A collaboration with The New School & the European Democracy Institute
 
Category: <span>Dispatches</span>

Dispatches

Category: Dispatches

The NGO Sector in Slovakia as a Subject of Conspirators

Written by:

Photo: from the opening of the October 2019 Orbis Civitates conference (200+ participants – no such gathering of NGOs was organized since 2013). On behalf of the organizer (Open Society Foundation) the author is welcoming the President of Slovakia Zuzana Čaputová and Minister of Interior Denisa Sakova, sitting in the front row (right side in the photo). Photo credit: Open Society Foundation Bratislava. Overnight, on Monday, February 26th, …

Torn Mask of Social Solidarity

Written by:

Law and Justice response to the economic downturn The government of the right wing Law and Justice party, which came to power in Poland in 2015 after eight years in the opposition and won a second term in 2019, is perceived as being not only socially conservative but also dedicated to redistribution. Its flagship social program, Family 500+, which offers parents 500 PLN (approximately 118 USD) of unconditional …

Domestic Violence as Pandemic

Written by:

The Covid-19 crisis, which might last another 24 months, has made the issue of domestic violence a matter of urgent public concern. According to a UN Population Fund study, a 20% surge in incidents of domestic violence globally equates to an increase of 15 million cases for every three months of the lockdown.  The resources available for victims of domestic violence vary greatly from place to place. Democracies …

Fascists in Slovak Politics

Written by:

Waiting for a new chance in times of the COVID-19 crisis? On November 24, 2013, Banská Bystrica, a city of 78,000 inhabitants situated in the foothills of the Low Tatra mountains in Central Slovakia, woke up to shocking news. A fascist candidate was democratically elected as the regional governor for the next four years.  Marian Kotleba, a former IT teacher, is infamous for his open hatred of the …

This is Not a Temporary Crisis

Written by:

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 …

Authoritarian Appetites versus Local Solidarity

Written by:

“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 …

Turkey’s Forged Success Story

Written by:

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 …

Gender Ideology as Pandemic

Written by:

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 …

Will We Still be American after Democracy Dies?

Written by:

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 …

Elections 2020

Written by: , ,

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, …