effects of Yugoslav conflicts.

This special issue provides important new scholarship from a variety of perspectives on the structure, ideology and political history of the central fascist group in interwar and Second World War Yugoslavia, the Croatian Ustasha. It is the first volume in English to closely explore the Ustasha's Independent State of Croatia between 1941 and 1945, a period when it was an active collaborator with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and largely responsible for Yugoslavia suffering the highest proportion of national casualties in the Second World War. By using the top scholars in the field to explore the nature of the NDH, The Independent State of Croatia 1941-45 contributes to scholarly understandings of Croatian nationalism, Balkan politics, European fascism, and genocide in the Second World War.

The Bosnian Diaspora: Integration in Transnational Communities provides a comprehensive insight into the situation of the Bosnian Diaspora, including not only experiences in 'western' countries, but also the integration experiences of Bosnian migrants in neighbouring territories, such as Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. The book presents the latest trans-national comparative studies drawn from the US and Australia as well as countries across Europe, to explore post-crisis interactions among Bosnians and the impact of post-conflict related migration. Examining the common features of the Diaspora, including the responses of migrants to changes within Bosnia and the position of displaced people in both Bosnian society itself and local political discourses, this volume addresses the influence of global anti-Muslim rhetoric on the Bosnian Diaspora's self-identification and refugees' relationships to their home country. The extent to which refugees and returnees can be described as agents of globalization and social change is also considered, whilst addressing the issue of Bosnian integration into various receiving countries and the influence exercised by European reception policies on receiving nations outside Europe. An extensive exploration of a major post-conflict European Diaspora, this book will appeal to those with interests in migration, ethnicity, integration and the displacement effects of Yugoslav conflicts.

The Yugoslav break up and conflict have given rise to a considerable literature offering dramatically different interpretations of what happened. But just how do the various interpretations relate to each other? This ambitious new book by Sabrina Ramet, an eminent commentator on recent Balkan politics and history, reviews and analyses more than 130 books about the troubled region and compares their accounts, theories, and interpretations of events. Ramet surveys the major debates which divide the field, alternative accounts of the causes of Yugoslavia's violent collapse, and the scholarly debates concerning humanitarian intervention. Rival accounts are presented side by side for easy comparison. Thinking about Yugoslavia examines books on Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo which were published in English, German, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, and Italian, thus offering the English-speaking reader a unique insight into the controversies.

"This book brings fresh light to previously marginalized subject in German history. It is an original approach, up-to-date written without scholarly jargon, easily accessible to students, both at undergraduate and graduate. It is highly focused departing from the usual "histories" of a single country arguing for the "two German states", and the three political systems."- Prof. Dr. Laszlo Kurti, Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Miskolc, Hungary This book contrasts three very different incarnations of Germany - the totalitarian Third Reich, the communist German Democratic Republic, and the democratic Federal Republic of Germany up to 1990 - in terms of their experiences with and responses to nonconformity, dissent, opposition, and resistance and the role played by those factors in each case. Although even innocent nonconformity came with a price in all three systems and in the post-war occupation zones, the price was the highest in Nazi Germany. . It is worth stressing that what qualifies as nonconformity and dissent depends on the social and political context and, thus, changes over time. Like those in active dissent, opposition, or resistance, nonconformists are rebels (whether they are conscious of it or not), and have repeatedly played a role in pushing for change, whether through reform of legislation, transformation of the public's attitudes, or even regime change.

Orthodox Churches, like most religious bodies, are inherently political: they seek to defend their core values and must engage in politics to do so, whether by promoting certain legislation or seeking to block other legislation. This volume examines the politics of Orthodox Churches in Southeastern Europe, emphasizing three key modes of resistance to the influence of (Western) liberal values: Nationalism (presenting themselves as protectors of the national being), Conservatism (defending traditional values such as the "traditional family"), and Intolerance (of both non-Orthodox faiths and sexual minorities). The chapters in this volume present case studies of all the Orthodox Churches of the region.

Alternatives to Democracy in Twentieth-Century Europe: Collectivist Visions of Modernity, examines the historical examples of Soviet Communism, Italian Fascism, German Nazism, and Spanish Anarchism, suggesting that, in spite of their differences, they had some key features in common, in particular their shared hostility to individualism, representative government, laissez faire capitalism, and the decadence they associated with modern culture. But rather than seeking to return to earlier ways of working these movements and regimes sought to design a new future - an alternative future - that would restore the nation to spiritual and political health. The Fascists, for their part, specifically promoted palingenesis, which is to say the spiritual rebirth of the nation. The book closes with a long epilogue, in which I defend liberal democracy, highlighting its strengths and advantages. In this chapter, the author identifies five key choke points, which would-be authoritarians typically seek to control, subvert, or instrumentalize: electoral rules, the judiciary, the media, hate speech, and surveillance, and look at the cases of Viktor Orban's Hungary, Jaroslaw Kaczynski's Poland, and Donald Trump's United States.

Building democracy in societies that have known only authoritarian rule for half a century is complicated. Taking the post-Yugoslav region as its case study, this volume shows how success with democratisation depends on various factors, including establishing the rule of law, the consolidation of free media, and society's acceptance of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. Surveying the seven successor states, the authors argue that Slovenia is in a class by itself as the most successful, with Croatia and Serbia not far behind. The other states - Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo - are all struggling with problems of corruption, poverty, and unemployment. The authors treat the issue of values as a policy problem in its own right, debating the extent to which values have been transformed by changes in education and the media, how churches and women's organisations have entered into the policy debate, and whether governments have embraced a programme designed to effect changes in values.

One of the central challenges facing Macedonia, along with other Yugoslav successor states, is to develop civic values and to combat such uncivic values as ethnic intolerance, religious bigotry, and homophobia. This volume brings together specialists in Macedonian affairs to offer insights into the experiences and values of the Macedonians.

Alternatives to Democracy in Twentieth-Century Europe: Collectivist Visions of Modernity, examines the historical examples of Soviet Communism, Italian Fascism, German Nazism, and Spanish Anarchism, suggesting that, in spite of their differences, they had some key features in common, in particular their shared hostility to individualism, representative government, laissez faire capitalism, and the decadence they associated with modern culture. But rather than seeking to return to earlier ways of working these movements and regimes sought to design a new future - an alternative future - that would restore the nation to spiritual and political health. The Fascists, for their part, specifically promoted palingenesis, which is to say the spiritual rebirth of the nation. The book closes with a long epilogue, in which I defend liberal democracy, highlighting its strengths and advantages. In this chapter, the author identifies five key choke points, which would-be authoritarians typically seek to control, subvert, or instrumentalize: electoral rules, the judiciary, the media, hate speech, and surveillance, and look at the cases of Viktor Orban's Hungary, Jaroslaw Kaczynski's Poland, and Donald Trump's United States.

The Yugoslav break up and conflict have given rise to a considerable literature offering dramatically different interpretations of what happened. But just how do the various interpretations relate to each other? This ambitious new book by Sabrina Ramet, an eminent commentator on recent Balkan politics and history, reviews and analyses more than 130 books about the troubled region and compares their accounts, theories, and interpretations of events. Ramet surveys the major debates which divide the field, alternative accounts of the causes of Yugoslavia's violent collapse, and the scholarly debates concerning humanitarian intervention. Rival accounts are presented side by side for easy comparison. Thinking about Yugoslavia examines books on Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo which were published in English, German, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, and Italian, thus offering the English-speaking reader a unique insight into the controversies.

Poland, like many societies across the world, is becoming more polarized in diverse areas of life, as contending forces seek to advance incompatible agendas. The polarization over values in Polish politics was evident already before communism collapsed but became more obvious in the following years and reached a crescendo after the October 2015 parliamentary elections, which brought a right-wing party into power. This volume focuses on the years since 1989, looking at the clash between civic values (the rule of law, individual rights, tolerance, respect for the harm principle, equality, and neutrality of the state in matters of religion) and uncivic values (the rule of a dictator or dictatorial party, contempt for individual rights, bigotry, disrespect for the harm principle, unequal treatment of people whether through discrimination or through exploitation, and state favoritism of one religion over others). The authors address voting behavior, political parties, anti-Semitism, homophobia, the role of the Catholic Church, and reflections in history textbooks, fi lm, and even rock music. This volume makes clear that for the foreseeable future the conflict in Poland between traditional, conservative values and liberal, civic values is likely to continue, provoking tensions and protests.

The collapse of the communist monopoly across Central and Southeastern Europe in 1989/1990 initiated a process of rapid political, economic, and cultural change. While Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia went on to suffer three and a half years of war, all the states of the region have confronted challenges as they dismantled communist institutions and drafted new laws, in some cases ignoring their own laws. Indeed, in certain countries, local politicians have done their best to corrupt the media and the economy, with recent years seeing some states move in an illiberal direction. Throughout the region, however, there has been a strong interest in enjoying the benefits of membership of the European Union and NATO. In this updated second edition, regional specialists comprehensively analyze the post-communist trajectories of the states of Central and Southeastern Europe, encompassing democratization, privatization, corruption, and war. It will appeal to students and scholars, whether they have a specific interest in the region, or are studying European politics more generally.

The transformation process in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) after 1989 is often clothed in terms of historical and geographical categories, either as a 'return of history' or as a 'return to Europe', or both. Either way, the radical right in CEE claims a prominent place in this politics of return. Studies of the radical right echo the more general concern, in analyses of the region, with historical analogies and the role of legacies. Sometimes parallels are discovered between the post-1989 radical right and inter-war fascism. They imply a 'Weimarisation' of the transformation countries and the return of the pre-socialist, ultranationalist, or even fascist past - the 'return of history'. Another interpretation argues that since some CEE party systems increasingly resemble their West European counterparts, so does the radical right, at least where it is electorally successful - the 'return to Europe'. A third line of thought states that the radical right in the region is a phenomenon sui generis, inherently shaped by the historical forces of state socialism and the transformation process. As a result and in contrast to Western Europe, it is ideologically more extreme and anti-democratic while organisationally more a movement than a party phenomenon. This book provides insight into the role of historical forces in the shaping and performance of the current radical right in CEE. It conceptualises 'legacies' both as a contextual factor, (ie: as part of structural and cultural opportunities for new movements and parties in the region, and as textual factors; ie: as part of the ideological baggage of the past which is revived -- and reinterpreted -- by the radical right). An introductory essay by Michael Minkenberg puts the topic and the concept of legacies into a larger research perspective. Articles by Lenka Bustikova and Herbert Kitschelt as well as John Ishiyama employ the role of legacies as context, whereas the contributions by Timm Beichelt, Sarah de Lange and Simona Guerra as well as James Frusetta and Anca Glont treat legacies as text.

Orthodox Churches, like most religious bodies, are inherently political: they seek to defend their core values and must engage in politics to do so, whether by promoting certain legislation or seeking to block other legislation. This volume examines the politics of Orthodox Churches in Southeastern Europe, emphasizing three key modes of resistance to the influence of (Western) liberal values: Nationalism (presenting themselves as protectors of the national being), Conservatism (defending traditional values such as the "traditional family"), and Intolerance (of both non-Orthodox faiths and sexual minorities). The chapters in this volume present case studies of all the Orthodox Churches of the region.