In this MA thesis I want to examine if it is possible to be writing a historical narrative with other tools than words. Rufina Bazlova is a Belarusian textile artist, currently based in Prague, who is telling us her narrative about the falsified elections in Belarus held in August 2020. She does it using embroidery, strongly connected with traditional Belarusian symbols used in the crafts that has been an important source of belief in everyday life for women in Belarus since the early 11th century. What kind of narrative is the artist telling us? In what way can her embroidery be seen as cultural memories? I am using the methods formal analysis by Heinrich Wölfflin and iconography and iconology by Erwin Panofsky to explore the hidden meanings in five of Bazlovas embroidery pieces, Female solidarity, Parliament House, Streets of Belarus, Solidarity with Soligorsk and Run from a gun. They are all a part of the work of art named Belarusian Vyzyvanka. I am placing Bazlovas embroidery in the context of cultural memories by looking at them with the eyes of different researchers in the field of cultural memory studies. The thesis has a range from descripting the meaning of traditional textile symbols to implementing the methods of art history. I am continuing with placing the embroidery into the field of cultural memory studies and asking questions about freedom of speach and the political situation in Belarus today. I am looking back in the Belarusian history to find some of my answers and I am adding a transnational perspective to my examination.

According to Skolverket the aim of history as a subject is to teach the students about different narratives in history. The purpose of this overview is to analyze and compare what earlier research tells us about how World War II is portrayed in textbooks in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. To achieve this purpose we are focusing on a number of narratives. The ability to critically review textbooks is important in the profession because usually the facts that are presented are in the interest of the nation. The material that has been used was found through the databases: Education Research Complete (ERC) and ERIC via EBSCO. The sources have been reviewed and analyzed to make sure that they are relevant for the subject. To narrow the material further we have only used peer-reviewed sources. Furthermore, additional sources have been presented through Google Scholar. The result in this overview tells us about how the countries in question use different narratives as a tool in nation building and the creation of a national identity. Depending on the country the narratives change to either connect or disconnect from other countries and their actions. A lot of the focus in the textbooks deals with things that happen within their own countries borders and the people that live within those borders. On the contrary, other countries and the people within those countries tend to be forgotten, especially in cases such as foundation, suffering and resistance. Concluding the overview,  the different materials used all argue that textbooks play an important role in nation building and the creation of a national identity. Focusing on a number of narratives, the difference in how nations portray the same narratives in different ways to build a national identity is clear. The results presented by the sources opened up for discussions about the relation between the teacher and the textbook as well as how the textbook is used.

<p>This is a study of whether it is possible for the governmental form of democracy to be ap-plicable in states that have not had democracy as their governmental form earlier in their political history. In this thesis the concept of liberal democracy is the major theory used as well as the concepts of rule of law and civil society. After giving a description of the con-cepts the thesis continues with two chapters that respectively describe and explain the states of Belarus and Cuba. The two states are going to be used in the analysis at the end of this thesis.</p><p>The analysis includes several conditions to asses if democracy exists. These conditions are derived from the chapters on democracy and rule of law. In the analysis the states of Bela-rus and Cuba are analyzed based on the conditions derived from the chapters on democra-cy and rule of law. The results of the concluding discussion are that the probability for de-mocracy to survive in Cuba is higher than in Belarus because Cuba seems to be transition from an authoritarian form of regime to a form o f democracy. In contrast to Belarus, Cu-ba seems to be willing to open up from seclusion and isolation, as well as listen to its people than what the state of Belarus is willing to do.</p>

The thesis aims to estimate the future migration flows from Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova to the EU. Based on the experience of previous EU enlargements and econometric modelling using the method of Ordinary Least Squares with Fixed Effects, multiple forecasts are created. The forecasts capture the likely development of migration flows in the event of collapse of labour market restrictions as well as the case of no labour market liberalization. The results show that migration flows are expected to be moderate, posing no threats to the stability of the labour markets of EU member states. The increase of migration due to the accession to the EU is likely to be short-term, without substantial impacts in the long-run. Ukraine has the biggest migration potential and is likely to supply the highest amount of labour migration.

In this paper, I investigated the influence of the existing political power on the economical and social development of the state. The paper went deeper into positive and negative effects, state of economy within the years since the establishment of the Republic of Belarus, dominating social tendencies and the ways of improving the existing situation. The last part of the thesis presented analysis of whether Belarus is ready to enter European Union, as some of its members have already done ( Poland, Lithuania), why/why not. I assess that my own ideas contribute by approximately 30 % to the presented text.

In this thesis I focus on the retail trade development in Belarus in recent years and opportunities for entering the Belarusian retail market for foreign retailers. First of all I describe current situation in Belarus, both economic and political. Then I described the retail market, its basic indicators, the most common methods of sale, types of retail outlets and marketing communication. Finally I described consumer behavior of Belarusian customer and opportunities for foreign retailers to enter Belarusian retail market.

The European Union (EU) governance is very complex. Also, in order to have an impact on the democratic transformation of national settings in its Eastern Neighbourhood there is a need for the EU to govern more effectively. How can we understand the relations between the EU and countries in its Eastern Neighbourhood? Has the EU regional governance been able to bring positive change by influencing domestic processes including democratic institution-building in the region? What challenges has the EU encountered in its Eastern Neighbourhood and how has it responded to them? Even at times when the EU’s performance is being questioned by policy-makers and in academic literature, the EU retains a strong focus on sectoral and regional policies, along with a consistent presence in neighbouring countries. The six research papers of this thesis examine important aspects of regional development of the EU and its governance of the Eastern Neighbourhood. These analyses determine that the EU’s understanding of the governance of its Eastern Neighbourhood has developed and varied to a substantial degree since introduction of the European Neighbourhood Policy followed by addition of the Eastern Partnership. The papers provide empirical qualitative analysis on the factors shaping EU regional performance and address institutional, political, and cultural challenges that Ukraine and Belarus face in terms of democratization and regional cooperation. In addition, these papers engage with debates on borders and bordering in order to study the neighbourhood transformations through the European Neighbourhood Policy. New priorities, such as border management and a focus on multilateral initiatives under the Eastern Partnership, signalled the continuation of a region-based approach employed by the EU and the recognition of shared values, common traditions, and histories among neighbours in the EU’s shared borderland. / Graduate

Permission has been gained from Children’s Rehabilitation Centre, Minsk and from the relevant authorities in Belarus to use the name of the Centre in this thesis. This research explores the principal meeting points and tensions, for practitioners at Children’s Rehabilitation Centre Minsk, between Winnicott’s theories of the holding environment (1960) and play (1971), and current classroom practice with children with complex needs based on Vygotsky’s theory of defectology. It considers whether and in what ways those practitioners are able to assimilate Winnicott’s theories, and their usefulness in supporting classroom-based work with children with complex needs. Finally, the research explores perceived changes in relationships between staff and children arising from this experience, in accordance with CRC’s self-identified need for support in this area. A mixed-methods design was adopted, employing qualitative and quantitative research methods. Winnicott’s theories provide the framework for the development of a new evaluation instrument. This gives the theoretical structure for a specifically designed staff development programme, integrating teaching, experiential work and practice-based sessions, which was central to the fieldwork at CRC. Eight staff participants evaluated their usual musical interaction with a child with complex needs (pre-intervention). Following engagement with the staff development programme (intervention), participants undertook ten individual music sessions with the same child (post-intervention). Sessions were filmed, and two self-chosen extracts pre- and post-intervention were self-rated against the descriptors of the evaluation instrument. Participants then reflected on the experience with the child in interviews. To provide triangulation, the same 16 video extracts were randomised, and then rated in the same way by 16 UK music therapists in an online study. Thematic analysis of data shows that the experience of Winnicott’s ‘holding’ in the learning process enabled participants to attune to, and empathise with the child. Quantitative analysis shows consequent adaptation to the child. It is concluded that Winnicott’s theories are accessible, relevant and applicable within classroom practice at CRC, to support the establishment and development of positive relationships between staff and children.

This article deals with the explanation of failed democratisation as caused by political culture. Against the background of the Belarus’ autocracy, the author questions that political culture can be considered a reason for failed democratisation. The Belarus’ paternalistic political culture does not essentially differ from that of successfully democratising neighbouring states. A weak national conscience is the only specific characteristic of the Belarus autocracy, but it lacks a convincing theoretical link with democratisation. Nevertheless, in paternalistic political cultures, successful democratisation seems to need more incentives for people, due to higher adaptation costs.

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