The paper discusses the conceptual and methodological challenges of developing measures of stereotypes and prejudice for use in Slovakia. Developing these measures was the first step in a research project aimed at testing the effectiveness of direct and indirect contact interventions to reduce prejudice against stigmatized minorities, particularly the Roma. The first major problem in this kind of research relates to measuring the impact of interventions, as standardized instruments for measuring prejudice have yet to be developed in Slovak. The (...) second problem concerns the risk that the interventions will fail to reduce anti-Roma prejudice, because of the strong stigmatization of the Roma minority in Slovakia. The paper also reviews existing measures of stereotypes and prejudice in social psychology and discusses their applicability for measuring anti-Roma prejudice in Slovakia. It is argued that measures of stereotypes and prejudice should be designed and used in a sensitive manner and that in the process of measuring various forms of social bias we should avoid reproducing its cognitive, emotional and behavioural manifestations. (shrink)

(1994). Slovakia. World Futures: Vol. 39, The Evolution of European Identity: Surveys of the Growing Edge A Report by the European Culture Impact Research Consortium (EUROCIRCON), pp. 149-154.

The paper offers an examination of the patterns of philosophizing in Slovakia. In the author’s view, its predominating feature is its receptivity, i.e. accepting the particular streams and conceptions of European philosophy. However, not all forms of receptivity are to be judged as mere imitativeness or plagiarism. In spite of its receptiveness the philosophizing in Slovakia very often included creative reinterpretations, modifications and applications.

With regard to existing concept of the moral education (ethics) in Slovakia, the questions of ethics and morals are only one of the partial sections. The dominant role is played by psychology based on Roberto Olivar’s concept with emphasis on pro–socialization and on Erickson’s concept of the psychosocial development. From the philosophy basis point of view, only Aristotle, even in reduced form and Spranger’s concept of the life forms are mentioned. Philosophy and ethics are only complements to more psychologically (...) based educational program which is resulting from the problematic division of a social and moral experience into egoistic and prosocial. Egoism is presented in a distorted form and is characterized as the cause of all moral evil. However, there are several different types of understanding of the term egoism in philosophy and ethics as for example psychological and ethical egoism, or self-interest. Ethical egoism or self-interest cannot be identified with selfishness. The main aim of moral education should not be only to form the desired children and youth moral orientation but on the other hand, to form morally self-confident individuals who are able to solve the moral problems, to help the others to solve them as well and to be able to bear moral responsibility for their own deeds. (shrink)

More than half of the Roma population in Slovakia lives in spaces that are segregated or separated from dominant non-Roma communities. The socio-spatial marginalization of Roma is both generated and reinforced through open and discrete social processes and measures largely orchestrated by local governments, enabled by an ineffective state; and reinforced by the general socio-economic policy framework. This article builds on extensive field research on predominantly Roma-occupied spaces (i.e., ‘settlements’) in Slovakia and focuses on the nature and function (...) of Roma segregation and separation in Slovakia from an ecological socio-political, and economic standpoint. Based on Loi’c Wacquant’s work on ethno-racial segregation and the concept of environmental justice, we discuss social and environmental discrimination as one of the constituent elements in understanding Roma socio-spatial marginalization and its functions, and employ the neologism, ‘hyper-osada’ as a tool to conceptually and analytically investigate the; new impetus and recent trajectory of Roma segregation and separation. (shrink)

In Slovakia Slavic literary studies can be found at the institutes of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) and at university departments. The only SAS institute to truly focus on Slavic studies is the Ján Stanislav Institute of Slavistics. Other SAS institutes that deal with Slavic studies to a lesser extent are the Institute of Slovak Literature and the Institute of World Literature. There are also Slavic-oriented academic initiatives involving short-term projects. Considering this situation, there is a need to (...) prepare a programme for Slavic literary studies in Slovakia so that a framework can be created outlining a new, systematic approach. (shrink)

This paper is concerned with monumental art in Slovakia before and after the fall of Communism in 1989. Generally, art in public spaces is important, because it influences the knowledge and feelings the people who use this space have about the past and the present, and thus influences the shared social construction of who we are as a social group. In this article we concentrate on the period of Communism and the formal and iconographic aspects that were essential to (...) art at that time. We also look at the political use of art—the ways in which explicit and implicit meanings and ideas were communicated through art to the general public. We touch also on the present situation regarding the perception of “Communist art”. In the final section we discuss the state of affairs of the last twenty years of chaotic freedom in the post-socialist era. On the one hand, since there is no real cultural politics or conception for artworks in public spaces at the level of the state many artworks simply disappear, often without public discussion, and on the other hand, some actors use their political power to build monuments that promote their private political views. (shrink)

From the 1970s on, much more attention has been given to medical ethics education than ever before. As such, medical ethics education and its importance have started to be accepted and acknowledged by the wider public and by academics as well. Slovakia is not an exception. Also here, considerable amount of attention and concern has been given lately to medical ethics and to medical ethics education. In this article, I will focus on medical ethics education for future physicians, namely (...) on medical ethics education for students of general medicine in Slovakia. A survey on course contents, suggested studying plans and/or timetables of this field of study was conducted. On the basis of not only the survey, I will try to point out some of the problems medical ethics education currently faces and I will also make some suggestions regarding future research. (shrink)

National early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems have been shaped by external influences and have taken different forms in developed countries than in post-colonial countries. This study systematically compares and examines the autonomous elements in national ECEC systems and the countervailing homogenisation process in Slovakia and Indonesia -two countries located in a different hemisphere with different historical, cultural, and political backgrounds. The study shows new rhetoric triggering different tendencies. In Slovakia, the “competency” and “standards” turn led to (...) steps to increase ECEC institutions’ autonomy and give them greater power to create tailor-made education programmes. While in Indonesia, the turn went in the opposite direction, reinforcing curriculum centralisation and increasing its regulatory functions regarding ECEC. This shift towards the same discourse, terminology and concepts does not automatically trigger processes that lead to a significant similarity and the convergence between ECEC systems due to their specific historical, cultural, and political contexts. (shrink)

The present study analyses education policy in Slovakia and determines the role of the church in education governance and the church–state relationship in education policy. The church–state relationship is also evident in the specific constellations of the national curriculum. The study highlights the de-secularisation trend in education policy and curricula and identifies the links between religious and nationalist education content, which are largely a relic of the historical era of Slovak statehood building. It also analyses Ethical Education, which is (...) a specific school subject in Slovakia that has been shaped by a particular church–state ‘ideological governing form’. (shrink)

The paper is a study of the establishment of the theoretical, human and institutional presuppositions of the development of modern methodology of sciences in Slovakia 1946-1962. It focuses particularly on the examnination of V. Filkorn´s scientific and educational work, who was drawing on the previous and contemporary activity of S. Felber and I.Hrušovský. In that time V. Filkorn published his first essential works and developed an original conception of the methodology of sciences with its special view of the method (...) of science, scientific law, and the relationship between logic and dialectics. It is defined as logical analysis of the building of the system od science by means of modern logic and an articulated theory of categories. (shrink)

Freedom of Religion, Institution of Conscientious Objection and Political Practice in Post-Communist Slovakia1 The example of Slovakia is used to show how one of the post-socialist countries failed in fulfilling the demanding task of securing freedom of religious belief (including the right to conscientious objection) and, at the same time, securing all other human rights. An analysis of the methods used for changing the policies of pluralism and neutrality of the state into a policy of discrimination (e.g. concerning the (...) registration duty for churches) was carried out, followed by an analysis of a mechanism used for guaranteeing freedom of conscience of the members of the Catholic Church (the so-called Vatican Treaty). The treaty violates the prohibition of discrimination against women, because it makes it more difficult for them to have access to some health care services. Our hypothesis states that the hurriedly introduced right to conscientious objection is misused in this context as a means of regulating the politics of reproduction. In general, the re-Catholisation of the Slovak Republic follows two aims—to help in the fight for votes in the elections (because 70 % of Slovaks declare their religion to be Catholic), and to improve demographic development in the Slovak Republic (declared to be catastrophic by the Catholic Church), through hindering free access to abortions. (shrink)

The aim of the paper is to study socio-ethical aspects of Slovak higher education policy in the context of contemporary discussions on university assessment criteria. I conduct an ethical analysis and assess the criteria introduced in Slovakia that consider employment opportunities and the graduate unemployment rate, publishing in high impact journals, participation in European research programmes, etc., which often discriminates against the humanities and social sciences. On the other hand, I also point to the absence of a social contract (...) regarding the common good provided by Slovak universities, drawbacks of a legislative nature which often provide a basis for unethical behaviour within the Slovak academic community and, most often, problems concerning academic ethics in contemporary Slovakia. (shrink)

The purpose of the research is to understand formulation of policy for creative industries, and in particular the importance of quantitative and qualitative data or information for formulation of the first policies for creative industries at national and regional level. The goal of the research is to assess whether it is possible to draft useful policy for the creative industry without having specific quantitative data at its disposal, which is often the case when such policy is being newly developed. The (...) methodology used is a brief literature review, and a case study. The case study regards policy development for the architectural sector in the East-Slovak region of Košice, which was executed by the authors in the context of the assignment to draft a strategy for development of the creative economy of the Košice region. Statistical data presented in this research were generated in the context of that assignment.The authors found that in the case of Slovakia and the region of Košice, the availability of data on the creative industries as a new policy area is very limited. Both at national level and at regional level, qualitative data and information are most useful for formulating policy. This is possible among others because qualitative needs’ assessment is feasible; international literature and best practices provide a guideline for formulating policy; and because general policies can address specific requirements through demand driven projects. The implication of the research is that specific quantitative data on the creative industries does not need to be considered a conditio sine qua non for drafting and implementing policy for the creative industries. Quantitative data will be necessary for evaluating outputs and impact of policy, in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of public spending. The choice of indicators, and collecting, processing and interpreting of quantitative data shall be an integral part of the policy to be implemented. (shrink)

A Geographical Approach for Measuring the Creative Capital. Case Study: Creative Capital Index of Slovakia Calculation of creativity index is a part of a modern quantification wave, in some cases also formulation of the spatial differentiation of social and economic phenomena required from the academic sphere by the decisive sphere. Policy makers have interest by this means to help themselves in obtaining public for their objectives. The creative capital as a sum of quantifiable creativity indicators is in this contribution (...) operationalized including the social capital, which is out of accord with a traditional understanding of creativity following the Florida's concept of the creative class. Methods for creativity index formation are introduced at the global level of states as well as at the regional level of a given state. There are substantial differences among both indexes results and statistical data on export of creative goods that are well documented on example of USA and China. Terminological chaos associated with the concepts of creative class and economy is thus extended with a chaos in the interpretation of findings, what contributes to the critique of the Florida's concept of creative class. There arise doubts that the quantification of creativity indexes with correlation quantification with other economic and social factors as GDP, entrepreneurship, inequality, Index HDI1) ; is maybe right in terms of mathematics, but it does not reveal the casual connections. The research purpose of the contribution is a geographical approach to the creative capital. The case study incorporates the Slovak regions, creativity index calculation and its spatial differentiation in form of map expression. The scientific goal lies in a confirmation of hypothesis about a dominant position of Bratislava region, and thus the capital of Slovakia. A limit of calculation is the choice of indicators which were strongly determined by the accessibility of statistical data. (shrink)

The process of Slovak political tradition formation during the establishment of an independent state is discussed in the article. Special attention is paid to the authoritarian tendencies, which developed after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, atypical for Central and Eastern Europe character of political transformation and the establishment of the entire state power system are analyzed. A brief historical background of the evolution of ‘the Slovak question‘ and its influence on the development of the state is given. Authors highlight features of (...) the social structure of Slovakia, emphasizing the special mentality, greatly influenced on the formation of the political system of the state in historical perspective. It is also noted, that formation of political tradition in Slovakia at the end of the twentieth century was marked by constant struggle between coalition and the opposition, which led to increased political instability in 1995-1997, which contributed to the emergence of the political tendencies, called ‘Slovak way of transformation‘. This had an impact on the integration processes in the state, which in 1994 declared its desire to join the European Union. The authors conclude that as long as the disparate political forces were unable to find a compromise and to determine priority in order to improve life of society rather than their personal ambitions, the Slovak political life was in a state of stagnation. (shrink)

Purpose Employees may feel overwhelmed with information privacy choices and have difficulties understanding what they are committing to in the digital workplace. This paper aims to analyze the role of different thinking styles for effort reduction, such as the use of intuition, when employees make decisions about the credibility and trustworthiness of workplace information privacy issues in Slovakia. While the General Data Protection Regulation sets precise requirements for valid consent, organizations are classified as data controllers and are subject to (...) credibility judgments by their employees. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from 230 employees in Slovakia using a survey questionnaire. Quantitative analysis using SPSS was conducted to describe employees thinking preferences when judging the credibility of information privacy in their organizations. Findings The survey participants revealed their perceived credibility and trust in personal data protection and thinking preferences. Unconscious thinking is the type of effort reduction often reported by participants, who perceive high credibility and trust in personal data protection. This study can help managers and data controllers in small- and medium-sized enterprises in reflecting about the way in which people use different thinking processes for decision-making about information privacy in their organizations. Research limitations/implications This study set out to explore how decision-making processes at the workplace relate to credibility of data practices. Focusing on the use of different types of intuition, the authors explored whether the preference for a specific decision-making style can explain the perceived credibility of data practices. The part of the workforce in the sample did not have a strict predisposition to use either intuitive or rational thinking. Practical implications The contribution provides scholars with an overview of the field of intuition, a field that is likely to grow given the challenges of digitalization for organizations, such as shitstorms, cyberattacks and whistleblowing. Originality/value The most well-known concepts from intuition research, e.g. the dual process theory, and practice are tested simultaneously, therewith contributing to the applied literature on domain-specific preferences for intuition and deliberation in decision-making. (shrink)

This article argues that intersectional analyses of care work also need to include a temporal aspect. Drawing on ethnographic research on Slovak au pairs working in the UK and on interviews with both providers and employers of paid childcare in Slovakia, I examine how the temporariness of care work is created within both migrant and non-migrant settings. In particular, I demonstrate that both employers and providers conceptualise paid childcare as a temporary period in their lives and show the consequences (...) of this conceptualisation in their valuing of care work. In both examined cases, I focus on the role of care/welfare and migration regimes in the production of temporariness in care work and argue that both providers and employers of paid care construct their involvement in domestic work as a specific life course experience. While for au pairs, working stays in the UK represent a specific transition period from adolescence to adulthood, employers in Slovakia decide to employ particular types of domestic workers in relation to the particular developmental phases of their families and households. (shrink)

: This paper provides an analysis of the first decade of bioethics development in Slovakia (1990-1999), together with an overview of the most important bioethical issues entering the scene of public debate and scholarly ethical analysis.

In the article, we analyse ethical and moral issues of public administration in region of Eastern Slovakia through some cases of the last years. We focused on self-governing regions, namely the Košice and Prešov self-governing regions. We identified two fundamental situations where failures on the side of public administrators occur: selection processes for vacant positions, be it directly in public administration or institutions that fall under its domain, and public procurement with regard to the acquisition of goods and services. (...) The year 2009 was the year of elections to self-governing regions which is why a great number of negative cases dealt with the election campaign. Further, we stated that negative cases dealt with failures of bodies of self-governing regions from both the legal (breaking the law) and moral viewpoint. By claiming that public administrators failed morally, we meant breaking moral norms and rules. Contradictions, which were identified (from the ethical viewpoint), predominantly result from the conflict between public and private interests. In many cases, private interests of public administrators are preferred at the expense of public interests. And it is exactly this preference (a conflict of interests) that is sensitively perceived by the public. (shrink)

Author applies four models of professional ethics of politicians (Aristotle’s virtuous citizen, Machiavelli’s prince, Erasmus’ man of values and Weber’s responsible politician) to politics and politicians in Slovakia since the first half of the 20th century to the present. According to author, there is possible to identify Milan Hodža with Weber’s model, Alexander Dubek with Aristotle’s one, Vladimír Meiar and Robert Fico are identified with Machiavelli’s model and Iveta Radiová with Erasmus’ model of professional ethics of politician in (...) class='Hi'>Slovakia. (shrink)

The study presents popular conspiracy theories spread within the Czech and Slovak language milieu. Along with the growth in the number of internet portals disseminating this type of texts, their reflection in public opinion is also visible in the way almost every major foreign policy issue or domestic case is commented upon in public internet discussions. The authors seek to identify the narrative and rhetorical sources of conspiracism in these countries since the rise of modern nationalism in the 19th century, (...) focusing on the events accompanying the creation of the common state of the Slovaks and Czechs, the period of the Second World War, the rule of the Communist regime, the events related to the fall of the Iron Curtain and the “Velvet Revolution” in 1989 up to the present. The paper focuses attention on group-shared images of the enemies and on mutual interactions between the interpretations of local events and global conspiracy theories, as well as updates or later reinterpretations of older conspiracy motifs. (shrink)

Etika vrlina pristup je normativne etike koji naglašava izvrsne karakterne osobine moralnih subjekata. Značajan broj autora ističe da ovaj pristup ima veliki potencijal u suvremenom etičkom obrazovanju. Rad se usmjerava na mogućnost uporabe etike vrlina u etičkom obrazovanju u Slovačkoj. Jedan od najznačajnijih autora u razvoju ove teme je Ladislav Lenz koji je napisao i ključne tekstove za nastavnike o etičkom obrazovanju. Njegov se koncept temelji na pedagoškim i psihologijskim osnovama, a inspiriran je konceptom prosocijalnosti španjolskog psihologa R. R. Olivara. (...) Ipak, neki od Lenczovih radova iskazuju i elemente etike vrlina. U ovome radu istaknut ćemo mogućnosti uključivanja etike vrlina u etičko obrazovanje. (shrink)

The study had two main goals: Firstly, the authors aimed to verify the validity and reliability of the Slovak adaptation of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS). Secondly, the authors examined the associations between the CAS and mental health indicators – depression, insomnia and generalized anxiety disorder. The representative sample consisted of 1625 Slovak participants from the general population (793 men and 832 women, Mage = 42.77 ±12.84). The data were collected in October 2020. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor (...) analysis and multiple hierarchical regression analysis. The authors confirmed that the psychometric properties of the CAS were adequate. Furthermore, they identified predictors of depression (gender, income, change in economic situation, subjective poverty, CAS), generalized anxiety disorder (gender, age, change in economic situation, subjective poverty, CAS) and insomnia (change in economic situation, subjective poverty, CAS). The results may contribute to our understanding of the pandemic’s impact on mental health. (shrink)

The article analyses party documents and rhetoric from Kotleba’s People’s Party of Our Slovakia (ĽSNS) and demonstrates that it has a culturally conservative, instrumental and paternalist-populist attitude to gender issues. The thematic analysis indicates that the ĽSNS not only seeks to promote traditional gender roles and the exclusion of women from public space but also uses quasi-feminist arguments. These, for instance, call on women to engage more in public life but only in support of its patriarchal agenda. Our findings (...) show that gender related issues feature only peripherally in ĽSNS rhetoric, however they are used strategically as a theme that cuts across the party ideology, forming not its core but being purposely used in relation to the party’s main priorities. ĽSNS uses gender related themes as part of its political arsenal for (1) increasing the party’s support amongst women and (2) seeking to involve more women in the party’s activities to increase its acceptability among voters. (shrink)

Macroeconomic dynamics and the at-risk-of-poverty population in Slovakia This paper deals with analysis and presentation of the core findings under the EU SILC 2009 project. Particularly we are oriented on study of the socially vulnerable groups of population identified according their income situation. As a sorting criterion for this purpose we use the standard methodology set by OECD and Eurostat. It means the 60% of the national median equivalized disposable income is applied for this criterion as the poverty threshold. (...) The national income variable is firstly calculated as a total income for each surveyed household and dived by the equivalized size of household. By this procedure the households of various structures are transformed onto generally accepted scale. The special attention of our study is oriented on the cluster of population living on income below the poverty threshold. For this population we calculate so called social deficit. Through this value we show the volume of financial means needed to upgrade the living standard of the population living bellow poverty threshold at least to the poverty threshold level.Special section of the paper is devoted to study of relation among the core macroeconomic indicators and level and size of the at-risk-of-poverty population during the period of last economic development, including both economic growth and economic recession. According our tentative findings we did not find the significant impact of economic growth on the status of socially vulnerable population. This finding however should be studied in broader context, with longer time series of relevant data and with broader set of explanatory variables. (shrink)

Education is widely accepted as important source of future economic growth and is strongly supported by public sources. Most of this support is oriented toward traditional education and industries. However, several studies show importance of creativity education as important feature for innovation and future growth. However, public support of creative industries is relatively new and most of policy measures that have been implemented are still not fully evaluated and understood. There si a strong need to look much more closer on (...) way how public education influence creative industries and what policies could be placed to strengthen positive effects of this education also in the long run. This article represents an output of the research about the creative industries support policy in Slovakia in the field of education activities. It is containing basic literature overview comparing support policies for traditional sectors and the creative industries. We analyzed conceptual documents at the national level and basic strategic documents in the regions and selected cities of the country. We also realized several interviews in different creative economy industries. Generally, creative industries in Slovakia are much less in the centre of public support policy compare to traditional industry sectors. This is also the same in case of education. Despite of wide varietyof support tools used in the world, only few of them are applied in Slovakia. Interestingly, creative industries do not strongly require more creativity in education in schools. We found out the most important support in the field of education should not be related to creativity itself, but more on the complementary skills as ICT or entrepreneurship. We also found very limited role of universities and other public institutions in creative industries success stories. (shrink)

Thirty years after the Velvet Revolution, Slovak feminist activists look back to the 1990s and early 2000s as the time of exceptional capacity building and knowledge production which was barely sustained in later years. The last decade of feminist organizing has been marked by waning financial resources for civil society organizations, and appropriation of feminist and gender equality agenda by the state, which led to the hollowing out of its content. What is more, strong and pervasive conservative pressure with the (...) aid of ‘gender ideology’ rhetoric has been successful in delegitimizing gender equality policies and is consistently threatening sexual and reproductive rights in the country. Facing such prospects, this article examines newfound alliances and diverse forms of broadly understood feminist praxis, which go beyond institutionalized civil society, but have developed to counter neoconservative and far-right political pressure in Slovakia. (shrink)

This article is devoted to the development of nursing ethics in Slovakia before the year 1989. It points to the fact that it was impossible to speak about nursing ethics as an autonomous field in this period of time. Reflections on nursing ethics were presented within medical ethics, or particularly based on the importance of reflections about the need of philosophy within medicine.

This paper sets out to examine political thinking in post-totalitarian Slovakia. Using the discourse theory and signification of Laclau and Mouffe, it considers the sign národ (a specific conception of the Slovak nation) in relation to democracy and the EU. Seeking to pinpoint political thinking amongst the general populace, it bases its analysis on an examination of newspaper articles on “Building the State” published in the 1990s. It traces the roots of the sign from the 1960s to the present (...) day and predicts that the EU signifier will impact on the content of the floating signifier of národ. (shrink)

The paper analyzes ethical codes in the health care profession in Slovakia while considering the four principle approach in medical ethics formulated by Beauchamp and Childress. For these purposes, the individual principles of this theory are identified and presented in light of performance in the health care profession. The second part introduces the main legal documents which represent the professional codes of ethics for physicians, nurses and midwives in Slovakia. In those, I have tried to identify the presence (...) of basic principles of medical ethics and the way they are formulated in the Slovak health care system. The aim is to show the capabilities of professional health care ethics in Slovakia to react to current trends of medical ethics and models within the health care system. (shrink)

Authors deal with theoretical and social contexts of the teaching profession as a starting point for empirical research into ethical relationships among Slovak primary and secondary school teachers. They surveyed the opinions of teachers at that level regarding their relationship with students, parents, colleagues and superiors. According to the research results, more than 80% of respondents positively rate the behaviour of teachers towards their students and parents from the viewpoint of realising ethical values, based on which they could be an (...) ethical model for their students. The level of relationships among colleagues received a less optimistic rating. They were, however, much more critical in evaluating their superiors. Only approximately 60% of the members of school management could be an ethical model for other teachers. (shrink)