The countries of the larger region of Eastern Europe pass through change and "modernization" processes with ambivalent effects. This book tackles aspects of cultural diversity and change in the Baltic States, in Southeast Europe and in the Southern Caucasus. These regions are diverse not only with regard to their historical, political and religious traditions but also with regard to their status as EU-members or non-members. The articles focus on the situation of ethnic minorities and related political and public discourses as well as on aspects of political cultures. The anthology also raises the topic of cleavages between geographic Eastern Europe and Europe's "reunited" part. Sonja Schuler is a Research and Teaching Assistant at the Department of Social Sciences (Social Anthropology) of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). (Series: Freiburg Studies in Social Anthropology / Freiburger Sozialanthropologische Studien, Vol. 45) [Subject: Eastern European Studies, Sociology]

The collapse of the totalitarian system and the disintegration of the Soviet Union took the West by complete surprise. For many years Western cooperation and West European integration proceeded on the assumption that the division of Europe and Germany would be there to stay. As a consequence, the Western states are now having great difficulties in adapting their cooperative arrangements to the challenges of a new European environment, and in coping with the political problems that had been swept under the carpet for the sake of preserving bipolar stability'. In his new book, Alting von Geusau offers a fresh and timely analysis of Western cooperation from a post-totalitarian perspective. He reminds the reader of America's involvement and the tragic consequences of the two world wars. He explains why the order of Yalta' was a myth and how the Soviet designs for Europe were ultimately defeated by civil resistance. Post-war American leadership created the free space for the remarkable growth of Western organisations and the dynamics of European integration. American and French policies of containment are reexamined for the same post-totalitarian perspective... and found in need to adapt to the new realities. In two final chapters, the author carefully reviews the agreements reached in the principal Western and European organizations between November 1989 and January 1992 with a view to adapting their tasks to the new Europe. He also underlines the emerging importance of a new partnership between the United States and united Germany. Combining historical, legal and political analysis, this new title is an important source of reference and a highly useful textbook for advanced students inEuropean organization and Western cooperation. In addition it will be especially useful to training programmes for scholars, students and diplomats from East and Central Europe and the republics of the former Soviet Union.

Dialogue in the Book of Signs offers a polyvalent analysis of John 1:19-12:50 at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. With the help of several synchronic methods, including genre, narrative, rhetorical, and dramatic studies, the author analyzes the content, form, and function of John’s dialogue. Thus, the divine-human dialogue, which is interwoven within the text, provides a key to the understanding of the dialogue between the narrator and the reader. In this volume, after setting a background and a theoretical framework, an extensive exploration of dialogue at the exchange, episode, and narrative levels is offered. The connection of dialogue with other literary aspects such as monologues, signs, I AM sayings, and metaphors is also established. Thus, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of dialogue in John 1-12.

Number of Exhibits: 19

Courteous Exchanges explores the significant overlap between Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene and Shakespeare’s plays, showing how both facilitate the critique of Renaissance aristocratic identity. Moving from a consideration of Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier as a text that encouraged reader engagement, the book offers new readings of Shakespeare’s plays in conjunction with Spenser. It pairs Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, and The Winter’s Tale with The Faerie Queene in order to explore how topics such as education, gender, religion, race, and aristocratic identity are offered up to reader and audience interpretation.

Reconstructing decentralized collective bargaining and other trends in labor-management-government interactions