"Cultures in Times of Transition" explores how the transformations of the 1980s and 1990s affected everyday life for citizens on both sides of the Iron Curtain; how ideas of "the other" circulated before and after the fall of the wall; and what a future utopia looked like for citizens of the East. These contributions range from the history of agricultural change, urban studies, linguistics, and legal history. They mirror the broadness of questions concerning the transition, but also hint at the heterochronous nature of those transformations.
The article aims to answer the question what factors determine the possibility of instrumental use of culture for urban development. The article refers to the empirical research (conducted in 41 cities) which is based on the theory of cultural value by John Holden. According to its theoretical assumptions, the cultural value, generated by entities operating in the cultural sector and defined from the perspective of different stakeholders, is the result of three different values: institutional, instrumental and intrinsic. The research shows that the most important areas affecting the possibility of using culture for urban development are: tangible and intangible resources, cultural policy and creative capital. The most worrying problem for the possible use of culture lies in the lack of dialogue and consensus in cultural policy.
The article links the prospect of theoretical research on the culture of the unemployed with the achievements of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, including the theory of fields (le champ), which is one of the key categories of his theory. A reflexive analysis of P. Bourdieu's theoretical concepts is helpful to explain the reasons for marginalization and exclusion on the example of long-term unemployment. Theoretical analysis showed that the reasons for marginalization lie not only in the entities subject to marginalization, but also are conditioned by general social changes, the social structure of a given country. Bourdieu's analyses are a good basis for programming public policy, the aim of which is to limit the social and economic effects of permanent unemployment.
The author addresses the social participation issue in the context of its significance to public policy in Poland. He examines the barriers limiting the expansion of participation. He notices them in the way a democracy functions ("failed democracy" according to Democracy Index), as well as in the way the dialogue has been organised (for example, two separate currents have been established - i.e. the social one and the civic one, which is quite unusual by Western European standards). He regards the politicians' perception of what a democracy is as a next barrier. As a result of that one can see lower standards of public sphere in place, antiquated public governance still in place, the underdevelopment of the legal framework for social dialogue and the low quality of policy-making. The author also describes the most important social phenomena relating to the functioning of the social and civic dialogue mechanisms. He analyses the sources of the current condition of the dialogue in terms of historical, structural as well as political factors.
The subject of the analysis in the article is the participation of the local government administration in running a cultural institution. The situation in the Podlaskie voivodship has been analyzed on a nationwide basis. The main problems focus on the principles and methods of financing cultural institutions by regional self-government and various ways of obtaining additional, extra-budgetary funding for their activities, especially from Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the European Union. The author points to spatial, social, and financial diversification related to the access to cultural events and participation in them using the example of Podlaskie voivodship. He propounds greater professionalisation related to running cultural institutions at the level of the voivodship as well as conducting pro-development cultural policy by local government units. He also stresses the need for activating local and regional communities in connection with cultural events and participation in organizing them. Participation in culture at the local and regional level and prudent government policy in this area are the foundation for building a strong social and regional identity.
The author has made an attempt to theoretically - by referring to empirical evidence - formulate the necessary conditions that allow participatory processes to happen. In this perspective, participation is not only an ethical requirement but primarily a mechanism that supports taking up the challenges posed by the increasing complexity of the social world. The examples presented in the article show that participation has a very strong 'competitor': clientelism. In the spaces where the latter forms the base of the relations between the government and society, it is difficult to find a well-rooted and sustainable presence of participatory processes. The author thus presents a hypothesis that the logic of clientelism, together with the lack of the ability to recognise the importance of resource interdependence, has the ability to weaken participation, or in other words, wash it out in a specific way. Clientelism strives to maximise the control over resources. This can, in some cases, support the realisation of development goals or be effective in particular governmental arrangements (e.g. the transformation in Poland in the 90s of the 20th century), however, it also deepens the passivity and in the long run can lead to a decrease in the value of some resources or even their loss. In this context, participation is thus understood mainly as an expression of caring for the owned and acquired resources and as the recognition of their interdependence.
The author analyses the factors that weaken the influence of the principles of meritocracy on the institutions and public policy. He indicates that a meritocratic approach to governance in the programming of public actions has become a resource for obtaining legitimacy of power in Poland to a limited extent. The advantages of meritocracy (the "efficiency" and "justice") have not been exploited on a significant scale. As a result, there is a significant illegitimacy of the democratic system, as well as the weakening of the society identification with the state. This phenomenon is characterized by low prestige of politicians and a poor voter turnout. The author draws attention to the fact that meritocratic management mechanisms of public institutions in Poland are significantly reduced due to numerous factors - the appropriation of the state by political parties, institutional nomadism of the elite, the rules of political capitalism, a soft state and the institutionalization of non-responsibility or activities of various interest groups and backstage actors of politics.
This article examines the role of trust in decision-making processes, which involves major interest groups, representing the world of work and business. This process is often referred to as the concept of social dialogue, which is generally defined as all forms of negotiation and consultation between the trade unions and employers and the state. In this formula, dialogue can be regarded as a mechanism of public policy making. The first part of the article is a short presentation of links between social dialogue and public policies. The second part addresses the issue of trust, which is a prerequisite for high quality and effective social dialogue. The quality and effectiveness of dialogue are correlated with the price, which participants have to pay for taking part in the dialogue and its outcomes. This is an issue of transaction costs, which are determined by "trust capital". The third part examines contribution of trust to the cost effect of social dialogue. The study concludes with a presentation of the research, conducted among trade unionists and employers who have, inter alia, assessed the role of trust in dialogue.
Social dialogue focusing on the problems of work does not deliver a sufficient area of communication for all citizens. It is important, therefore, to note that civil dialogue develops and permits to look at social problems in a wider manner as well as to include various partners to decisions made by the public authorities. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present civil dialogue in a theoretical and practical way. For that reason, making the detailed objectives of the study, we turn our attention to the relationship between social and civil dialogue, as well as the methods of civil dialogue. In the second section we wish to investigate one of these methods – namely, public consultation in a theoretical way. The third part of this paper describes a case study analysing an information meeting over the Lower Silesian participatory budget. In the final section we conclude our reflections about civil dialogue. The paper uses data from scientific literature, acts as well as the case study – observations and interviews with the participants of the consultative meeting.
The discussion about mutual relations between the media and politics in democracy is going on for years. One of the key issues in this debate is the impact of media on political choices and political part icipation of citizens. Last years we are observing signifi cant changes in the ways of presenting content by political actors, especially in the media. New media syst em ecology requires creativity both in political communication creating and analyzing it. One of the interest ing paradigm of this kind of analysis is gamifi cation. Th is article aims is to find out how gamifi cation elements are currently used in the practice of journalism and how the gamified schemes of political broadcast talk have the potential to st rengthen the democratic and civic purposes of journalism. The authors of this art icle are inclined to the idea that convergence between politics and popular culture can have also a positive effect for the implementation of democratic practices and civil society. And gamification creates an interest ing paradigm for underst anding political reality in terms of fun and entert ainment (according to the threat of tabloidization). Observing the dynamics of broadcast journalism it can be seen that even they can be analyzed in terms of gamifi cation mechanisms – the roles adopted by the journalist s and guest s are functional in the logic of the game. Th e prize (viewers' attention) is evident for both groups, and interactions run more oft en in ways that allow them to gain dominance and 'win' the interaction. Th e authors analyze the behavior of journalist s conducting the TV affairs programs through the scheme of roles taken in the game (according to Richard Bart le typology: achievers, explorers, socializers, killers). The test is made using quantitative and qualitative measures. ; TOMASZ Gackowski
Motherhood without icing and retouching. The 'Polish Mother' icon in Polish literature created after the year 2000 and blogs Polish woman-centered symbolism has a specific dimension, which is depicted in the iconic 'Polish Mother' (Matka Polka). The iconic image is deeply rooted in Polish history and culture and it often refers to the mother of Jesus as she is expected to sacrifice her children for the motherland. As a woman, she realizes herself not only through motherhood but also in the service of her nation, and as such, she becomes a highly charged metaphor for both motherly love and patriotism. The 'Polish Mother' is a myth; a stereotype that has shaped the thinking of the nation for more than two centuries and is still largely in force. In contemporary literature (and also in various media texts and blogs) one can identify however, obvious attempts to re-evaluate this very traditional iconic image. Especially motherhood, in Poland today, has gained a new dimension. I investigate some of the most characteristic aspects of the selected texts, focusing on the discrepancy between the old clichés and expectations and the subversion of traditionally defined motherhood in a modern society, which no longer takes the 'Polish Mother' at face value.
"Na Lubelszczyźnie słowem-kluczem staje się graniczność: znajdujemy się przy Białorusi i Ukrainie, między Wisłą a Bugiem. Różnorodność tego obszaru (m.in. wpisane w jego krajobraz cerkwie, synagogi, ślady Ormian i Tatarów) wpływa na wielość podejmowanych w opracowaniu tematów. Regionalistyka kulturowa potraktowana została przez autorów i redaktorów tomu (etnologów, antropologów, filologów, geografów, ekonomistów) jako wehikuł pozwalający czytelnikowi wyobrazić sobie przestrzeń Lubelszczyzny. Badający zasoby historyczno-kulturowe na styku między Wschodem i Zachodem wbili cyrkiel zainteresowań w Lublinie, by zakreślić łamane koło od Białej Podlaskiej, przez Włodawę, Hrubieszów, Zamość, Zwierzyniec, Biłgoraj, Janów Lubelski, Kraśnik, Opole Lubelskie, Kazimierz Dolny, Puławy po Łuków. Margines Lubelszczyzny stał się dla autorów, by użyć formuły bell hooks, miejscem radykalnego otwarcia" (ze wstępu). ; "In the Lublin Region, the key word is the border: we are right next to Belarus and Ukraine, between the Vistula and the Bug. The diversity of this area (manifested by Orthodox churches and synagogues as well as Armenian and Tatar traces) finds its reflection in the multiplicity of topics considered in the volume. The authors and editors of the volume (comprising ethnologists, anthropologists, philologists, geographers and economists) treat cultural area studies presented as a vehicle allowing the reader to imagine the space of the Lublin Region, where the West meets the East. Analysing the Region's historical and cultural resources, the authors drew a broken circle, going from Biała Podlaska, through Włodawa, Hrubieszów, Zamość, Zwierzyniec, Biłgoraj, Janów Lubelski, Kraśnik, Opole Lubelskie, Kazimierz Dolny, Puławy to Łuków. These margins of the Lublin Region have become for them, to use bell hooks's formulation, a place of radical opening" (from the introduction).
The author analyses the socio-cultural determinants which influence the internal structure of collective action. It is determined by: the ability to fulfill contracts, the predictability of behaviour and showing trust to others. The author goes on to describe the factors that limit them as a result of the specificity of social relations in the Polish society, which 82 Janusz Hryniewicz Studia z Polityki Publicznej are dominated by the network of micro-groups and it means that only within them - not within the wider society - one can see social relations, in which contracts tend to be fulfilled and trust guaranteed. At the same time, the author indicates that the Polish society's capacity for collective action seems to be limited as a result of the fact that the Cartesian culture has not been fully adopted. There are many ramifications of that including a lower potential to analyse the goals of collective actions and making them more rational. In the Cartesian type of societies, their members are more favourably inclined to act together. They are more favourably adapted towards democracy, collective action and one can see a higher level of self-organisation, a wider range of personal freedom, as well as the setting up of associations. There is no need to impose top-down directives and top-down coordination when collective action must be taken.
