Academicus International Scientific Journal

11-19

Authors: Prof.Dr. Michele Marsonet

Is it possible to draw a border line between ontology and epistemology? A positive answer to this question looks attractive, mainly because it reflects convictions deeply entrenched in our common sense view of the world. However, anyone wishing to clarify the distinction between the ontological and the epistemological dimensions meets problems. This is due to the fact that the separation between factual and conceptual is not clean, but rather fuzzy. It is certainly correct to state that science means to offer correct information about the world, but the extent to which it succeeds in accomplishing this task is always questionable. We cannot claim that the picture provided by today science - our current scientific image of the world - is absolutely correct, because the history of science itself shows us that any such statement is likely to be rejected by future generations. While it may be recognized that science purports to offer a correct description of the real world, the past experience should also prompt us to accept its claims sub condicione, and to view them as merely provisional.

42-56

Authors: Dr. (PhD) Ilda Erkoçi

While Edinburgh is a beautiful and interesting city to visit per se, its literature is an added value which plays a crucial role in marketing the capital city. The importance of literature in generating tourism has been highlighted by a number of studies. The opposite is true as well: tourism can also lead to literature. Edinburgh is probably one of the best examples in this respect. Many people go there to just visit the city but encounter literature in unexpected places. This paper is an autoethnographic account of a literary tour in Edinburgh. It looks at how this city makes use of its literary heritage and why it is a great model to follow. The author contends that while literary tourism is open to any book lover, still, some strategies are needed to promote literature and bring it to the attention of people in new and interesting ways. The success of Edinburgh as a literary city owes a lot to the interactive ways used by its authorities to showcase literature and keep people interested through direct and active engagement. The paper has been structured as a combination of experiential and analytic writing, with the former reflected through an evocative autoethnography and the latter as an analysis of that experience.

67-91

Authors: Doctoral Candidate Keren Shua

The current research discusses the ethical aspects that were currently not studied yet in the context of the teacher attrition phenomenon and its impact on school effectiveness, which is measured in this research by promoting achievements basing the assumption that teacher perception of ethical climate might explain teacher attrition behaviors, including leaving teaching (Rosenblatt & Shapira-Lishchinsky, 2017). This research has examined teacher perceptions of school ethical climate through three dimensions found to be relevant in the 21st-century era in the aspects of organizational climate in general and school climate in particular, caring ethical climate, law and code ethical climate, and instrumental ethical climate. For this purpose, quantitative research is based on the pioneer researchers Victor & Cullen’s (1987, 1988) questionnaire and self-report of teachers regarding teacher tendency to leave the teaching profession, and their perception of learner achievement promotion in the context of ethical climate in their school was used. To deepen and expand the understanding of teacher perceptions, qualitative research including in-depth interviews was also performed. The research population consisted of 223 teachers from elementary and junior high schools in Israel. The current research indicates a principal finding that expresses the influence and importance of a caring ethical climate in reducing attrition behaviors and teacher attrition intentions and promoting learner achievements. Moreover, it was found that law and code ethical climate is correlated with promoting student achievements, and therefore integrating these two ethical climate dimensions will be the foundation for a program for new and senior teacher preservation in the education system. The research findings are currently relevant since the education system in Israel faces a severe shortage of teachers due to increased teacher attrition of teaching.

103-116

Authors: Ma. Iulia Brigitta Szabo, Dr. (PhD) Mariana I. Balaci

This study focuses on IT employee retention, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retaining and employing young IT professionals today is a challenging task for human resources employees. We believe that this is a topical and very relevant topic for the HR field as most companies are facing staff turnover, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also known that the IT sector is very dynamic and constantly evolving, companies need manpower and competitiveness among employers is high. In addition, a poor retention strategy can have a negative effect on the productivity and work quality of the IT department. And these are some good reasons for a company to invest in a retention strategy. Our research is qualitative in nature and we have sought to identify aspects of employee motivation and satisfaction with the benefits they receive from their employers. Understanding the real needs of IT employees was also one of the aims of this research. The results of the investigation indicated a strong relevance of retention means such as the salary, the team and the good relationship with colleagues, the working environment and the development opportunities available to employees within the company.

143-153

Authors: BSc. Catalina Elisa Dosa, Dr. (PhD) Ileana Simona Dabu

Rural area represents the population with a high work capacity, but with less employment opportunities than in urban areas, so in order to have a decent job 5 (five) needs are referred to: working conditions should be safe, both physically and mentally, people should have access to medical facilities, health, working hours should be ones in which you can rest and have time for family and compensation should be acceptable for the work done. The employment opportunities that people have differ depending on the environment they come from, so in rural areas the job opportunities are discrete, as it is the quality in work, both of them depending strongly on the area characteristics - whether it is developed or underdeveloped- and by its infrastructure, always considering that agriculture is most increased activity in these areas. The study aims to map and depict the occupational situation of people living in Romanian rural areas, coping with limited job opportunities, compared to those living in towns and cities, as well as how people in rural areas choose their jobs, how the labour market has influenced them to find a suitable job and where they can get or acquire the skills they need. As people in rural areas choose to migrate, the population is an ageing one and over time, villages will depopulate and the labour force and human resources will shrink.

176-205

Authors: P4rof.Dr. Agim Leka

The purpose of the research is to solve the paradox of religion integration in education, by the new balance between religion, philosophy and science, during the post communism transition. In the field of thinking, the process is the transition from ideology to integral thinking. It is realized through the re-evaluation of the topics of the integration of religion, transitology and integral though, education, inclusiveness, solidarity, new laicity and new secularity. In the philosophical sense, integration is the objective process of being developed. This is understood as a return to identity towards a universal being. In the context of the social being, the process realizes the opening and cooperative development of all mental, spiritual-religious, scientific, creative-artistic, economic, cultural, material and non-material political fields. It includes the individual, the community, and all institutions of social life. The path of integration development is the transitive movement in a spiral form. In Albania, with the fall of communism, freedom of religion was legalized according to the standards of European democracy. The rehabilitation of religious figures that had been condemned and persecuted by the totalitarian regime began. The post-communist transition brought profound changes in the field of faith and religion such as the new dimension in the relationship of society with religion, new and unfamiliar attitudes of believers to religion, new relations between the state and religious institutions, new relations between education and religion in public institutions, opening of religious schools and increasing the influence of religion through the media and religious literature. What is considered tolerance in Europe, in the Albanian case is respect. Albanians are the best model for religious tolerance (respect). There has never been a religious clash in Albania for any reason. Respect for the religious affiliation and religious belief of the other in the Albanian case is modeled as the guiding value of their identity and appears in everyday life as the acceptance of the other. For this reason, they are the best model of respect and acceptance of the other, regardless of religious affiliation. This is an ontological value, built over the centuries and continues to this day. Albanians have not converted, but have adapted to a religious belief for economic and survival reasons. Marriages with different religions and keeping two names (Christian and Muslim) are natural phenomena among Albanians. In Albania, there are in the family and tribe people with Christian and Muslim religions individuals with two names, Christian and Muslim: Kristo and Muhamed. Albanians have lived in peaceful symbiosis with the Slavs in the centuries of the latter’s influx into Albanian lands. They have also lived peacefully with other neighbors, Greeks or Romans. This is even though the neighbors have not always been peaceful with the Albanians.

009-026

Authors: Franco Ferrarotti

This essay tries to show the scientific validity of the biographical approach in social research. In a sense, it is the realization that nobody would talk about his or her intimate existential experiences, or Erlebnisse, to a tape-reading machine. The object of sociology is not an object. It is a person, a human being living in society, and as such it must be dealt with.

047-059

Authors: Marianna Chirivì, Grazia Moffa,

In the panorama of international migration statistics, there is a progressive growth of registrations of Italian citizens residing abroad. In particular, the steady increase in consular registrations based in the People’s Republic of China is striking. The expression “new emigrations” is an increasingly recurrent among scholars to highlight the quantitative and qualitative changes that have characterised Italian emigration abroad in recent years. The choice to emigrate depends on many factors, the very definition of new emigration calls into question aspects of the debate that imply a careful evaluation of the different components that characterize its profile. Which dimensions, above others, act on the choice to emigrate? Which aspects characterize the profile of Italians who decide to undertake an emigration experience in the People’s Republic of China, albeit temporary? New Italian migration in Shanghai is a Skilled Migration? In this article, we will focus on some results of a qualitative research conducted on the new Italian emigration to China1 . More precisely, in the following pages we try to bring out which dimensions act in the choice to emigrate and which aspects characterize the profile of Italians who decide to emigrate to Shanghai.

078-092

Authors: Geoffrey Ditta

Emerging markets are once again gaining the upper hand. According to the World Bank, current market trends indicate that emerging economies will account for more than 70% of global economic output by 2050. With the economic enigmas and the return of emerging economies, three billion new people have suddenly integrated into the global economy, all at once: one and a half billion Chinese, one billion Indians, and half a billion people from the former Soviet bloc. How then can the strategy that predominates in the internationalization of a company be identified? In this study we will define the necessary internal organization of a company and its activities and establish what changes must be made in the internal structure of employees regarding quantity, qualification, training and facilities for machines, technology, processes, and quality control. Before starting to promote the company internationally, it is advisable to check whether the brand can be used or whether it should be changed. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had profoundly affected international trade, investment and travel. The pandemic has slowed the physical movement of people, goods and services, which is also the slowbalization thesis, and this now deserves careful consideration. The goal of this paper is to examine the objective of internationalization and the international development of companies. In this study are introduced the theoretical basis and a discussion on how exporting companies need nowadays to ask the right questions and how the analysis of the economic management can help internationalize their business. The second part of the study includes the results and conclusions.

104-115

Authors: Štefan Šumah, Anže Šumah

The concept of fascism has been defined quite precisely by researchers in the field of political science and sociology, who also defined its main features or characteristics. However, with the word fascism (and its derivatives, e.g. fascists, fascist…) members of the left often label their opponents, thus, this is word is often misused. In essence, fascism is a word that has become synonymous with the word totalitarianism. With the analysis that was based on similar characteristics we concluded that totalitarianisms of both poles (if the classical left–right political spectrum is applied) exhibit more common features than, for instance, totalitarianisms and classical dictatorships, which are also often called fascist or semi-fascist regimes. Thus, German Nazism (often also presented as one of the forms of fascism) and Russian Bolshevism (as one of the extremes forms of socialism) or Titoism in Yugoslavia have more in common than e.g. German Nazism and Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile or the dictatorship of colonels in Greece (both also frequently referred to as fascistic regimes or semi-fascist regimes). Using the word fascism is often not so much about denoting the actual content as it is more for political propaganda and slandering the opponent. If it was based on actual characteristics, fascism (fascist, fascists…) could become an adjective to denote all totalitarianisms (left fascism, right-wing fascism, Islamic fascism…).

128-153

Authors: Douglas Moggach

This paper summarizes the major themes of my current monograph project and my recent co-edited volume on post-Kantian perfectionism. The central thesis is that Kant’s critique of rational heteronomy in the Groundwork effectively ruled out certain types of perfectionist ethics and their corresponding political applications, notably the programmes of Christian Wolff and his school, which were dominant in the German territories in the mid- to late eighteenth century. Kant’s critiques did not, however, preclude the emergence of a new type of perfectionism, no longer based on the state-sponsored promotion of eudaimonia or material, intellectual, and spiritual thriving, but on the advancement of freedom and the conditions for its exercise. Predicated on the idea of right, post-Kantian perfectionism focuses on maintaining and enhancing the juridical, political, and economic conditions for rightful interaction among self-defining individuals. Humboldt, Schiller, Fichte, Hegel, and the Hegelian School exemplify this new approach in different ways. Marx’s problematic relation to this tradition is outlined.

11-23

Authors: Richard A. Falk

In such a complex and uncertain world, it may help to think like a Hindu, and accept contradiction as more in keeping with social and political reality than is finding a right answer to complex policy puzzles. What is almost impossible for those trained within Western frames of reference is to grasp that there are diverse perspectives of understanding that may result in seemingly contradictory recommendations despite shared values and goals. Civilizational perspectives and personal experience inevitably color what we feel, think, and do, and so being likeminded when it comes abolishing nuclear weapons is often coupled with somewhat divergent views on what to advocate when it comes to tactics and priorities. In this spirit, this paper tries to depict a set of reasons why the goal of nuclear disarmament will never be reached so long as arms control and nonproliferation of nuclear weaponry are seen as the pillars of global stability in the nuclear age.1

45-55

Authors: Ahmed Bouchemal, Faiza Meberbeche Senouci

There is a commonly held view that African nationalism took shape out of contacts of African intellectuals with twentieth century Pan-African leaders. Yet, this interpretation lacked concrete evidence, as many of these intellectuals owed their ideological formulation to Nineteenth century teachings of Edward Wilmot Blyden. In his writings, Blyden articulated a thorough understanding of African’s strengths and weaknesses. For Blyden, Western civilization intended to make the African a caricature of European society. As a result, the situation of the African became one of chaos as he lived in strict psychological conflicts. A revival of the African personality rested as a solution to the distorted manhood of the African and a path to his future progress. This article examines Blyden’s theory of the African personality as revealed in early intellectual work in the Gold Coast (Ghana). Drawing on Blyden’s African personality theory, the article revealed that these intellectuals begun a vigorous campaign to oppose Europeanization of the African system of life and took an uncompromising stand against ideas of black “inferiority” and “backwardness”.

75-90

Authors: . Jessica Bayón Pérez, Andrés J. Arenas Falótico, José Lominchar

If we look back, evaluating the last two centuries, the productive environments of our societies have experienced several industrial revolutions that caused great changes in production and that, in turn, generated important changes in societies at all times. Likewise, the digital transformation that has been incorporated into the bases of companies, each one in its measure, has not yet reached its maximum potential, but it has changed the way we live and, therefore, the way we work. Historically, automation has come from the hand of specialization, not because of the manufacture of tractors the land has been stopped, but more has been produced and that production has been managed in favor of employment and economic health. Technological transformations hand in hand with digitalization and artificial intelligence generate opportunities, but they also represent a threat to a good part of traditional jobs and professions, since changes are rapid and the impact of new technologies is much greater; thus, the change in the training and qualification of workers is necessary. Like the looms in the 18th century and the production models at the beginning of the 20th, digital transformation is our present, but it will be much more powerful in the future, as it entails and will entail a redefinition of the labor market and the law that governs it. regulates. Globalization and technological changes have generated a need to address labor law from a global perspective; Furthermore, this right must not only be active, but also effective, solid, in accordance with international decent work standards.

104-121

Authors: Nafisa Yeasmin, Pavel Tkach

The Bay of Bengal is the largest bay in the world that forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (part of India) to the east. The regional management of the Bay of Bengal water area is performed by regional organisations such as ASEAN, SAARC, BIMSTEC and IORA unifying Bay’s coastal states. Nevertheless, differences in political and economic interests of the states, separate conflicts between states and consequences of the pandemic not only challenged the integrity of the regional management but also led to rising insecurity of the Bay of Bengal and fears to navigate in that area. In this article, the authors, in a more detailed way, will disclose existing regional management systems, concerns related to maritime security and give recommendations on how to increase efficiency in collective management of maritime security issues and how the concept of due diligence may play the vital role in the regulation of not only maritime security aspects but also aspects of environmental protection and potential transition to the blue economy

143-173

Authors: Roman Tandlich

This auto-ethnographic description of the experiences in the development of the teaching and learning approach, at the postgraduate level, introduces the impact of the community of practice in the development of the learning processes in South Africa, with an international view. The principles of community of practice are outlined and the theoretical grounding is provided in terms of the notion of assemblage theory, the definitions of fundamental and derivative epistemic authority, as well as the assemblage boundary and the personal intents of the community of practice members. The theoretical grounding is then applied through several iterations of the community of practice between 2006 and present. The adaptive nature of the community of practice as an assemblage and the function as a sociology-of-knowledge system are outlined.

184-193

Authors: Denis Areșan, Laurențiu Gabriel Țîru

This study is about student satisfaction in the online teaching process. The pandemic situation forced us to move the educational activities in the online environment for the safety of all its participants. The methodological design is the quantitative one, the research method used is the sociological survey. This study tried to identify students’ perception, effectiveness, satisfaction, and self-perceived efficiency regarding the teaching process in the online environment. The questionnaire was translated and adapted into Romanian. It consists of 26 questions, divided into five dimensions. The sampling method was the non-probabilistic convenience one, with voluntary participation. The results provided tell us those female respondents were more open to online methods, resulting in higher satisfaction despite common knowledge. However, the results should be viewed with reservations, as the data collected are not homogeneous, and the respondents were chosen by the voluntary participation method. This approach can be seen as a starting point for future research related to the satisfaction of the teaching process through e-learning.

214-225

Authors: Emanuela Furramani, Rrezart Bushati

This article aims to analyze the thematic of medical team liability considering the recent Italian Supreme Court case-law, highlighting the various problems linked to the identification of the responsibility of each member of the team. The participation of several subjects in the execution of medical treatment makes the question of criminal liability very complex, especially when it comes to inauspicious events, such as injuries or death, occurring during medical treatment. The question concerns the exact identification of the duty of care and vigilance of the medical team and whether this duty is in line with the principle of individual criminal responsibility guaranteed by Article 27 of the Italian Constitution. In this regard, the case-law has elaborated the so-called “principle of reasonable confidence”, according to which the division of labour that belongs to each member should involve a delimitation of his responsibility, limited only to what is within his competence, except in case of the person who organizes, directs, and controls the team. Precisely, based on this principle, the Italian Supreme Court in 2018 reasserted that in the medical team is necessary to identify the role played by each member, thus avoiding resorting to objective responsibility.

235-254

Authors: İlknur Sertdemir

Mencius, referred to as second sage in Chinese philosophy history, grounds his theory about original goodness of human nature on psychological components by bringing in something new down ancient ages. Including the principles of virtuous action associated with Confucius to his doctrine, but by composing them along psychosocial development, he theorizes utterly out of the ordinary that makes all the difference to the school. In his argument stated a positive opinion, he explains the method of forming individuals’ moral awareness by means of inseparable integrity of feelings and thoughts, saying human being are born innately good. According to Mencius, heart-mind correlation is the motivational complement of inner incentives. Knowledge and virtue, which are extensions of inborn goodness, comprehended intuitively; then affective motives respond to circumstance, what is learned transmits to cognitive process and eventually behavior emerges. Comparing during the years of Warring State period he lived, in western geography Aristotle, who is one of the pioneers of Greek philosophy, argues deductive and inductive methods in mental activity. On the other hand, Mencius uses analogical reasoning throughout his self-titled work. This essay is an attempt to assert that most postulates of developmental theories, which have been considered an integral part of modern psychology, begin with Mencius in early era. Secondly, this study also aims to discuss the main paradigm of Mencius across emotivist-rationalist opposition, which keeps emotion above thought as well as reason above emotion.

11-15

Authors: Carin-Isabel Knoop

The dislocation of the Pandemic caused social convulsions around the world. The middle and ruling classes seem to have rediscovered humans – essential workers, employees, members of underrepresented minorities, and children. In our rush to atone our sins and redress imbalances, we are not stopping to define words nor, as the pragmatists would want us to, think through what our moral precepts mean in practice. Nor do we have the tools in accounting, the “language of business,” to capture our efforts. However, teams that do not take the time to establish ground rules and standard definitions often get a faster start but don’t always do the best work nor have the most impact. Let’s give ourselves better changes.

39-59

Authors: . Fernando Lopez-Alves

What is the future of liberal democracy? Is the “liberal” ingredient of 21st century democracy compatible with its “demos”? Are developed democracies more equalitarian and less stratified than other regimes? Or are present day democracies evolving into something different that needs a new definition? By the early 1990s liberal democracy appeared to have become the dominant system at a global scale. The hope of citizens, scholars, and observers was that the stride toward broader democratization and inclusion would continue. It did, but as this paper argues, the forms adopted by democratic regimes, especially under the fourth industrial revolution, are not necessarily democratic. Rather, liberal democracies have created a new aristocracy that includes high tech monopolies, extremely skilled professionals, and a selected intelligentsia that from social media, conglomerates, and many times Hollywood, supports this new stratified version of the democratic polity. Family dynasties, clientele networks, and mechanisms of reward and punishment reminds us of the pseudo democracies of the late 19th century. Surely the dwindling middle class in developed democracies still have some consumer power based on credit. Global markets offer many more available consumer goods than in the past, creating the illusion that all is going well. Comparatively, however, democracies are doing worse. As this paper shows, 21st century liberal democracies have concentrated wealth in fewer hands than in the recent past, have favored power centralization especially in the executive branch, have stimulated the formation of giant high-tech monopolies, and have generated more rigid forms of social stratification. Liberal democracies, therefore, are weaking, in many cases as the logical consequence of the natural evolution of the liberal doctrine, and in most cases because of profound changes at the global scale. Citizens’ confidence in their elected representatives has been in the decline for a long time. The increasing influence of populist nationalism is an indicator that confidence in traditional politicians continues to deteriorate. Democracy could not be democratic without the popular vote, but it has been precisely the popular vote that has empowered populist nationalist leaders, both from the right and the left. There is not very much that democracies can do about the coming to power via the ballot box of leaders who can rework the system in their favor and, in some cases, destroy it. As the paper shows, changes in the international system of power have not been favorable to liberal democracies, adding to its burdens. They are no longer the optimal model of choice, especially in the less developed world. Finally, I claim that the broken promises of political elites that have traditionally provoked voters’ apathy and loss of trust, have, In the 21st century, created new unintended consequences. They have generated illusions of entitlement and deservingness that, especially young voters, have converted into a sort anti-democratic culture that cares less for the collective and much more for themselves.

78-84

Authors: Emanuel Pietrobon

The Balkans are one of the main stages of the so-called Cold War 2.0 between the United States and the Russo-Chinese axis, but, to a greater extent, they are also an important battlefront of the broader great power competition, a hegemonic confrontation fought by a number of European and non-European powers and only partly tied to the aforementioned Cold War 2.0. Just like in the past, the Balkans keep being the powder keg of Europe, but this time, due to a combination of historical events and demographic changes, the veridical beating heart of the region is no longer Serbia, it’s a rising geopolitical order based on and centered on Albania: the Eagles’ Belt.

109-123

Authors: Antonio Pehar

The article deals with the religious and confessional identity of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time of Ottoman and then the Austro-Hungarian authorities, and it is trying to define the elements of nationality in their identity. The reasons for initiating the rounding-up of three national identities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Muslim/Bosniak, Croatian and Serbian) and not a common one are also highlighted. It identifies the external factors as well as the circumstances of the internal dynamics of society that have influenced the formation of the nation on the dominant principle of religious/confessional affiliation of the population.

130-158

Authors: Carlos Parra, Nanci Geriguis-Mina

In reference to cultural patterns in collectivistic societies, teaching and learning are greatly influenced by the teachers’ collectivistic or individualistic cultural orientation (Kaur & Noman, 2015). However, in dealing with both audiences and their teaching platforms, a chasm appears between methodologies and their applications since collectivistic societies are reluctant to accept methodologies perceived as mere Western innovations. In other words, a seemingly pedagogical incongruence arises where direct individualistic Western influence is perceived as unsuitable to a collectivistic mindset. One must keep in mind that family members in collectivist societies, who view themselves as part of a group rather than independent individuals, seem to feel more interdependent and mutually responsible for each other. In addition to Vygotski’s assertion that children’s cognitive development is enriched through social interaction with more skilled individuals (1978), Bandura (1982) emphasizes that the degree to which learners believe in their own self-efficacy influences their functioning cognitively, motivationally, emotionally, and their decision making process. Also, self-efficacy is perceived to accelerate the process of adapting to a new environment while learners adopt new cultural practices and consent to norms and expectations. In our exploration, second-language learners (SLLs) from collectivistic societies advance academically—English as a second language included—within the frame of sociocultural theory, since they seem to be motivated by their culturallyinduced sense of obligation to honor their parents and other group members. These SLLs are positively influenced by their prior experiences with the group’s perceptions and expectations of their capability to learn an additional language (Bandura & Schunk, 1981; Schunk, 1991). Our research seems to indicate that this outcome is significantly affected by the self-efficacy and self-reliance produced by prior successes in challenging tasks that may have been mandated by the SLL’s elders. In addition, SLLs also seem to succeed in accomplishing more challenging goals as they observe their families’ values and traditions even when they are in a society that enforces individualistic values.

174-183

Authors: Jerca Legan Cvikl

Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel is a creative icon who has freed the ‘new’ woman from the millennium of dictated dress codes, stereotypical behaviors and clichéd sexual and status simplification. The little black dress has become synonymous of sophistication, to the femininity she gave the character flavor of relaxation and empowered women with timeless clothing pieces and equipped them with inspiring pieces of jewelry, distinctive decorative accessories and bold fragrances. Since then, with the Chanel fashion women were able to step sovereignly and freely aside of male. Coco resisted the reservation of clothing and decorative pieces and fabrics as exclusively masculine in order to help revolutionary women on their journey to a more a more useful elegance and a more noticeable fatality. Without any doubt she succeeded. She gave the new woman what she could not have before: practicality, youthfulness, timelessness and freedom, which was often scandalous at the time of her creation. But it has paid off with a revolution in the clothing industry and, more importantly, with a historic step in liberating the modern woman

199-213

Authors: António dos Santos Queirós

The contribution of the environmental philosophy to the XX and XXI centuries philosophy renovation and their capacity to be applied to all aspects of social life is the core of this essay. The history of philosophy on the West is focused on the human condition, the environmental philosophy drive its thought to a global view of biodiversity and geodiversity, enlarged by the concept of biosphere. The dominant perspective of the modern philosophy set the morale in the order of the rules and social conventions and leave the ethics on the field of personal experience. Analyzing the concept of Kantian reason, and its ethic’s corollaries, this essay propose develop them to a new concept, “Environmental Reason”. Conceptualized as a new categorical imperative to the men’s action, beyond the principle that prescribe that we must conform individual acts with a universal law, configuring the human conduct within the limits that safeguard the continuity of life, but also the intrinsic values of earth and its biodiversity and geodiversity. A new perspective ethics founded in the principles of the critique of anthropocentrism and the critique of ethnocentrism represent a new ontology, and.a new epistemology, that could lead to a new ethics universal theory.

226-229

Authors: Michele Marsonet

The Polish philosopher Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz adopted the notion of “conceptual apparatus”, which is very similar to the idea of “conceptual scheme” put forward by Donald Davidson, Willard V. Quine, Nicholas Rescher and others. Ajdukiewicz’s theses are, in this regard, very important although less known, and he treated cognitive processes as inseparably connected with language.

9-20

Authors: Franco Ferrarotti

Arriving to the «new world» across the Atlantic Ocean from England, the Founding Fathers, as an act of thankfullness to God’s guidance, called the United States the «God’s Country». On the other hand, serious scholars would call them the «unfinished country» and quite a few political scientists would talk about «our more perfect Union», touching on the variety and contradictions of the Two-centuries and a half old «nation of nations».

41-51

Authors: Enrico Gandolfi, Sofia Gandolfi

This proposal focuses on the multifaceted interplay between video games, connectiveness, and online communities in a time of emergency; COVID-19 has presented challenges for teenagers, forcing them to re-mediate their interactions with peers. Digital entertainment has been frequently accused to be a bearer of negative attitudes and anti-social behaviors, but there is also relevant evidence about how video games can foster bonding and inclusion. Nevertheless, updated lenses are needed for understanding the impact of the pandemic on playing and vice versa; in other words, video games can become a lens through which we can understand how teenagers and young adults experience and see the world around them, especially during these turbulent times. Moreover, video games are increasingly experienced in multiple ways, from watching live shows on Twitch.tv to discussing games on Reddit; as such, this additional layer must be investigated too for situating the impact of gaming practices on social and individual schemes. This article intends to provide a snapshot of how this medium can be used as a catalyst for social research, looking at its consumption but also at the social halo it conveys. More specifically, an ethnographic approach has been chosen for providing an intensive analysis of how the acclaimed video game Animal Crossing was perceived and used as a socializing tool by a teenager.

72-90

Authors: Markus Mykkänen, Neil Freshwater

This paper provides a comparative analysis of current Finnish and Scottish think tanks and reviews how think tanks in these countries have evolved, how think tanks seek to influence decision making and engage with their stakeholders. To address the ways of influence this paper looks how Finnish and Scottish think tanks describe themselves and how they use publications in their advocacy. Conducted content analysis indicates that usually registered association based Finnish think tanks are generally more research-focused organisations, who overall deploy more research publications for advocacy than the company based Scottish think tanks. Findings also reveal that the number of think tanks in both countries has greatly increased in the last two decades due to the political challenges with European Union and national politics. The paper provides a new approach to study think tanks in national contexts.

110-136

Authors: Nizamettin Doğar

The question of whether a single leader type will emerge as one of the possible effects of globalization has required research on the subject. In the context of culture, Hofsthede, Brodbeck et al, and GLOBE studies, revealing that different leadership characteristics come to the fore in different geographies with cultural influences, refuting the claim that a uniform leader model will emerge with globalization. Among the aforementioned studies, GLOBE studies went a little further and claimed that leadership is actually a function of culture. Leadership research in the Balkans, which is a tangle of cultures with its complex ethnic structure, is relatively less included in the literature. The main purpose of this article is; Despite this problem arising from the Cold War period, how the leadership styles are in the Balkans is to examine the relationship between Balkan style leadership and culture. At the same time, the article has a secondary purpose that questions whether the claim that “there is not a single Balkans” is also valid for leadership practices when it comes to culture. Literature review and observation method were used in the research. The observations mainly include the observations made in Albania between the years of 2012-2015. On the other hand,the literature review is based on the data obtained primarily from local studies about each country in the Balkans. The results obtained emphasize that when it comes to leadership in the Balkan countries, the first thing is that political leadership is understood, which draws attention to autocratic leadership from the socialist administration period. In the context of business leadership, it shows that autocratic leadership was effective in the 10-year transition period after the Cold War, and that transformational leadership began to come to the fore in the 2000s at varying speed and rate according to institutions and countries. As a result of the investigations, the article shows that quite similar leadership characteristics stand out for the Balkans, the culture of democracy has not yet fully settled in this context, the avoidance of uncertainty in social codes, the autocratic administration still has an important place as a reflection of cultural dimensions such as the distance of power, on the other hand, willingness to change with new generations, more democratic leadership expectations increase and transformational leadership comes to the fore with the change in geography.Although the article has limitations in terms of containing observations specific to one country, it supports the claims in terms of including the local research results of the countries and is considered to contribute to the literature for the Balkans where limited research is available.

142-155

Authors: George M. Aspridis, Louisa Pouliana

The period stretching from 1974 till now has been characterized as the most stable period of the political and administrative history of Greece. However, the appropriate organizational culture which can contribute to the creation of a strategic vision for Greek public administration has not yet been shaped. Therefore, the public sector is not efficient and productive. On the contrary, bureaucratic pathogenies are particularly prevalent. These pathogenies have been rendered even more intense during the economic crisis and the recent pandemic. It is necessary that the modern culture of public administration be focused on effective cooperation, the satisfaction of both citizens and administrative executives’ expectations, respect for the individuality and development of public sector executives, the enhancement of public services’ good reputation, assessment, communication and finally the implementation of the principles of ethics, integrity and legitimacy. The culture of a modern public administration should be based on the principles of new public management and electronic government. This article is based on the study of secondary sources, more specifically institutional texts, international and national organizations’ reports, studies, historical texts, as well as civil servants’ views. The conclusions are particularly significant and can spark off the change of the organizational culture in public administration.