The Dynamics of Regional Disparities in Central and Eastern Europe during Transition

This paper examines the evolution of territorial imbalances in per capita income in the Central and Eastern Europe regions between 1990 and 2001. In order to overcome the limitations of conventional convergence analysis, we have combined a non-parametric approach that allows us to study the dynamics of the entire cross-section distribution, with a series of theoretical results and measures taken from the literature on personal income distribution. The results obtained show an overall reduction in regional inequality over the study period. This process has been compatible with the simultaneous presence of between-country convergence and within-country divergence. Likewise, we have observed a reduction in the development gap between the sample regions and Western Europe. In any event, the polarization of the distribution under consideration has decreased, while the registered level of intra-distribution mobility is relatively low. Furthermore, the analysis highlights the important role played in explaining the distribution dynamics by factors such as the national component, spatial location, productive structure, agglomeration economies and the percentage of gross domestic product devoted to investment.     

Urbanization in Iron Age Europe: Trajectories,Patterns, and Social Dynamics

The development of the first urban centers is one of the most fundamental phenomena in the history of temperate Europe. New research demonstrates that the earliest cities developed north of the Alps between the sixth and fifth centuries BC as a consequence of processes of demographic growth, hierarchization, and centralization that have their roots in the immediately preceding period. However, this was an ephemeral urban phenomenon, which was followed by a period of crisis characterized by the abandonment of major centers and the return to more decentralized settlement patterns. A new trend toward urbanization occurred in the third and second centuries BC with the appearance of supra-local sanctuaries, open agglomerations, and finally the fortified oppida. Late Iron Age settlement patterns and urban trajectories were much more complex than traditionally thought and included manifold interrelations between open and fortified sites. Political and religious aspects played a key role in the development of central places, and in many cases the oppida were established on locations that already had a sacred character as places for rituals and assemblies. The Roman conquest largely brought to an end Iron Age urbanization processes, but with heterogeneous results of both abandonment and disruption and also continuity and integration.     

Neo-Latin literature in nineteenth-century Europe: an overview

To date, neo-Latin studies have been hardly concerned with the nineteenth century, let alone the twentieth century. It would seem that literature written in Latin (called ‘neo-Latin literature’ from the Renaissance onwards) had completely lost its significance. However, recent research has shown that Latin verses were still quantitatively and qualitatively important, even if they no longer enjoyed the same popularity as in previous centuries. This article is a synthesis of what we know about neo-Latin literature in nineteenth-century Europe. The first section discusses the question of its quantitative and qualitative significance. Section 2 deals with the specific features of the neo-Latin literature in the nineteenth century. Section 3 presents the situation in Germany in order to give a more precise idea of the phenomenon. The aim of this article is to provide an impetus for further investigation in the field and to cast light on a facet of the nineteenth century that has long been forgotten.     

Play for Protest,Protest for Play: Artisan and Vendors' Resistance to Displacement in Mexico City

Play, laughter and theatrical forms of activism have been recently documented by scholars interested in the politics and spatiality of resistance. This article focuses on the playful techniques of resistance deployed by street vendors and artisans in Mexico City as a result of the displacement generated by a recently implemented policy popularly called Plazas Limpias (clean plazas). Through a case study Coyoacan, a tourist‐oriented neighbourhood known for its historical richness and aesthetic qualities, I show how street vendors and artisans who were removed from plazas in the area engaged in a number of playful resistance strategies which drew on the symbolic and material importance of place. I argue the street vendors and artisans deployed playful techniques of resistance for two reasons. First, play helped develop emotions that were crucial for the sustainability of the movement. Second, playful strategies of resistance were practiced because of the symbolic importance of Coyoacan as a place of creativity, play, performance, and art.     

Transnational militancy in Cold-War Europe: gender,human rights,and the WIDF during the Greek Civil War

This paper examines the involvement of the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF) in the politics of the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). The article’s specific focus is on the organisation’s international campaigns for the end of state-sanctioned persecution of leftists, especially women, and the re-instatement of democracy in Greece, utilising the expanding human-rights system at the United Nations. It draws on selected WIDF and United Nations (UN) documents, in addition to primary and secondary materials relating to the cold war and the Greek Civil War.