Suchergebnisse

This article argues that the contributions of the Czech philosopher, Jan Patočka, have been overlooked in the study of International Relations (IR), and more generally international political theory. Attention here is drawn to the many distinctive ideas particular to Patočkian philosophy, such as the solidarity of the shaken and the care of the soul, which combine accounts of a Central European philosophy and dissident political reactions to totalitarian rule. The legacy of Patočka's work frames the latter part of the article, which examines Central European identity and 'samizdat' as often neglected reference points in IR. The article concludes by drawing these themes together in an account of rupture, inspired by the solidarity of the shaken and care for the soul.

Talk of a "greater" this or that Balkan nation-state has subsided in recent years as the region experienced the creation of ever more minirepublics—a total of eight on the territory of former Yugoslavia. This trend toward fragmentation was initiated by petty nationalists and fostered by the United States and European powers that found it convenient and desirable to dominate and exploit a bunch of fiefdoms. The outside powers reinforced the new system of minirepublics by inviting candidacy in their continental economic organization, the European Union, and their now global security organization, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. But is "greater" gone forever from the Balkan vocabulary? It might be prudent not to banish the concept. Think of the phrase of the late Willy Brandt spoken in 1989: "Jetzt wächst zusammen was zusammen gehört"—"Now grows together what belongs together." Applied to the Balkans in coming decades the ethnic Albanians now living in at least five Balkan states and the ethnic Serbs living in five states, as well, are developing growing kinship with their fellow nationals beyond the current frontiers and local allegiances that currently separate them.

Abstract.Since the second half of the 1990s, cross‐sectoral, sectoral and company‐level bargaining has developed into a key movement in transnational industrial relations in the European Union. Originally stimulated by EU institutions, these forms of bargaining have since progressed autonomously. At present, it is difficult to say exactly what effect, if any, they can have on individual working conditions. Based on a 2005 report to the European Commission, this paper argues for EU legislative action to create an optional framework for transnational collective bargaining, in the form of a Council regulation to be adopted under the social and economic cohesion chapters of the EU Treaty.