Electronic Library of Scientific Literature - © Academic Electronic Press


SOCIOLÓGIA
SLOVAK SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW



Volume 34, 2002, No. 3, p. 193-284

Studies / Štúdie

Reviews / Recenzie

 


(De)Constructing Slovak National Mythology

Andrej Findor
The Institute for Sociology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava

”Myth has in fact a double function: it points out and it notifies. It makes us understand something and it imposes it on us.”
Roland Barthes, Mythologies, p. 117

”It has been said that all history is contemporary history in fancy dress.”
Eric J. Hobsbawm, On History, p. 228

(De)Constructing Slovak National Mythology. The article argues for the semiological understanding of the myth as a specific type of speech, transforming political values into historical ‘facts’. Comparing nationalist narratives of one ‘mythical motive’ from the ‘golden age’ of Slovak history, it focuses on the narrative techniques by which the distant past is selected, rediscovered and appropriated to serve present nationalist ends. Through narrating the instrumentally selected medieval events and personages, appropriating them in a way, which makes them appear analogous with contemporary ones, the nationalist historians construct the ‘natural’, ‘characteristic’ and recurrent patterns of national history. They transform history into allegedly self-evident, unproblematic natural reality and thus legitimise modern events and persons. The self-confirming, tautological narrative structure of modern national myth, however, becomes controversial, when it overrides the discussion about the character of a modern wartime Slovak nation-state and its president.

Sociológia 2002 Vol 34 (No 3: 195-208)

 


Development of Young People’s Civic Participation in East Central Europe

Siyka Kovacheva
Paissii Hilendarski University, Plovdiv

Development of Young People’s Civic Participation in East Central Europe. The youth revolts in East Central Europe in 1989 became a clear marker separating two types of young people’s participation in society. The mass rallies, demonstrations, happenings and occupations of public buildings and squares put an end to the communist myth about youth’s great mission to build a Bright New World and served to create the conditions for post-communist patterns of youth citizenship. The development of youth participation incorporated changes not only in the repertoire of youth action, but also in the goals and objectives of youth involvement, in youth organisational structures, internal resources and outside partners, in the outcomes of participation and its influence over wider social context. The civic participation of the young generation is an essential part of the economic, political and social changes sweeping over the new democracies in the region.

Sociológia 2002 Vol 34 (No. 3: 209-222)

 


Knowledge Utilization in Slovak Public Policy: The Roma Population Research Case Studies

Robert Klobucký, Katarína Strapcová
The Institute for Sociology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava

Knowledge Utilization in Slovak Public Policy: The Roma Population Research Case Studies. The study is a part of the international UNESCO-MOST comparative project that examines the problems of efficient utilization of scientific knowledge in social policies. The study focuses on the problems of efficient utilization of research projects dealing with Roma population. The main aim of the research is to identify the factors, which enable and disable the utilization of scientific knowledge in actual policies. In order to meet its comparative purpose, the research relies on the methodology devised by Carol Weiss. It analyses four case studies - research projects concerned with Roma population - from the phase of their initiation up to their potential utilization in policy creation. The methods employed include interviews and the analysis of documents.

The main finding of the study was the identification of political context as the dominant factor with negative influence on the utilization of scientific knowledge in respective policies. This factor evincibly played a negative role in three case studies. The character of research findings was recognized as another important negative factor. In contrast, the most occurring positive factor was the presentation and dissemination of results. Good dissemination of results and popularization of research depended on the researchers (from academic sphere) as well as on the stakeholder (non-government organization). Another positive factor was the good interconnection between researchers and stakeholders, eventually also the potential users of the research.

Sociológia 2002 Vol 34 (No. 3: 223-250)

 


Marital and parental start and demographic behaviour in Slovakia (and in Europe) at the turn of the centuries

Magdaléna Piscová
The Institute for Sociology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava

Marital and parental start and demographic behaviour in Slovakia (and in Europe) at the turn of the centuries. The structural changes in society in last decade have significant influence on everyday life. The area where this influence is very visible is demographic behaviour and the family patterns. Marriage and fertility rates in Slovakia have decreased to a historically unprecedented level, divorce rate has increased to an unprecedented level. At the beginning of the ´90s the changes were mainly perceived as the result of economic hardship stemming from transformation. Gradually the explanation framework started to be more oriented towards the theory of second demographic transition in which the value orientations play the key role. The paper presents the most significant changes in demographic and family behaviour in Slovakia since ´90s and using the data from the European Values Study (carried out in Slovakia in 1991 and 1999) attempts to make evidence of the shift in values concerning the family life and family patterns.

Sociológia 2002 Vol 34 (No. 3: 251-268)