„Krytyka Polityczna” (Political Critique)

„Krytyka Polityczna” (‘Political Critique’) is a quarterly left-wing journal that was founded in 2002. The name draws on the tradition of Young Poland’s „Krytyka” (‘Critique’), a monthly magazine published by Wilhelm Feldman at the beginning of the 20th century, and on the samizdat „Krytyka” which served as a forum for opposition writers and journalists in the 1970s and 1980s.

Over the five years of its presence on the Polish journalistic scene ‘Political Critique’ published 13 theme issues (e.g. ‘Intelligentsia - helpless or dead?’ ‘Left-wing, right-wing, mixing-up the language’, ‘Our common house’, ‘Aren’t you a populist yet?’, ‘ Two-speed Poland’, „Describe the future, create the past”, ‘The praise of antagonism’.)

Apart from engaging in political philosophy and commenting on current political affairs ‘Political Critique’ is a cultural enterprise as well - a good deal of the journal’s publications are devoted to literature, literary criticism, modern art and theatre.

The journal brings together people involved in creating a new left-wing formation in Poland, among them students, journalists, literary and theatre critics, artists and social activists. Since the very beginning of ‘Political Critique’ people associated with it have been present in the mainstream media in a successful attempt to make an independent left-wing stance concerning public affairs. We assume that there is no chance for left-wing policy being carried out without a space for leftist discourse in the public sphere.

In 2006 ‘Political Critique’, in cooperation with Ha!art, launched a new publishing project - „Political Critique Series’. Since 2007 we are independent publishing house. Our aim is to introduce the most significant works on philosophy, political sociology, theory of art and culture to intellectually-oriented readers. We promote the most important books and works in the field of left thinking and philosophy, political and social sciences.
The series include translations, works by outstanding Polish writers and journalists as well as significant reissues. Our aim is to create an intellectual base for alternative movements and to introduce new critical discourses and encourage discussion in Polish public debate. Up to now we have issued: ‘Revolution at the Gates’ Žižek on Lenin, the 1917 writing, ‘Live fleshes. Talks with artists’ by Artur Żmijewski, ‘Saint Paul. The Foundation of Universalism’ by Alain Badiou and ‘Lacrimae rerum. Kieślowski, Hitchcock, Tarkowski, Lynch’ by Slavoj Žižek. To be issued: ‘What’s the Matter with Kansas?’ by Thomas Frank, works by Chantal Mouffe, Ernesto Laclau, Elizabeth Dunn, Judith Butler, and many others.

In 2006 we created the „REDakcja” [REDaction] in the centre of Warsaw (Chmielna 26 /19 street). The place serves as a forum for discussion, art presentations and social and political projects. Apart from editorial office rooms there is a hall to our disposal where meetings and workshops are held, discussions take place and movies are presented. „REDakcja” is also a distribution point of alternative books and magazines.

REDakcja is a place where we try to fulfil one of the most important aims of ‘Political Critique’, that is to remove the boundaries between such fields as science, politics and art. We believe that Science, Politics and Art differ from each other only when it comes to the means
of expression, but there is one thing they have in common: the impact they have on the shape of our lives. We try to make the artists think in political terms; we urge the participants of the political life to treat culture, along with politics and in the linguistic terms, as an equally important factor which influences the shape of the society.

Only from October 2006 to May 2007 we held over 80 open meetings – literary discussions, movie presentations, workshops and seminars. We hosted such outstanding intellectuals and artists as Slavoj Žižek, Peter Singer, Rene Pollesch, and Martin Schulz.

We share our premises with other activist gropus such as Zieloni 2004 (The Greens 2004), Ecology and Art – Tomek Byra’s Fundation, Inicjatywa Uczniowska (Students’ Initiative), Ferdinand Lasselle’s Social Thought Center, Kampania „Giertych Musi Odejść” („Giertych must go” Campaign) and Warsaw University’s Gender Studies faculty.

Our debates are attended by libertarian and left-wing activists as well as people not connected with any left-wing movements. REDakcja has also become a place of everyday social meetings and a home base for our external contacts.

At the same time we cooperate with various institutions, organizations and informal groups, among which TR Warsaw and Foksal Gallery’s Foundation are the closest partners. We are also in close relations with Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (Polish Scientific Publishers PWN) and Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego (Stefan Batory Foundation) that support us financially and organizationally.

Since the very beginning our goal is to activate left-oriented people from all over Poland. Thanks to numerous actions in different cities the journal editors have broadened the circle around KP with students as well as people from other walks of life.

In reaction to rapidly increasing will of action among our supporters, we have decided to establish several local centers. In places where the structures of our movement are best organised we are planning to open Political Critique Clubs, where debates, social actions and other events will be organized. For a start, such clubs are due to be opened in Łódź and Wrocław. We also cooperate with cultural centers in Poznan, Cieszyn, Szczecin and Krakow, where we would like to open clubs similar to the one that operates in Warsaw.

We want to make the voice of the left side of the Polish political scene more audible in the public debate. We want to help the leftist movement regain its legitimacy. We aim to usher in a visible change in the balance of power on the Polish political scene. We want to offer an alternative to the dominating motif that defines the public discourse: “Either God or market”.
We defend the thesis that the sources of populism in Poland are to be found in the lack of means of expression (through political parties and the media) for supporters of non-liberal economy who have been excluded from the political scene in the years of transformation. We consider the struggle for a new discourse to be a political action that is crucial for the development of the left-wing politics in Poland.

See also our presentation in English: What is Political Critique?  

We inform about our actions and on-going events on our website: www.krytykapolityczna.pl

We invite you to read our publications and to participate in our actions and projects! Join us!

People

Editor-in-chief: Sławomir Sierakowski
Vice Editor-in-chief: Agata Szczęśniak
Managing Editor: Michał Sutowski
Arts Editor: Artur Żmijewski
The Team: Łukasz Andrzejewski, Agata Araszkiewicz, Joanna Bednarek, Michał Bilewicz, Zygmunt Borawski, Michał Borucki, Anna Delick (Sztokholm), Paweł Demirski, Kinga Dunin, Joanna Erbel, Bartosz Frąckowiak, Maciej Gdula, Dorota Głażewska, Agnieszka Graff, Agnieszka Grzybek, Krzysztof Iszkowski, Adam Jelonek, Małgorzata Kowalska, Roman Kurkiewicz, Julian Kutyła, Adam Leszczyński, Jarosław Lipszyc, Jakub Majmurek, Piotr Marecki, Adam Mazur, Kuba Mikurda, Paweł Mościcki, Rajmund Niwiński, Maciej Nowak, Adam Ostolski, Joanna Ostowska, Janusz Ostrowski, Konrad Pustota, Magda Pustoła, Marietta Radomska, Joanna Rajkowska, Staniław Ruksza, Przemysław Sadura, Jędrzej Słodkowski, Jan Smoleński, Aleksandra Sowa, Andreas Stadler, Kinga Stańczuk, Igor Stokfiszewski, Michał Sutowski, Michał Syska, Kazimiera Szczuka, Jakub Szestowicki, Magdalena Środa, Olga Tokarczuk, Krzysztof Tomasik, Justyna Turkowska, Karolina Walęcik, Błażej Warkocki, Przemysław Wiśniewski, Katarzyna Wojciechowska, Wawrzyniec Zakrzewski, Wojtek Zrałek-Kossakowski

Managers of REDakcja: Michał Borucki, Igor Stokfiszewski, Michał Sutowski

Publisher: Stowarzyszenie im. Stanisława Brzozowskiego [Stanislaw Brzozowski Association/NGO]
The Board: Sławomir Sierakowski (president), Maciej Gdula, Dorota Głażewska (financial director), Agata Szczęśniak

Contact us:
„Krytyka Polityczna”
ul. Chmielna 26 lok. 19, PL 00-020 Warsaw
tel. (+48 22) 828 11 66, e-mail: Ten adres e-mail jest chroniony przed spamerami, musisz mieć włączony Javascript, by go zobaczyć
Our website: www.krytykapolityczna.pl

We encourage you to support our actions and organization! Donations can be given to our account:
Stowarzyszenie im. Stanisława Brzozowskiego
Bank BISE S.A. IIIO/ Warszawa, ul. Dubois 5a, Warszawa
nr konta 92 1370 1037 0000 1701 4446 9300
„Donation for Stowarzyszenie im. Stanisława Brzozowskiego”.

Thank you for your help!