Jeffrey C. Isaac in conversation with Tomasz Sawczuk This post was originally published in Polish and in English by Kultura Liberalna. Tomasz Sawczuk: The United States faces now a dangerous pandemic, a deep economic crisis, and massive social protests, after a policeman killed George Floyd. On top of that, Donald Trump fuels further division and conflict into the American politics. To begin on a general note, how do …
“Take care of yourself” graffiti sprayed on a wall in the center of Warsaw, March 17, 2020. Author’s photo. This piece was originally published in Polish in Res Publica Nowa. The English translation is provided by the author. Commenting on the Covid-19 Pandemic, Ursula Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, recently said that Europe is the “world’s beating heart of solidarity.” Indeed, for two months …
Re-opening without closing down? Do authoritarian regimes manage pandemics better than democratic ones? This question is triggered by the initial records of the global fight against the pandemic, which suggest that some non-democratic regimes have been able to mobilize the resources for a mass-lockdown at a faster pace. But not all autocrats prioritize public health even during a pandemic. Bolsonaro, for example, has simply ignored reality by participating …
Anti-gender campaigns in a time of crisis Photo: Women’s Day organized by Polish Women’s Strike, Warsaw, March 8, 2020. Author’s Photo. We may have expected that a major health crisis would result in an easing of ultraconservatives efforts to limit the rights of women and minorities. The reality proved to be different. In March 2020 Polish Archbishop Wacław Depo claimed in an interview that “coronavirus is just one …
Photo: The frontispiece of the book Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes; engraving by Abraham Bosse; public domain on Wikimedia Commons There is a real possibility that American democracy will die come November. I hope not. I pray not. But I worry. Many scenarios that would have once appeared fantastic, now seem to be within the realm of the possible. One does not need a vivid imagination to wonder what …
An interview with Jacek Kucharczyk about the upcoming Polish vote After a controversial postponement of the presidential elections in Poland in May, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Poles will be going to the polls this Sunday. The right-wing ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), candidate, President Andrzej Duda, is currently in the lead and will most likely go into a second round of voting, scheduled for July 12th, …
Romania’s education law hits a new low (I would like to thank Jeff Isaac and Roxana Marinescu for their suggestions. All perspectives are mine.) Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States stated through a 6-3 majority decision that gender and sex are not the same thing. To discriminate against sex as the body parts one has is not the same as discriminating against a person’s gender identity …
A Critical Response to Osita Nwanevu’s “Bipartisanship Won’t Save Us” The New Republic’s Osita Nwanevu is a consistently sharp and often provocative commentator on public affairs. He just published a strong piece entitled “Bipartisanship Won’t Save Us.” I agree with him. Bipartisanship won’t save us and the reason is simple: The Republican party is a huge part of what plagues us, and our liberation from its grip is …
I wake up in the morning determined to examine one of Donald Trump’s press briefings, seeking to analyze the specific ideological and expressive dimensions of his presentation of self in my daily life. But I have to admit, I have failed. I have found it too difficult to watch an entire briefing from beginning to end. Paying close sustained attention to his live performances is just too painful. …
It’s classic neoliberalism — with a Schmittian face An earlier version of this post was published in the Verfassungsblog On Matters Constitutional. “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s gotta be. It’s total.” President Donald Trump, April 13, 2020 Carl Schmitt, Germany’s most influential authoritarian jurist, has long played a major role in political and legal debates …
