East-Central & Eastern Europe
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Integrated Peasant Economy in Central and Eastern Europe
A Comparative Approach
Income integration based on the peasants’ engagement in non-agrarian sectors is a prominent and widespread feature in the history of the European countryside. While listing a multitude of activities outside the narrow scope of farm management aimed at self-consumption prevailing interpretations emphasize how survival was the goal of peasant economies and societies. The “integrated peasant economy” is a new concept that considers the peasant economy as a comprehensive system of agrarian and non-agrarian activities disclosing how peasants demonstrate agency aspirations and the ability to proactively change and improve their economic and social condition. After having been successfully applied to the Alpine and Scandinavian areas the book tests this innovative concept through a range of case studies on central and eastern European regions comprising Poland the Czech Republic Slovenia Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine. By enhancing our knowledge on central and eastern Europe and questioning the assumption that these regions were “different” it helps overcome interpretive simplifications and common places as well as the underrepresentation of the “eastern half” of Europe in scholarly literature on rural history. That’s why the book represents a refreshing methodological contribution and a new insight into European rural history.
Archaeological Finds from the Main Town in Gdańsk
A Catalogue from Excavations at Długi Targ and Powroźnicza Street
Between 2002 and 2004 archaeological excavations took place on Powroźnicza Street in the city of Gdańsk Poland. Twelve burghers’ plots located in the centre of this former medieval metropolis were investigated and yielded a rich collection of archaeological finds among them ceramics and items of wood metal and glass from a period stretching from the fourteenth to the twentieth century. These finds are presented here for this first time in this richly illustrated bilingual volume published in both English and Polish which lays out a detailed catalogue of all the items together with a discussion of the site its settlement phases and its most significant discoveries.
Orthodox Christianity and Modern Science
Tensions, Ambiguities, Potential
The first volume of the new series “Science and the Orthodox Christianity” focuses on the nature of the relationship between modern science and Orthodox Christianity with its centuries-old tradition. Orthodoxy today shares a variety of - sometimes ambiguous - attitudes towards modern science shaped by the texts of the Church Fathers medieval and modern theologians and scholars as well as contemporary social realities. On the other hand modern science which sprung from the quest by West European scholars for a better knowledge of the world is faced with crucial and uneasy questions about the meaning of life and the position of humankind within the natural world.
The main goal of this volume is to define the patterns of the science-religion relationship in the Orthodox world especially in the light of the most recent trends in both science and theology. Is this a relationship of dialogue or conflict? Of integration or independence? What is the impact of the revival of patristic studies and new theological currents on the relationship? But also what is the relevant impact of new scientific discoveries on the image of the human and the universe? Has the modern science-religion dialogue in the West influenced Orthodox Christianity in its effort to create new perspectives and concepts in response to new challenges? These questions are crucial for understanding and mapping the current science-religion dialogue in the Orthodox world and apart from recording given views and opinions.