8. Road to World War II (1931-1939)

In the history of international relations, the 1920\u27s are characterized by tidying up after the war to make the world safe for democracy; the 1930\u27s, by preparations for World War II. In general, the causes of the renewal of global war are the same as those listed earlier for World War I, with several major additions. [excerpt

'To Make the Enemy Immortal by the Sheer Play on Words' – on Julian Tuwim’s Pamphlets

The article presents both the formal aspects of the poetics of Tuwim’s pamphlets (enumeration, hyperbole, grotesque, irony) and the figures of those who are the targets of his satirical addresses. Tuwim used verse satires to create polemical and ironic portraits of individual people (the main figure being a nationalist journalist and literary critic Stanisław Pieńkowski) as well as to ridicule state institutions, ideologies and political parties. The author also analyses pamphlet-like lyrical poems, columns and literary criticism by Julian Tuwim. In conclusion the author describes some elements of the cultural milieu which the poet refers to in his satirical writing (popular culture and the media, totalitarian ideologies, mass-society).Zadanie „Stworzenie anglojęzycznych wersji wydawanych publikacji” finansowane w ramach umowy nr 948/P-DUN/2016 ze środków Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę

Interculturality in the university education. A qualitative study.

Intercultural training in the University is a necessity and a hope. A need, to the extent that must respond to the complex social and educational realities where the different cultural element is absolutely real and emerging. And, a hope, because while we educate for the respect and the promotion of intercultural we will be training teachers who will grow in future generations the seeds of peace and solidarity, and, therefore, much-needed positive values and fundamental for humanity. Therefore, in this work, we will present the results of the qualitative part of the process of research carried out in the context of the Faculty of Education Sciences of the University of Malaga during the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. The pedagogical practice of initial formation must ensure intercultural inclusion, through strategies of work that is involved to the cultural diversity present in the University classroom, in order to improve human interactions within the space training, and outside, to generate attitudes of cooperation and intercultural dialogue in university students, extending these attitudinal "ramifications" to society in general.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

John Paul II on Totalitarianism: A Timeless Lesson

The article shows that Pope John Paul II contributed not only to a practical weakening of totalitarian systems in the political world, but also to a significant deepening of theoretical knowledge about them. In the light of his teaching, totalitarianism appears as an attack on the human person, consisting in an attempt to subordinate him to a collective subject. The main reason for the emergence and implementation of totalitarian ideologies is the negation of God as the ultimate guarantor of human dignity and freedom. In the field of social life, the separation of man from God results in the replacement of truth by the dictates of power. Living the life without free access to universally knowable truth can lead to various, even democratic, forms of totalitarianism. Democratic totalitarianism occurs when transcendent truth is excluded from the public sphere in the name of a democracy that gives absolute primacy to majority rule. Such a democracy becomes a treacherous danger for both individuals and minority groups. It finally seems that only an authentic democracy built on respect for the dignity of all human beings as persons can provide the necessary conditions for the successful overcoming of totalitarianism

Memory Laws and Security

Recently, Uladzislau Belavusau with his post about a de-communization law in Poland launched a joint ASSER-Verfassungsblog symposium on what he has coined "mnemonic constitutionalism". Aleksandra Gliszczynska-Grabias followed up on this topic by mapping the landscape of various memory laws in the recent years and unfolding the ongoing challenges to fundamental rights. With this essay, I would like to highlight another aspect of mnemonic constitutionalism, affecting various understandings of security

'A habitual disposition to the good': on reason, virtue and realism

Amidst the crisis of instrumental reason, a number of contemporary political philosophers including Jürgen Habermas have sought to rescue the project of a reasonable humanism from the twin threats of religious fundamentalism and secular naturalism. In his recent work, Habermas defends a post-metaphysical politics that aims to protect rationality against encroachment while also accommodating religious faith within the public sphere. This paper contends that Habermas’ post-metaphysical project fails to provide a robust alternative either to the double challenge of secular naturalism and religious fundamentalism or to the ruthless instrumentalism that underpins capitalism. By contrast with Habermas and also with the ‘new realism’ of contemporary political philosophers such as Raymond Geuss or Bernard Williams, realism in the tradition of Plato and Aristotle can defend reason against instrumental rationality and blind belief by integrating it with habit, feeling and even faith. Such metaphysical–political realism can help develop a politics of virtue that goes beyond communitarian thinking by emphasising plural modes of association (not merely ‘community’), substantive ties of sympathy and the importance of pursuing goodness and mutual flourishing

Thinking about the problems of democracy from Hannah Arendt

In recent decades we have witnessed the emptying of the ideal of participatory democracy. If, on the one hand, we go back to the original formulations of the 1960s and 1970s, we see that these indicated the need to expand the spaces of collective democratic management in daily life, particularly in the workplace. But, on the other hand, the models of the following decades accepted the circumscription of democratic practices to the state. In a parallel movement, the critique of representative institutions and the political passivity they promote was set aside in favour of a perception in which the difference between participation and representation is practically annulled. With this, the radicality of the critique of the participation deficit in liberal democracies is lost. In the context of post-modernity, in which the ailments of modernity have not been healed, together with the generalised lack of interest in public affairs, especially among the younger generations, there is an urgent need to revitalise sleeping democracies, mostly in the Western world. Our work is built on Hannah Arendt's thought, committed to rehabilitating the space of politics, and on the dialogue with other authors, but also on the investigation of psychoanalytic contributions, following the tradition of German critical theory, in the search for antidotes to the dangers that Western democracies face, more specifically the right-wing populist escalation and the disintegrating threat of an instrumental rationality that is colonising all domains of our existence. It becomes pertinent, as an objective for our work, to revisit Arendt's great questions and, based on existing scientific knowledge, to imagine and conceptualise new forms of inclusion and social and political participation that may renew the democratic system. Here, we can only enunciate this project, which will be developed in a broader research context. [da Introdução]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

From Memory to Freedom. Research on Polish Thinking about National Security and Political Community.

open1The relations between national security in Poland and elements of memory, identity, culture and patriotism of the Eastern European Country – not forgetting its Christian “soul” – are at the core of a book recently published by Cezary Smuniewski (2018), professor at the War Studies University in Warsaw. The context for an analysis of this book is provided by three broad issues, which also have a direct bearing on the assessment of the work. Firstly, it should be noted that in recent years there has been an increasing interest in security issues. Secondly, the last decade has seen a growing trend in patriotism and national identity in Poland. Lastly, it must be taken into account the prevailing current approach towards Polish national security, that is emerging from the experience acquired in the fight against totalitarianisms of the 20th century – fascism and communism. The book contains therefore an interesting intellectual journey from the idea of Memory to that of Freedom, across some other concepts relevant to understand the definition of National Security in Poland.openMassa AgostinoMassa, Agostin

Liberal Warfare: A Crusade Twice Removed

Since the 1990s, liberal warfare has attracted a good deal of debate and commentary, virtually all of which has been framed in the secular language of rights, sovereignty, power, and legitimacy. This article, in contrast, makes religion its central analytic category. Treating liberalism as a political religion, it argues that, insofar as liberal wars are fought primarily to uphold “universal” Western values, their motivation has something in common with medieval crusades. But, because that universalist ideal is vitiated by the self-interest of states, liberal wars in fact bear closer resemblance to anachronistic attempts to revive the crusading ideal in the late Middle Ages. Thus, they represent a distant, secularized echo of a pale imitation of the Crusades—or “a crusade twice removed.