Regionalism in Central Asia is often identified with the dominance of tribal affiliations in politics. This classification, however, is problematic because it neglects the extent of social change under the Soviet rule. In Soviet Turkmenistan state structures were relatively strong. However, personal relations within the Communist party had preserved patrimonial elements within the state. The dissolution of the Soviet Union led to a stronger patrimonialization of authority relations. In Turkmenistan, this process led to an extreme form of a neo-patrimonial state due to the personal and arbitrary rule of its president Nijazov.

The increasing concentration of power in the hands of the presidential families in all Central Asian states led to the personalisation of the state during the last years. The presidents successfully established neo-patrimonial, authoritarian regimes with a high level of consolidation but without fulfilling the criterion of democracy. The article explores the strategies the presidents use to maintain their authority and discusses which political developments can be expected concerning the question of succession.

Rezensierte Literatur: Hans-Jürgen Burchardt: Zeitenwende. Politik nach dem Neoliberalismus, Schmetterling Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, 320 S., ISBN 3-8965-7610-0 Olaf Kaltmeier/Jens Kastner/Elisabeth Tuider (Hrsg.): Neoliberalismus – Autonomie – Widerstand. Soziale Bewegungen in Lateinamerika, Westfälisches Dampfboot, Münster 2004, 278 S., ISBN 3-896-1578-9 Oliver Diehl/Wolfgang Muno (Hrsg.): Venezuela unter Chávez – Aufbruch oder Niedergang?, Vervuert Verlagsgesellschaft, Frankfurt am Main 2005, 176 S., ISBN 3-86527-180-4 Mahler, Claudia / Norman Weiß (Hrsg.): Menschenrechtsschutz im Spiegel von Wissenschaft und Praxis, Berliner Wissenschafts- Verlag, Berlin 2004, 373 S., ISBN 3-8305-0581-7 Christoph Rohde: Hans J. Morgenthau und der weltpolitische Realismus, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2004, 387 S., ISBN 3-531- 14161-9 Heiko Borchert (Hrsg.): Vernetzte Sicherheit. Leitidee der Sicherheitspolitik im 21. Jahrhundert Vernetzte Sicherheit; Bd. 1, Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn 2004, 84 S., ISBN 3-8132-0824-9 Francis Fukuyama: Staaten bauen. Die neue Herausforderung internationaler Politik, Propyläen Verlag, Berlin 2004, 191 S., ISBN 3-549-07233-3 Clyde Prestowitz: Schurkenstaat – Wohin steuert Amerika? Artemis & Winkler Verlag, Düsseldorf, Zürich (2004), 368 S., ISBN 3-538-07181-0 Claus Neukirch: Konfliktmanagement und Konfliktprävention im Rahmen von OSZE-Langzeitmissionen. Eine Analyse der Missionen in Moldau und Estland, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden 2003, 333 S., ISBN 3- 8329-0033-0 Patricia Bauer/Helmut Voelzkow (Hrsg.): Die Europäische Union – Marionette oder Regisseur? Festschrift für Ingeborg Tömmel, Forschungen zur Europäischen Integration, Bd. 10, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2004, 362 S., ISBN 3-531- 14430-8 Mateusz Falkowski/Kai-Olaf Lang: Wspólne zadanie. Polska, Niemcy i Ukraina w przeobrazajacej sie Europie (Gemeinsame Aufgabe. Deutschland, Polen und die Ukraine im sich wandelnden Europa), Instytut Spraw Publicznych, Warszawa 2004, 152 S., ISBN 83-88594-74-5 Carlos Closa/Paul M. Heywood: Spain and the European Union, Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills New York 2004, 274 S., ISBN 0-333-75339-9 Wolfgang G. Schwanitz (Hrsg.): Deutschland und der Mittlere Osten, Comparativ, Leipziger Beiträge zur Universalgeschichte und vergleichenden Gesellschaftsforschung, Jg. 14, Heft 1, Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2004, 186 S., ISBN 3-937209-48-4 Annotationen: Franz Ansprenger, Wie unsere Zukunft entstand. Ein kritischer Leitfaden zur internationalen Politik, Reihe Politik und Bildung Band 34, 3. vollständig überarbeitete und ergänzte Auflage, Wochenschau Verlag, Schwalbach am Taunus 2005, 360 S., ISBN 3-89974- 084-X Norbert Mappes-Niediek: Balkan-Mafia. Staaten in der Hand des Verbrechens – Eine Gefahr für Europa, Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2003, 216 S., ISBN 3-86153-313-8 Christine Normann: Polens Rolle in der Verfassungsdebatte, Region – Nation – Europa 28, LIT Verlag, Münster 2005, 184 S., ISBN 3-8258-8468-6 Andreas Umland (Hrsg.): The Implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in Russia. Philosophical, Legal and Empirical Studies, ibidem Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, 224 S., ISBN 3-8982-1387-0 Dorothea Topf: Auslandsberichterstattung im öffentlich-rechtlichen Fernsehen – Das Bild der „Dritten Welt“, Verlag Dr. H.H. Driesen, Taunusstein 2003, 159 S., ISBN 3-936328-08-8

On May 1st 2004 the European Union was enlarged with ten new countries. Eight of these share a common background as satellite states of the former Soviet Union and today three more are candidate countries for an EU membership. These countries share a state-communist past. In terms of gender equality this affects the countries’ norms regarding gender and the conception of equality between the sexes. The EU has an outspoken commitment to gender equality and has throughout the years developed a number of Equal Opportunity Policies to combat the problem with gender discrimination within the EU. What happens when the EU is implementing these policies into the former communist countries and norms from two different environments meet? T he thesis aim to critically review and discuss EU equal opportunity policies concerning the labour market in the former communist countries from perspectives of neo-institutionalist and contemporary feminist theory. The discussion concern obstacles to change and the creation of norms regarding gender equality, and whether the specific background (the communist experience) shared by the countries of the Eastern Europe might have implications for the process. The thesis uses a multi strategy approach, combining text studies, interviews and quantitative data. The analytical framework consists of concepts relating to change and norm formation from cultural neo-institutionalism and a feminist perspective. The input consists of the present rules and roles in the former communist countries and the existing EU equal opportunity policies. The situation that appears when the perspectives meet is analysed from a critical feminist perspective based on modern debates regarding the east-west dichotomy within the school of feminism. By adding concept of change from the school of cultural neo-institutionalism the situation can be evaluated from a norm creating perspective. This creates an opportunity to discuss potential future scenarios. The findings of the thesis show that there is a significant difference between the theoretical foundation for a discussion on gender equality between the EU15 and the CEEC11. This is reflected in a lack of gender awareness in the CEEC11 acknowledged by both NGOs and EU officials. The implication of this is that the EU is challenged to make the public aware of the importance of these values. They are forced to create a change in the norms governing gender equality in the CEEC11. However, the findings also show that the EU is somewhat uncritical towards its own role as the norm shaper in the process. There is a need for the European Commission to reflect over the present equal opportunity policies in order to create sustainable change. If the EU fail to do so it will most likely be the uncontested norm-holder and socialisation ceases to be a two way process. The consequence may be ineffective policies.

This work concerns the linguistic relativity hypothesis, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which, in its most general form claims that ‘lan-guage’ influences ‘thought’. Past studies into linguistic relativity have treated various aspects of both thought and language, but a growing body of literature has recently emerged, in this thesis referred to as neo-Whorfian, that empirically investigates thought and language from a cross-linguistic perspective and claims that the grammar or lexicon of a particular language influences the speakers’ non-linguistic thought. The present thesis examines the assumptions about language that underlie this claim and criticizes the neo-Whorfian arguments from the point of view that they are based on misleading notions of language. The critique focuses on the operationalization of thought, language, and culture as separate vari-ables in the neo-Whorfian empirical investigations. The neo-Whorfian stud-ies explore language primarily as ‘particular languages’ and investigate its role as a variable standing in a causal relation to the ‘thought’ variable. Tho-ught is separately examined in non-linguistic tests and found to ‘correlate’ with language. As a contrast to the neo-Whorfian view of language, a few examples of other approaches to language, referred to in the thesis as sociocultural appro-aches, are reviewed. This perspective on language places emphasis on prac-tice and communication rather than on particular languages, which are vie-wed as secondary representations. It is argued that from a sociocultural per-spective, language as an integrated practice cannot be separated from tho-ught and culture. The empirical findings in the neo-Whorfian studies need not be rejected, but they should be interpreted differently. The findings of linguistic and cognitive diversity reflect different communicational practices in which language cannot be separated from non-language.

This thesis aims to explore the different aspects of the phenomenon of migration in Greece, as a case study. The choice of country is motivated by its geographical position at Europe’s external borders. In order to gain an insight into the reality that migrants are faced with when searching for a better life in Europe, a field study was conducted in Athens, Greece during a period of six weeks in the spring of 2010. The field work included interviews with various actors and individuals that are directly involved in migration issues, informal discussions with migrants and personal observations. Additionally, secondary sources such as previous studies were used. The framework used to approach the material included elements from neo-institutionalism, hermeneutics as well as critical theory. The most important conclusions reached incorporate that the rights of migrants are not respected in any aspect of the societal sphere, or in other words the three institutional pillars, the regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive. As a result, there are double standards applied to Europeans respective migrants. As a possible cause of the problematic situation described, underlying perceptions of national identity versus "otherness" are identified. These perceptions derive from a deeply rooted acceptance of social constructions such as national borders, as undisputable facts.

This thesis attempts to examine the relationship between liberal intellectuals and the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AKP) in Turkish politics. The Justice and Development Party was elected to power in the 2002 general elections, and has been continually in power since. The rise of the AKP was interpreted as a real historical break in Turkish politics since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, and sparked the emergence of new public discussions and academic debates on the significance of the party to Turkish politics. The rise and rule of the AKP was also prepared by the formation of a group of intellectuals who classified themselves as liberals or democrats, those focused on in this study comprising mainly columnists in Turkish newspapers. This intellectual stratum showed an exceptional sympathy and support towards the AKP, especially between the years 2002-2011, which also corresponded to the establishment of hegemony of the AKP in Turkish politics and the AKP&#039 / s furthering of neo-liberalization. This study analyzes the nature and multiple dimensions of the relationship between liberal intellectuals and the AKP in Turkish politics and within the larger context of neo-liberalism. The study employs concepts of hegemony and passive revolution and intellectuals developed by Antonio Gramsci, as a theoretical framework, and argues that this intellectual stratum provided the AKP with an ideological leadership during the establishment of the hegemony of the party in Turkish politics and contributed to the perpetuation of neo-liberalism in Turkey by the agency of the AKP.

This thesis engages peace studies in a liberalist approach in International Relations. The three main schools of liberalism have their shortage. Democratic peace theory suggests the correlation between democracy and peace, but cannot proof there be a necessary causality between them. Neo-liberal institutionalism claims that international institutions help to assure peace. However, institutions cannot be fair to every country. Interdependent theory claims that closer interdependence could bring peace. Nevertheless, the more interdependent countries are, the more conflicts there are. This thesis applies spontaneous order theory in international peace studies , which stresses the importance of freedom and law-making for keeping the best and free status of human being.

Postmodernism and neo-liberalism is often thought of as two opposite conceptions of the reality and the world. This thesis takes on a critical view of this assertion and the main purpose was to perform a correlation between postmodernism and neo-liberalism. With different theoretical assumptions about constructions of thoughts, agency and structure and the welfare-state a theoretical framework was created. According to this framework the two isms were correlated to each other and the welfare-state to see if there where similarities or dissimilarities between the isms. The assumptions of this thesis are that there are correlations between postmodernism and neo-liberalism in the constructions of thoughts, namely similar view on epistemology. The two isms also show similarity between each other towards the foundations upon which the modern welfare-state rests. This is mainly manifested in their common view of the institutions of the welfare-state, which the isms both finds problematic. This results in a mutual problematic view on positive freedom, the foundation of legitimacy, the means and economic democracy as they are manifested in a given welfare-state. However, the motive for criticism rests mostly on different justifications for the two isms. Anyhow, their views share doubts about the legitimacy of the welfare-state in common. This even though postmodernism is partly a result of the welfare-politics. This thesis also shows why postmodernism and neo-liberalism at least in a theoretical perspective can not continue to develop side by side.

21st-century Neo-anticolonial Literature and the Struggle for a New Global Order explores the twenty-first-century fiction of five writers and investigates the ways in which their works engage the legacy and evolution of empire, and, in particular, the expansion of global capitalism to the detriment of already-subjugated communities. Taking up a recent call by Postcolonial scholars seeking to address the contemporary challenges of the postcolonial condition, this project traces out three distinct forms of engagement that function as a resistance in the texts. The dissertation introduces these concepts via a mode of analysis I have called Neo-anticolonialism, a counter-hegemonic approach which, I argue, is unique to the twenty-first century but rooted in the anticolonial work of Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon. Building on a foundation laid by those activist scholars, this project argues that Neo-anticolonialism necessitates the bridging of discourse and activism; thus, the dissertation delineates the utility of Neo-anticolonialism in both literary scholarship and practical application. Through a close analysis of the fiction of the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jamaican Michelle Cliff, Amitav Ghosh, a South Asian writer, African American writer Edward P. Jones, and Black British writer Caryl Phillips, the project offers a Neo-anticolonial reading of several twenty-first-century texts. In doing so, I explain the depiction of these instances of resistance as Neo-anticolonial Refractions, literary devices which function as prisms that cast images thus exposing the perpetuation of inequality in the twenty-first century and its direct link to the past epoch. Moreover, each chapter, through an explication of the refractions, reveals how resistance occurs in the face of the brutal reality of oppression and how this cadre of writers engages with the history of empire as well as with its contemporary permutations.