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Knowledge, power and discourses in Van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis
94-112Views:125Critical Discourse Analysis (or Critical Discourse Studies – CDA/CDS) examines the relationship between texts, discourses and power, dominance, power abuses and social inequalities. Critical discourse analysis is a multidisciplinary research perspective, which not only examines the interactions between the text, the micro level and its surroundings, the macro level, but its main goal is to uncover social inequalities, expose the forms and modalities of abuse of power. The representatives of CDA are committed to social equality and justice. Present paper presents the work of one of the outstanding representatives of Critical Discourse Analysis, Teun A. Van Dijk, by presenting the history and possibilities of CDA, and also the key elements of Van Dijk’s approach. This study aims to show how knowledge, power and discourse are connected in Van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis.
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Mechanisms of power, victimization and autonomy in the health care system
60-80Views:42The aim of this paper is to describe power relations, doctor-patient relationships among the
many ongoing changes in health care from sociological point of view. This paper is based on
interviews with 17 people who work in various fields of health care. To conduct the interviews as
well as to write the paper, a number of concepts and theoretical approaches were resorted to:
Dominique Memmi’s ’delegated biopower’, Eve Bureau and Judith Hermann-Mesfen’s notion of
’contemporary patient’, François Dubet’s concept of institutional programme as well as results of
Hungarian health sociology. The main focuses of interest of the paper are role models in health
care, the characteristics and consequences of new doctor-patient relations, their manifestations
in Hungary as well as potentials of defencelessness and autonomy in Hungarian health care. -
Globalization theory of late modernity and identities in risk society
101-121Views:56Modernity is the sum of the fragmented cultural systems of meaning, that are mutually influential
on each other, plus of economic and political relations continually changing and transforming –
a complexity that manifests itself in the structure of the (world) risk society even on the level of
the individual. Following the late modern turn, the phenomenon of the means and opportunities
determining the ability of choice is not being shared equally, but multiplied as regards global
actors, as well as choice of identity, perceptibility of risks and facing them. The study presents
the new inequality factors and the asymmetric power relations of the late modernity along the
works by the recently died sociologists of the globalization theory (Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt
Bauman). In the world risk society, each community and individual bear the risks indifferently.
Accordingly, the ascertainments of the study are that the globalised economy and the subjects
of the local poverty do not possess the same degree of the freedom of maneuvering. In order
to demonstrate this and also to identify each postmodern life-strategy, the study relies on the
works on identity by the discussed sociologists. According to the latter, the study concludes, that
the reflexivity of the risk is the most profitable for those who are in the high position of the new
inequality, thus, have the power to determine conflicts generated by them and inflict them on
those excluded from the struggle of definition of risk. -
Trojan horse and fig leaf: the role of populism in the global crisis of democracy and the postmodern autocracies
30-61Views:72It is my contention that populism could be an appropriate framework to understand and link the phenomena of global crisis of democracy and spread of postmodern autocracies. In order to substantiate this claim with the method of literature review, I have examined first the characteristics of these phenomena and then I have focused the nature of relationship between them, in particular with regard to the complex system of stability of new types of autocracies, in which, I think, populism playing a key role. Populism, understood it as an autocratic interpretation of democracy and representation, could be a particularly dangerous Trojan horse for democracy. Above all, because of its idea of a single, homogeneous and authentic people that can be genuinely represented only by populists, and because of this representative claim is a moralized form of antipluralism. In addition, populism is also an important feature of postmodern autocracies, especially of electoral autocracy. By means of populism, it is possible for these regimes to camouflage and even legitimise the autocratic trends and exercise of power, as well as the creation an uneven playing field for political contestation behind their formally multi-party elections and democratic façade. As a radical turn towards traditional forms of autocracies would be too expensive, postmodern autocrats need manipulated multi-party elections and other plebiscite techniques that could serve as quasi-democratic legitimation, as well as populism that could transform political contestation to a life-and-death struggle and, provides other important cognitive functions. Therefore, populist autocracy, as a paradigmatic type of postmodern autocracies, will remain with us for a long time, giving more and more tasks to researchers involved in them.
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The moral restoration of business relations: Management from a Christian point of view
71-90Views:36Globalisation is a complex and worldwide process overarching historical times and continents.
It started with the great geographical discoveries, continued with the emergence of world trade
and the development of a truly global market reaching its present status. Globalisation has both
negative and positive effects. Out of the positive effects it has to be emphasised that more and
more zones of our planet benefit from the advances in sciences and techniques, more and more people have better access to work, education and the necessary commodities to meet their basic
needs. Globalisation has brought efficiency and new opportunities to companies, providing practically free access to raw materials, labour and knowledge. Out of the negative effects degradation of the biosphere, the greater social and economic inequality especially in the developing
countries has to be pointed out. Some companies are operating worldwide and have acquired
great economic power and influence. Governments have only limited possibilities to regulate
their operation. The expenses of profit maximisation are high, which are often ‘paid’ by the social-natural environment (as externalities). The aim of our study is to overview how current
business relations could be formed to be more human and environment friendly from the point
of view of Christian philosophy. It has to be pointed out that our study is focusing on the Christian
point of view, although in our globalised world when studying business relations we should not
forget about the role of other world major religious groups. -
Labour law and insurance from patriarchy to the beginning of nationalisation
279-282Views:42If the reader picks up Zsombor Bódy's The Society of Industrial Labour, the title page will probably lead him to a long discussion of the new problems and tasks caused by industrialisation, and the structure and situation of social relations that it changed.
However, reading the first pages, we understand that Bódy, touching on the deeper social context, selects only a slice of the complex problems of industrial society of the time, the development and change of the institutional system related to work from the mid-19th century to the end of the Second World War. The author, who has extensively processed relevant volumes of international and national literature and numerous archival and printed sources, has synthesised his findings in this volume after several smaller studies. The work contains a number of new approaches and new problem definitions, which I would like to reflect on below. From the book we can learn about the views and plans of the time in relation to labour, the provisions that were born, from the patriarchal view to the beginning of the era of nationalisation. A great advantage of the work is that it analyses at length the prevailing social policy ideas of each period, contrasting the different views. It deals not only with governmental ideas, but also with the views of the opposition, the interest groups and, last but not least, the experts and their associations of the time. It examines the power of each organisation in each era and the influence it could exert on decision-makers, achieving different results, even against other groups. All of this is to the advantage of the essay, and the author perhaps sometimes over-details the battles between different views. -
Reconfiguration in Post Euromaidan symbolic landscape: comparison of Kyiv and Transcarpathia
142-164Views:44The relation between power and public space has been one of the main interest of geographical
research in the last decades (Massey 1994, Mitchell 2003). Researches have illustrated that
following a regime change, the symbolic space of the city – compiled of street names, statues
and monuments – usually gets reconfigured. Following the Euromaidan, in 2015, the laws on
decommunization were accepted in Ukraine, which disposed more comprehensibly than ever before the banishment of Communist symbols from the public space. The decommunization
besides toponymy, entangled other elements of public space resulting in major shifts the urban
landscape as well.
Main interest of present paper is to study the major shifts in symbolic landscape in the capital,
Kyiv and compare it to the processes that have taken place in the westernmost periphery of the
country, Transcarpathia. Based on the examples of Uzhhorod, Berehove raion and Berehove, our
further aim is to shed light on the role of locality and how local memory is represented in public
space. -
The role of the hidden curriculum in the development of horizontal gender segregation, as a result of an interview research with teachers
72-97Views:71The impact and influencing power of educators and teaching aids used in education systems is an internationally researched area as they play a key role in the development and study of students’ personality. According to the literature, the teacher is one of the most significant „tools” of the hidden curriculum behind the official curriculum, but the presentation of the phenomenon in teaching aids strengthens gender stereotypes and reduces the possibility of gender equality. In this study, we examine the role of a hidden curriculum in the development of gender horizontal segregation, with particular reference to the influence of teachers and textbooks. In the empirical part of the study, we did conduct a semi -structured interview with 18 elementary school teachers through a non-probability expert sampling, which was analyzed by categorization and interpretation. Our results show that traditional gender roles have prevailed in the family of educators. During their studies, they observed a difference depending on their educators in terms of behavior and expectations – but they believe that they themselves do not differentiate between students. According to their views, the personality of the teachers is of particular importance regarding the personality development and academic progress of the students, however, the career orientation of the children is mainly determined by the parents family patterns that appear in the family.
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Elavult a beszélgetés?
148-152Views:30Sherry Turkle (2015): Reclaiming Conversation:
The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. Penguin Books, New York, 436 p. - Recenzió. -
Hopes and concerns of democratization: Ideas about popular vote in Hungarian political discourse 1985–1989
5-27Views:85The article analyzes the political discourse concerning direct democracy between 1985–89, when the issue of introducing popular vote at local and national level became relevant, both as a general institutional reform of political decision-making, and as the result of some major initiatives launched by social movements. The analysis covers the related law journal articles, party-state documents, the writings of political and intellectual elites (including the opposition), and the wider public (mainly daily and weekly newspapers). The discourse analysis is based on the academic literature of direct democracy and some new aspects, like the timing of introducing direct democracy, its role and perspectives, the consideration of threats and benefits, and the relevance of international examples as possible models for reform. The paper finds that the opposition and the party-state regarded the introduction of popular vote differently: while the emerging opposition emphasised the function of controling the state power by popular votes, the party-state expected to stop shrinking its social legitimacy. Meanwhile, general public seemed to be indifferent about this remarkable democratic reform.
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Thomas Hobbes and the dilemmas of the natural state: First chapter – The axiomatic nature of total war
3-24Views:96The purpose of this paper is to reflect on some the ideas of Thomas Hobbes, one of the founders
of modern political philosophy, best known for his masterpiece, Leviathan. The aim of this essay
is not to provide a full scale analysis of Hobbes’ main work, nor to present his moral or political
philosophy, nor to reflect on the significance of his impact on later political thinkers. The aim is
more modest, and the theme under scrutiny is more narrow: the paper is devoted to a critical
analysis of the main premise (state of the nature) of Hobbes’ theory of power, including the
ambivalent character of the state of nature, as well as the logical dilemmas that arise during
the analysis.After a general presentation of Hobbes’s philosophy and of the logical construction of his
work, I will tend to focus on two aspects of the state of nature: firstly, I will analyse the assumed
analogy between the state of nature and the Book of Genesis; secondly, I will examine whether
the „war of all against all” is an axiomatic outcome of the „primitive” state. It turns out, that the
answers for these questions are not so unanbiguous. -
The Effects of the 2011 Electoral Reform on the Results of the Hungarian Legislative Elections II. –: Empirical Analysis
89-111Views:109A radical electoral reform took place in Hungray in 2011, as a consequence of the sweeping
victory of the Fidesz-KDNP coalition in 2010. The government initiated and implimented
a reform which was not based on a consensus of all political parties. Taking advantage of its
political position (qualified majority government), Fidesz introduced among other changes the
winer compensation, and gave voting right to non-resident Hungarians. The present paper tries
to present some of the value-based and interest-oreinted arguments related to the reform of
2011, showing that the real (power) interests were hushed up, while the government tried to
legitimize the electoral reform based on several value-oriented arguments. -
The Effects of the 2011 Electoral Reform on the Results of the Hungarian Legislative Elections I. : Theoretical aspects of the reform
195-209Views:70The second wave of democracy after World Wa II, followed by the third wave in the 1970’s and
the 80’s – including the historic democratic transitions in Eastern Europe after the collapse
of the Soviet Empire – led to the expansion of democratic electoral systems around the world.
The design of electoral systems and of the undergoing electoral reforms has become a vital
component of the democratization process. The study of the theory and politics of electoral
reform led to the adoption of new theoretical and methodological approaches in order to cope
with the challenging phenomena.
The main goal of this paper is to interpret the concept of reform, and to unfold some of
theoretical aspects of it in order to identify some of the main components of the concept. With the theoretical approach we can get a better understandic of the reform itself, and we can
demonstrate that electoral reform is a complex process which should not be reduced to a simplistic
model in which a few actors driven by a few motives can fully explain the whole phenomenon.
The theoretical study of the reform can show that some politial events, the established party
system (first and foremost the distribution of power between the various parties), the type of the
actual electoral system (its advantages and disadvantages) as well as some contingents factors
must be taken into consideration in order to have a better understanding of the nature of the
political arena in which reform proposals are promoted and the reform itself takes place. -
The 2019 local elections in Szeged
52-66Views:45The 2019 local, municipal election outclasses the second-order elections in the given political constellation. This is especially true in the case of Szeged, where the opposition – unlike the situation at the national level – has the power for a long time. To change this situation, the governing parties, taking advantage of their dominant position – and using all means – conducted a very vigorous campaign, changing the city into a battlefield. According to the results, the governemt’s attempt was not successfull, it was rather contraproductive. The reigning mayor and city management won an unprecedented victory. The root cause of it is a special urban policy which extracted the local politics from the partyfights and overrode party interests, and which represented the interests of the city succesfully and with credibility even against cross-wind. Based on the cooperation of the entire opposition the implemented urban policy is symbolized by and embodied in the person of the mayor in office since 2002.
