contributors

Articles by Alexandra Biktimirova and Victoria Kravtsova

1. Armageddon averted. Thank you for the music

   Baltic Worlds was one of the organizers of the seminar on the breakup of the Soviet Union during the “Global Week” at the University of Gothenburg in November. Here a report from the seminar 2Armageddon Averted: Insiders’ Reports from the Dissolution of the Soviet Union".

2. Upcoming Election. Russia

   This Sunday, on December 4, parliamentary elections are held in Russia as the first step in the country’s electoral cycle that will end with the presidential elections in early March 2012.

3. The Bulgarian Presidential Elections of 2011: Reflections on Process and Outcome

   On 23 October 2011 a presidential election was held in Bulgaria, together with the country’s municipal elections, with a run-off on 30 October 2011. This comment explore the way that these elections were conducted, the political platforms of the three main contestants, and finally assess their outcome for the future politics of Bulgaria.

4. After the election: Poland 2011

   From a party-political perspective, the election has seen at least a partial consolidation of the pattern of competition. Although the spectacular arrival of a new party, the pro-market and libertarian Palikot Movement (Ruch Palikota, RP) represents a new locus of ideological identification in this structure, the surprise of its emergence should not lead to the rash drawing of conclusions as to its present relevance or future prospects. When the novelty of Palikot's triumph has worn off, the governing liberal-conservative Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska, PO) - and Tusk in particular - will remain the real winners of this election.

5. The Russian writer: empire builder and rebel

   This fall, it was Helsinki’s turn to host this year's Yuri Lotman Symposium, whose theme was “The Writer and Power.” About forty Slavists from seven countries – Finland, Estonia, Russia, Sweden, Germany, the United States, and Israel – met over the space of three days to discuss this utterly inexhaustible topic. A number of fascinating cross-pollinations were among the most interesting outcomes.

6. Pre-election in Poland

   Next Sunday's Polish parliamentary election is, on current evidence, too close to call. This is somewhat unexpected – in contrast with the majority of its predecessors in the post-communist era, the coalition government of the liberal-conservative Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska, PO) and the Polish Peasant Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) has enjoyed higher levels of public approval than disapproval, and for much of its tenure looked set to become the first government in post-communist Poland to win a second term.

7. Dissertation review. When the border between East and West becomes a border between now and then

   Sofi Gerber, Öst är Väst men Väst är bäst: Östtysk identitetsformering i det förenade Tyskland, East is West but West is best: East German identity formation in unified Germany, Stockholm University (Stockholm Studies in Ethnology 5) 2011, 248 pages

8. Denmark after the Election

   While the centre-left as expected won the Danish election on 15 September 2011, the victory turned out to be much narrower than predicted and the two main parties of the Left, the Social Democrats (S) and SF both lost votes compared with the 2007 election.

9. Exodus from Galicia. Inferno of the swindlers and the swindled

   Martin Pollack, Kaiser von Amerika: Die grosse Flucht aus Galizien, Vienna: Paul Zsolnay Verlag 2010, 285 pages

10. The ability of the Old World to survive. European nobility on the threshold of modernity

    András Vari, Herren und Landwirte: Ungarische Aristokraten und Agrarier auf dem Weg in die Moderne (1821—1910) Studien zur Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Ostmitteleuropas 17, Wiesbaden: Harrowitz Verlag 2008, 273 pages

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