Search

Begin New Search Political Geography Poland Content Type Special Report Publishing Institution Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw Publication Year within 25 Years

1. What’s Left of the Soviet Union Warsaw East European Review Editorial Discussion

Author:
Pawal Kowal and John S Micgiel
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
“All we have left of the Soviet Union are jokes...” I’d like to ask you all somewhat perversely, besides jokes, is there any good memory left behind from this empire? Did the Soviet Union leave anything good behind? I mean the Soviet Union not as the Soviet Union itself, but also as the whole region, in other words the Warsaw Pact countries, as well as other communist countries and parties in the world. So, we see the empire as Alexei Salmin, the Russian political scientist, views it – as a concentrated orb: the Russian Federation, around it the USSR, then the Warsaw Pact, followed by other communist countries and finally the Comintern, and after its dissolution, parties cooperating with the Kremlin from all over the world. So, we see the entire empire, not just the Soviet Union, and the question is this – did it leave anything good behind? Surely every empire leaves something good behind
Topic:
International Relations, International Affairs, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Poland

2. Public and Private Hate Speech in Poland

Author:
Grażyna Drzazga and Magda Stroińska
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Words can be like tiny doses of arsenic: they are swallowed unnoticed, appear to have no e ect, and then after a little time the toxic reaction sets in after all,” wrote Victor Klemperer in his study of the language of the third Reich (Klemperer 1946/2000: 15-16). the importance of language for effective persuasion has been acknowledged by the teachers of rhetoric and orators since the age of antiquity. In modern times, there were both politicians who practiced deception through language for political or other gains, and also those who studied the effects of language-based manipulation. Among the most profound research on the mechanisms and effects of propaganda, one could name the writings of George Orwell, Friedrich Hayek, or Michał Głowiński. In this paper, we focus on one particularly disturbing aspect of propaganda: the use of hate speech. e reason for this choice of topic is the unprecedented explosion of populism all over the world, and the spread of perhaps its strongest weapon – hate through political and social fearmongering and use of what Klemperer referred to as ‘poisonous language’.
Topic:
Political Violence and Political stability
Political Geography:
Poland