Although the roots of the thought and emotion embedded in the term "nationalism" are indebted to ancient ethnic nationalism, nationalism is considered a completely modern phenomenon that arose from the American and French revolutions in the eighteenth century and aligned with events such as the printing industry, religious reform, the industrial revolution, and the emergence of the nation-state. Therefore, there is a strong, clear connection between nationalism and modern developments. To explore nationalism as a modern phenomenon in Europe and to study its discursive processes within the political structures of Middle Eastern countries, one must delve deeply into the history of the intellectual, economic, and military encounters of these countries with Europe. Accordingly, the emergence of the discourse of nationalism in Iran can also be seen as a result of the simultaneous familiarity and increased interaction with the modern Western world and the events that stemmed from it. The serious connection between Iran and Europe, and consequently the Iranian quest for modernity, began during the Qajar era and resulted in numerous outcomes and cultural productions such as various texts aimed at generating meaning in verbal, written, and visual forms. Although various studies have addressed these texts, this article intends to examine the early roots of the discourse of modern Iranian nationalism from a visual perspective, identifying the initial signs in the representation of nationalist thought and the relationship between the text (artwork), power, and society. The formation of the discourse of modern nationalism as a political phenomenon, along with the familiarity with the printing industry and its visual achievements—both of which are dependent on modern transformations—occurred concurrently during this period and, due to their simultaneity, influenced each other. Accordingly, this article aims to trace the visual presence of the nationalism discourse and to answer the question: What is the role of visual achievements based on the printing industry in the visual production of nationalism in Iran? In response to this question, the formation and function of modern nationalist thought and the process of its discursive development within the context of its related codes will first be explored. Then, through a descriptive-analytical method, the signs present in the visual achievements of the modern printing industry’s entry into Iran will be examined. Additionally, a discourse semiotic approach will be employed to analyze images from several newspapers from the early and late Qajar period, as newspaper production is considered the most prominent manifestation of the printing industry's entry into Iran and a cultural product of the spirit of modernity in this country. In this context, discourse semiotics, focusing on the concepts within the network of codes of nationalism discourse, can interpret the motifs, visual symbols, and their applications in the aforementioned visual media, ultimately reaching their semantic roots. The findings indicate that changes in the discursive thoughts of Iranian nationalism have also transformed its visual representation, such that in the selected newspapers of this period, the visual perspective has shifted from a court-centered (elite) nationalism to a more populist (grassroots) nationalism.
This study argues that the Banyamulenge—a Tutsi-descended minority in South Kivu, DRC—have had their ethnic identity historically shaped by migration, contested citizenship, and regional wars. Based on fieldwork in Rwanda, Burundi, and the DRC, as well as secondary sources, the article shows how nationality laws, the 1964 Simba Rebellion, the 1994 Vangu Report, and the creation of the Minembwe Commune framed them alternately as insiders and outsiders. While Banyamulenge leaders emphasized territorial belonging to claim Congolese identity, elites and neighboring states politicized it for their own purposes. Interviews reveal that community members, including younger generations, now stress civic belonging and interethnic cooperation, countering depictions of them as outsiders. The study argues that lasting peace in the Great Lakes Region requires inclusive citizenship and accountable institutions rather than ethnic exclusion.
History of Africa, African languages and literature
The UK’s transformation into a low-carbon economy has reached the halfway point. However, the next stage of the decarbonisation process will require socially unpopular actions to be taken more often than before. Against this background, British political parties published election manifestos before the general election in 2024. The analysis of these documents allows us not only to understand the parties’ priorities in the energy and climate policy, but also to observe the evolution of the approach to this topic in the UK. Through the analysis of election manifestos, the article aims to examine the state of consensus of major British political parties on the green transformation that has existed for almost two decades. The research results shed light on the importance of public participation in designing political programmes in the area of energy and climate, which is also significant in the context of challenges related to Polish and European energy and climate transformation.
Artykuł bada wpływ Chin na Argentynę w kontekście nagłego wycofania się tego państwa z inicjatywy BRICS wraz z objęciem prezydentury przez Javiera Milei. Przyglądając się wieloaspektowym relacjom między ChRL a Argentyną, przeanalizowane zostaną zarówno historyczne, jak i współczesne aspekty współpracy gospodarczej i politycznej. Szczególna uwaga poświęcona zostanie roli inwestycji chińskich w kształtowaniu argentyńskiej infrastruktury, handlu i sektorów kluczowych. Artykuł zgłębia przyczyny, dla których Argentyna zdecydowała się na wycofanie z inicjatywy BRICS, badając wpływ wewnętrznych i zewnętrznych czynników politycznych, ekonomicznych i geostrategicznych. W kontekście prezydentury Javiera Milei omówione zostaną potencjalne kierunki i wyzwania dla przyszłej współpracy między Argentyną a ChRL. Poruszony zostanie także wątek wpływu tejże kooperacji na argentyńską politykę międzynarodową oraz pozycję obu państw na arenie globalnej. Artykuł dąży do zrozumienia, jak zmiany polityczne w Argentynie mogą wpłynąć na jej relacje z Chinami i co to oznacza dla regionalnej równowagi sił w Ameryce Łacińskiej. W tym kontekście została ukazana rola USA i refleksja nad tym, czy nastąpił powrót do realizacji Doktryny Monroe’a.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the placement of illegitimate and legitimate daughters in convents in Bilbao during the early modern period from the families of men with more than one marital or extramarital partner. More specifically, the article examines the links between fathers, stepmothers, illegitimate and legitimate daughters, as well as their younger siblings and the placement of these daughters in convents. To this end, many documents from several archives have been used and they that have brought to light multiple cases of stepfamily connections within and outside the convent walls.
This paper is an attempt at tracing the origins of the Slavic names of the days of the week. Although these names have a clear etymology from a purely linguistic point of view, it is unknown whether they are of Christian or pagan origin, and if they were created by an individual – presumably Saint Cyril or Methodius – or arose more naturally. The paper examines the Slavic day-names in relation to other European languages and attempts to recreate the development process of the Slavic week from its supposedly pre-Christian beginnings to its final form that we know from written Slavic languages. The evidence shows that the Slavic names of the days of the week developed over a longer period, starting in pre-Christian times and introducing Christian elements through contact with neighboring cultures along the way. It also excludes the possibility of their creation by an individual, while leaving room to speculate about the original form of the Slavic week.
History of Eastern Europe, Slavic languages. Baltic languages. Albanian languages
Weronika Barbara Żukowska, Błażej Wójkiewicz, Andrzej Lewandowski
et al.
Abstract Key message The range-wide level of genetic variation of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is geographically structured. High admixture and low genetic structure of populations in Central Europe and Fennoscandia suggest past recolonization from multiple sources and the influence of human-mediated gene transfer. Gene pools of marginal and isolated stands require active conservation. Some areas of Scots pine distribution need further genetic studies. Context Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seems to be a species of low conservation priority because it has a very wide Eurasian distribution and plays a leading role in many forest tree breeding programs. Nevertheless, considering its economic value, long breeding history, range fragmentation, and increased mortality, which is also projected in the future, it requires a more detailed description of its genetic resources. Aims Our goal was to compare patterns of genetic variation found in biparentally inherited nuclear DNA with previous research carried out with mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA due to their different modes of transmission. Methods We analyzed the genetic variation and relationships of 60 populations across the distribution of Scots pine in Eurasia (1262 individuals) using a set of nuclear DNA markers. Results We confirmed the high genetic variation and low genetic differentiation of Scots pine spanning large geographical areas. Nevertheless, there was a clear division between European and Asian gene pools. The genetic variation of Asian populations was lower than in Europe. Spain, Turkey, and the Apennines constituted separate gene pools, the latter showing the lowest values of all genetic variation parameters. The analyses showed that most populations experienced genetic bottlenecks in the distant past. Ongoing admixture was found in Fennoscandia. Conclusions Our results suggest a much simpler recolonization history of the Asian than European part of the Scots pine distribution, with migration from limited sources and possible founder effects. Eastern European stands seem to have descended from the Urals refugium. It appears that Central Europe and Fennoscandia share at least one glacial refugium in the Balkans and migrants from higher latitudes, as well as from south-eastern regions. The low genetic structure between Central Europe and Fennoscandia, along with their high genetic admixture, may result at least partially from past human activities related to the transfer of germplasm in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In light of ongoing climate changes and projected range shifts of Scots pine, conservation strategies are especially needed for marginal and isolated stands of this species. Genetic research should also be complemented in parts of the species distribution that have thus far been poorly studied.
The aim of the article is to assess the factors of economic growth of the CEE countries over the 30-year history, the productivity of capital and human resources, the resilience of these countries to the negative impact of the global financial crisis. Methodology. The Solow growth model was used to estimate the growth rates of capital, labor and total factor productivity (TFP). The impact of macroeconomic indicators on GDP and TFP growth is assessed. The group of Central and Eastern European countries that joined the European Union was chosen for the analysis: Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, as well as post-Soviet European countries: Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Moldova and Albania in the period from 1991 to 2019. Results. TFP makes a significant contribution to the economic growth of CEE countries. During the period of market reforms, TFP significantly decreased, and during the boom of 2000-2008 it fully ensured the growth of the CEE economies, after the crisis of 2008, the contribution of TFP decreased by 2 times. In the conditions of recovery, TFP growth is positively influenced by inflation, negative CA balance, and unemployment reduction. In the post-crisis period, a decrease in inflation, a positive CA balance, and an increase in unemployment had a positive impact on TFP growth. During a depression, the influence of capital becomes dominant. Restrictive monetary policy contributes to the efficiency of CEE economies. In the short run, unemployment increases, but in the long run it decreases significantly due to the growth of investment and exports. Practical implications. The analysis makes it possible to identify effective macroeconomic policies to stimulate the productivity of the economies of Central and Eastern Europe during the period of economic recovery and depression. Value/originality. A long-term study of the economic performance of CEE countries using the Solow methodology has revealed the behavior of total factor productivity in different periods of modern economic history and its contribution to economic growth.
In its quest to restore land to millions of its citizens dispossessed under colonial and apartheid regimes, South Africa adopted a Restitution of Land Rights Act and set up a Land Claims Court in 1994 and 1996, respectively. This article uses select judgments of the Land Claims Court to critique the interpretative mindset of judges and the ideological neutrality of certain definitions in the Restitution Act. It argues that the colonial legacy of legal positivism and 20th century anthropological imagery inhibits the access to justice of dispossessed Africans living on the periphery of land rights. It uses the word ‘chained’ to describe communities whose restitution of land rights depends on their ability to (re)imagine themselves through a judicial prism of fossilized colonial ideas of traditional structures, lineage, and unbroken practices. The article recommends measures for promoting a South African legal culture that is sensitive to legal pluralism, mindful of indigenous law’s flexibility, and distrustful of undue standardization that stifles people’s access to justice.
History of Africa, African languages and literature
Social relationships, including marriage, were regulated by ecclesiastical and secular laws as well as by customs in Georgian society. Various kinds of prohibitions existed. Today majority of the customs are lost because of globalization. However, customs concerning marriage restrictions are relatively well preserved in people’s memory. Different clans that do not marry each other were revealed by the ethnological research in historical-ethnographic region of Georgia — Samegrelo. Breaking marriage restriction by different socially related groups was strictly prohibited. Moreover, in some cases, clans or lineages which became relatives artificially had to follow the same strict rules of marriage prohibition. Different clans, lineages and patronymies studied by the ethnographic research conducted on the field, revealed the strength of the customs even today. The result of the research revealed, that prohibitive factors of marriage between different clans, lineages or patronymies were customary rules in Samegrelo, such are “ginochama”, serving to the same shrine, becoming relatives via Christianity and etc. However, marriage prohibition determined by Christianity affected only to minor lineages and patronymies rather than the big ones or clans. The memory of common origin is inhibitive factor of marriage, but not prohibitive similarly to the memory of past social inequality.
У статті розглядаються дискретно-варіативні ознаки на черепі людини носіїв ранньої та середньої бронзи (ямної й катакомбної культури) з території сучасної України. Автор опрацював 253 черепи з території України (епоха ранньої та середньої бронзи) за даними етнічної краніоскопії. Після багатомірного аналізу методом головних компонент і кластерного аналізу, за даними етнічної краніоскопії виявлено значну подібність ямної та катакомбної культур з території України.
A series of burials was defined with identical tower-form arrowheads with the groove reaching the point, П-formed groove covering ⅔ of the arrowhead length, and small extended sleeve and size of 2—3,5 cm, and weight of 1,4—2,7 gr.
Warriors, in which burials such arrowheads were found, were contemporaries. The lifetime of such arrowheads from these burials is limited to the period of the first half — no later than the third quarter of the 5th century BCE, according to their deposition in the funerary complexes. The studied series of tower-form arrowheads are solely the product of Northern Black Sea Region.
Tower-form arrowheads of this time are fundamentally different from the preceding symmetrical arrowheads second half of the 6th century BCE — beginning of 5th century BCE, and arrows replacing them, forming a horizon of “cross-shaped marks” dating from the third quarter of the 5th century BCE.
The appearance of series of technically and stylistically identical arrowheads on the relatively large area points to the fact that they not only were produced in the same environment, but also that there existed market-oriented craft industries. The source of supply could be seen as a single master or a single workshop or a variety of shops, but using the same templates.
Andrzej Michałowski, Jakub Niebieszczański, Milena Teska
et al.
The following article concerns the results of a combined non-invasive and invasive fieldworks in Mirosław, site 37 (Piła county, Wielkopolska voivode¬ship, Northern Poland). The site is a Wielbark culture barrow cemetery located in a forested area, thus limiting it access to a variety of methods. With the usage of a single-sonde gradientometer it was possible to survey the site by the means of magnetometry. The magnetic map of the site indicated presence of eroded mound (possibly due to ploughing) with associated grave-pit as well as numer¬ous other anomalies, including the position of a burnt structure in between the barrows. Consecutive excavations were aimed to verify the interpretation of the magnetometry survey and confirmed the presence of an denudated barrow with a grave-pit within. In the light of results, the visible anomalies seen as a specific forest type of ploughing should be treated as the main factor of the barrow destruction. Also the earthworks revealed that the anomaly interpreted as a burnt structure appeared to be a hearth. All of the excavated objects were associated with the Wielbark culture, thus indicating the potential of investigat¬ing areas between the preserved barrows, which might bear other features of funeral rites and similar activities.
The article analyzes the program and results of the Estonian presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2017. In the theoreticak part of the article the author relies on the method of comparative analysis, which allows to assess the trend in the development of the presidency of the three Baltic States - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In this regard, the Presidency of Tallinn could be partially characterized by attempts to overcome the problems left by the Vilnius presidency. Describing in general the tasks set by the Estonian Presidency, the author draws attention to the predominance of common European tasks in them, which distinguishes this program from the programs of the presidencies of the Central European States and in general indicates a tendency towards strengthening the role of Brussels in shaping the programs of national presidencies.
Summaira Riaz, Gabriella De Lorenzis, Dianne Velasco
et al.
Abstract Background The mountainous region between the Caucasus and China is considered to be the center of domestication for grapevine. Despite the importance of Central Asia in the history of grape growing, information about the extent and distribution of grape genetic variation in this region is limited in comparison to wild and cultivated grapevines from around the Mediterranean basin. The principal goal of this work was to survey the genetic diversity and relationships among wild and cultivated grape germplasm from the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean basin collectively to understand gene flow, possible domestication events and adaptive introgression. Results A total of 1378 wild and cultivated grapevines collected around the Mediterranean basin and from Central Asia were tested with a set of 20 nuclear SSR markers. Genetic data were analyzed (Cluster analysis, Principal Coordinate Analysis and STRUCTURE) to identify groups, and the results were validated by Nei’s genetic distance, pairwise FST analysis and assignment tests. All of these analyses identified three genetic groups: G1, wild accessions from Croatia, France, Italy and Spain; G2, wild accessions from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia; and G3, cultivars from Spain, France, Italy, Georgia, Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan, which included a small group of wild accessions from Georgia and Croatia. Wild accessions from Georgia clustered with cultivated grape from the same area (proles pontica), but also with Western Europe (proles occidentalis), supporting Georgia as the ancient center of grapevine domestication. In addition, cluster analysis indicated that Western European wild grapes grouped with cultivated grapes from the same area, suggesting that the cultivated proles occidentalis contributed more to the early development of wine grapes than the wild vines from Eastern Europe. Conclusions The analysis of genetic relationships among the tested genotypes provided evidence of genetic relationships between wild and cultivated accessions in the Mediterranean basin and Central Asia. The genetic structure indicated a considerable amount of gene flow, which limited the differentiation between the two subspecies. The results also indicated that grapes with mixed ancestry occur in the regions where wild grapevines were domesticated.