Wymiary ekspozycji debat politycznych w mediach

The accepted scheme of explanation tries to analyse the effect the state-of-the-art multimedia techniques have on realizing a model of more active participation of people in public life in which medialisation of politics is becoming an inseparable element. Therefore, teledemocracy which means interactive communication between particular segments of the authority is the basic challenge of contemporary times. However, the main problem of democracy in the era of multimedia is a dissonance between active participation of citizens in public life with a simultaneous conscious choice of political programs and a form of unconscious participation in the performance the politics provides people with transforming it into "consumption of politics”. Quoting the opinions of scholars representing different scientific disciplines, the author points at various faces of teledemocracy, and at the same time, at the consequences of politics medialisation. The author suggests that if politics is only reduced to struggle for power techniques it loses its essence. Such attitude leads to an extreme relativism in comprehending social interests, as well as to political cynicism. It is also a challenge for modern Polish democracy, and maybe particularly for the Polish political reality loaded with spontaneous processes of transformation

Infotainment jako narzędzie formatowania społeczeństwa w warunkach medialnej demokracji

As the mass media spread a defined format of ‘cultural repertoires’, they operate both in the cognitive and affective realms – they present problems and issues to society (societies), they form public opinion and stimulate actors to undertake actions. These result in both actual and symbolic unification of individuals and groups on various levels of the organization of community life. Even after a superficial observation of present activities it can be assumed that the process of marketization of social life, which includes the realm of culture and human relations, has been subjected to the influence of a populist rhetoric, which is rooted in the therapeutic function mass culture performs, formatting and unifying citizens’ behavior. The reasons for this can be sought in the tendency, which is typical both of economic and political marketing, to make promises and refer to unconditioned human desires. Overfamiliarity and excessive expression can play the same role in persuading viewers to accept the ‘only right opinion’, as can the propaganda of a given political platform under authoritarian conditions. In these terms the normative approach to the realm of politics and the politicization of social life reveal their anachronistic nature in defining real decision processes.As the mass media spread a defined format of ‘cultural repertoires’, they operate both in the cognitive and affective realms – they present problems and issues to society (societies), they form public opinion and stimulate actors to undertake actions. These result in both actual and symbolic unification of individuals and groups on various levels of the organization of community life. Even after a superficial observation of present activities it can be assumed that the process of marketization of social life, which includes the realm of culture and human relations, has been subjected to the influence of a populist rhetoric, which is rooted in the therapeutic function mass culture performs, formatting and unifying citizens’ behavior. The reasons for this can be sought in the tendency, which is typical both of economic and political marketing, to make promises and refer to unconditioned human desires. Overfamiliarity and excessive expression can play the same role in persuading viewers to accept the ‘only right opinion’, as can the propaganda of a given political platform under authoritarian conditions. In these terms the normative approach to the realm of politics and the politicization of social life reveal their anachronistic nature in defining real decision processes

W medialnym dagerotypie demokracji

In the post modernist world dominated by the modern electronic media, language loses its ability to reproduce and establish ideas in a given place and to organize symbols in coherent systems of ideas about a place, time and a subject. The social reality is more often identified with the world of symbols, in which the media, and particularly television, are becoming a powerful transmitter of these symbols penetrating and filling the sphere of politics.The postmodern social space makes a base to create a new generation of people regarding themselves as creative consumers - performers moving within different scenarios, playing in different performances and creating a vision of the common market of culture and consumption, which is submitted to the arranged influence of the “democracy of mood”. We tend to be identified with icons and idols ֊ the products of the culture, sold as goods. However, the torn apart social bonds and the lack of being anchored in a stable community change our lives in an everlasting pursuit of approval. Such “magnets” prone to draw the attention of us - Proteuses by exceeding the limits between the publicly important matters and those being petty but exciting and, at the same time, reaching into the privacy encouraging to psychological exhibition. We are both independent receivers and passive consumers. No particular attitude is dominant today, but there exists void, which may be filled with any feature a demand is for. The media come to our help. Being a commodity to purchase and deriving pleasure from that, they create the sense of human existence, and as a tool of this kind of consumption they also define a receiver’s identity. As it is meant by the author, the reality differs significantly from traditional ideas on the market system and inclusive democracy. The inclusive democracy means a mechanism of active attraction of the society to social institutions by protecting cultural diversity supporting participation and social control, as well as by the reduction of inequality and social barriers

Infotainment as an instrument for formatting society under conditions of media democracy

As the mass media spread a defined format of ‘cultural repertoires’, they operate both in the cognitive and affective realms – they present problems and issues to society (societies), they form public opinion and stimulate actors to undertake actions. These result in both actual and symbolic unification of individuals and groups on various levels of the organization of community life. Even after a superficial observation of present activities it can be assumed that the process of marketization of social life, which includes the realm of culture and human relations, has been subjected to the influence of a populist rhetoric, which is rooted in the therapeutic function mass culture performs, formatting and unifying citizens’ behavior. The reasons for this can be sought in the tendency, which is typical both of economic and political marketing, to make promises and refer to unconditioned human desires. Overfamiliarity and excessive expression can play the same role in persuading viewers to accept the ‘only right opinion’, as can the propaganda of a given political platform under authoritarian conditions. In these terms the normative approach to the realm of politics and the politicization of social life reveal their anachronistic nature in defining real decision processes

Infotainment as an instrument for formatting society under conditions of media democracy

As the mass media spread a defined format of ‘cultural repertoires’, they operate both in the cognitive and affective realms – they present problems and issues to society (societies), they form public opinion and stimulate actors to undertake actions. These result in both actual and symbolic unification of individuals and groups on various levels of the organization of community life. Even after a superficial observation of present activities it can be assumed that the process of marketization of social life, which includes the realm of culture and human relations, has been subjected to the influence of a populist rhetoric, which is rooted in the therapeutic function mass culture performs, formatting and unifying citizens’ behavior. The reasons for this can be sought in the tendency, which is typical both of economic and political marketing, to make promises and refer to unconditioned human desires. Overfamiliarity and excessive expression can play the same role in persuading viewers to accept the ‘only right opinion’, as can the propaganda of a given political platform under authoritarian conditions. In these terms the normative approach to the realm of politics and the politicization of social life reveal their anachronistic nature in defining real decision processes

Paradoksy profesjonalizmu politycznego

The article presents the preliminary phase of party preelection of candidates and the normative requirements they had to meet in order to find themselves on the official list of candidates announced by the Constitutional Council. Then, the official electoral campaign started. The author presents it in relation especially to such program issues as projects for institutional reforms of the Fifth Republic, economic issues, unemployment, and immigration. The main attention is directed at the proposals of the three most important candidates (altogether there were 12 candidates). In the further part, the text refers to the results of the first and second rounds and the campaign between these votings. The election results show that the traditional division - the left versus the right - has been maintained. Of particular importance to the final results was the flow of the electorate from candidates who finished their run for the presidency in the first round

The Neoliberal Panopticon of Biopolitics – Between Expansion and Social Therapy

Human enhancement technologies raise serious ethical questions about health practices no longer content simply to treat disease, but which now also propose to “optimize” human beings’ physical, cognitive and psychological abilities. In this article we undertake some conceptual clarification of the concepts of biopower and biopolitics and argue for their utility in contemporary analysis. Three decades of neoliberal policies have seriously reduced the welfare state: privatisations and cuts in public budgets have forced public agencies to downsize their activities, sometimes losing universality, effectiveness and quality of services. The pandemic has dramatically shown the price of such a neoliberal turn. Market globalisation creates health threats and is completely unable to respond to emergencies. Private health care is turning out to be largely irrelevant in facing the pandemic. The welfare state should not be considered a ‘cost’ for the private economic system. It would be a mistake to believe that, once the pandemic has passed, the economy could go back to ‘normal’. We need to rethink production and consumption considering health and environmental needs.Technologie usprawniające działanie człowieka rodzą poważne pytania etyczne dotyczące praktyk zdrowotnych, które nie służą już tylko leczeniu chorób, ale proponują również „optymalizację” fizycznych, poznawczych i psychologicznych zdolności ludzi. W tym artykule dokonujemy koncepcyjnego wyjaśnienia pojęć biowładzy i biopolityki oraz argumentujemy za ich użytecznością we współczesnej analizie. Trzy dekady neoliberalnej polityki poważnie ograniczyły państwo opiekuńcze: prywatyzacje i cięcia w budżetach publicznych zmusiły agencje publiczne do ograniczenia swojej działalności, czasami tracąc uniwersalność, skuteczność i jakość usług. Pandemia dramatycznie pokazała cenę takiego neoliberalnego zwrotu. Globalizacja rynku stwarza zagrożenia dla zdrowia i nie jest w stanie reagować na sytuacje kryzysowe. Prywatna opieka zdrowotna okazuje się w dużej mierze nieistotna w walce z pandemią. Państwo opiekuńcze nie powinno być traktowane jako „koszt” dla prywatnego systemu gospodarczego. Byłoby błędem sądzić, że po ustąpieniu pandemii gospodarka mogłaby wrócić do „normalności”. Musimy ponownie przemyśleć produkcję i konsumpcję w świetle potrzeb zdrowotnych i środowiskowych