A scholarly journal and news magazine. October 2015. Vol. VIII:3–4. From the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES), Södertörn University. Lithuanians visiting deportees in Siberia BALTIC WORLDSbalticworlds.com Anti-modernism. Pop art versus Great Art in Eastern Europe Neo-nationalism. Fruit of neo-liberalism Feminism. Challenging the official Polish narrative Opposing patterns of movement Special section Economic development in Russia also in this issue Illustration: Karin Sunvisson ROMA WOMEN NGOs IN HUNGARY / OZEROV ON SHALAMOV / SHUTTLE TRADE IN BELARUS / UNIFIED GERMANY Sponsored by the Foundation BALTIC for Baltic and East European Studies WORLDSbalticworlds.com editorial in this issue Ideas in transfer oday, the dominance of Western against violence, and lifting the ban on abor- ideas is often discussed in relation to tion. Eastern Europe and the postsocialist The dominant Western ideas on cultural countries. In this issue, we will ad- expressions and individual rights are here pre- Tdress, among many other things, the question sented as options to either reject or embrace, of how Western ideas are transferred else- by choice. Other ideas, however, such as those where, in particular to the East, and how they involving finance and politics, have been more are applied or rejected or twisted. The circum- forcibly transferred. stances that catalyze ideas and theories in the In his lecture “Theory from the East? Double West may not be those that exist or are relevant polarizations versus democratic transitions”, in the East. Don Kalb notes that the theory of liberal demo- “Why were there no great pop art curato- cratic transition has been the dominant com- rial projects in Eastern Europe in the 1960s?” pass both in the West and among reformers in asks Piotr Piotrowski in a lecture published in the East. He urges us to challenge liberal theory, Mission Siberia this issue. The answer is complex of course, both as an explanation and as a normative and Lithuanians were but one reflection he shares is that in Eastern policy-oriented prescription. According to treated even worse Europe, people felt more like defending Great Kalb, an unexpected consequence of neo-liber- than the deportees returning to Art than challenging its status or discrediting alism is neo-nationalism, in its various populist other Soviet republics.” it, since the latter was the strategy of the Soviet forms. As he sees it, the success of Jobbik in “ Page 30 regime. For Eastern European artists, it was Hungary, the financial crisis in Greece, and the paramount to hold on to the aesthetic value of turbulent situation in Ukraine, are all inter- art. Another explanation lies in a different set of connected. periphery-center relations: Sweden may have Ideas and theories are often said to be in- looked to the North American art scene for new vented in the West, and then applied in the impulses, but in Eastern Europe, the traditional East. However, the patterns of movement may place to look for artistic inspiration was the go from periphery to center! The reaction in the seemingly eternal capital of culture, Paris. East reflected back to the West might lead us to new insights and a new situation — and thus the BOZENA KEFF, a Polish writer, feminist activist, need to formulate new ideas and theories. and researcher, relates in an interview that in the 1990s, feminism and social activism were LasTLY WE Have TO MENTION the very up-to date to be pitied, not cherished. Normality for many topic of our hefty special section “Economic people meant capitalism and Catholicism. development in Russia”. Ilja Viktorov, guest edi- According to Keff, the pillars of the Enlight- tor, presents six peer-reviewed articles and one enment, for example secularization and the interview with recent research results and data importance of universal human rights, have a on the situation in Russia: natural resources Gender equality weak status in Poland. The more one moves to and power games, the business climate, finan- struggles the east from Poland, the less developed the cial market regulations, institutional reforms, Framing Roma mothers ideas of the Enlightenment are, she argues. and the development in rural areas, corrup- as irresponsible has Today, Polish feminists are struggling to achieve tion, and other relevant topics. ≈ been central in constructing the dominance of Western values in several Roma as ‘others’, and as un- spheres, such as by introducing the convention Ninna Mörner “deserving citizens.” Page 34 What you read in the footers is the voice of the editor. Not that of the authors. contents 3 colophon Baltic Worlds is a scholarly journal and news magazine published by CBEES (Centre for Baltic and East European Studies) at Södertörn Univer- sity, Sweden. Editor-in-chief Ninna Mörner interview reviews Publisher 4 Bożena Keff. On feminism, anti-Semitism, 119 Russia turns to East Asia, Joakim Ekman and homophobia, Renata Ingbrant Irina Korgun Editorial scientific 120 Guidelines for businesspeople, advisory council lectures Helene Carlbäck Sari Autio-Sarasmo, Aleksanteri 10 Pop art and Great Art. The Eastern 122 Shuttle trade from Belarus, Institute, Helsinki; Sofie Bedford, European viewpoint, Piotr Piotrowski Yulia Gradskova UCRS, Uppsala University; 17 Neo-nationalism. The unexpected 123 Euromaidan, A symphony of voices, Michael Gentile, Helsinki outcome of neoliberalism, Don Kalb Yuliya Yurchuk University; Monica Hammer, 125 Beyond the sea, Deborah Paci Södertörn University; Markus feature 127 Guestworkers in the GDR, Huss, Södertörn University; 30 Tracking the deportees. Young Patrice Poutrus Katarina Leppänen, CERGU, Lithuanians visit Siberia, Påhl Ruin 129 Religious education, University of Gothenburg; peer-reviewed article Anders Mellbourn Thomas Lundén (Chair), CBEES; 34 Romani women NGO. Empowerment and Kazimierz Musiał, University struggles in Hungary, Ildikó Asztalos Morell commentary of Gdańsk; Barbara Törnquist- 132 Unified Germany 25 years on, Plewa, Centre for European poetry Joakim Ekman Studies, Lund University 47 Ozerov on Shalamov, Robert Chandler Copyediting/proofreading Brian Manning Delaney, English Proper; Maria Hermansson, special section Södertörn Library; Jean Economic development in Russia Guest editor: Ilja Viktorov Lawrence, Krysia Lear, Proper English AB; Charles Phillips, 49 Introduction, Ilja Viktorov 76 Investors’ perspective on Bridget Schäfer, Semantix 62 Interview with Andrei Yakovlev, business climate, Olga Golubeva Layout Ilja Viktorov 87 Prospects for economic reform, Sara Bergfors, Lena Fredriksson, Susanne Oxenstierna peer-reviewed articles: Serpentin Media 96 Anti-corruption demands, 51 Natural gas and the price Illustrators Mi Lennhag of opulence, Anton Oleinik Karin Sunvisson, Ragni Svensson 110 Financial markets regulation, 67 Agency and development Subscription Alexander Abramov, Maria Chernova, in rural areas, Leo Granberg Sofia Barlind Alexander Radygin & Ann-Mari Sätre Printed by Elanders Sverige AB Printed issue: ISSN 2000-2955 PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES have undergone a double-blind peer-review by at least two inde- Online issue: ISSN 2001-7308 pendent specialists. A peer-reviewed article published in BW generates one publication point for the Contact Baltic Worlds authors and their institutions in the Norwegian bibliometric register (DHB). Baltic Worlds is an Open [email protected] Access Journal and all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. More information is available on our website. 25 researchers from nine different countries as well as 14 peer-reviewers have contributed to this issue. 4 interview Bożena Keff The voice of the excluded by Renata Ingbrant oet, essayist, film critic, journalist, feminist activist, researcher at Polish Academy of Science, literary re- searcher at Jewish Historical Institute and lecturer in gender studies at Warsaw University — Bożena Keff’s professional career is as multifaceted as it is interdisciplinary, and her interests impressively manifold. Bożena Keff belongs to the Warsaw cultural and intellectual circle that engages in cultural and politi- cal debates promoting new ways of thinking that challenge the conservative Catholic tradition, Polish nationalism and contest all kinds of oppression founded in prejudice and institutionalized by a system. Readers may have come across her name in the Polish media in several different context: debates on Polish feminism, nationalism, anti- Semitism, homophobia, and — in the context of the Polish debate on the Oscar winning motion picture Ida, and the controversies about the placement of a monument dedicated to the Righteous Among the Nations near the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. As a scholar she is well known for her study A Figure with a Shadow. Portraits of Jewish Women in Polish Literature (2001) in which she explores the double stereotyping of Jewish women in the works of the most prominent Polish authors. Recently, her book Anti-Semitism. An Unclosed History (2013), which contains reflection on cultural and historical contexts of the phenomenon, received much positive attention. The work that has won her probably most recognition as an original writer and a poet is A Piece on Mother and the Fatherland (2008), nominated in 2009 for the prestigious Nike Literary Award. It has also been widely acclaimed thanks to Jan Klata’s multiple award-winning the- ater production from 2011 that was first staged at a theater in Wrocław and later at festivals all over Europe and, late- ly, in South Korea. In fact it is not a theatrical play — rather it is an innovative cross-genre work. The author herself perceives it as poetically organized work that is however not strictly poetry. It turned out to be a work that combines elements of other genres (“opera, tragedy and oratorio”, according to the Polish critic Przemysław Czapliński). A Piece on Mother and Fatherland is a story of a tense relationship between a mother, who is a Holocaust survivor, and her daughter, who is imprisoned in her mother’s suffering. In other words, it is a story of the post-trauma of the Holocaust, although it can be read in a larger framework as the drama of all war victims and the postwar genera- interview 5 Bożena Keff.