Rethinking Responses to Political Crisis and Collapse: Hannah Arendt, Edith Stein, Rosa Luxemburg, and Simone Weil., King’s College, London ON, Canada, 6th – 8th March 2020

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Herausforderungen der Pluralität: Hannah Arendts politische Urteilskraft als ein Mittel zur Verbesserung des öffentlichen Diskurses um Migration

Hannah Arendts politische Philosophie wurde durch ihre eigene Erfahrung von Flucht und Vertreibung beeinflusst, die sich in mehreren Texten verdeutlicht und Arendt auch für gegenwärtige Herausforderungen der Migrations-Debatte aktuell macht. Ausgehend von ihrem Begriff der Pluralität schlage ich vor, Hannah Arendts Konzept des politischen Urteilens innerhalb dieses Problemfeldes praktisch umzusetzen. Sie selbst bietet dafür eine Art Anleitung, indem sie ihre Essays als ‚Übungen im politischen Denken‘ darstellt. Ich beziehe mich dabei auf eine der zahlreichen Herausforderungen, vor denen uns die Pluralität der Welt stellt: Die Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten des menschlichen Zusammenlebens in einer sich von Migration verändernden Gemeinschaft. Nicht nur ist diese Problematik besonders geeignet, um die Gewichtigkeit Arendts Konzeptes der Pluralität zu verdeutlichen, sondern sie entspricht auch durch ihre existenzielle Dringlichkeit und politische Brisanz dem arendtschen Anspruch, die Sorge um die gemeinsame Welt in den Vordergrund zu stellen

The Human Condition Today. Workshop at Tilburg University, Netherlands, 27 November 2019

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Introduction to the Special Issue, People on Streets. Critical Phenomenologies of Embodied Resistance

The last few years have seen the emergence of critical phenomenology as an exciting paradigm in phenomenology and beyond. Even if the very term, ‘critical phenomenology,’ is relatively recent, it is certainly not an entirely novel project. Critical phenomenology, as we know it today, does not have a single point of origin. It can be traced back not only to its beginnings in early twentieth century phenomenology but also to feminist phenomenology and critical phenomenology of race that were first established in the mid-twentieth century, and subsequently developed by later generations of feminist, queer, trans, critical race, and intersectional phenomenologists. Like any paradigm in-the-making, critical phenomenology has not yet reached provisional closure, such as consensus about its method. Hence, in this introduction to the special issue on People on Streets. Critical Phenomenologies of Embodied Resistance we refrain from providing a definition and instead approach critical phenomenology indirectly. To illuminate the methodological challenges involved, we unpack two foundational debates, pertaining to the key questions:“What is phenomenological about critical phenomenology?” and “What is critical about critical phenomenology?” Subsequently, we point to its relation to social and political struggles and protest before introducing the contributions to this issue

Aktywnośc filozoficzna kobiet w Grecji okresu klasycznego (WOMEN'S PHILOSOPHICAL ACTIVITY IN CLASSICAL GREECE)

The authors discuss in this paper the matter of philosophical activity of women in classical Greece. Hardly ever can characters of women philosophers be found in textbooks concerning history of ancient philosophy. This is relevant to the social situation in Greece of that time, where women existed on the margins of public life. To show this, they refer to Aristotle's work, as much as to non-philosophical sources. In spite of the fact that women's activity was reduced to the private sphere, a number of woman philosophers appear in the history of Greek thought. Circumstances which enabled them to take up activity on this ground were varied. Some of the women were members of philosophical schools, in case of others it seems that a particular personal situation played a key role, as they were either daughters or wives of philosophers. Regardless of the reasons, taking up philosophical activity must have required great courage and determination. Without any doubt, women philosophers must have been uncommon characters and their development on this ground can be seen as overcoming the social role imposed on them

DEVILS (Diably)

"Women are a mistake of nature... with their excess of moisture and bodily heat that indicates physical and mental deficiency... they are a kind of invalid, misbegotten and failed man... The full realisation of human kind is man”. These words by St Thomas Acquinas could be used as a motto of crusade launched over two millennia by the Catholic Church against women. Agnieszka Błońska and Joanna Wichowska seek out the sources, symptoms and consequences of this continuing offensive, particularly intensified in rent years in Poland. The story of possessed and exorcised nuns serves as a pretext for research into the long history of colonization of female body, sexual repression, stigmatization of difference and imposition of rigid gender roles. In this investigation a woman becomes a representative of all those, who are left behind a superior norm of human kind, which is man – a heterosexual father, thinker, warrior, priest, god; she is an agent of all “misfits” – those expelled from the privileged majority. In this performance the Church Fathers, Mothers Joans and devils living in their bodies and minds will speak. But most importantly, contemporary women and men who willingly or not take part in a supposedly defensive cultural war fought all over Europe and Poland; a war declared by the Church and politicians. The alleged aggressor in here is “gender ideology”, also called “genedrism”. The alleged victim – religious people, defended by far-sighted “shepherds”. The battleground – a family, femininity and masculinity, treated by bishops as given by God and similarly as body (is that so?) non discussable and unchangeable. Which role in this battle is assigned to each and all of us? Which role are we accept, consciously or not? To what extend are we upholding patriarchy ourselves? And finally, does particular female perspective have to indicate exclusion from common “human” experience? The performance is inspired by motifs from Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz’s story „Mother Joan of the Angels”. It was made for the 4th Art and Community Festival Happy City and premiered on the 7th of December in Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw, Poland. The research involved Dr. Anna Szwed from Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Dr. Agnieszka Koscianska from Warsaw University and Marta Abramowicz, writer

Orlando. Biografie (in translation: Orlando. Biographies)

Different though the sexes are, they intermix. In every human being a vacillation from one sex to the other takes place, and often it is only the clothes that keep the male or female likeness, while underneath the sex is the very opposite of what it is above. Virginia Woolf Despite all that, in 2022 politicians are still trying to forcefully remove the people who don’t confirm to the norms: five months before the invasion on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said that being transgender is “almost a crime against humanity”, in Hungary there is a ban for “homosexual propaganda”, in Poland there are “LGBT free zones”. Can similar attempts succeed? The show that uses the novel Orlando (1928) and a movie based on it (1992) as its base is trying to face the embarrassment, reluctance, and hatred towards being different. In a journey through centuries, lives, and experiences of cisgender, trans-, and non-binary artists invited to join the project, we ask: is being different really as rare as we think it is? And maybe each of us is different in their own way? Isn’t every transformation and transition we go through in life being different? Do you really know who you are? Are binary divisions the answer to today’s threats? And maybe in this difference there is a promise of fun, revolution, and… a new, better order and world? One of the performers, Filipka Rutkowska, reflecting on the work wrote: Orlando is a love of change. Orlando is a value worth taking care of. ‘It’ is Orlando. Orlando is taking on different genders while still being the same person. Orlando is experiencing the mystery of transition – and treating this transition as a source of knowledge. Orlando is thinking about the birth of a new mind by using old thoughts and then reminiscing about the thoughts that are already gone. Orlando is the acceptance of losing a part of yourself and the readiness to get a new one. Orlando is the curiosity of the world. Orlando is a simultaneous loneliness among people and finding understanding amongst them. Orlando is entering a new state of focus, without knowing the laws that rule this state. Orlando is going to the other side of your own reflection. What stays the same in a person after transitioning? Text: Filipka Rutkowsk

Burden and centralised treatment in Europe of rare tumours: results of RARECAREnet - a population-based study

Background Rare cancers pose challenges for diagnosis, treatments, and clinical decision making. Information about rare cancers is scant. The RARECARE project defined rare cancers as those with an annual incidence of less than six per 100 000 people in European Union (EU). We updated the estimates of the burden of rare cancers in Europe, their time trends in incidence and survival, and provide information about centralisation of treatments in seven European countries. Methods We analysed data from 94 cancer registries for more than 2 million rare cancer diagnoses, to estimate European incidence and survival in 2000–07 and the corresponding time trends during 1995–2007. Incidence was calculated as the number of new cases divided by the corresponding total person-years in the population. 5-year relative survival was calculated by the Ederer-2 method. Seven registries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and the Navarra region in Spain) provided additional data for hospitals treating about 220 000 cases diagnosed in 2000–07. We also calculated hospital volume admission as the number of treatments provided by each hospital rare cancer group sharing the same referral pattern. Findings Rare cancers accounted for 24% of all cancers diagnosed in the EU during 2000–07. The overall incidence rose annually by 0.5% (99·8% CI 0·3–0·8). 5-year relative survival for all rare cancers was 48·5% (95% CI 48·4 to 48·6), compared with 63·4% (95% CI 63·3 to 63·4) for all common cancers. 5-year relative survival increased (overall 2·9%, 95% CI 2·7 to 3·2), from 1999–2001 to 2007–09, and for most rare cancers, with the largest increases for haematological tumours and sarcomas. The amount of centralisation of rare cancer treatment varied widely between cancers and between countries. The Netherlands and Slovenia had the highest treatment volumes. Interpretation Our study benefits from the largest pool of population-based registries to estimate incidence and survival of about 200 rare cancers. Incidence trends can be explained by changes in known risk factors, improved diagnosis, and registration problems. Survival could be improved by early diagnosis, new treatments, and improved case management. The centralisation of treatment could be improved in the seven European countries we studied. Funding The European Commission (Chafea)