Krytyka Polityczna


Krytyka Polityczna is a circle of Polish left-wing intellectuals gathered around a journal of the same title founded by Sławomir Sierakowski in 2002. The name draws on the tradition of Young Poland’s "Krytyka", 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.

Stance

The aim of Krytyka Polityczna is to revive the tradition of engaged Polish intelligentsia. From the outset the activities of “Krytyka Polityczna” have focused on three main fields: social science, culture and politics to show that the social sciences, the arts and politics differ only in their means of expression, whereas what they have in common is the impact they have on social reality. The fundamental aim of “Krytyka Polityczna” is to prepare and introduce into the public sphere a project of struggle against economic and social exclusion. Another goal is to spread the idea of deep European integration.

Issues

As of 2019, Krytyka Polityczna is published quarterly. The first 23 issues were:
In the years 2006-2009 the milieu of the "Krytyka Polityczna" ran REDakcja – a centre serving the exchange of thought, debate, trainings, workshops, expositions of art, and presentation of social and political projects. REDakcja was also a distribution point of alternative and left-wing books and magazines.
From its opening REDakcja held several hundred open meetings – literary debates, workshops, seminars, screenings, as well as a few film festivals.
REDakcja became one of the most important cultural centers in the capital. In January 2008, it received the most important prize for cultural places: "Wdechy 2007" in the category: "Place of the Year," awarded by the biggest Polish newspaper "Gazeta Wyborcza."
In November 2009, in the very center of Warsaw „Krytyka Polityczna” opened Nowy Wspaniały Świat Community Center – a place of artistic and academic meetings, film screenings, exhibition space and a cultural café. Multiple events are organized in the center – debates, festivals, discussions – all open to public. Among major projects held in the center are Uniwersytet Krytyczny – open lectures and seminars held by most prominent professors and intellectuals from Poland and abroad, and Wolne Niedziele – weekly experimental and avant-garde music concerts. In July 2012, the community center was closed.

Krytyka Polityczna Local Clubs

Thanks to the activities of the sympathizers and cooperators of the Association in other Polish cities “Krytyka Polityczna” Clubs were created similar to REDakcja – they organize debates, social actions and other public events. By June 2009 22 such clubs have been established: Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Bytom, Cieszyn, Gdańsk, Głogów, Gniezno, Elbląg, Jelenia Góra, Kalisz, Kielce, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Opole, Piła, Poznań, Siedlce, Szczecin, Toruń, Włocławek, Wrocław.
The Network of Clubs constitutes the first attempt to build solid institutional foundations in order to enhance the commitment and integration of a large group of young people in the name of reviving the ethos of engaged intelligentsia.
“Krytyka Polityczna” has opened two common-rooms - in the north and south of Poland which operate similarly to former REDakcja organizing multiple artistic and social events.

The publishing house of the Political Critique

In 2006 The Political Critique, in cooperation with Ha!art, launched a new publishing project - The Political Critique Series. The first issue came out in December 2006.
In September 2007 people associated with “Krytyka Polityczna” established its own Krytyka Polityczna Publishing House. The aim is to introduce to the Polish audience the most important works of political philosophy and sociology, theory of culture and arts. The publishing house publishes transtaltions, works of Polish authors and important reissues.
Over 70 titles have been published until August 2010 either in one of the eight book series or outside series.
Among the authors published by the press are: Louis Althusser, Timothy Garton Ash, Alain Badiou, Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, Stanisław Brzozowski, Judith Butler, Manuel Castells, Roman Frydman, Bruno Latour, Chantal Mouffe, Marian Pankowski, Jacques Rancière, Nicholas Stern, Artur Żmijewski, Slavoj Žižek.

Website

"Krytyka Polityczna" website is an independent news provider, as well as a space for commentary. One can find announcements, reports, photos and audio recordings of various meetings organized by "Krytyka Polityczna". The website serves also as a forum of opinion and exchange. It serves as an archive of articles, pieces of published books, as well as the content of those journal issues that are no longer available for sale.
In September 2007 "Krytyka Polityczna" launched the tv_kp project – a sort of internet TV medium with filmed commentaries, recordings of discussions, short videos, invitations.

The team