The culture demonstrates itself in the shared values, attitudes, beliefs, norms and behaviours of people and it is distinguished from each other by differences in those shared meanings of people interacting. As culture is varied across countries, leadership styles are also varied across countries and are not exercised in the same way across different cultures. They are imported in accordance with the cultural environment in which they are perceived. Therefore, understanding the culture is significant in order to explain preferences of leaders concerning leadership styles. The main purpose of the present dissertation is to provide an overview of the relationship between Turkish culture and the way in which leadership is exercised by Turkish female leaders. The present study is completed in three steps in order to demonstrate that the existing relationship between the Turkish culture and leadership styles of female leaders in Turkey. In the first step, the study examined what culture is, what dimensions of the national culture are, what leadership is and how leadership styles are culturally-linked. In the second step, the paper investigated how female leaders perceive and exercise different leadership styles across different cultures. In the third step, the study researched what cornerstones of Turkish culture and how anticipated leadership styles of Turkish female leaders are shaped by Turkish culture.     The study followed a qualitative research approach based on the grounded theory. Ten female leaders coming from different backgrounds were interviewed in order to draw a holistic picture of the relationship between Turkish cultural values and leadership styles of Turkish female leaders. The findings of the study indicate that the Turkish culture has an influence on leadership styles of Turkish female leaders. According to the results, while Islamic values have no significant impact on leadership behaviours of female leaders, such cultural attributes as collectivism, high power distance, uncertainty avoidance and paternalism have a huge impact on leadership styles of Turkish female leaders.       The research examined only leadership styles of Turkish female leaders. Therefore, this study recommends a future research which will investigate leadership styles of Turkish males in order to understand whether gender has also an effect on leadership styles of Turkish leaders.

Cette thèse étudie la culture d’entreprise occidentale et la culture nationale gabonaise en tant que déterminants des valeurs culturelles au travail, des stratégies de négociation, de l'engagement au travail, et les risques psychosociaux (absentéisme et présentéisme). Les données quantitatives et qualitatives ont été recueillies auprès des salariés gabonais exerçant au sein entreprises occidentales. Globalement, la culture nationale et la culture d’entreprise occidentale sont différentes. Dès lors, les salariés orientés vers les valeurs culturelles nationales soutiennent moins la culture d’entreprise occidentale. Inversement, ceux qui soutiennent la culture d’entreprise occidentale appliquent moins leur culture nationale. Le choix de l’une des cultures dépendrait de leurs valeurs individuelles, et de leurs stratégies de négociation.De plus, la culture d’entreprise occidentale freine l’absentéisme et favorise l’engagement au travail. Cependant, elle présente aussi des risques, car elle favorise directement et indirectement le présentéisme au travail via l’engagement au travail. Finalement, les problèmes que pose l’interculturalité dans l’environnement professionnel sont toujours d’actualité. Ils détériorent les conditions de travail et mettent à mal le bien-être des salariés. Les conflits qui en découlent sont souvent mal gérés et semblent s’amplifier par des incompréhensions dues aux différences culturelles. / This dissertation studies Western corporate culture and Gabonese national culture, as determinants of workplace cultural values, negociation strategies, workplace engagement, and psychosocial risks (absenteeism, and presenteeism).Quantitative and qualitative date were collected among Gabonese workers of western corporate.Overall, national culture and Western corporate culture different. Workers who support their national culture are less exposed to Western culture. Gabonese embracing Western culture are less tempted to support their national culture. The choice of one culture depends on their individual values, and on their negociation strategies.Moreover, Western corporate culture affects negatively absenteesism, and positively workplace engagement. However, it has some risks as it influences directly and indirectly presenteeism via workplace engagement. Finally, issues of interculturality in professional environment remain recurrent. These problems lead to the deterioration of not only working conditions, but also the well-being of workers. The conflicts that are generated, are mostly mismanaged. They are worsened off because of misunderstanding due to different cultures.

Titel: Kulturens modererande effekter på sambandet mellan CSR och CFP Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi. Författare: Ferdous Foroughi och Shabab Hasan Handledare: Jan Svanberg Datum: 2019 - juni Syfte: Företagens sociala ansvar (CSR) har utvecklats till ett viktigt ämne både för företag och dess intressenter. Varierande resultat gällande effekten av CSR-insatser på företagsprestanda har tidigare rapporterats. Tidigare studier undersöker och fokuserar på en liten del av CSR med många olösta teoretiska och empiriska frågor till följd av detta. Det har även visats att kultur påverkar beslutsfattandet i synnerhet i relation till CSR. Syftet är därmed att undersöka om nationell kultur har modererande effekter på sambandet mellan CSR och finansiell prestation (CFP) hos börsnoterade bolag i världen.   Metod: Studiens vetenskapsteoretiska utgångspunkt är positivism med hypotetiskt-deduktiv ansats. En kvantitativ forskningsstrategi används för 3230 börsnoterade företag med data från en femårsperiod 2013 - 2017. Datan baseras på sekundärdata inhämtad från Thomson Reuters Eikon, Världsbanken och Hofstedes kulturindex, vilken analyserats med univariata och bivariata statistiska tester samt multipla regressionsanalyser i statistikprogrammet IBM SPSS Statistics. Resultat & slutsats: Det finns ett positivt samband mellan CSR och CFP. Nationella kulturer har modererande effekter på det sambandet. Genom att använda Hofstedes kulturdimensioner har det visats att maktdistans (PD), osäkerhetsundvikande (UAI), maskulinitet (MAS) och långtidsorientering (LTO) har negativ modererande effekter, medan individualism (IDV) och tillfredsställelse (IND) har positiv modererande effekter på sambandet mellan CSP och CFP. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar med ny kunskap för att fylla forskningsgapet gällande nationella kulturers modererande effekter på sambandet mellan CSR och finansiell prestation. Studien bidrar på ett värdefullt sätt till både tidigare teori och empiri samt lyfter fram nationella kulturers påverkande roll för företagens finansiella prestation. Förslag till vidare forskning: Det behövs flera liknande studier med andra variabler som kontrollerar och analyserar sambandet. Vidare föreslår vi också att genomföra en liknande studie som även inkluderar icke-börsnoterade bolag, för att omfatta flera länder och dessutom en längre tidsperiod än fem år för att se om nationella kulturer påverkar sambandet på ett annat sätt. Nyckelord:Corporate social responsibility, corporate social performance, corporate financial performance, nationell kultur, Hofstedes kulturdimensionsteori. / Title: Culture’s moderating effects on the relationship between CSR and CFP Level: Student thesis for Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration Authors: Ferdous Foroughi och Shabab Hasan Supervisor: Jan Svanberg Date: 2019 - june Aim: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been developed to become an important subject for both corporates and their stakeholders. Varying results have been reported regarding the effect of CSR initiatives. Prior studies investigate and focus on a small part of CSR with following unresolved theoretical and empirical questions. It has also been shown that culture affects decision making, particularly in relation to CSR. The aim of this study is hence to investigate whether national culture has moderating effects on the relationship between CSR and corporate financial performance (CFP) among listed corporations in the world. Method: A positive research methodology has been applied with a hypothetical-deductive approach. A quantitative research strategy is used for 3230 listed corporations with data from a five-year time period 2013 - 2017. Data is based on secondary data from Thomson Reuters Eikon, World Bank and Hofstedes cultural index, which were analyzed with univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses in the statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics. Result & Conclusion: There is a positive correlation between CSR and CFP. National cultures have moderating effects on that correlation. Using Hofstede's cultural dimensions, it has been shown that power distance (PD), uncertainty avoidance index (UAI), masculinity (MAS) and long-term orientation (LTO) have negative moderating effects, while individualism (IDV) and indulgence (IND) have positive moderating effects on the relationship between CSP and CFP. Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes with new knowledge to fill the research gap regarding national cultures’ moderating effects on the relationship between CSR and financial performance. The study contributes in an insightful way to both prior theory and empirical data and emphasizes the role of national cultures on the corporates’ financial performance. Suggestion for future research: Several similar studies are needed with other variables that control and analyze the relationship. Furthermore, we also propose to carry out a similar study that also includes non-listed companies, to include several countries and, moreover, a longer time period than five years to see if national cultures affect the relationship in another way. Keywords:Corporate social responsibility, corporate social performance, corporate financial performance, national culture, Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory.

[pt] O propósito desta tese é identificar, descrever e explicar o processo através do qual fatores culturais, psicológicos, sociais, políticos e administrativos presentes na organização controladora interagem com a controlada brasileira, afetando o conhecimento organizacional desta. O último decênio presenciou o crescente debate sobre a globalização e seus impactos sobre a sociedade mundial, as nações, as organizações e os indivíduos. O enfraquecimento do poder do Estado nacional, principalmente como agente econômico, e a intensificação da competitividade empresarial em escala global foram acompanhados por ondas de fusões e aquisições que impactaram países, como o Brasil, carentes de investimento estrangeiro direto, em diversos setores econômicos, entre os quais o sistema financeiro. Embora correntes do pensamento estratégico, como a perspectiva baseada em recursos (resourcebased) reconheçam a importância do conhecimento organizacional - notadamente de sua dimensão tácita - como vantagem competitiva sustentável, ele tem sido examinado de forma fragmentada, separado da aprendizagem e da mudança, processos a que está indissoluvelmente ligado. Ademais, o processo de conhecer aparece isolado de seu contexto, embora vários fatores precisem ser levados em conta, principalmente quando é necessário examinar suas manifestações em empresas que tenham sido adquiridas por organizações estrangeiras. O estudo teve como foco as áreas de varejo de duas organizações bancárias que foram adquiridas por bancos estrangeiros, um britânico e outro holandês. A metodologia utilizada foi o estudo de caso múltiplo, com abordagem qualitativa, baseado em entrevistas semi-estruturadas com pessoal gerencial de agências de dois bancos, no Rio de Janeiro. As evidências produzidas por essas entrevistas foram complementadas pelas oriundas do exame dos documentos públicos de controladoras e controladas; de registros internos das controladas a que se teve acesso; da observação direta de alguns artefatos culturais nas agências; e por entrevistas com informantes qualificados de funções corporativas das controladas. A análise daí resultante mostra a insuficiência dos modelos teóricos correntes das diversas perspectivas isoladas - gestão de conhecimento; aprendizagem organizacional; organizações de aprendizagem; mudança organizacional; culturas nacionais; cultura organizacional; processo de internacionalização - para dar conta da complexidade do fenômeno do conhecimento organizacional e sugere uma abordagem integrativa com raízes na biologia do conhecimento e no construcionismo social. / [en] The aim of this dissertation is the identification, description, and explanation of the process through which cultural, psychological, social, political, and administrative factors that are present in a foreign acquirer interact with the Brazilian acquired company, affecting its organizational knowledge. The latest ten years have witnessed the growing debate on globalization and its impacts over the world society, nations, organizations, and individuals. The weakening of the power of the national State, chiefly as an economic agent, and the intensification of worldwide business competitiveness have been accompanied by waves of mergers and acquisitions that have affected countries, as Brazil, eager for foreign direct investment in several industries, such as the financial sector. Although some strategic thought schools, as the resource-based approach, reckon the importance of organizational knowledge - mainly in its tacit dimension - as a sustainable competitive advantage, it has been examined in a fragmented way, separated from organizational learning and change, to which processes it is inextricably linked. Furthermore, the process of knowing appears isolated from its context, although several factors need to be considered, mainly when it is necessary to study their manifestations in companies acquired by foreign organizations. This study focuses on the retail areas of two banks that have been bought by foreign - a British and a Dutch - banks. The methodology used was a two-case study, under a qualitative approach, based on semistructured interviews with branch managerial personnel of the two banks, in Rio de Janeiro. Evidences brought about by these interviews have been triangulated with those coming from the perusal of public documents about both the foreign owners and the Brazilian acquired banks; from the archival records to which we are allowed to have access; from the direct observation of some cultural artifacts in the retail branches; and from some brief interviews with qualified informants in the corporate headquarters of the Brazilian acquired banks. The resulting analysis shows the insufficiency of current theoretical models from several isolated perspectives - such as knowledge management; organizational knowledge; knowledge organizations; organizational change; national cultures; organizational culture; internationalization process - to grasp the complexity of organizational knowledge phenomenon and suggests an integrative approach rooted in cognitive biology and social constructionism.

This study identifies the characteristics of seven key principles of good/corporate governance at three levels: as notions that originated in business; in their applications to sport through systematic review; and in relation to the interpretations given to them in the Olympic Movement. The aims of this study are, thus, to establish and utilise the IOC s definitions/interpretations and operationalisations of corporate and/or good governance developed in a western framework and apply to a non-western NOC, the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC). This study adopts critical realist assumptions which give rise to the hypothesis that both the regularities of the Korean society and its unobservable social structures have an impact on the corporate governance of the KOC. It also uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine each interviewee s discourse in order to identify the knowledge embraced by it and to interpret social practice(s) and the exercise of power. CDA is employed in relation to four selected events follows: the KOC/KSC merger, budgetary planning, the recruitment of staff in terms of gender and disability equity and the processes used for selecting the KOC President and the Chef de Mission. The unobservable deep structure is shown to be real domain in Korean society by the social practices exhibited in the four events. The government and, in particular, the State President represent the highest and most influential authority in decision-making on Korean sports policy. That power relationship coupled with the pre-existing structure of the KOC/KSC s financial dependency on the government has resulted in a situation where the government has been able to interfere greatly in the KOC/KSC s overall decision-making on sports policy including the election of the President of the KOC. The KOC/KSC President is the most influential stakeholder in the decision-making within the organisation including the selection of Chef de Mission. As the pre-existing structure of cultural expectations determines that women should usually quit their jobs after marriage and that people with disabilities are incapable of working, the strongly male with abilities-dominated organisational culture has resulted in a social phenomenon whereby few females or people with impairments have succeeded in being promoted to senior positions. From the macro-level perspective, the first KOC/KSC merger accomplished on the orders of the State President shows the dominance of economic power as suggested in Marxist influenced forms of analysis. The incumbent KOC President, who is at the pinnacle of the business elite, contributed to the KOC/KSC merger, which illustrates the aspect of elitism. In connection with the budgetary process, this may be viewed as evidence of the existence of a neo-corporatist structure in which the state plays a central role and acts in a unitary way with the involvement of a limited number of actors. With respect to the meso-level perspective, the aspect of clientelism is exhibited since the government habitually appoints its political aides to be the heads of various sporting organisations. Concerning political governance, it becomes obvious that the government has direct control over KOC/KSC s policy. In terms of systemic governance, the relations among the domestic stakeholders of the KOC are more likely to follow a hierarchical type of governance, as the government has adopted the highest position and the National Federations are under the control of the KOC/KSC. With reference to Lukes (1974) second dimension of power this can be evidenced in the context of the non-decision making roles of women and the disabled. The IOC s interpretations of the key principles of corporate governance in a western framework are applied to the KOC. Accountability, responsibility, transparency and democracy are established but the KOC s governance practices are not equivalent, while effectiveness and efficiency are interpreted as the same ways of the IOC s. In general, power centralisation is apparent throughout the Korean cultural context. The KOC s power structure and organisational culture is likely to be concentrated to the KOC President within the organisation and broadly, the Korean government enjoys its power centralisation decision-making in the Korean context which gives rise to a peculiarly Korean way of interpreting and applying the principles of corporate governance. In such circumstances, nevertheless, where the KOC is making an effort to align its practices with the IOC s recommendations as much as possible, the indication is that the KOC is on course to reflect the IOC s governance practices.

The purpose of this doctorate thesis is to investigate the historical discursive construction of swedishness and foreignness in the Swedish culinary field, primarily during the period of 1900-1970, and to relate the changes in the articulation of these concepts to the overarching ideological shifts during this time-period. To achieve this objective a conceptual apparatus inspired by cultural studies, discourse analysis and rhetorical analysis is employed upon the primary material, which consists of Swedish- and foreign-signified cookbooks published in Sweden during the period of 1600-1970. It is further argued that communities of consumption, such as nationalized culinary cultures, are discursive constructions and that actors attempt to write individuals into these communities through the articulation of nationalized subject positions. In the thesis it is thus investigated how, when and perhaps why certain actors on a field attempt to discursively construct such communities of consumption during a certain era. The chapters 2-5 of the thesis contain analyses of the historical construction of foreignness on the Swedish cultural field. Here various trends are traced in the construction of individual foreign cuisines, both in relation to each other and to the concept of culinary swedishness. An analysis is also made of the varied rhetoric that is used to promote foreign-signified cooking to the Swedish public during the examined time-period. It is concluded that the variations in rhetoric seem to covariate with larger ideological shifts in Swedish society. Chapters 6 and 7 specifically examine the construction of swedishness in the culinary field by focusing on the construction of national culinary icons such as the Smörgåsbord and Husmanskost and also on the evolution of the ideas of a distinct Swedish palate and a Swedish national cuisine. As a result of this investigation the perhaps surprisingly late codification of a Swedish national cuisine during the 1960’s is noted. It is further argued that this development coincides with a shift in the popular mood, where “the Swedish way of life” increasingly comes to be seen as threatened by external forces such as foreign influences and modernity, why certain actors on the culinary field express a necessity for the codification of what is perceived of as the “true Swedish cuisine”. A paradoxical result of this urge for preservation is the construction of new cultural phenomena dressed in a traditionalist and nationalist rhetoric that anchors them in a distant past.

In theory, the phrase "mergers and acquisitions" (abbreviated M&A) refers to buying, selling and combining different companies in order to gain improved financial performance, create a global presence, and face the global competitive market. Nevertheless, many researches have underlined the high rate of failure among M&A, and the difficulty to achieve expected results and synergies. Among the reasons of failure, many analysts have pointed out the determinant influence of the cultural aspect in the success or the failure of a cross-border merger. However, the cultural issue in M&A is often neglected and too less stressed. In order to have a better understanding of the cultural aspect in the merger and acquisition process, and point out its influence on the merger process as well as the corporate culture, we first present a theoretical part introducing the cross-border merger and acquisition concept with the perspective of the national culture, and the role that leaders could play in order to limit the negative impact of culture and the clashes on cross-border M&A. Therefore, a part including three cases of "cultural failure" in the merger process illustrates the concepts explained in the theoretical part. Those well-known cases are: DaimlerChrysler, UpJohn & Pharmacia, and Volvo – Renault. The cases show how the cultural issue had been underestimated and had implied cultural clashes and extra-costs for the companies involved. After concluding our findings, we end the thesis with a prospective part based on the possible evolution of the merger and acquisition market. Indeed, we believe that our research topic will gain importance in the future, and the influence of culture on M&A deals may increase.

Notre thèse compte trois articles. Premièrement, nous analysons de manière systématique les articles publiés dans les journaux à comité de lecture en finance qui font référence à la culture. Il s’agit de faire émerger les définitions en usage, à partir d’une analyse du terrain académique. Nos résultats sont les suivants : l’usage est généralement lié à l’énigme pays, il concerne un champs d’investigation large, il est marqué par une forte polarisation disciplinaire, et aucun cadre théorique accepté n’est identifiable. En conséquence nous nous attachons à l’étude d’un sujet où l’énigme pays prévaut : l’analyse des structures de capitaux. Notre échantillonnage - les sociétés européennes cotées sur 20 ans - procède directement de nos conclusions : nous nous efforçons de circonscrire les effets du développement économique, et de la variété qualitative dans les institutions légales, politiques, socio-économiques. Deuxièmement, nous analysons les interactions entre la politique financière des entreprises et les cycles d’affaire anticipés. Nous mettons en évidence deux mécanismes opposés, l’un pro-cyclique et l’autre contra-cyclique, caractérisant respectivement les sociétés à actionnariat dispersé et concentré. Notre argumentation se fonde sur les corollaires de la dispersion de l’actionnariat : elle entraine un équilibre d’agence particulier, une variation dans les coûts d’opportunité de l’agence et de la latitude managériale, un rôle disciplinaire spécifique pour l’endettement, un rapport de signaux altéré.Troisièmement, nous démontrons que ce mécanisme principalement financier, - de polarisation de la politique financière en fonction des cycles d’affaires anticipés - est associé à un contexte institutionnel et à des comportements financiers différents. En particulier nous démontrons que la même polarisation empirique, observée pour la cyclicité du levier d’endettement des entreprises, est observée en relation aux politiques de dividende, au « market timing », concerne l’ancrage institutionnelle des sociétés, leur profil de transparence, certaines de leurs caractéristiques structurelles, l’environnement contractuel, ainsi que des variables culturelles. / This thesis is composed of three essays. The first is composed of a screening process that has been performed on peer-reviewed journals in finance, to investigate the recent rise in interest for cultural approaches. The aim has been to let definitions emerge in order to build a field-based analysis about culture in finance. The results include the following: the use of culture is mainly connected to the country puzzle; it concerns a very large range of topics; there is a marked polarization in approaches; and, finally, no consensual framework emerges from the screening process. As a result, the focus has been on a subject where the country puzzle is looming large: i.e. capital structures. A sample has been taken, consistent with the first essay findings and recommendations. The variability of the sample is limited in terms of: economic development, and judicial, political, institutional quality, and has focused upon European listed firms over a 20-year period.In the second essay, the interactions between firms’ financial policies and expected business cycles have been investigated. Two conflicting mechanisms have been evidenced, finding: firms with dispersed ownership lead pro-cyclical policies, while firms with concentrated ownership lead contra-cyclical policies. The theoretical considerations unfold from the idea that ownership dispersion implies a different mix in agency relations, and entails specificities in agency costs and the benefits of managerial discretion, while it fosters differing needs for such things as, disciplining through debt and signaling. The third essay shows that, both, the pro- and contra-cyclical mechanisms are mediated by structural, cultural and institutional factors. Specifically, it is demonstrated that the pro-cyclical effects are observed in contexts similar akin the “U.S Role Model”; furthermore, the effects encompass varying dimensions of capital structures, such as, cyclicality of leverage, market timing or still dividend policies, and they extend to varying contextual dimensions, including ownership dispersion, institutional anchoring, transparency, risk, structural variables for firms, the contracting environment, and measures of national cultures.

This dissertation argues that Gyekye, in his idea of communitarianism, has a contribution to make towards the understanding of the socio-political structures of multicultural communities in Africa. Gyekye's construct of metanationality, in relation to his communitarian ethics, addresses the socio-political and cultural problems confronting multicultural communities, with particular reference to Nigeria. In an attempt to achieve his idea of a "metanational state", Gyekye claims that: (1) "personhood" is partially defined by a communal structure; (2) equal moral attention should be given both to individual interests and community interests; (3) it is necessary to integrate the "ethic of responsibility" with "rights"; (4) members of the nation-state should be considered equal; (5) in order to achieve nationhood in a multicultural community, it is essential to move beyond "ethnicity" and (6) in an attempt to form a national culture, attention should be drawn to "the elegant" aspects of cultures of various ethno-cultural communities. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.A. (Philosophy)

L’histoire a toujours occupé une place singulière au sein des sciences sociales mais qu’en est il de sa place dans le contentieux constitutionnel comparé des démocraties occidentales ? Le présent travail de recherche tendra ainsi à démontrer que la référence à l’histoire est bel et bien présente et qu’elle revêt un impact décisif sur les solutions constitutionnelles effectivement retenues pas le juge comme sur la substance même des droits et libertés fondamentaux. Il apparaîtra, en effet, que l’histoire, jaillissant dans le contentieux constitutionnel sous la forme d’un référent juridique type pouvant faire l’objet d’une systématisation au sein du droit comparé, contribue, par le truchement du juge constitutionnel à l’établissement comme au fonctionnement de l’État de droit contemporain. De la même manière, la symbolique particulière des évènements historiques qui seront mobilisés, c’est à dire leur charge positive ou négative pour l’État de droit, va nourrir la volonté juridictionnelle du juge d’assurer la rupture avec un fait historique tragique ou à l’inverse de conforter un héritage historique glorieux. Juge qui, en dernier analyse, pourra être conduit, conformément au rôle social nouveau que lui confère les démocraties constitutionnelles contemporaines, selon une utilisation soutenue du référent historique, à réparer directement ou plus indirectement les préjudices nés de l’histoire comme à renforcer ou à limiter le sens des droits et libertés fondamentaux devenus historiquement circonstanciés / History has always occupied a singular place within the realm of Social Sciences and the question of its functions in comparative judicial review deserves to be raised. This research intends to demonstrate that the historical argument has a decisive impact on constitutional decisions as well as on the substance of fundamental rights and freedoms. History, being systematized in comparative law, through the form of a standard legal argument, contributes, via constitutional review, to the establishment as well to the operation of the rule oflaw, today. The immediate legal logic of such historical impregnation will be analysed through the work of the judge in the motivation of its decisions. In the same perspective, the singular meaning of historical events and their positive or negative impact, feeds judicial interpretation, either breaking away from a tragic historical event or consolidating a glorious historicalheritage. The judge, in accordance with his new social function recognized in western democracies, is lead to repare directly or indirectly, the damages resulting from historical events as well as to strenghten or limitate the scope of fundamental rights, which appear today, historically situated