CEU Political Science Journal Vol. 2, Issue 1 (Febr. 2007)
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Volume 2, Issue 1 February 2007 CEU Political Science Journal The Graduate Student Review Central European University Department of Political Science TABLE OF CONTENT 1 FOREWORD Advisory Board S.M.Amadae 3 NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS Anil Duman Carol Harrington ARTICLES Carsten Q. Schneider 4 UKRAINE AND BELARUS – (UN) LIKELY Editorial Board TRANSITIONS? Stela Garaz Silva Kantareva Sergiu Gherghina Arpad Todor 27 DEMOCRACY (DIS) CONNECTED – DISCOURSES OF DEMOCRACY AND OF THE Managing Editors INTER-WAR PERIOD AS (MIS)GUIDING LIGHTS IN THE HISTORY TEXTBOOKS IN THE Sergiu Gherghina REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA AND ROMANIA Arpad Todor Stefan Ihrig Editorial assistants 44 THE RUSSIAN IDEA AND THE DISCOURSE OF Bartlomiej Baryla VLADIMIR PUTIN George Jiglau Gavin Slade Oana Lup Joszef Matyasi 58 DOMINANCE AND SECURITY IN THE POWER Petar Popadic DISCOURSES: SID MEIER’S CIVILIZATION AS AN EXAMPLE OF DISCOURSES IN POWER- GAMES Margus Valdre Department of Political Science, WORK IN PROGRESS SECTION CEU Budapest ISSN 1818-7668 72 BORDERLINE DISPUTE BETWEEN SLOVENIA AND CROATIA IN THE POST YUGOSLAV ERA: SOLUTIONS, OBSTACLES AND POSSIBLE THERAPY Mitja Durnik and Marjeta Zupan 90 BOOK REVIEWS 3 CEU Political Science Journal. The Graduate Student Review Vol. 2, No. 1 FOREWORD Discourse Analysis and Critical Political Science example, Mitja Durnik and Marjeta “The categories of perception, the Zupan’s article in this volume shows schemata of classification, that is, how political leaders on both sides essentially, the words, the names which mobilise their supporters through a construct social reality as much as they discourse of conflict over the border express it, are the stake par excellence between Croatia and Slovenia. Durnik of political struggle, which is a struggle and Zupan argue that this conflict could to impose the legitimate principle of easily be resolved but politicians vision and division”.1 discursively perpetuate it to serve their short term electoral interests. Thus, Politics necessarily involves struggle their article puts forward a reasoned over the meaning of events, over how alternative to the border conflict we categorise people, and over how we discourse which they see as destructive name and draw borders around places. and misleading. Political leaders need to mobilise people behind their vision of how to While some analysts, such as Durnik divide people and space by providing and Zupan, oppose an irrational answers to questions of who are “we’, discourse with strong claims about the where do we belong, and who are our truth of the situation others avoid such friends and enemies. Discourse analysts claims. Stefan Ihrig analyses the stories seek to uncover the assumptions and told in Romania and Moldova about processes underlying such visions of democracy and their democratic history. political reality. The discourse analyst However, he does not present these asks questions about the authoritative stories as distorting a more accurate knowledge that supports existing version of history. Rather, he is political relations, about how governing interested in comparing state text book authorities categorise populations, and narratives of past experience of about the political consequences of democracy and considering the possible particular forms of discourse. Thus, effects of these narratives on present discourse analysis is part of the democracy building efforts. He points tradition of critical social science. out that while the text books discuss historical experiences of democracy as Many discourse analysts want to expose periods of normality they are short on the irrationality of political conflicts as specifics as to what exactly democracy based on lies and distortions. For or normality might be and argues that this lack of specifics provides students with few resources for critical thinking about problems of democracy. 1 Pierre Bourdieu. In other worlds: Essays Towards a Reflexive Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990, 134. 1 CEU Political Science Journal. The Graduate Student Review Vol. 2, No. 1 Gavin Slade also analyses the narrative because of their interactive nature. He of a state and its relation to society questions the vision of security offered through close analysis of Putin’s by this game given that winning Millennium Manifesto. Slade argues requires global military and cultural that Putin established a new unifying domination. discourse on state society relations for Russia at the turn of the century. Finally, Silva Kantareva’s article does Through a close analysis of this not use techniques of discourse analysis significant text he shows how Putin has but certainly shares the critical agenda blended historic notions of “the Russian of the other articles in this issue. idea’ with liberal constructions of Kantareva critiques contemporary individual responsibility. He argues that political analyses that discuss Belarus the discursive efforts of Putin’s regime and Ukraine as part of the post- contributed significantly to the communist “transition’ or the “fourth strengthening of the Russian state. This wave of democratisation’. She argues article provides an excellent example of that since these countries lacked the textual methods of discourse analysis in structural pre-conditions necessary for concert Migdal’s theory of state and democracy such labeling of society as mutually constitutive.2 developments has, at worst, obscured an authoritarian reality. Her article Moving beyond the level of individual compares developments in Belarus and state politics, Margus Valdre considers Ukraine offering an explanation of how a famous computer game Ukraine’s recent pro-democracy naturalizes a particular vision of global movements while remaining pessimistic security. Winning the game requires about democratic prospects for Belarus. operating according to particular historical, economic and political Thus, all the articles in this edition “laws’. Thus, the game subtly presents reveal the importance of critical a particular view of how the world political analysis even if this may not works and engages players in an lead us to optimistic conclusions. enjoyable experience of operating Discourse analysis in particular according to these rules. Drawing upon provides an important tool that enables the Althusser’s concept of the analysts to expose and question our “interpellation’ of subjects, which naturalized assumptions about political stresses the importance of bodily relations and realities. Such a critical practices, Valdre suggests that stance toward political discourse forms computer games may be powerful an essential component of rigorous mediums for political ideologies political science. CAROL HARRINGTON 2 (Department of Political Science, Joel Migdal. State in Society. Cambridge: Central European University) Cambridge University Press, 2001. 2 CEU Political Science Journal. The Graduate Student Review Vol. 2, No. 1 NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS The Journal proposes, besides articles, a CEU Political Science Journal “work in progress” section, designed publishes scholarly research of merit mostly for Ph.D. researchers that have focusing on the topics promoted by the not yet finished their work but are Journal and meeting the standard interested in making it public. The requirements for academic research in section from this issue includes a terms of conceptualization, research with potential, which takes a operationalization, methodological lot of time to be finalized and whose application and .analysis of results. We authors are more than pleased to receive strive to promote those works that any comments at the provided e-mail approach a significant research problem addresses. and answer research questions of general interest in political science. Due Starting with the first issue in 2007, to the fact that the Journal addresses a CEU Political Science Journal wide range of academics we encourage encourages contributions in the form of presentation of research to be made at a book reviews. There are two standard level where it is understandable to the requirements for the reviews: they vast majority most of the target group. should not exceed 1,200 words and should address books that are In our attempt to promote original considered of general importance in works, we do not accept articles that are political science and the related fields. under review at other publications or If you are the author of a book you wish articles that have parts that were to be considered for review, please send published or are forthcoming under the us an e-mail and we can arrange the same form in other places. details concerning the mailing of the Contributions using statistical analysis book. If you are interested in reviewing have to make the proof of the data books for our Journal please send your available in order to allow replicability. CV to the e-mail addresses indicated in Formal requirements are found in “the the “contact” section of the website. paper requirements” section of our webpage: www.ceu.hu/polccijournal SERGIU GHERGHINA Any paper that does not meet these ARPAD TODOR requirements may be rejected. Manuscripts should be no longer than 6,000 words (for exceptional cases please address the Editorial Board), and footnotes should provide references and should not including supplementary text. The appendix must be a maximum of 5 pages. 3 CEU Political Science Journal. The Graduate Student Review Vol. 2, No. 1 UKRAINE AND BELARUS - (UN)LIKELY TRANSITIONS? they are quite relevant for the overall Silva Kantareva experience of the