The Policy of the USSR and the III Reich Towards the Polish Elites during the Second World War

The Policy of the USSR and the III Reich Towards the Polish Elites during the Second World War

Author(s): Piotr Madajczyk / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

Keywords: USSR; III Reich; Polish Elites; Second World War

The objective of the paper is to present both the character and specificity of the policy followed by the German Nazi occupational authorities against Polish elites, and the intelligentsia in particular. Hostility towards the intelligentsia of a nationality other than that predominant in a given nation state is by no means a unique phenomenon, as it accompanied the emergence of nation states throughout the nineteenth century. It was also visible when these states re-emerged or had their borders redrawn following World War I and II. Therefore, this particularly hostile attitude towards the elites, evident also in Poland, had a deep-rooted tradition – all the more understandable as it stemmed from the fact that the intelligentsia had always been the kernel around which nations and nation states developed, as it had the strongest sense of national identity.

Anti-Polonism in the Ideology of National Socialism

Anti-Polonism in the Ideology of National Socialism

Author(s): Tomasz Ceran / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

Hanna Arendt in her opus magnum observed that National Socialism divided nations into ones that were to be exterminated forthwith, such as the Jews, those that could expect to be annihilated in the foreseeable future, such as the Poles, Russians and Ukrainians, and ones for which no “final solution” was planned (the French and the Belgians). However, the extermination of the Polish civilian populace began as early as 1939. First, the Wehrmacht committed war crimes against Polish prisoners of war and civilians – the alleged partisans, while later Einsatzgruppen units started killing “radical Poles”; finally, members of the organization Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz murdered tens of thousands of Polish citizens. It was not a total genocide, as in the case of the Jews, but the first partial genocide committed during World War II – a method of pacification of a community combined with declassing and an alteration of its identity

The Genocidal Extermination of the Polish Intelligentsia

The Genocidal Extermination of the Polish Intelligentsia

Author(s): Dieter Schenk / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

Keywords: Genocidal Extermination; Polish Intelligentsia

The paper deals with the question of whether the extermination of the Polish intelligentsia in the years 1939–1945 should be regarded as legally falling into the category of genocide. Although widely researched by historians, the genocide of the Poles in the period 1939–1945, and especially of the Polish intelligentsia, has received little attention from both Polish and German legal scholars. The occupiers appropriated Polish territory of which they had seized control in violation of international law, using brutal violence, considering themselves members of the “master race” and bringing the Polish population down to the level of “nationally alien elements”. The author argues that the Poles as a national group were granted legal protection under international law. Polish elites, in turn, formed a special subgroup within the nation and as such were singled out by the Nazis as the first to be eliminated. There is also a number of other criteria specified in international law and the relevant case law that justify considering the crimes against these elites to bear the hallmarks of genocide. The paper discusses also self-identification of the Polish intelligentsia and its identification by the occupier, as well as documents German policy against the Polish intellectuals. The author concludes that under the German Code of Crimes against International Criminal Law, the extermination of the Polish intelligentsia must be regarded as having the characteristics of genocide.

Modelling income distributions based on theoretical distributions derived from normal distributions

Modelling income distributions based on theoretical distributions derived from normal distributions

Author(s): Piotr Sulewski,Marcin Szymkowiak / Language(s): English / Issue: 06/2023

Keywords: income modelling; EU-SILC; normal distribution; SU Johnson distribution; Dagum distribution

In income modelling studies, such well-known distributions as the Dagum, the lognormal or the Zenga distributions are often used as approximations of the observed distributions. The objective of the research described in the article is to verify the possibility of using other type of distributions, i.e. asymmetric distributions derived from normal distribution (ND) in the context of income modelling. Data from the 2011 EU-SILC survey on the monthly gross income per capita in Poland were used to assess the most important characteristics of the discussed distributions. The probability distributions were divided into two groups: I – distributions commonly used for income modelling (e.g. the Dagum distribution) and II – distributions derived from ND (e.g. the SU Johnson distribution). In addition to the visual evaluation of the usefulness of the analysed probability distributions, various numerical criteria were applied: information criteria for econometric models (such as the Akaike Information Criterion, Schwarz’s Bayesian Information Criterion and the Hannan-Quinn Information Criterion), measures of agreement, as well as empirical and theoretical characteristics, including a measure based on quantiles, specifically defined by the authors for the purposes of this article. The research found that the SU Johnson distribution (Group II), similarly to the Dagum distribution (Group I), can be successfully used for income modelling.

Impact of a child’s disability on the probability of the mother taking up paid employment

Impact of a child’s disability on the probability of the mother taking up paid employment

Author(s): Olga Komorowska,Arkadiusz Kozłowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 06/2023

Keywords: employment rate; mothers of children with disabilities; Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition; logistic regression

Performing paid work is beneficial in many ways, but not every person has equal access to it because of their social and economic situation. Discrepancies in this field are especially visible in the case of mothers. The aim of the study is to assess the impact of the child’s disability on the probability of the mother taking up paid employment. The empirical analysis used a decomposition method derived from the Blinder and Oaxaca approach and the logistic regression. The analysis was based on individual household-level data from the representative Household Budget Survey for the years 2005–2020. When analysing the average from all the years, the employment rate of mothers of children without disabilities reached 70.9%, and that of mothers of children with disabilities only 40.2%. This gap was widening throughout the studied period. The lower employment rate among mothers of children with disabilities is caused in the most part directly by the child’s disability (and the resulting factors). However, the variable that had the greatest impact on the economic activity in both groups of mothers was education.

Use of new technologies and evidence-based decisions: key factors in the strategy for the 2020 Population and Housing Census in Mexico in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Use of new technologies and evidence-based decisions: key factors in the strategy for the 2020 Population and Housing Census in Mexico in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Author(s): Edgar Vielma Orozco / Language(s): English / Issue: 06/2023

Keywords: 2020 Population and Housing Census; COVID-19; strategy; mobile computing; devices

The development of population and housing censuses implies a challenge regarding the necessary resources, logistics, and operations for National Statistical Offices (NSOs). At the global level, this challenge was more significant in the 2020 census round due to the COVID-19 health contingency. This led Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía – INEGI) to analyze possible scenarios in the face of the pandemic and rethink some activities in order to adapt to the contingency. As a result of these measures, the 2020 Population and Housing Census in Mexico turned out a success.The aim of the paper is to share INEGI’s solutions implemented before, during, and after the COVID-19 contingency, which favored the development and conclusion of the census in Mexico and which other countries might find useful. Among the key elements of the Mexican census strategy was the incorporation of technologies for data collection, e.g. migrating from paper questionnaires to the use of mobile computing devices (MCDs), which reduced the time of capture and processing of information. In addition, a brief analysis of the behavior of past pandemics facilitated the decision-making. The main lessons learned from the Mexican experience include: the importance of maintaining the generation of official statistics in crisis contexts, the need for NSOs to have a robust risk management system that contemplates all types of scenarios and allows them to act in any contingency, and the need to implement innovative data collection methods and extend the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

Determining the value of an enterprise on the example of two leading Ukrainian banks

Determining the value of an enterprise on the example of two leading Ukrainian banks

Author(s): Yaroslav Yeleyko,Oksana Yarova,Pietro Garasyim / Language(s): English / Issue: 07/2023

Keywords: bank; value of an enterprise; total asset; net profit; correlation; multiple regression

The paper addresses the issue of determining the precise value and the financial prospects of enterprises subject to sales or purchase by investors. In order to illustrate the process of calculating the value of a company, the article analyses the financial condition and capital of the two largest Ukrainian banks, i.e. PrivatBank and Oschadbank. The aim of the study is to compare the values of these enterprises on the basis of statistical criteria. The statistical and comparative analysis of the aforementioned entities covering the years 2015–2021 was carried out using the following indicators: total assets, total liabilities, total capital, net interest income, profit before tax, annual net profit and total aggregate annual income. The study was based on data available in the banks’ financial reports. The study method consisted in statistical analysis, correlation and multiple regression. The research determined the value of both banks, indicating that PrivatBank outperforms Oschadbank in this respect.

Great musical forms dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. Outline of the issues

Great musical forms dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. Outline of the issues

Author(s): Piotr Towarek / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: St Martin of Tours; liturgical music; Mass; motet; cult; hagiology

This article gives an overview of the great musical forms dedicated to St Martin of Tours. These are primarily liturgical compositions, connected with the reverence for the person of the saint which has been formed in the Church over the centuries. This group includes single-voice parts of the proprium Missae (Alleluia verses, sequences), multi-voice liturgical motets of the medieval period (Brassart, Roullet, Fresneau), as well as extra-liturgical works (de Grudencz, de Machaut). These compositions show the process of transformation of the image of St Martin, which was taking place at the time and was extremely important in terms of liturgical worship and popular piety: from a follower, bishop and monk, to a noble knight and soldier of Christ (miles Christi). Evidence of liturgical reverence towards St Martin can be found in the two masses (ordinarium Missae) of the medieval period (d’Amaerval, Obrecht), the motets of the Renaissance and Baroque (di Lasso, Palestrina, de Monte, Handl, Marenzio, Anerio, Mielczewski), the masses of the Romanticism (Stahl, Kircher, Bottazzo) and the 20th and 21st centuries (Miškinis, Pitzl, Nowak, Halter), as well as oratorio and cantata works (Kocsár, Schlenker) and hymns (Augustinas, Monks, Łukaszewski). The theological reflection presented in this article falls within in the field of aspectual hagiology, i.e. one that brings together specialists from various disciplines on a common research subject, i.e. ‘saints, holiness’, aiming at innovation.

Review: Johann Ev. Hafner, 2022, Indigene Selbstbehauptung und katholischer Ökokommunismus. Der philippinische Rebellenpriester Conrado Balweg, Baden-Baden, Ergon Verlag, 242 pp. ISBN 978-3-95650-969-8

Review: Johann Ev. Hafner, 2022, Indigene Selbstbehauptung und katholischer Ökokommunismus. Der philippinische Rebellenpriester Conrado Balweg, Baden-Baden, Ergon Verlag, 242 pp. ISBN 978-3-95650-969-8

Author(s): Andrzej Miotk / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

How sound is experiences in deaf/Deaf practice? On sound emancipatory strategies

How sound is experiences in deaf/Deaf practice? On sound emancipatory strategies

Author(s): Magdalena Dunaj / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: deaf/Deaf; sound; acoustemology; emancipation; emancipatory strategies

The paper aims to answer how deaf/Deaf practice inferred the sound. The author analyses the Reddit discussion on deaf experiences with sound. Using Steven Feld’s concept of acoustemology, which is one’s sonic way of knowing and being in the world, the author discusses the meaning of sound in the deaf/Deaf epistemological experience. The sound is a pharmacon. For the deaf/Deaf, the sound brings both positive and negative, expected and unexpected. Ernesto Laclau’s term of emancipation is used to explain how d/Deaf sound practices entail this ambiguity. The author describes four sound emancipatory strategies: expect unexpected, sound management, fabrication of sound, and semiosis. The deafness condition breaks down the perfect ideas of sound and silence, placing us in the sound continuum. Sound is perceivable, but the significance it brings is sometimes debatable. Sound emancipatory strategies enable d/Deaf people to tell their own story of experiencing sound, take control over the sound and show their expertise on it, free their hearing process, and break speech hegemony.

Food Herstories and Everyday Life in Times of Crisis. Women’s Experiences in Food Production, Distribution and Consumption

Food Herstories and Everyday Life in Times of Crisis. Women’s Experiences in Food Production, Distribution and Consumption

Author(s): Magdalena Popławska / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: women’s food practices; alternative food networks; allotment gardens; food self-provisioning; sustainable solutions

The aim of this article is to analyze women’s experiences of household food production, distribution and consumption as a response to the difficulties and challenges of daily life. The adopted perspective integrates research from food studies, historical sociology, and gender studies. The author’s intention is to discuss the multifaceted, gendered nature of food practices, highlighting their transformations, and modes of continuation. References to the analysis of alternative food networks draw attention to both contemporary and post-WWII food practices and introduce to the discussion concepts which remain important for contemporary society, e.g. community and sustainable solutions. This analysis is based on a review of literature, particularly oral histories and autobiographical accounts by both urban and rural women, and references various documented food-related activities. As demonstrated in the article, presentation of women’s food-related stories involves exploring alternatives to the scarcity economy of state socialism and contemporary anonymous mass production. These alternatives, embedded in the space of the kitchen, the farm field, or the allotment garden, are more than just coping strategies – they appeal to such values and ethical norms as mutual assistance, trust, and reciprocity. They can be interpreted through the lens of creativity and resourcefulness, as well as in terms of power relations and resistance in the context of everyday crises.

Memory of War. Remembering Hollywood’s Vietnam War in Call of Duty: Black Ops

Memory of War. Remembering Hollywood’s Vietnam War in Call of Duty: Black Ops

Author(s): Anh-Thu Nguyen / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: first-person shooter; memory; war; Vietnam War; Hollywood

The Call of Duty franchise is well-known for its setting in historical warfare and is frequently discussed under the themes of realism or its treatment of history. Whilst this is helpful to address historical inconsistencies and the often-resulting lack of critical perspective on warfare in general, it is perhaps more accurate to refer to Call of Duty as a site of memory. Call of Duty is not interested in an accurate historical retelling of war, rather, it is to evoke cultural memories usually produced by (popular) media related to specific events, repurposing them for entertainment. By analysing Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War through its Vietnam War missions, I explore the formal and narrative qualities of the game to examine what the game chooses to remember. Two key aspects can be found in its gameplay: the game takes on an exclusive U.S.-American perspective on the Vietnam War. Second, Vietnamese characters are largely absent or only exist as enemies. I will then discuss the game’s use of the Vietnam War as a catharsis for its storytelling and how it fails to live up to any subversive potential it has concerning its treatment of memory. This essay will then conclude with final thoughts on how the Vietnam War is remembered in international politics and how its remembrance is also related to intergenerational divides within the Vietnamese diaspora.

From Albums to Musicking Assemblages: Virtual Structures and Topological Unfoldings in Toyomu’s “Imagining” of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo

From Albums to Musicking Assemblages: Virtual Structures and Topological Unfoldings in Toyomu’s “Imagining” of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo

Author(s): Artur Szarecki / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Kanye West; Toyomu; hip hop; assemblage theory; digital music; remix

In 2016, Kanye West released his highly anticipated eight album, The Life of Pablo, on a streaming platform Deezer, where it remained exclusively available for over a month. This prevented audiences from several countries, where the service has not yet launched, from accessing it. As a result, Japanese electronic music producer, Toyomu, created his own version of the album, without hearing the original. Browsing the internet, he tracked every sample and every lyric that West used, and assembled them into an original work, comprising an “imagining” of how The Life of Pablo could have sounded. His endeavor, while ingrained in the cultural logic of remix, goes beyond it, comprising a unique musical entity that eludes easy categorization. Therefore, the paper employs Manuel DeLanda’s assemblage theory to account for its specificity. This entails a shift from a relational and processual understanding of the musical album, already implied in West’s work, to mapping the topological structure of possibilities, defined by invariants and attractors, that hints at real but not actual vectors of its becoming. As such, Toyomu’s undertaking provides an opportunity to further rethink the concept of the musical album in a time when it was already decentered by the transition from material objects to digital data.

Transgressive Automatons. Re-Visioning the Cyborg in Larissa Lai’s Rachel

Transgressive Automatons. Re-Visioning the Cyborg in Larissa Lai’s Rachel

Author(s): Agnieszka Podruczna / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: postcolonial science fiction; cyborg; Larissa Lai; Blade Runner

The article aims to analyze the ways in which Larissa Lai, in her short story Rachel, appropriates and racializes the figure of the cyborg by re-visioning and retelling the story of one of the most iconic characters in the history of cinema, the android Rachael from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (and, by extension, her literary predecessor).Using postcolonial theory as well as theory of science fiction as the primary methodological frameworks, the article demonstrates how – by infusing the character of Rachael/Rachel with a hybrid identity – Lai engages in a discussion concerning race, belonging, and the power struggle between the central and the peripheral. This struggle, in turn, is embodied by the liminality of the cyborg, who may be interpreted as a metaphor for all that eludes (and actively rejects) the colonial Self–Other binary. This, in turn, highlights the tensions accompanying the intrusion of the peripheral into the hegemonic and allows for a more in-depth discussion of the processes concerning negotiation of identity.Moreover, the paper focuses on the way in which Lai constructs the metaphor of the Othered, racialized cyborg in order to deconstruct the notion of the cyborg perceived as a neutral (i.e. white) entity, writing against the hegemonic canon. In this way, the racialized cyborg stands as the symbol of transgression, rebellion and rejection of the center/periphery dichotomy, one which eschews the (neo)colonial binaries and becomes a source of anxiety for the hegemonic discourse.

The ‘Theatrical’ in Public Participation: How Can Theatre Contribute to Citizens’ Engagement in Legislative Development?

The ‘Theatrical’ in Public Participation: How Can Theatre Contribute to Citizens’ Engagement in Legislative Development?

Author(s): Bartłomiej Bodziński-Guzik / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: public participation; law; community; politics; legislative theatre; therapy; protest

The paper is devoted to the notion of public participation and an attempt to propose a slightly different understanding and approach to this than usual. The author acknowledges the potential of theatrical methods, especially the proposal of A. Boal, the Legislative Theatre, whereby the theatre is used to create proposals for legislation, bringing additional value to the participation process. The LT is a point of reference, but the following reflections refer to theatre and performance in a more general sense. The article focuses on the corelations between theatre and different relevant fields of social activity to determine and present potential benefits of using theatre in the process of participation. It is to present a preliminary review of relevant ideas that can stimulate future reflection about theatricalizing participation, rather than presenting a direct and comprehensive proposal.

Proceeds of Crime, Punishment, and Libertarianism

Proceeds of Crime, Punishment, and Libertarianism

Author(s): Łukasz M. Dominiak / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: proceeds of crime; libertarianism; restitution; punishment

In his recent publication, Walter Block claims that disgorgement of indirect proceeds of crime is incompatible with libertarianism. The present paper argues that Block’s claim is incorrect. In support of this position two general arguments are offered. The first one builds on the distinction between restitution and punishment, showing that forfeiture of assets derived indirectly from crime would not – contra Block – result in unequal punishment under retributive justice. The second one refers to libertarian principles of distributive justice and demonstrates that indirect proceeds of crime are owned by the aggrieved parties. Put together, these arguments conclusively show that the idea that indirect proceeds of crime should be forfeited is compatible with libertarianism.

An Explanatory Framework for Legal Grounding

An Explanatory Framework for Legal Grounding

Author(s): Bartosz Janik / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: grounding; explanation; philosophy of law; legal facts; social facts

The objective of this article is to provide an explanatory framework for legal grounding. Grounding, understood in recent years as a metaphysical determination, has proved to be a fruitful object of inquiry for legal theorists trying to explain the thesis about the relationship between social facts and legal facts in metaphysical terms. However, the debate on the use of the notion of grounding in the philosophy of law lacks a concise and precise differentiation of the various assumptions behind grounding that philosophers have recently discussed. This article offers a prospect for analysis of a debate about grounding of legal facts and an interpretation of focal terms in light of recent metaphysical debates.

Separate and Dissenting Judicial Opinions and Their Significance for a Democratic Society. Reflections Against the Background of Polish Law

Separate and Dissenting Judicial Opinions and Their Significance for a Democratic Society. Reflections Against the Background of Polish Law

Author(s): Joanna Misztal-Konecka / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: dissenting opinion; democratic society; administration of justice; authority of judicial decisions; justification of the acts of applying the law

In most legal systems, the administration of justice in complex and difficult cases is, entrusted to panels composed of multiple judges. In practice, rarely does it happen that this designated group of judges is required to reach a unanimous decision. The subject under scrutiny in the article is the issue of the possibility and significance of disclosing the fact that the judgment was not reached unanimously, along with the rationale that the judge(s) pursued in opposing the majority position. The analysis of this issue requires reaching not only for the legal dogmatic method, but also the legal comparative and axiological methods. The presented research leads to the conclusion that legislators (although not in all countries and not in all international organizations) are increasingly open to allow for the disclosure to the parties and the public of the fact that not all judges voted for a particular decision, along with the reasons for the dissenting position. Despite several objections to the institution of dissenting opinion (votum separatum) connected with undermining the authority of the court and the judgment issued, it turns out that democratic society, which values transparency and the power of substantive arguments, approves of this institution. Dissenting opinion safeguards the judge’s right to express their view, as well as the right of the parties and the public to know the reasons for an alternative solution, including their creative use for the benefit of the judiciary and legal science. Consequently, one can claim that dissenting opinions and the reasons for them constitute a crucial factor in shaping the perceptions of justice.

Should Judges Be Empathic? The Place of Judges’ Empathy in Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Should Judges Be Empathic? The Place of Judges’ Empathy in Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Author(s): Katarzyna Rużyczka / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: judicial empathy; therapeutic jurisprudence; judges; empathy

Therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) has had a influence on the judiciary and legal practice given the emergence of special courts, the so-called problem-solving courts. As understood by David B. Wexler, TJ is an approach that combines experience from many scientific fields, constituting an interdisciplinary field of research that focuses on the therapeutic and antitherapeutic consequences of laws, legal procedures, and the roles and behaviours of legal actors such as lawyers and judges. The role that they play during a trial is particularly emphasizedin this theory in the context of causing both positive and negative consequences for those participating in the trial. The first purpose of this paper is to reconstruct the understanding of empathy and its role in the therapeutic jurisprudence, and to show how the concept of empathy is understood in the context of a judge’s work, particularly in relation to main TJ authors, David B. Wexler and Bruce J. Winick.

Ascription of Content to Provisions of the Law by Judicial Practice. Theoretical Analysis of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal’s Judgments

Ascription of Content to Provisions of the Law by Judicial Practice. Theoretical Analysis of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal’s Judgments

Author(s): Wojciech Rzepiński / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: judicial practice; Constitutional Tribunal; analytic pragmatism; provision of the law; legal norm; application of the law

The article examines the way in which the Polish Constitutional Tribunal operates, which involves replacing its own process of interpreting the provisions under review by accepting the interpretation of another court. The objective of the article is to provide a theoretical account of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal’s conduct to the readers. Therefore, the concepts developed at the Poznan School of Theory of Law are used, namely the distinction between a provision of the law and a legal norm, as well as a distinction between pragmatic and nonpragmatic interpretation. The role of the metatheory used to analyse the Tribunal’s conduct is also played by Robert B. Brandom’s analytic pragmatism. Analytic pragmatism allows the conclusion to be drawn that, through its activity, the Tribunal indicates 1) what an agent must do (within the legal practice) for the vocabulary of normative acts to mean something (PV-sufficiency), and 2) what vocabulary is sufficient to define those practices (VP-sufficiency). The practice of applying the law can be described with the use of the TOTE concept (Test-Operation-Test-Exit). In this case TOTE cycles are open-ended. Therefore, in its further practice, the Tribunal might indicate further practices-or-abilities which are sufficient for the vocabulary of normative acts to mean something.