‘The Union of Cause and Effect in Aristotle : Physics III 3’, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, 32, pp. 205-232, May 2007.: I argue that Aristotle introduced a unique realist account of causation, which has not hitherto been appreciated in the history of philosophy: causal realism without a causal relation. In his account, cause and effect are unified by the ectopic actualization of the agent’s potentiality in the patient. His solution consists in the introduction of a property that belongs to (...) one subject but is realized in another subject on whose state this realization depends. I identify and analyze the multiple ontological dependencies between the causal state of the agent and that of the patient during their causal activity. (shrink)

Union Citizenship as currently implemented in the European Union introduces a distinct concept of citizenship that necessitates an adequate normative approach. The objective of this paper is to assess EU Citizenship against the theoretical background of multilateral democracy. This approach is specifically suited for this task, as it does not rely on a nation-state paradigm or the presumption of a further transformation into a federation or union. We propose three criteria by which to assess multilevel citizenship: equal individual rights, equal (...) sovereignty of peoples and the balancing of individuals' and peoples' interests. We argue that the current practice of Union Citizenship does not fully meet the proposed standards, regarding equal rights within and equal access to, the political system. Based on our assessment, we propose reform options of access to national and supranational citizenship and argue for supranational participation rights and equal transnational rights to gradually re-establish full membership for individuals. (shrink)

For years now, unionization has been under vigorous attack. Membership has been steadily declining, and with it union bargaining power. As a result, unions may soon lose their ability to protect workers from economic and personal abuse, as well as their significance as a political force. In the Name of Liberty responds to this worrying state of affairs by presenting a new argument for unionization, one that derives an argument for universal unionization in both the private and public sector (...) from concepts of liberty that we already accept. In short, In the Name of Liberty reclaims the argument for liberty from the political right, and shows how liberty not only requires the unionization of every workplace as a matter of background justice, but also supports a wide variety of other progressive policies. (shrink)

This paper inaugurates a discussion about the phenomenology of union decision-making. Phenomenology provides a new lens that may enable us to gain penetrating insights into how unions function in the fractious world of human resources management. The present paper is preliminary to any fieldwork that may be undertaken. Its main purposes are to identify theory that could be the foundation of further practical work, relate recent work in the phenomenology of management to union practices and to propose directions of (...) enquiry. The relevant theory is that of Edmund Husserl who provides us with a practical method of enquiry into the real world of human resource practice. Husserl’s work has already been applied in relation to local government functioning and some of the findings there appear relevant to the present enquiry. In particular, the nature and role of plebiscites. (shrink)

Th is work is a companion piece to "The American Worker," Karl Kautsky's reply to Werner Sombart’s Why Is There No Socialism in the United States? (1906), first published in English in the November 2003 edition of the journal Historial Materialism. In August 1909 Kautsky wrote an article on Samuel Gompers, the president of the American Federation of Labor, on the occasion of the latter's first European tour. Th e article was not only a criticism of Gompers’s anti-socialist "pure-and-simple" unionism (...) but also part of an ongoing battle between the revolutionary wing of German Social Democracy and the German trade-union officials. In this critical English edition we provide the historical background to the document as well as an overview of the issues raised by Gompers' visit to Germany, such as the bureaucratisation and increasing conservatism of the union leadership in both Germany and the United States, the role of the General Commission of Free Trade Unions in the abandonment of Marxism by the German Social-Democratic Party and the socialists’ attitude toward institutions promoting class collaboration like the National Civic Federation. (shrink)

This article attempts to provide an insight about the status of Students Union in Nepal, and describes, how they are not been able to solve the problems arising in the daily life of students.

Idea integracji europejskiej nie jest wymysłem naszych czasów. Jest to proces złożony, który dojrzewał na przestrzeni kilku wieków i który w naszym stuleciu zaczął nabierać wyrazistych kształtów. Społeczeństwa europejskie znużone bezsensem wzajemnie wyniszczających wojen, zaczęły poszukiwać takiej formy koegzystencji, która umożliwiłaby im wspólne decydowanie o polityce, gospodarce czy kulturze. W roku 1950 francuski minister spraw zagranicznych Robert Schuman zadeklarował gotowość rządu francuskiego do współpracy z rządem niemieckim w sektorze węgla i stali, w celu zagwarantowania pokoju na kontynencie. Plan Schumana urzeczywistnił (...) się z chwilą podpisania w Paryżu 18 kwietnia 1951 r. przez sześć państw zachodnioeuropejskich: Niemcy, Francję, Włochy, Luksemburg, Belgię i Holandię, układu o Europejskiej Wspólnocie Węgla i Stali (EWWiS). Kolejne dwa traktaty o utworzeniu Europejskiej Wspólnoty Gospodarczej (EWG) oraz Europejskiej Wspólnoty Energii Atomowej (Euratom) podpisane w Rzymie 25 marca 1957 r. miały na celu rozszerzenie współpracy gospodarczej na inne sektory, takie jak rolnictwo, rybołówstwo, komunikacja, handel zagraniczny oraz utworzenie wspólnego rynku gospodarczego. Aby cel ten został osiągnięty, państwa członkowskie zdecydowały się na kolejne kroki integracyjne, jakimi były unia gospodarcza i walutowa. Drogę do tego procesu otworzył podpisany 7 lutego 1992 r. w Maastricht Traktat o Unii Europejskiej. Ratyfikacja Układu z Maastricht stała się okazją dokonania pewnych zmian w niemieckiej konstytucji, do której wprowadzono nowy zapis w art. 23 o Unii Europejskiej. Unia stała się celem nadrzędnym państwa niemieckiego, a Bundestag i Bundesrat otrzymały jasne cele i zadania w sprawach dotyczących Unii Europejskiej. Fakt ten świadczy o ogromnym znaczeniu Unii dla Niemiec. Niemcy są jednym z najbogatszych państw piętnastki. Ich PKB przekracza 20 tys. ECU i jest jednym z najwyższych w Unii. Motorem niemieckiej gospodarki jest przemysł, a zwłaszcza prężnie rozwijający się przemysł samochodowy. Unia Europejska jest dla Niemiec ważnym rynkiem zbytu - 60% eksportu w ramach Unii Europejskiej zajmuje eksport niemiecki. Poziom, który Niemcy osiągnęli w przeciągu 50 lat od zakończenia drugiej wojny światowej, nie byłby możliwy bez ścisłej współpracy pozostałych państw europejskich. Zniesienie ceł oraz wszelkich barier gospodarczych stworzyło ogromne możliwości handlowe i nie tylko. Ważnym krokiem w intensyfikacji wzajemnych stosunków było utworzenie unii gospodarczej i monetarnej, mającej na celu wprowadzenie do 2002 wspólnej waluty EURO. Wraz z postępującą integracją wewnątrz Unii Europejskiej pod koniec lat osiemdziesiątych dokonały się w Europie ważne zmiany historyczne. Europa Środkowa i Wschodnia uwalnia się, w wyniku reform przeprowadzanych w Związku Radzieckim przez Michaiła Gorbaczowa, spod totalitarnych rządów komunistycznych. W roku 1991 wybucha w Moskwie pucz, który wykorzystują republiki radzieckie, ogłaszając swoją niepodległość. W Polsce i na Węgrzech odbywają się obrady okrągłego stołu, w wyniku których komuniści oddają władzę opozycji. Do ostrych konfliktów dochodzi natomiast w Czechosłowacji i Rumunii, gdzie oddanie władzy nie odbywa się bez przelewu krwi. Zmiany polityczne nie ominęły również NRD. W nocy z 9 na 10 listopada 1989 r. runął mur berliński, a 3 października 1990 r. dokonuje się zjednoczenie obu państw niemieckich. Wraz ze zjednoczeniem NRD staje się członkiem Unii Europejskiej. Proces ten odbywa się jednak na innych zasadach, niż przewidują to unijne procedury mówiące o przyjęciu nowych członków w swoje szeregi. W dniu zjednoczenia Wschodnie Niemcy przejmują prawo pierwotne oraz 80% prawa wtórnego Unii. Poza tym otrzymują znaczną pomoc w ramach funduszy strukturalnych. Wiele państw Europy Środkowo- Wschodniej chętnie podzieliłoby los NRD i szybko zintegrowałoby się z zachodnioeuropejskimi strukturami. Dlatego też od początku lat dziewięćdziesiątych zauważamy intensywne starania tych państw o przyjęcie w struktury Unii Europejskiej. W roku 1991 Polska i Węgry podpisały jako pierwsze państwa byłego Bloku Wschodniego Układy Europejskie. W ślad za nimi poszły Bułgaria, Litwa, Łotwa, Estonia, Rumunia, Słowenia, Słowacja i Czechy. Od 1994 r. kraje te wystąpiły oficjalnie o członkostwo w Unii Europejskiej. Przystąpienie do Unii spotyka się w społeczeństwie z wieloma negatywnymi reakcjami. Polacy coraz bardziej sceptycznie odnoszą się do spraw Unii Europejskiej i do przyszłego w niej członkostwa, choć z pewnością można by liczyć na wiele. Chociażby na ustabilizowanie gospodarki, młodej demokracji oraz stosunków polsko-niemieckich. Przeszkodą i problemem na drodze do integracji jest sytuacja polskiego rolnictwa, kwestia wykupu ziem polskich przez Niemców oraz utraty tożsamości narodowej. Również Niemcy obawiają się rozszerzenia. Politycy natomiast wydają się być motorem integracji europejskiej. Helmut Kohl, były kanclerz Niemiec, postawił sobie nawet za cel zintegrowanie krajów środkowoeuropejskich ze strukturami zachodnimi do 2002 r., podając za powód swej decyzji utrzymanie stabilności gospodarki i pokoju w tym regionie. Jego następca Gerhard Schröder nie jest już takim optymistą. Podczas niemieckiego przewodnictwa w Radzie Unii Europejskiej ma zamiar zająć się w pierwszej kolejności interesami niemieckimi oraz sprawami dotyczącymi wewnętrznych problemów Unii Europejskiej. Kwestia rozszerzenia zeszła na plan dalszy. Czy jest to słuszna koncepcja - pokaże czas. (shrink)

‘Interested non-belief’ in God is now a common attitude, and one religious outlook such non-believers should take seriously is the Christian contemplative tradition. Drawing on C. S. Lewis, I identify the familiar phenomenon of ‘worldly union desire’: elicited by worldly things, and aimed at union with some beauty or goodness therein. I examine specifically Thomas Merton's contemplative outlook, arguing that by his lights worldly union desires manifest a desire for God and aid spiritual openness. Merton's picture extends any purely secular (...) value in worldly union desire-experiences, giving union with God – and the spirituality aimed at this goal – a deep existential appeal for non-believers. (shrink)

The essay proceeds from the assumptions that for a economic/political integration group to succeed, first, its participants’ motives should ideally be as alike as possible and not oppose one another and, second, their expectations from integration should correspond to the organisation’s capabilities. In light of these assumptions, the study endeavours to assess the Eurasian Economic Union’s (EAEU) potential for stability and development. First, the author analyses the key motives that were driving its member states’ decisions to enter the organisation, compares (...) them with one another and discusses how the countries’ motives influence their conduct in the union. Second, the author confronts those motives against the EAEU’s activities and the general logic of interstate politics on the post-Soviet space to reckon up whether the bloc’s capabilities fit with the expectations of its member countries. Finally, based on that discussion, the author speculates on how the divergence/convergence of EAEU member states’ goals, as well as the (in-)feasibility of their expectations, affect the organisation’s development. (shrink)

When discussing the safety of research subjects, including their exploitation and vulnerability as well as failures in clinical research, recent commentators have focused mostly on countries with low or middle-income economies. High-income countries are seen as relatively safe and well-regulated. This article presents irregularities in clinical trials in an EU member state, Poland, which were revealed by the Supreme Audit Office of Poland (the NIK). Despite adopting many European Union regulations, including European Commission directives concerning Good Clinical Practice, these irregularities (...) occurred. Causes as well as potential solutions to make clinical trials more ethical and safer are discussed. (shrink)

Eleonore Stump has argued that the fulfilment of union between God and human beings requires a mode of relatedness that can be compared to joint attention, a phenomenon studied in contemporary experimental psychology. Stump’s account of union, however, is challenged by the fact that mother Teresa, despite her apparent manifestation of the love of God to others, herself experienced an interior ”dark night of the soul’ during which God seemed to be absent and to have rejected her completely. The dark (...) night of the soul poses a problem for Stump’s account, since, if anyone had a union of divine love with God, it would seem that mother Teresa did. Nevertheless, I argue that the isolation and abandonment of mother Teresa’s dark night are contrary to the conditions assumed to be required for joint attention with God. As an alternative to Stump’s account, I suggest that the dark night of the soul might be better understood by reference to a combination of joint attention and blindsight, according to which interpersonal closeness might be realized through a consistent pattern of external actions without, however, a direct awareness of one person by the other. (shrink)

Since the disintegration of the USSR Eurasia has gained a new geopolitical and strategic significance. Fifteen Countries emerged as a result of disintegration, among which only the Russian Federation was the successor state. The post-soviet era especially the era of the 1990s was a political and economic trauma for the Russian Federation and the post-soviet space. But Eurasianists were well aware of the American unilateralism and American ‘Grand Chessboard strategy” that was solely aimed at encircling Russian geography. With these concerns, (...) the Eurasianists advised the Russian political and military elites to initiate the Eurasian Union Project. This paper briefly sketches the Russian historical Eurasian dream, which deeply rooted in Russian imperial history, and discusses the importance of Eurasian philosophy for the political and economic stability of Russia-Eurasia. The paper also illustrates the challenges and opportunities for Eurasian integration and for the establishment of multipolar world order. Moreover, the paper also briefly outlines the geopolitical rationale behind the Eurasian project as a key objective of contemporary Russian foreign policy and geopolitics. (shrink)

The approach to analysing population ageing and its impacts on the economy has evolved in recent years. There is increasing interest in the development and use of products and services related to gerontechnology as well as other social innovations that may be considered as central parts of the "silver economy." However, the concept of silver economy is still being formed and requires detailed research. This article proposes a typology of models of the silver economy in the European Union at the (...) national and regional levels. This typology was created by comparing the Active Ageing Index to the typology of varieties and cultures of capitalism and typology of the welfare states. Practical recommendations for institutions of the EU and directions for further research are discussed. (shrink)

The recent global surge in large-scale foreign land acquisitions marks a radical transformation of the global economic and political landscape. Since land that attracts capital often becomes the site of expulsions and displacement, it also leads to new forms of migration. In this paper, I explore this connection from the perspective of a political philosopher. I argue that changes in global land governance unsettle the congruence of political community and bounded territory that we often take for granted. As a case (...) study, I discuss the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive as a significant driver of foreign land acquisitions. Using its global power, the European Union (EU) is effectively governing land far outside of its international borders and with it the people who live on this land or are expelled from it. As a result, EU citizens ought to consider such people fellow members of their political community. This has implications for normative debates about immigration and, in particular, for arguments that appeal to collective self-determination to justify a right of political communities to exclude newcomers. The political community to which EU citizens belong reaches far beyond the EU’s official borders. (shrink)

K. Marx’s 200th jubilee coincides with the celebration of the 85 years from the first publication of his “Mathematical Manuscripts” in 1933. Its editor, Sofia Alexandrovna Yanovskaya (1896–1966), was a renowned Soviet mathematician, whose significant studies on the foundations of mathematics and mathematical logic, as well as on the history and philosophy of mathematics are unduly neglected nowadays. Yanovskaya, as a militant Marxist, was actively engaged in the ideological confrontation with idealism and its influence on modern mathematics and their interpretation. (...) Concomitantly, she was one of the pioneers of mathematical logic in the Soviet Union, in an era of fierce disputes on its compatibility with Marxist philosophy. Yanovskaya managed to embrace in an originally Marxist spirit the contemporary level of logico-philosophical research of her time. Due to her highly esteemed status within Soviet academia, she became one of the most significant pillars for the culmination of modern mathematics in the Soviet Union. In this paper, I attempt to trace the influence of the complex socio-cultural context of the first decades of the Soviet Union on Yanovskaya’s work. Among the several issues I discuss, her encounter with L. Wittgenstein is striking. (shrink)

Zasadniczym przedmiotem analiz tego opracowania jest pojęcie godności w Karcie praw podstawowych Unii Europejskiej z 7 grudnia 2000 r. Interpretacja Karty prowadzona jest z uwzględnieniem postanowień Traktatu z Lizbony z 13 grudnia 2007 r., który podniósł Kartę do rangi prawa traktatowego. Uwyraźnienie treści pojęcia godności w Karcie dokonywane jest przez pryzmat paradygmatu rozumienia godności utrwalonego już w prawie międzynarodowym praw człowieka na poziomie uniwersalnym, czyli prawa kształtowanego i funkcjonującego w ramach Organizacji Narodów Zjednoczonych. Paradygmat uniwersalny, w którego centrum znajduje się (...) uznanie godności za przyrodzoną (inherent – „nieoddzielalną), powszechną, równą i za źródło wszystkich praw człowieka, był dotąd w systemach prawnych powszechnie akceptowany. Obejmował on elementy prawnonaturalne, które po doświadczeniach z dwudziestowiecznymi systemami totalitarnymi i systemami – mówiąc słowami Gustawa Radbrucha – „ustawowego bezprawia”, uważane były za pożądane, nie tylko w prawie międzynarodowym. Przy bliższym przyjrzeniu się najważniejszym postanowieniom prawa europejskiego dotyczącym godności i podstaw praw człowieka okazuje się, że paradygmat uniwersalny został radykalnie zakwestionowany – w miejsce ugruntowania praw człowieka w czymś obiektywnym, przyjęto ich ugruntowanie w kulturze. (shrink)

This essay is my short, critical review of Donald Livingston’s anthology, Rethinking the American Union for the Twenty-First Century. The contributors of this anthology all argue for secession as a legal and proper tool for calling the Federal government down in size and power. I critically examine the arguments of the contributors.

Pierwszorzędnym przedmiotem badań są przyjęte w Karcie, wprost lub domyślnie, rozstrzygnięcia typu aksjologicznego. Przez „aksjologiczne podstawy” rozumiane są rozstrzygnięcia dotyczące uznania takich, a nie innych, wartości czy dóbr za przedmiot ochrony; a ponieważ chodzi o „podstawy”, przedmiotem zainteresowania są rozstrzygnięcia fundamentalne w takim sensie, że stanowią one uzasadnienie dla bardziej szczegółowych rozstrzygnięć aksjologicznych i normatywnych. Pozwala to m.in. na formułowanie wniosków co do spójności rozstrzygnięć szczegółowych. Zagadnienie aksjologicznych podstaw obejmuje także problematykę relacji między wartościami a prawami podstawowymi oraz zagadnienie ontologicznego (...) statusu wartości i chronionych praw. Artykuł zawiera także wyniki badań nad wprowadzeniem do preambuły Karty w wersji niemieckojęzycznej zapisu o religijnym dziedzictwie, odbiegającego od brzmienia w innych językach mówiącego o dziedzictwie duchowym. (shrink)

The European Union (EU) has been experiencing an unprecedented energy crisis for the last 50 years, with severe economic, social and political consequences. Rising energy demand, extreme weather events (unprecedented heat and long winters), disruptions in supply chain and poor regional and global reserves have all contributed to the current energy crisis in the EU. Prices on natural gas in the EU are rising as demand around the world increases. Prices on the gas rose by more than 800 percent year-on-year (...) and prices on the electricity by about 500 percent. Rising prices on gas are due to low stocks in European storage facilities and pressure from Russia, which is trying to speed up the launch of the Nord Stream-2 pipeline. Also in the EU, there is reduction the production of coal and natural gas, reducing the capacity of wind farms. As natural gas plays a significant role in shaping the prices on electricity, electricity has also risen in price. As prices on gas is rose, prices on oil and coal is rose significantly. Demand for energy consumption has also increased due to weather conditions – cold winters and periods of abnormal heat in summer. The largest consumers of gas and electricity in the EU are suffering heavy losses due to rising prices on energy. Industrial giants have begun to cut production, threatening economic recovery. The world economy is recovering from the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and the EU countries are increasingly in need of energy for industry and the population. An unbalanced transition to renewable energy has become a particular problem for the EU. Calmer weather this year has led to lower energy production using wind turbines. And old European nuclear power plants are gradually being decommissioned. Green energy is not able to cover all needs, so the continent has risen sharply demand on gas. All the above-mentioned problems have certainly affected the further ensure energy security of the EU and require the developing of appropriate mechanisms to overcoming current challenges. (shrink)

This chapter presents the successive stages to make changes in the Polish development policy after 1989. The national administration reform of 1990 in the Third Commonwealth of Poland restored the local government after 40 years of non-existence during the time of Polish People’s Republic that was a satellite state of the Soviet Union after the Second World War. Another reform took place in 1998 as a part of preparations for the country’s membership in the European Union from 2004. Currently developed (...) strategic documents are suggesting the use of the "polarization and diffusion model of the development." The authors also discuss the regional policy currently implemented in Poland, which was designed in years 2009-2014. The process of creation of new policy includes plans to reform the policy instruments and to update the strategic framework. Conclusions highlight a need for a clearer division of powers between the center and regional governments and the importance of strengthening the financial basis and institutional capacity building. (shrink)

Agriculture in Bulgaria is one of sectors country’s economy in which significant changes have taken place over the past three decades: in the field of economic relations, the structure of farms, the size and production activity of enterprises, income and profit. These changes are due to the agrarian reform carried out in the 1990s, accession Bulgaria to the European Union, and the implementation of measures and mechanisms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In the period before accession Bulgaria to the (...) European Union (1997-2007) there were significant changes in the organization of agricultural sector of the economy, the formation of statistics, harmonization with European agricultural legislation, adaptation to dynamic changes in the environment. During the period of accession Bulgaria to the European Union, the conditions for functioning of agriculture relate to the formation of necessary mechanisms (organizational, financial, administrative, legal, informational, etc.) and successful adaptation to new realities. Bulgaria’s agriculture underwent significant changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting the developing of appropriate financial support policies by the state and the European Union. For Bulgaria, agriculture is an important sector of the national economy for several reasons. First, it provides the population with food, on the quantitative and qualitative measurement of which depends the national food security of the country, raw materials for the food industry and resources for export. Secondly, favorable climatic conditions are suitable for growing various crops and farm animals. Third, agriculture accounts for 11.0% of gross domestic product, 12.5% of gross value added and employs 25.1% of the population. (shrink)

If science relates only to the objectifiable, how can it relate to consciousness? I.

Abstract: The aim of the research is to identify the reality of the quality of health services in light of the Corona Pandemic, and in order to achieve the research objectives, the researchers used the descriptive and analytical approach using a comprehensive survey method for the total research community, whose number reached (110) individuals, while (90) were recovered: The level of health service quality is of relative weight (76%). Among the most important recommendations made by the research: Work to pay (...) a health risk premium to all workers in health centers, in addition to paying attention to training and building work teams in various fields to improve the quality of health services provided. (shrink)

Der normative Gehalt des Subsidiaritätsprinzips und seine Bedeutung für die Politische und Soziale Union Europas (S. 201-203) 1. Die Entwicklung des Maßstabs normativer Subsidiarität im ersten Kapitel beruht auf der Erkenntnis, dass dem Subsidiaritätsprinzip insbesondere von seinen protestantischen Wurzeln und seiner Ausprägung in der katholischen Soziallehre her ein spezifisch normativer Kerngehalt innewohnt, der als Idee auch dem Grundgesetzt als zwar weltanschaulich neutraler, aber nicht wertneutraler politischer Ordnung zugrunde liegt. Ausgehend von einem Menschenbild, das christliche Personalität und gesellschaftliche Solidarität umfasst, setzt (...) der materiale Gehalt des Subsidiaritätsprinzip insofern Grenzen, "als die Legitimation einer politischen Gemeinschaft nur von der Einzelperson im Sinne des individualistischen Liberalismus erfolgen kann und als die Anwendung des Subsidiaritätspinzips der Solidarität sozialer Einheiten bedarf. 2. Das ursprünglich von den deutschen Ländern anvisierte Ziel einer Verankerung des Strukturprinzips des Föderalismus im Vorfeld des Maastrichter Vertrages, ergänzt um das Subsidiaritätsprinzip als Prinzip der Kompetenzausübung, scheiterte am Widerstand Großbritanniens. Die Briten setzten das föderative Prinzip mit einem zentralistischen Bundesstaat gleich, den sie auf jeden Fall verhindern wollten. Fortan verbanden die Deutschen, insbesondere die deutschen Länder und Bundesregierung mit Unterstützung der beiden großen Kirchen einschließlich der kirchlichen Wohlfahrtsverbände, mit dem Subsidiaritätsprinzip neben einer Föderalisierung der Europäischen Union auch das Ziel, die Gesundheits- und Sozialpolitik auf europäischer Ebene auszubauen. Wenig später, schon im Verlauf der der Ratifikation des Vertrages, wird das Subsidiaritätsprinzip seitens der Bundesregierung und der deutschen Länder auf den Vorrang der der unteren Ebene umgemünzt. 3. Parallel zum Subsidiaritätsstreit in den 60er Jahren wird die Nähe zur Person bzw. zum Bürger instrumentalisiert, um dem Subsidiaritätsbegriff den Inhalt zu geben, der aus machtpolitischen Interessen opportun erscheint. Im innerdeutschen Subsidiaritätssstreit der 60er Jahre wurde die funktionale Dimension des Prinzips in den Vordergrund gedrängt, wohingegen seit 1993 seitens der Bundesregierung und der deutschen Länder im europäischen Kontext die territoriale Dimension des Prinzips, die sich gegen europäische Institutionen als Inbegriff bürgerferner, nicht demokratisch legitimierter Politik richtet, hervorgehoben wird. In beiden Fällen geht die aus Gründen normativer Subsidiarität gebotene Balance zwischen Identität und Funktion, zwischen Demokratie und Effizienz, verloren. 4. In den 60er Jahren haben die Verbände der freien Wohlfahrtspflege ihre Freiheit gegen Staatsnähe eingetauscht. Daraus entstanden neo-korporatistische Strukturen, die die Verbände zu mächtigen Trägern sozialer Dienstleistungen werden ließen. Die Rolle der Verbände als intermediäres Bindeglied zwischen Bürger und Staat wurde vernachlässigt. 5. In den 90er Jahren im europäischen Kontext die funktionale Dimension des Subsidiaritätsprinzip auf den territorialen Rahmen der Mitgliedstaaten zurecht gestutzt. Im Vordergrund steht nicht die bestmögliche Lösung eines Problems. Man gibt sich mit der vermeintlich "ausreichenden" Lösung auf mitgliedsstaatlicher Ebene zufrieden. Die systematische Auslegung, die im Hinblick auf die Sicherung der Funktionsfähigkeit der Gemeinschaft von besonderer Bedeutung ist, ergibt hingegen, "dass das Subsidiaritätspinzip als Kompetenzausübungsprinzip verfasst ist und zweitens, dass eine Entscheidung sowohl auf der Ebene der Gemeinschaft als auch auf Ebene der Mitgliedstaaten bürgernah sein kann." Deutlich tritt hier die Kluft zwischen rechtlicher Konzeption, die Ausdruck universeller Geltung des Prinzips ist, und verfolgten politischen Eigeninteressen der Akteure hervor. 6. Wenngleich bei den Verbänden der freien Wohlfahrtspflege, insbesondere den kirchlichen, der Territorialaspekt des Subsidiaritätsprinzips dominiert, gibt es Anzeichen dafür, dass die Überzeugung wächst, dass ohne eine sachbezogene, auf weitere Integration gerichtete Europapolitik auch die drei Wohlfahrtspflege in Deutschland nicht aufrechtzuerhalten ist. So vertreten die kirchlichen Verbände im Rahmen einer von der Kommission initiierten Konsultation zu Armut und Ausgrenzung in Europa die Ansicht, dass eine Lösung auf mitgliedsstaatlicher Ebene nicht ausreichend sei. In welcher Form die sozialpolitische Verantwortung auf europäischer Ebene wahrgenommen werden soll, bleibt offen. 7. Weder das Hervorheben der Nation als die maßgebliche territoriale Größe, die ihren Bürgern Schutz und Sicherheit bieten kann, noch die Vorstellung, Europas Vielfalt durch die Mobilisierung der Selbstregulierungskräfte der Gesellschaft erhalten zu können, bieten Perspektiven, das Demokratie-Effizienz-Dilemma zu überwinden. 8. Der Erhalt europäischer Demokratien ist ohne das Herausbilden transnationaler Formen von Demokratie nicht denkbar. Denn der Nationalstaat allein kann die Substanz der Demokratie nicht gewährleisten. Der nationale Wohlfahrtsstaat wird ausgehöhlt. Übrig bleibt die leere Hülle nationaler Souveränität. 9. Aussicht bietet eine zivilgesellschaftliche Verschränkung von Politik und Gesellschaft. Repräsentative nationale Akteure kooperieren zur Erfüllung einer europäischen Aufgabe und entwickeln daraus eine europäische Identität. Aufgrund ihrer assoziativen Funktion sind hier vor allem zivilgesellschaftliche Akteure gefragt. Hier eröffnet sich den Wohlfahrtsverbänden die Chance, sich auf ihre Wurzeln zu besinnen und verstärkt ihre Rolle in der Gesellschaft wahrzunehmen, um sich so die Position der Repräsentativität nachhaltig zu sichern. 10. Eine gleichgewichtige funktionale Repräsentation wirtschaftlicher, sozialer und kultureller Interessen einschließlich Repräsentationsmonopol und Mitverantwortung für die ausgehandelten Ergebnisse kann einen Beitrag zur Behebung des europäischen Demokratiedefizit leisten. Dies setzt voraus, dass die Europäische Union staatsähnliche Eigenschaften ausbildet, die sie dazu befähigt, Verhandlungsgleichgewichte zwischen den Repräsentanten der verschiedenen Interessen herzustellen und autonom über Umverteilungsfragen zu entscheiden und eine entsprechende Politik auch durchzusetzen. (shrink)

A guide for translators, about the translation theory, the translation process, interpreting, subtitling, internationalization and localization and computer-assisted translation. A special section is dedicated to the translator's education and associations. The guide include, as annexes, several independent adaptations of the corresponding European Commission works, freely available via the EU Bookshop as PDF and via SetThings as EPUB, MOBI (Kindle) and PDF. For a “smart”, sensible translation , you should forget not the knowledge acquired at school or university, but the corrective (...) standards. Some people want a translation with the touch of the source version, while another people feel that in a successful version we should not be able to guess the original language. We have to realize that both people have right and wrong, and that their only fault is to present requirement as an absolute truth. Teachers agree at least on this principle: “If a sentence is ambiguous, the translation must also be“. There is another critical, less easy to argue, based on an Italian phrase with particularly strong wording: “Traduttore, traditore“. This critique argues that any translation will betray the author‘s language, spirit, style … because of the choices on all sides. What to sacrifice, clarity or brevity, if the formula in the text is brief and effective, but impossible to translate into so few words with the exact meaning? One could understand this criticism that it encourages us to read “in the text.” It seems obvious that it is impossible to follow this advice into practice. CONTENTS: Translation - Assessment of the amount of translated texts - Translation and interpretation - - Translation documents - Translation theories - - Practical / communicative approach - - Approaches of literary theories - - Sociolinguistic mainstream - - Approaches based on linguistic theories - - Approaches based on philosophical and hermeneutic concepts - - Semiotic approaches - The translation process - Types of translations - - Technical translation - Schools of thought - Difficulties associated with specialized domains - The problem of double translation - Thoughts about translation - European standard for translation services - Beautiful infidels - Self-translation - - Types of self-translation - - Factors that promote self-translation - - Self-translation and not authorial translation - Technical translation - - Terminology - - Translation process - - Translation tools - - The technical translator - - - Status - - - Remuneration - Conference interpreting - - Methods of interpretation - - Skills of the interpreter - - Contexts and working languages - - The interpretation in international institutions - - - UNESCO - - - European Union Internationalization and localization - Example - Internationalization and localization - Challenges - Software localization - - Difficulties - - Composing specifications - - Special tools Computer-assisted translation - Translation memory - - Advantages and disadvantages - - General operation - - Various - - Software - Machine translation - - Translation process - - Prerequisites - - Difficulties - - Approaches - - Development - - Existing products and services - - Prospective - Parallel text Subtitle - Subtitling or dubbing? - Description - Subtitling the movies - - Spotting - - Translation - - Simulation - - Engraving, inlaying or packaging - - The live broadcast - Live captioning - - Velotype - - Touch typing - - Computer-aided stenotype - - Speech recognition - Surtitles - - Comments - - Technical means - - Artistic issues - Quasi instant voice translation - - Difficulties - - Ongoing projects - - Future Translation Studies - Theories of translation - Interpretive theory - Back-translation - - The proper use of back-translation - False friends - - Cognates - - - Complete false friends - - - Partial false friends - - False cognates - Translation process - - The implications of the "inside" language - - Total and not absolute translation - - A single model - Untranslatability - - Hovering - - Translation methods - - - Adaptation - - - Calque - - - Compensation - - - Borrowing - - - Periphrasis - - - Translator's note - - Untranslatability of poetry and puns - - An amazing counterexample Translators - Translator's notes - European Master's in Translation - - European Master's in Translation - - - Organization of EMT - - - Core skills - - The EMT label - - EMT Network - - - Eligibility - - Members - European Council of Literary Translators' Associations - - History - - Objectives - International Translation Day Annexes: Translation in EU - Translation Guide - - Think before you write - - - Who will be reading the document? - - - What are you trying to achieve? - - - What points must the document cover? - - Focus on the reader - - - Be direct and interesting - - Get your document into shape - - - When you start - - - As you write - - - Two common problems at the European Commission: - - KISS - Keep It Short and Simple - - - Short... - - - ... and Simple: - - - Simple, uncluttered style also means: - - Make sense - structure your sentences - - Cut out excess nouns - verb forms are livelier - - Be concrete, not abstract - - Prefer active verbs to passive - - - Name the agent - - Beware of false friends, jargon and abbreviations - - - Avoid false friends - - - Avoid or explain jargon - - - Take care with abbreviations - - Revise and cheque check - Clear English Tips - - English prefers to be simple, concise and concrete. - - - Use simple words where appropriate. - - - Prefer a verb to an abstract noun - - - Prefer a gerund to an abstract noun - - - Prefer participles to relative clauses - - - And eliminate participles entirely if appropriate. - - - Use the passive voice sparingly - - - Consider replacing negatives with positives - - - Consider short forms and pronouns to avoid repeating full names … - - - Express conditions, including hidden ones, with ‘if’ ... - - - In general, cut out extra verbiage. - - English prefers straightforward syntax - - - Keep the subject close to the beginning of the sentence - - - Avoid splitting up subjects, modals, verbs and direct objects - - - If a sentence is too long, pull information out into separate sentences. - - - Use topic-introducing phrases sparingly. - - English may use different number, articles, gender or words from other languages - - - Keep uncountable nouns in the singular. - - - Use ‘a’ rather than ‘the’ for members of a class. - - - Do not use gender pronouns for entities. - - - Consider alternatives to ‘of’. - - - Finally, avoid ‘false friends’ in translation. - English Style Guide - - Introduction - - Writing English - - - GENERAL - - - SPELLING - - - PUNCTUATION - - - NUMBERS - - - ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS - - - Acronyms and initialisms - - - Contractions and truncations - - - FOREIGN IMPORTS - - - PARTS OF SPEECH - - - LISTS - - - SCIENCE GUIDE - - - FOOTNOTES, CITATIONS AND REFERENCES - - - CORRESPONDENCE - - - PERSONAL NAMES AND TITLES - - - NAMES OF BODIES - - - GENDER-NEUTRAL LANGUAGE - - About the European Union - - - THE EUROPEAN UNION - - - PRIMARY LEGISLATION - - - SECONDARY LEGISLATION - - - THE EU INSTITUTIONS - - - REFERENCES TO OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS - - - EU FINANCES - - - MEMBER STATES - - - OFFICIAL LANGUAGES AND CURRENCIES - - - EXTERNAL RELATIONS - - TRANSLITERATION - - - TRANSLITERATION TABLE FOR GREEK - - - TRANSLITERATION TABLE FOR CYRILLIC - - FORMS OF ADDRESS - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - - - Envelop - - - Start - - - Close - Style Guide for EU Member States - - Austria - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - - Government bodies and administrative divisions - - Belgium - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - - Federal structure - - Bulgaria - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Croatia - - - Geography - - - Regions - - - Judicial bodies - - - Political and administrative structure - - - Legal instruments - - - Law gazettes, official gazettes and official journals - - - Miscellaneous - - Cyprus - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Czech Republic - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Denmark - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Estonia - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - - Law gazettes, official gazettes and official journals - - Finland - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - - Law gazettes, official gazettes and official journals - - France - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Germany - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - - Government bodies and administrative divisions - - Greece - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Hungary - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Iceland - - - Judicial bodies - - Ireland - - Italy - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Latvia - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Lithuania - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - - Law gazettes, official gazettes and official journals - - Luxembourg - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Malta - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Netherlands - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Poland - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - - Law gazettes, official gazettes and official journals - - Portugal - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Romania - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Slovakia - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Spain - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Sweden - - - Geography - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - Turkey - - - Judicial bodies - - - Legal instruments - - United Kingdom - - - Geography Quotes References About the author - Nicolae Sfetcu . 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The aim of this research is to examine the public policy influences on academic investigations that contain a substantial convergence among human resource management–industrial relations and corporate social responsibility–stakeholder approach by means of using bibliometric and content analyses of relevant publications in the Scopus and ScienceDirect databases. Totally, 160 publications were subject to bibliometric, cluster, and summative content analyses. In this context, this study claims that public policy in the EU influences academic investigations and scholars. The investigation draws attention to (...) the importance of active participation of different public institutions and key stakeholders (e.g., trade unions, works councils, academic associations) that prepare a basis for collaboration, solidarity, and communication for strengthening EU social model, social dialogue, collective bargaining, and the protection of social rights. The research findings illuminate the fact that European public policies have significant effects on shaping and encouraging investigations that are considered within the scope of IR–HRM and CSR–SA. One of the most crucial recommendations of this study is that the investigations which are out of this framework can be considered quite idealistic. Therefore, researchers may attempt to publish more scientific investigations in frame of IR–HRM and CSR–SA to enhance the comprehensiveness and depth of these two clusters. (shrink)

This paper is the second of two papers which examine the versatility of the principle of subsidiarity. The first paper explored the nature of the principle in Catholic social teaching as a moral and social principle and its potential application in the political sphere. This paper further explores the political application of the principle of subsidiarity through a discussion of its operation in the European Union, where it is embodied in article 5(3) of the Treaty on European Union. This paper (...) discusses subsidiarity’s interpretation by the European Court of Justice as a political value judgement, rather than a legal principle. In its discussion of subsidiarity in the European Union, this paper draws some comparisons with the principle’s enunciation in Catholic social teaching. Together, these papers are intended to highlight the many facets of the principle of subsidiarity in order to promote its continued relevance and to promote further scholarship on subsidiarity. (shrink)

This paper, being introductory in kind and limited in its scope and objective, tries to outline some basic issues of Higher Education Governance and Student-Participation in the same. The paper focuses on Students’ Union, Election and Representation of Students in the said Union, and the role of Lyngdoh Commission in the regard. It assumes that Lyngdoh Commission, with its recommendations on Students’ Union Election, has contributed considerably to the issue of Student-Participation in Higher Education Governance. The paper adopts the method (...) of qualitative data analysis and survey of relevant literature in the process of meeting its objectives. (shrink)

According to the criterion of physical ability any state considers a person as a source of wealth and economic growth, industry and economic sector – as a personification of productive power and profit, and business – as a resource for productive activities and super income. Such a perception of an individual implies the existence of his three constituents, namely: the function of movement, the means of exchange activity, and, finally, the complex of motives to join the interaction environment and the (...) development environment. These constituents also define the motion trajectory of an individual who is involved in the reproductive process, and the result of such a movement expected by the society. At all stages of movement of an individual there are different environments which have leading value for him, such as education, family growth and bringing up, physical training and sport, communication and interaction which develop desire for learning, curiosity, inquisitiveness and other qualities. To trace the emergence of an individual as the product of bringing up, education, and activities, we have to examine the overall situation and the target system environment, which contributes to the development of physical abilities. The systems of physical education and development of physical abilities take the leading part in this environment; more and more people in post industrial society of our planet pay attention to these issues. However, many of the conceptual basics and the position of the perception of these systems and their significance for the individual, who has his own spiritual and cultural values, their role in providing vital activities are not studied enough yet. For example, a person’s entering into the environment of sports activities, which is based on his physical abilities, at any age transfers him into a group of factors of productive forces of the society and an individual becomes a business object. (shrink)

This paper considers a particular instance in which a liberal state –Germany -makes a claim for the limitation of tolerance of religious expression on the grounds of harm. I examine this claim with reference to three basic positions: Firstly,I examine Denise Meyerson’s argument that the domain of religion constitutes an area of intractable dispute and that the state is not entitled to limit liberty in this domain because it cannot justify limitations in a neutrally acceptable way. I argue that Ludin (...) is entitled to wear the Kopftuch on grounds of her right to religious freedom and that the attempt to deny her this entitlement constitutes a breach of individual rights. Meyerson’s arguments rest on the acceptability of Rawls’s idea of public reason. I therefore, secondly, examine Jeremy Waldron’s objections to the use of the deliberative discipline of public reason in cultural disputes as well as his objections to the use of the politics of identity which, he claims, distort our ability to engage in reasoned public debate. I argue that bracketing identity claims eliminates what is peculiar about Ludin’s case.This I bring out, thirdly, by drawing on the views of Melissa Williams, who advances the idea of sensitivity to others’ reasons as reasons, which defines a position midway between Meyerson and Waldron. It is apparent that Ludin’s dilemma is twofold: her status as ‘metic’-as member of a minority at the margins of mainstream German culture, and her status as ‘Muslimin’-as one believed to be suffering sexual discrimination in her own culture, form a double-bind of oppression. They are connected in a way that challenges the integration policies of the German state. (shrink)

The democratic criteria for representation in the European Union are complex since its representation involves several delegation mechanisms and institutions. This paper develops institutional design principles for the representation of peoples and individuals and suggests reform options of the European Union on the basis of the theory of multilateral democracy. In particular, it addresses how the equality of individuals can be realised in EU representation while guaranteeing the mutual recognition of peoples. Unlike strict intergovernmental institutions, the EU requires an additional (...) and independent legislative chamber in which individuals are directly represented. However, strict equality of individuals cannot be the guiding principle for this chamber. In order to avoid the overruling of peoples through supranational majorities, it is necessary to bind the chamber's composition by a principle of degressive proportionality. The representation of peoples, on the other hand, needs to be connected to their domestic democratic institutions. (shrink)

Descartes held the following view of declarative memory: to remember is to reconstruct an idea that you intellectually recognize as a reconstruction. Descartes countenanced two overarching varieties of declarative memory. To have an intellectual memory is to intellectually reconstruct a universal idea that you recognize as a reconstruction, and to have a sensory memory is to neurophysiologically reconstruct a particular idea that you recognize as a reconstruction. Sensory remembering is thus a capacity of neither ghosts nor machines, but only of (...) human beings qua mind-body unions. This interpretation unifies Descartes’s various remarks (and conspicuous silences) about remembering, from the 1628 Rules for the Direction of the Mind through the suppressed-in-1633 Treatise of Man to the 1649 Passions of the Soul. It also rebuts a prevailing thesis in the current secondary literature—that Cartesian critters can remember—while incorporating the textual evidence for that thesis—Descartes’s detailed descriptions of the corporeal mechanisms that construct sensory memories. (shrink)

Dewey's instrumentalist approach to problem-solving stressed social organization; and under this umbrella he included unionization. First part of this article: his active involvement in and support for the union movement summarized. Second part: his theoretical defense of unions is addressed, especially as to "democratic liberalism" and its implementation in the fabric of society. Third part: a brief account of the current status of unions in universities.

This paper examines the compliance of universities in the European Union with the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher–Education Teaching Personnel, which deals primarily with protection for academic freedom. The paper briefly surveys the European genesis of the modern research university and academic freedom, before evaluating compliance with the UNESCO recommendation on institutional autonomy, academic freedom, university governance and tenure. Following from this, the paper examines the reasons for the generally low level of compliance with the UNESCO Recommendation within (...) the EU states, and considers how such compliance could be improved. (shrink)

The article delves into Kazakhstan’s policies vis-à-vis the European Union, focusing on their driving motives and enabling conditions. Drawing upon published papers and, to a lesser degree, primary sources, the author argues that friendship with the EU largely serves the Kazakhstani elite as means of economic modernisation as well regime legitimation, perfectly fitting Kazakhstan’s dominant domestic discourse which portrays the country as Eurasian and its foreign policy—as multi-vector. The study also shows that Astana’s partnership with Brussels is to a large (...) degree possible because the EU holds a simultaneous positive attitude to such partnership regardless Kazakhstan’s authoritarian regime. According to the article, such reflects the great instrumental value collaboration with Astana gives Brussels, the EU’s general inactivity on democracy promotion in Central Asia and Kazakhstan’s looking more pro-European and economically/politically advanced against the background of its post-Soviet and Central Asian autocratic fellows. The paper concludes by reflecting on the configuration of pragmatism and identity in Astana’s approach to the EU and discussing the peculiarities of the bloc’s power over Kazakhstan. (shrink)

As the euro crisis unfolds, political discourse on both sides of the European Union (EU)’s internal divide—“North” and “South”—becomes ever more exasperated, distant and untranslatable. At the root lies a weak pan-European sense of belonging—a common political identity thanks to which European citizens may regard each other as equals, and therefore as deserving recognition, trust, and solidarity. This paper describes some of the culture-related problems that impact directly on the formation of an eventual political identity for EU citizens. It then (...) suggests that the enacting of an interculturalist paradigm can help untie some of the nuts—political but also cultural—that Europe faces in order to solve the economic crisis. A few remarks are dedicated in the conclusive part to cultural pluralism in Singapore, a key player in any future progress towards the integration of the Asia Pacific Region. (shrink)

The task of this paper is to reconstruct Bertrand Russell project for religion without God and dogma. Russell made two attempts in this direction, first in the essay “Free Man’s Worship” (1903), and then, in theoretical form, in the paper “The Essence of Religion” (1912). Russell’s explorations of religious impulses run in parallel with his work on technical philosophy. According to Russell from 1903–12, religion is an important part of human pursuits. However, whereas the ordinary man believes in God, the (...) freeman embraces a religion without fear and dogma. He strives for a union with the universe achieved in contemplation made from many perspectives through “impartiality of vision”. For this reason freemen renounce the Self and the Will. Russell abandoned his project for religion without God mainly because of Wittgenstein’s criticism. In his later writings he continued to criticize the religion of the ordinary man, without to further develop a positive philosophy of religion, though. (shrink)

Throughout the history of mankind, energy security has been always seen as a means of protection from disruptions of essential energy systems. The idea of protection from disorders emerged from the process of securing political and military control over energy resources to set up policies and measures on managing risks that affect all elements of energy systems. The various systems placed in a place to achieve energy security are the driving force towards the energy innovations or emerging trends in the (...) energy sector. Our paper discusses energy security status and innovations in the energy sector in European Union (EU). We analyze the recent up-to-date developments of the energy policy and exploitation of energy sources, as well as scrutinize the channels of energy streaming to the EU countries and the risks associated with this energy import. Moreover, we argue that the shift to the low-carbon production of energy and the massive deployment of renewable energy sources (RES) might become the key issue in ensuring the energy security and independency of the EU from its external energy supplies. Both RES, distributed energy resources (DER) and “green energy” that will be based on the energy efficiency and the shift to the alternative energy supply might change the energy security status quo for the EU. (shrink)

The economic crisis in Europe exposes the European Union’s political fragility. How a polity made of very different states can live up to the motto “Europe united in diversity” is difficult to envisage in practice. In this paper I attempt an “exegesis”—a critical explanation or interpretation of a series of published pieces (“the Series”) which explores, first, if European unity is desirable at all. Second, it presents a new methodology—analogical hermeneutics—used throughout the Series to approach the problem of unity. Third, (...) it conceptualises the source of unity as political identity. Fourth, it advances that the vehicle to share such identity is an analogical language: the political culture of human rights. Fifth, it submits the conditions under which such political culture could ground political identity through an open public sphere. Finally, it presents a way in which solidarity can grow as the increasingly diverse citizens of the European Union interact with each other. Even though the economic crisis can be solved by means of sound economic strategy (which is not the main object of my work), any successful economic strategy requires—as a precondition—a certain degree of political unity (the central concern of my research). (shrink)

Even with Brexit, the European Union will remain a market of more than 450 million people and a prominent promoter of Western values shared by Australia. Given that the EU has been Australia’s largest investor and economic partner for the past 25 years, it is pertinent to reflect on what an EU without Britain might look like.

Case study for Business Ethics, 5000 words. Considers the state of the payday lending market in USA and Canada as of March 2018. Suitable for undergraduate or business school use. Includes the discussion of: Storefront and online payday lending in state/province and national contexts. Applicability of the concept of exploitation to payday lending. Alternatives to payday lending ("Payday Alternative Loans" provided through credit unions, and savings incentive programs that reduce demand for payday lending). U.S. government regulation of 2017 that (...) was rescinded shortly before it was to have effects on business, specifically due to change of Presidential administration (January 2018). Class discussion questions. References. (shrink)