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Post-Communism as a Modern or Postmodern Phenomenon?

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The phenomenon of post-communist development in Europe to this day eludes a clearly-defined conceptualisation due to its multi-dimensionality. That said, anyone who endeavours to study post-communist political economy is obligated to commence with a discussion of ‘the commons’ and common property resources by explaining and examining the relationship and interplay between common property and collectivism, and the monumental impact that both liberal and neoliberal thought have had on the social economies of Eastern Europe following the fall of communism (Pickles, 2006). This paper aims to provide a multi-layered critique of how post-communist growth in Europe has been variously understood and assessed, with a focus on Romania. Said discussion is framed within the wider debate surrounding modernity and post-modernity, employing the writings of Jacques Derrida, Jurgen Habermas, Zygmunt Bauman and Pierre Bourdieu. The main argument proposed in this paper is that post-communism ought to b
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Erdoğan and the Turkish Lira Crisis: The Pseudo-Sultan That Is Making Atatürk Roll Over in His Grave

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President Erdogan has made it crystal clear over the past few weeks that he is unbridled in his quest to establish himself as the most revered and famous Turkish politician since the age of modern Turkey's founding father, Atatürk. While in his view, the Islamist notion of a reversal to a caliphate-like form of government would be a watershed transformation in the history of Turkish politics, the brash, bellicose and belligerent ways in which he is trying to sew his ideal into the country's social fabric are alarming for they risk plunging the nation into a long-term recession. So, in a sense, Erdoğan will become the most infamous political leader the country has ever had, undoing years of lucrative labour undergone as part of Atatürk's political pledge to modernise Turkey. Following on from last year's entry in which I argue d that Er dogan was political suici de (http://danielpetcu96.blogspot.com/2017/07/recep-tayyip-erdogan-prophetic-leader.html),  in this article, I
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Hollywood in the Post-Weinstein Era: LGBT Opportunities, Minority Superheroes and the Problem of Originality

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The American film industry has been violently shaken by the sex scandal surrounding production giant Harvey Weinstein, and it should indeed be seen as a watershed moment not only in the history of cinema, but also in that of social progress and in the fight to combat abuse in the workplace. The fact that it started in one of the highest-grossing and most powerful selection of enterprises in the world shows that not even the most powerful are immune to justice. This should serve as a rallying cry for abused persons all over the world and across all types of employment. In the beginning, and for the first few months since the beginning of the pandemonium, I truly believed in the message that movements like #MeToo and Time's Up were trying to convey and thought they would lead to change for the better. However, it is now my belief that we have partially reached a scenario where the abused have become the abuser, one which has given birth to a culture of fear that is akin to a tool of
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The Sino-American Trade War: Are Trumponomics Making America Great Again?

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The economic policies of the current controversial American head of state have become known for their protectionist nature, individual and corporate tax reforms and, most notoriously, immigration reduction. Since Trump's tax reform plan was adopted as law, there have been mixed results, showing that there is potential for the President to indeed make America great again. For example, in 2017, the nation's real gross domestic product grew by 2.3%, compared to 1.5% the previous year. Furthermore, while job creation, an important element of Trump's campaign rhetoric, decreased by 10.1%, to its lowest level since 2013, the unemployment rate has simultaneously fallen for the eighth consecutive year, and labour force participation among prime-aged labourers has increased for the fourth consecutive year. Equally, the stock market grew strongly, and the United States has seen a growth in household net worth for the eighth year straight. That said, the President's recent trade q
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