Volume 19, Issue 4 -

Popular Traditions, Folklore and Politics The article studies how the "language" of folk traditions and folklore continues to be a tried-and-tested means for the representation and propagation of political concepts and ideas. The author notes transformations in the significance of folklore and folk traditions in historically changing both political and socio-cultural contexts. Attention is drawn to the significance of folklore in the nation-forming thinking of the 19 th century, the place of honour accorded to it as an expression of the working people during the period of socialism, and its contradictory perception in the post-socialist context today.

Cultural Context of Multilevel Collective Social Actions: Framing, Reflection, Resonance and the Impact of Global and Local Anti-Poverty Movements In political science as well as in other social sciences much attention has been paid during recent years to the rapid growth of national and transnational activist networks and their increasing impact on domestic and world politics. Together with the proliferation of literature on the topic, concepts of collective action frames, framing processes, mobilizing ideas and meanings and their cultural resonance have gained considerable currency. However, less has been written about the possibilities of and the constraints on the circulation of collective action frames or about the connection between the cultural adaptation of frames and the results of actual collective struggles. The paper explores this understudied issue both theoretically and empirically. After identifying possible links between collective action framing processes and the representational practices of particular cultures based on a review of existing theoretical approaches, the functional consequences are demonstrated by the example of the Global Call for Action against Poverty international campaign and the Czech national variant.

Cultural and Social Representations on the Border: From Disagreement to Coexistence In the twentieth century, certain locations, symbols, and ritual practices along the Italian-Slovenian border were subject to various social and cultural representations. During that century, they primarily represented a subject of disagreement between both ethnic communities; however, in the last ten years, some groups and local authorities have been seeking opportunities to live together in coexistence.

Resignifying the Universal: Critical Commentary on the Postcolonial African Identity and Development The dimension of the debate on the relation between the universal and the particular in African philosophy has been skewed in favour of the universalists who argued that the condition for the possibility of an African conception of philosophy cannot be achieved outside the "universal' idea of the philosophical enterprise. In this sense, the ethno-philosophical project and its attempt to rescue the idea of an African past necessary for the reconstruction of an African postcolonial identity and development becomes a futile one. A recent commentator even argues that works concerning African identity are now totally irrelevant and misguided. In this essay, I will be arguing, on the contrary, that the universalist's argument, much like its critique of ethno-philosophical reason, mistakes the nature, significance and necessity of such a resistance (rather than original ) identity that the ethno-philosophical project promises. I will also argue that the fabrication of such an identity facilitates the avoidance of an uncritical submersion in the universal as well as a proper conception of an African development. This, furthermore, is the only avenue by which the imperialistic ontological space of universal humanism, in which most universalistic claims are rooted, can be made more polygonal and mutually beneficial for alternative cultural particulars.

The "Practice Turn" in the Contemporary Socio-Human Sciences The paper provides an overview of the current situation in the socio-human sciences, which is characterised by attempts to overcome traditional one-sided approaches and look for new alternatives. One of the latest alternatives to traditional approaches in the philosophy and methodology of the social sciences is the "practice turn". It is the turn to another, non-traditional approach to practice but also to Aristotelian phronesis . The author gives an account of three main tenets of this turn with reference to both ancient Greek and modern conceptions of practice.

Practical Knowledge Versus Knowledge as Practice The main thesis of this essay is that practice is superior to a "theoretical vs. practical" distinction. In this sense, every sort of knowledge is essentially "practical"; so-called "theoretical" knowledge is an historically overemphasised borderline example of the practical. Based mostly on Wittgenstein's view, I shall gradually refine an opposition between theoretical and practical knowledge by analysing some related dualisms on an active, processual, communicative and applicative concept of knowledge. Then I will provide some arguments as to why knowledge as a practical matter in this sense should be seen as, both logically and temporally, prior to the distinction.

Value Oriented Science for A Sustainable Society The essay deals with the relationship between ethics, science and the character of society associated with challenges such as: What is the contemporary role of science in society and how does it fulfil it? Is value oriented "engaged" science possible? What does the responsibility of science mean? What is the reason for and the state of integrative, interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary and/or post-disciplinary approaches in the science? What is the role and meaning of evaluation in scientific production and/or its usefulness? What is the value, cost and effectiveness of science? Is scientometrics an adequate answer? What is the role of ethics and science in the context of sustainable development/living/society? In the final section of the essay several examples drawing on the international as well as the national level are introduced. The ambition of the author, a professional environmental geographer, is not to submit an extensive excursion into most fashionable aspects of the topic within the global philosophical context. The author describes his own personal experience and position and tries to discover what the emerging challenges and threats in this field may be, first of all in the current Slovak context.