Recent Trends In the Historiography of Soviet Russia since 2004 Research Paper

Recent Trends In the Historiography of Soviet Russia since 2004 - Research Paper Example This led to the acceptance of the more extensive anti-soviet traditional western account by a majority of the Russian scholars2. Andrei Sakharov indicates that, currently, the russian historical science is vibrant, dynamic and discussive, and is closely associated with global historiography3. These claims seem to be echoed by Kritika in whose pages several informative articles that have, in the recent past, been published to map the evolving ideological constellation of russian histological publications. Mironov argues that, the wall between historical research done in the cities and that done in provinces is diminishing, and so is the wall between Western and Russian historiograhy. Consequently, a community of Russianists is coming into being. In a brief review of the demographics and communication pathway of these lines of thought, Benedict Anderson writes extensively of the school â€Å"pilgrimages,† which encompass the pathways in education that were pursued by â€Å"nati ves† and â€Å"creoles† during the colonial period that gave rise to the notion of a nation in sites4. It is arguable that Russia has become a colony of the west. However, this is optimised by Minorov’s assertion of a progressively more integrated community. In terms of demographics, there are some advancements in the Russian information systems. However, in the post –Soviet era, the prone networks including the science academies and their branches have been eroded and remained only shells. A majority, in the academies, have taken refuge in tertiary institutions, in which they partake in multiple teaching workloads, as a means of survival. Many individuals, in the academic world, are too busy with multi-tasking thus cannot find time to write academic materials. It is evident that many academic institutions are staffed with scientists of a retiring age. Moreover, not many young people find jobs in the academic field to be alluring. Consequently, many scient ists are reported to be leaving for better jobs abroad. Another crucial topic is the mode of teaching of history in learning institutions. A critical examination indicates that a social history can have a significant effect, basing on its approach and debates as presented to the lay community, in schools through textbooks and may corrupt the public memory5. Catherine Marridale notes a significant lack of interest for historological studies, majorly among the younger generation and continual widening of the gap between lay and scholarly lines of specialization. She, at the same time, argues on the persistence of a discursive field in which Russian tropes maintain dominance. For schools and textbooks, during the perestroika era, there was a great interest in history. This is accompanied by a sharp decline, as people are immersed in a struggle to survive and deal with the woes resulting from drastic impoverishment. However, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov rekindled the public interest in 2001, on the mode of teaching of history, through his concern about the quality of the Russian history books6. As a result, the government indulged in a competition aimed at finding the top three text books to be used in schools. Consequently, the new standardized school

Legal Order of European Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Legal Order of European Community - Essay Example With these points in mind, let us try to find out to what degree it is justified to view the EC as representing a new legal order, and what aspects of this order are indeed unusual. For this purpose we will overview the history of the European law and legal structures, and then will try to single out those specific qualities of European law that contributed to the emergence of a new legal order within the EC. First of all, we should from the very beginning chart a clear interrelation between the EC law and the European Union (EU) law, which stems from the EU structure according to treaties. The EC is one of the so-called three pillars of the EU and is related to economic and social aspects of the single European market. The remaining two pillars are represented, in accordance with the Treaty of the European Union also known as the Maastricht Treaty, by Internal Security (Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters), and by Common Foreign and Security Policy. In the outlined context, the EC law is contained in the EC Treaty, EC Recommendations, EC Directives, and in the case-law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) (Van Gerven, 2005, pp.12-27). 1 TheThe ECs legal nature was fundamentally influenced by the ECJ, created in 1952, in its two precedent-setting judgements of 1963 and 1964. The first one was the famous Van Gend & Loos case, in which the transport company from Netherlands filed a suit against the states customs because a higher than usual duty was imposed on import of chemical products from Germany. "Van Gend & Loos" company viewed this action as a violation of the twelfth Article of the EEC Treaty (today this is the twenty-fifth Article of the EC Treaty), which banned increases of custom duties or introduction of new ones between Community members. The Dutch court passed this matter to the ECJ and asked for the clarification of the relevant Treaty article. This seemingly minor case instigated the ECJ to formulate some important fundamental principles that contributed to the formation of the legal order of the EC. During the Van Gend & Loos case investigation judges considered the issue of whether individuals also c an appeal to the EEC Treaty articles, and in spite of the opinion of the Advocate General and a number of governments, judges of the Court issued the resolution which stated that the EEC treaty was meant to be something more than only an agreement between states, but rather that it as well was related to all peoples. Thus, according to the logic of the Court, newly established European institutions empowered by sovereign rights affected both member states of the Community and their citizens. The conclusion that followed from these observation was that a new legal order was created in the international law which limited sovereignty of states in some areas for their benefit, and was equally binding for their citizens. 2 Soon, ECJ used Costa/ENEL case to clarify its position in more detail. This case stemmed from the situation when Italy in 1962 nationalised electrical industry and passed the assets to the National Electricity Board (ENEL). Mr Costa, who was a shareholder of one of the nationalised companies, claimed that his dividends were stolen, and refused to pay bill for