Volume VI, Issue 2, 2012

Abstract

Historical circumstances, as well as specific social, demographic and cultural models which existed in the Serbian medieval society made an impact on the characteristics of the family. One of the major issues is the quantitative size of the family and predominant type: nucleus or joint (extended) family.
This paper is based on the research of relevant primary sources: Serbian diplomatic sources and the first Ottoman census books, which make possible not only to establish family types and its quantitative size, but also to point out to demographic changes caused by the Ottoman conquest in South Eastern Europe.

Keywords: historical demography, nucleus family, extended family, Serbian society, Middle Ages

Abstract

Violence is an important “ingredient” in the ancient regime, so the domestic violence is a part of the couple live. Our paper tries to analyze the roots of this violence and its persistence during the centuries and in the mentalities of people. In the 18th century, the law allows the domestic violence and offers a lot of meanings and interpretations between a fist beating and a stick beating, between a wound done by a knight and a wound done by a poker etc. The same law analyses meticulous the different shapes of verbal violence, the crime and its circumstances, the masculine violence and the feminine aggressiveness, the male domination and the female obeisance. The judicial practice is the mirror of this law ‘translated’ into compromise solutions. Judges and actors talk a lot about violence regarding sometimes as a necessity, sometimes as an ordinary anger, sometimes as an immeasurable brutality. Their “words” are every so often different from law conception. The judicial archives give us a plenty of information to building all these scenes where the violence finds its justifications, its interpretations, its language, its solutions. The ecclesiastical courts judge and investigate many trials in the 18th Romanian society; husbands, wives, neighbors, priests, judges and “experts” (usually the doctors) arrive in front of the courts for telling their testimonies and histories about domestic violence.

Keywords: domestic violence, Wallachia, family, women, sexuality, Orthodox Church

Abstract

Plague has played a key role in shaping the Romanians’ demographic characteristics in the 18th – 19th centuries. Certain aspects of this influence can be easily retraced by consulting the writings of Nordic and Russian travellers through Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia in the period taken into consideration. These travel notes offer valuable details about the locals’ perception of the scourge, but also relevant numerical data. The factual information or the estimations provided by such testimonies, used in combination with other types of sources, support the construction of a comprehensive picture of the effects that pest epidemics had on the population’s evolution.

Keywords: plague epidemics and demography, Romanians, 18th – 19th centuries, Nordic and Russian travelers

Abstract

The present article tackles certain aspects related to Romanians’ matrimonial behaviour during the Communist period. The work’s sources and methodology as well as its entire structure do not allow for an exhaustive, complete unfolding of this subject. Nevertheless, I will henceforth present a few considerations on the following topics: paths and means of forming families, the spouses’ place and role within the family, the functions and prerogatives of the spouses’ relatives, the size of the family, rearing and educating children. I will also add a few notes regarding divorce, although, after this procedure is initiated, family life drastically shifts its course, abides other forces and is characterised by a distinct participation of the main actors, parents and ex-spouses.

Keywords: family life, communism, marriage, reproduction, divorce

The main purpose of the study is to provide a comparative perspective on the pronatalist policies of the two communist countries: Romania and Hungary. Beyond the general ideological and political context of the entire Communist Bloc, the paper focuses on three major coordinates: 1. gender differences and the way they were handled by each state; 2. the drafting of legislation on abortion, family and social protection, and the effective implementation of pronatalist policies (restrictive measures vs. incentives); 3. assessing the impact of these policies.

Keywords: communism, Romania, Hungary, pronatalist policies, gender, family, abortion

This article analyses the evolution of two minority communities from the Middle East: the Alawis in Syria and the Maronites in Lebanon. The author considers their identity as a religious one, despite the attempt of the Great Powers to forge national identities based on ethnic loyalties in the Middle East after the First World War. Even though at first sight these two communities seem to have more differences than similarities, this paper employs the comparative analysis to point out that their cases are actually very alike due to the historical geopolitical context of the Middle East These minorities have both played a major political role throughout the modern period, acting more like political majorities interlinked with the post-colonial regimes shaken by the recent Arab spring.

Keywords: Alawis, Maronites, religious minorities, Middle East, Syria, Lebanon

The sociological, economic and cultural aspects of young generations have changed significantly over the past two decades. Among the central factors that lead to the occurrence of these changes in the Czech Republic are demographic development, individualization and socio-economic transition. Some researchers argue that the transition to adulthood has become less normative, pointing to an accelerating process of individualization of the life course. this paper, we explore adolescents’ attitudes and opinions (12-15 years) on the characteristics of future partner, the ideal age of partner, partnerships and career planning in the sense of the timing of life events – moving away from parental home, living together with a partner, participation in the labour market, entry into marriage and parenthood. Both quantitative and qualitative studies will be employed in the analysis – quantitative survey carried out in the Czech Republic in 2007 and a qualitative study conducted in schools during 2010-2011. We expect gender differences in opinions and attitudes. The analysis indicates an apparent growth in the diversity of life patterns.

Keywords: partnership, the timing of life events, young generations, transition to adulthood

Keywords: discrimination, administrative-territorial unit, rural, urban