Invitation to submit for a Baltic Worlds’ Special Section New Age Spirituality in Socialist Societies
CfP: Please submit before February 20, 2021 on the New Age-related topics suggested here.
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Issue 2020, 4 Download.
Baltic Worlds’ Online Coverage: “The Impacts of the Pandemic”
Baltic Worlds’ Online Covid-19 Coverage examines how politicians in different parts of the region are reacting to the crisis, and to what consequences.
Baltic borders during Corona – a story of unintended geopolitics
The outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic has led to a number of legal measures, varying in time and space, over the Baltic Sea area and neighboring states. But the actual distribution of the pandemic does not necessarily follow the administrative territories that form the statistical basis for decisions. While usually defined for specific territories (whole states or administrative areas), the effects on peoples’ daily behavior have been particularly strong in the borderlands. In March 2020, suddenly a sharp line was created along the hitherto almost invisible border between Tornio-Haparanda, Finnish police and border guards checked the line, and only a few people were admitted to cross, based on strict definition of purpose. The reason for the closure was a high incidence of illness and deaths in Sweden.
The Tsikhanauskaya Effect:
While in the past there has generally been an atmosphere of resigned acceptance after the election, this time countless Belarusians went out on the streets to contest the results. The dynamics of the protest clearly illustrate its main goal is not to ensure Svitlana Tsikhanauskaya becomes the head of state, but rather to guarantee Lukashenka does not stay in this position. One factor that played a particularly important role was the way that President Lukashenka was handling the COVID-19 crisis. Nonetheless, it was Tsikhanauskaya’s campaign that made people actually vote – because it gave them hope they could influence political affairs.
Covid-19 and the Politics of Authoritarianism in Central Asia
In this article, we compare the differing responses of the five Central Asian republics to Covid-19. We pay particular attention to how the virus presents opportunities to strengthen authoritarian rule within the region: for authoritarian regimes, the virus offers an opportunity to suppress dissent and strengthen authoritarian norms. While authoritarian states have recognised the spread of the virus in order to receive international humanitarian assistance, they have hidden the true number of infected and victims of the disease, as well as forbidding doctors to talk about the dangerous working conditions in hospitals, and imprisoning citizens for spreading false information.
Just in
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1991-2021: THIRTY YEARS AFTER
The Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, CBEES, arranges a series of multidisciplinary roundtables during 2021 with a focus on the 30 years period since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
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Baltic borders during Corona – a story of unintended geopolitics
The outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic has led to a number of legal measures, varying in time and space, over the Baltic Sea area and neighboring states. But the actual distribution of the pandemic does not necessarily follow the administrative territories that form the statistical basis for decisions. While usually defined for specific territories (whole states or administrative areas), the effects on peoples’ daily behavior have been particularly strong in the borderlands. In March 2020, suddenly a sharp line was created along the hitherto almost invisible border between Tornio-Haparanda, Finnish police and border guards checked the line, and only a few people were admitted to cross, based on strict definition of purpose. The reason for the closure was a high incidence of illness and deaths in Sweden.
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“At the very core of the Belarusian uprising is a moral trauma”
Tatiana Shchyttsova, is professor of Philosophy at the Department of Social Sciences and Academic Director of Center for Philosophical Anthropology, at the European Humanities University, Vilnius. Here in an interview on the present situation in Belarus, on the role of philosophy in times of revolution and change.
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Institutional Constraints and Possibilities in (Semi-)Revolutionary Belarus
Political institutions in a hegemonic authoritarian regime like Belarus tend to be downplayed, if not entirely ignored. While authoritarian regimes can sometimes masterfully direct constituent assemblies and other such fora, they represent a singular, politically-charged location within which protest energy and opposition efforts can be focused. Uncertainty is the enemy of autocrats and any chance for unwelcome deviations from a prescribed line can prove to be deeply destabilizing.
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A historical background to the demonstrations in Belarus
An interview with three researchers at Södertörn University; Nikolay Zakharov, senior lecturer in sociology, Per Anders Rudling, associate professor of history and Andrej Kotljarchuk, historian at the Institute of Contemporary History at Södertörn University.
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The Flag Revolution. Understanding the political symbols of Belarus
The protestors and officials in Belarus use different national flags. Why is the massive state-run propaganda against peaceful protests focusing on the white-red-white flag and the history of World War II? Referring to the white-red-white flag the official propaganda described the leaders of opposition as inheritors of the pro-Nazi collaborators. The fact that under this flag Belarus proclaimed its independence in 1918 and again in 1991 has been muted. In a study of political symbols of Belarus the author contributes to a more detailed understanding of the ongoing situation in the country.
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The Tsikhanauskaya Effect: How an Accidental Heroine Transformed the Belarusian 2020 Presidential Election.
While in the past there has generally been an atmosphere of resigned acceptance after the election, this time countless Belarusians went out on the streets to contest the results. The dynamics of the protest clearly illustrate its main goal is not to ensure Svitlana Tsikhanauskaya becomes the head of state, but rather to guarantee Lukashenka does not stay in this position. One factor that played a particularly important role was the way that President Lukashenka was handling the COVID-19 crisis. Nonetheless, it was Tsikhanauskaya’s campaign that made people actually vote – because it gave them hope they could influence political affairs.
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ELECTIONS IN SERBIA – THE FALL OF DEMOCRATIC FAÇADE
The context in which these elections were held included not only the President's rise to power and party build-up, but also ongoing protests, boycotts, several ‘affairs’ and problematic behavior of party officials, and chaos in the handling of the health crisis.
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Presidential election in Poland: the festival of polarization
The brutal presidential campaign only exemplified the degree of polarization in the Polish society. The campaign before the first round turned out to be relatively calm, where most of the candidates had to show their conciliatory side. However, due to the course, the intensity of the competition had revealed long-lasting divisions in Poland.
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