ANNALES · Ser. hist. sociol. · 29 · 2019 · 4 693 OCENE / RECENSIONI / REVIEWS, 689–699 and the suppression of social justice in the capitalism of the 21 st century. The main values of social justice are deformed due to the weakness of the left. The liberal concepts of social exclusion and marginalisation are specifically analysed. The poverty seems quite different when analysed as an aspect of exclusion than as a re- sult of exploitation. There are different discourses which summarize, evaluate and accentuate the social injustice in the opposite manner. The neoliberal concepts mys- tify the real reasons of social injustice, relativizing and neutralizing the fact that the key inequality lies in the production relations. In the ninth chapter “Farewell to social justice – on the narrow normative framework of neoliberal discourse about justice” attention is drawn to different neoliberal conceptual normalisations of market inequality. It was necessary to show that a different narrowing of a nor- mative framework of neoliberal discourse about jus- tice (J. Rawls, W. Kersting) is connected with different criticism of capitalism. Marx’s theory of labour value was stimulating when highlighting that capitalism re- produces an unfair social structure because it is based on exploitation. Finally, the author draws several conclusions. An im- portant aspect of theoretical conflict over the changes in a society is the concepts grouped in discourses. His- torical semantics studies the changes in the meaning of words, concepts and discourses which bear the mean- ing of past societies consended in concepts and thus re- constructs the forms of communication in the past. It is enough to say that the changes in the meaning of key concepts are indicators of the changes in a society. It should be added that the emergence of every new con- cept is the result of new circumstances, but also a new way to perceive the old ones. In a consended form, it an- swers the question of why something happened in a par- ticular way and the way it should have happened. The concepts grouped into discourses analytically explore the problem, but also suggest the direction in which the society should be changed. The analytical and nor- mative components of concepts and discourses make them the carriers of theory and ideology. In its diachron- ic sense, conceptual history recognizes the moment of innovation, when the old concepts become obsolete, and the new ones are created. In a cognitive sense, a concept is a meaningful unity of logical operations; and in a political sense, new concepts are associated with social earthquakes when new forces invade a concep- tual field and change not only the reality but also the perception of it. At turning points, the concepts become and influential and consended part of the ideologies of social groups either when creating a desired vision of society or when stigmatizing the enemy. The changes of several strategic conceptual controversies (material ver- sus formal natural law, humanism versus philanthropy, material social justice versus postmaterial market jus- tice, transeunt versus immanent social justice) are an- alysed. Different neoliberal arguments of postmaterial social justice are here explained and criticised as the ideologization of social inequality and of actual global capitalism as well. The neoliberal hegemonic epochal consciousness is condensed in fighting terms which are considered as both innovations and occupations, stress- es in the conclusion author T. Kuljić. Avgust Lešnik Darko Darovec: VENDETTA IN KOPER 1686. Koper, Zgodovinsko društvo za južno Primorsko, Annales Majora, 2018, 207 strani From the very beginning, international relations— as an activity and a field of science—have been subject to the fundamental question of how to resolve conflicts that arise between individuals, social groups, and sin- ce the Westphalisation also states, in a peaceful way. Throughout history, two core reasons for doing so have been used—the first prevailed from antiquity to the late 19 th century, which marks the start of the evolution of the second, which was formalised with the emergence of the League of Nations and the United Nations. Why two reasons and processes? Mainly because they build on two different approaches. Until the mid-19 th centu- ry, the prevalent view was that peaceful conflict resolu- tion makes sense because it pays off. Already the great Montesquieu wrote in The Spirit of the Laws that peace boosts international trade, and this in turn increases wellbeing. Peace and trade growth were (and still are) two sides of the same coin, and peaceful settlement of disputes until the 19 th century was above all pragma- tic. A shift came with the democratisation of the inter- national community, and its increasingly hierarchical nature and complexity. All these changes also led to a turn from pragmatic thinking to ideological thinking. From this point on, peaceful conflict resolution was an ideological issue, and was seen as a civilizational achievement or civilizational norm. This was also con- firmed by both Hague Peace Conferences, the greatest achievement of which is of course the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes. The two world wars are proof of how little we learn from history. This is why the setting up of the United Nati- ons after WWII was only an attempt at continuing what had already been established on the ideological stage by the Hague Conferences and the League of Nations. Article 33 of the Charter of the United Nations, which lays down the means of pacific settlement of disputes, thus only reflects the progressive development of the ideology that it is a civilizational duty at our level of development to settle disputes in a peaceful manner rather than with guns and bayonets. ANNALES · Ser. hist. sociol. · 29 · 2019 · 4 694 OCENE / RECENSIONI / REVIEWS, 689–699 If it may seem at first that the creation of the United Nations and the formalisation of the means of peace- ful settlement of disputes were a great achievement of (Western) civilization, this notion fades when reading the book Vendetta in Koper 1686, which describes the processes of peaceful conflict resolution as an instituti- on (in medieval and early modern period) that not only allowed the development of social relations, but also served as some sort of safety valve for the society and tensions within it. The book follows a logical order. Chapter 1, which corresponds with the title, deals with a concrete case of vendetta as an institute in 17 th centu- ry Koper. Although this chapter should normally come at the end of the book because it presents a specific case, it may be just as well that it comes first, since it helps attract the reader even more. The analysis of the conflict between the del Tacco and del Bello families in Koper presented in the book is highly applicable today. Two notable families (much like two important states today) clash over a concrete issue. The consequences are clear—an attempt at finding a solution ensues, but because the matter is not settled conclusively, the plot thickens and leads to a vendetta. The avenger flees, and the society performs its role. Even if the avenger remains in voluntary exile, the social pressure for the conflicting families to reconcile is strong. And they do reconcile. Not by their own will, but because this is what the social environment demands of them. A con- tinued conflict between the two families would have hindered the functioning of the Koper society, as well as the political functioning of Koper’s podestà and Ve- netian rule. The common good is set above the intere- sts of individual families here. The families accept this, knowing that only this will allow them to continue to live and function normally as part of the Koper com- munity. The pinnacle of reconciliation is a marriage of two members of the two families, which reaffirms the importance of self-restraint of individuals and interest groups for the sake of community development. A les- son worth learning both in national political systems as well as on the broader level—in the European Union and the United Nations. Chapter 2 is much more theoretical than the first one. Its main topic is the issue of conflict resolution through social rituals and its phases. The author descri- bes in detail the dilemma of rituals and processes in a system of conflict resolution, where a conflict is fol- lowed by vengeance as the second phase and then by the third phase, a trial. If today judgements are mostly passed obeying the letter of the law, they were previ- ously passed in the spirit of the law. The law that was set by the society and was not the same for everyone. As it is not today. The inscription “La legge è uguale per tutti” is proof of this in itself, since if it were the same for everyone, there would be no need to write this on the walls of Italian courts. But let us return to the contents of the book. This chapter analyses the three stages of general ritual structure in public affairs. The first phase is showing respect to the person appro- ached (the author uses the term homage), which takes different forms, such as a gift, first approach, immixtio manuum or flexibus genibus—while the former two are more worldly, the latter two are derived from Christian doctrine. The next step is fides, swearing loyalty, fide- lity or allegiance (depending on the context)—when it comes to conflict resolution, the second phase is an oath of truce between the two sides in conflict. The last step is investiture (appointment), when an individual is admitted or allowed to assume their rightful position. In conflict resolution, this phase means sealing lasting peace or Pace Perpetua, which concludes the process and sets the instructions for the future. It is a phase of reaching aims outside the specific dispute, opening the possibility for transcendence, as Galtung (1969) terms it in his conflict theory. This phase brings benefits for all: both sides of the conflict, as well as the broader community or society. This theoretical chapter is followed by an empirical part, analysing conflict resolution in 13 th century Istria. With surgical precision, the author describes the pro- cedures and means of resolving conflicts, while also clearly stressing the role of society in this process, not ANNALES · Ser. hist. sociol. · 29 · 2019 · 4 695 OCENE / RECENSIONI / REVIEWS, 689–699 forgetting to cover how disputes were resolved between different social classes. It should be noted that this part of the work is extremely rich in data and analyses, as well as a humanistic aspect of progressive development of society and its power in enforcing punitive measures (on its different members). Chapter 4 features a rich se- lection of data and contemplations on the relationship between customs and law. The discussions and histori- cal analysis thus draw from the basic outlines of how conflict resolution is framed in custom and how it is defined in legal procedures. The issue of formalisation and institutionalisation asks not only how customs can be codified, but more importantly whether all customs should be codified at all. Given that societies need some safety valves to function, every codification of customs may not be good or even appropriate for their consistent and qualitative development. The author points out here that the codification of customs largely occurred only in the 17 th century, while prior to that the society was actually the prosecutor, advocate, judge and arbiter. It is hard to say whether this was good or not, but we can see that disputes were resolved more quickly and more simply—although it is also true that (social and political) power outweighed law in this framework. A linguistically rich contribution can be found in Chapter 5, which deals with the language of vengean- ce. The section features an extensive glossary of related terminology in different languages, building on Latin, but also including translations in English, Italian, Ger- man, Montenegrin, Albanian and Slovenian. Of course, it covers not only contemporary terminology but also historical expressions, which gives this section even greater added value, as it offers insight and possibili- ties for further research also in the field of linguistics. The author concludes the book with a kind of sum- mary, but makes it interrogative rather than descriptive. Summarising his own historical findings, the author at the same time outlines further research questions on the role of peaceful conflict resolution in medieval and early modern age society, as well as today. These questions, of course, cannot be answered here, as they require further research and rediscovering things we used to know but have unfortunately forgotten in our instant life and relatively poor knowledge of the history of Western civilization. The book is a remarkable work. It is not only a typi- cal local history book, although it may seem like one at first glance. It is a book that belongs in libraries around the world because it deals with a custom and practice we encounter every day but rarely confront. Because it happens on its own. But in a social world and a wor - ld of socially dictated relations, the topic of peaceful settlement of disputes is far from fully dealt with. Such valuable pieces slowly form a mosaic of knowledge on how to resolve disputes in ways that will benefit not only the conflicting parties, but the entire society. The book is worth picking up, and readers will do well to take their time for it, as it requires not only thorough and focused reading, but above all constant contem- plation on what kind of world we live in and what kind of world we want to live and work in. Boštjan Udovič Zdenka Bonin: DELOVANJE KOPRSKIH DOBRODELNIH USTANOV. PREHRANA OTROK V VRTCU IN SIROTIŠNICI TER BOLNIKOV V BOLNIŠNICI V 19. STOLETJU. Koper, Pokrajinski arhiv Koper, 2019, 147 strani. Decembra 2019 je ob finančni podpori Ministrstva za kulturo Republike Slovenije pri Pokrajinskem arhivu Koper, v sodelovanju s Pokrajinskim muzejem Koper, v okviru skupnega projekta in razstave na temo »Srednjeveške in novoveške kuhinje v Kopru in njegovem zaledju«, izšlo delo Zdenke Bonin z naslovom »Delovanje koprskih dobrodelnih ustanov. Prehrana otrok v vrtcu in sirotišnici ter bolnikov v 19. stoletju«. V uvodnem delu avtorica najprej osvetljuje problematiko dobrodelnosti in dajanja miloščine na območju Beneške republike v okviru njenih državnih oziroma dobrodelnih ustanov (zlasti bratovščin), ki so skrbele za obubožane, najdenčke in bolnike, v nadaljevanju pa se podrobneje posveča jedilnikom in dieti v beneških bolnišnicah in špitalih od 16. do 18. stoletja. V nadaljevanju prehaja na prikaz špitalov v Istri s podrobnejšim orisom moškega špitala sv. Nazarija in ženskega špitala sv. Marka na območju mestne četrti Zubenaga, nato pa v poglavju »Skrb za najdenčke in sirote v Kopru od 16. stoletja do konca prve svetovne vojne«, razgrinja nedvomno za tedanji čas pereče vprašanje zapuščenih otrok, ki je svoj višek v širšem evropskem prostoru doseglo med drugo polovico 18. in koncem 19. stoletja. Na območju Kopra je najdenčke, kot razberemo iz njenega dela, prvotno sprejemal mestni špital sv. Nazarija, kasneje pa mestna bolnišnica, saj Koper nikoli ni imel prave sirotišnice, ki bi sprejemala najdenčke iz celotne Istre, zato so jih vozili pretežno v tržaško sirotišnico. V naslednjem poglavju avtorica spregovori o ustanovitvi in delovanju dobrodelnega vrtca, ki je bil odprt leta 1839 in o filantropiji zakoncev Grisoni, gotovo največjih podpornikov koprskih dobrodelnih ustanov, ki so delovale med letoma 1860 in 1914. Za njuno ubožno ustanovo (Pio Istituto Grisoni) je ohranjen register z imeni gojencev in gojenk, ki so večinoma prihajali iz