''Krytyka Polityczna'' (; "The Political Critique") is a circle of Polish

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

intellectuals gathered around a journal of the same title founded by Sławomir Sierakowski in 2002 but is open to voices from across the political spectrum. The name draws on the tradition of Young Poland’s "Krytyka" (The Critique), a monthly magazine published by Wilhelm Feldman at the beginning of the 20th century, and on the

samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...

"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. As of 2019, ''Krytyka Polityczna'' is published quarterly.

REDakcja (Redaction) and Nowy Wspaniały Świat (Brave New World) Community Center

In the years 2006-2009 the milieu of the "Krytyka Polityczna" ran REDakcja (Warsaw, Chmielna 26/19 St.) – a center serving the exchange of thought, debate, training, workshops, expositions of art, and presentation of social and political projects. REDakcja was also a distribution point for alternative and left-wing books and magazines. From its opening REDakcja held several hundred open meetings – literary debates, workshops, seminars, and screenings, as well as a few film festivals. REDakcja became one of the most important cultural centres 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 ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It is the first Polish daily newspaper after the era of " real socialism" and one of Poland's newspapers of record, covering the ...

''. In November 2009, in the very center of Warsaw (at the corner of Świętokrzyska St. and Nowy Świat St.) „Krytyka Polityczna” opened Nowy Wspaniały Świat (Brave New World) Community Center – a place of artistic and academic meetings, film screenings, exhibition space and a cultural café. Multiple events are organized in the centre – debates, festivals, and discussions – all open to the public. Among major projects held in the centre are Universität Krytyczny (Critical University) – open lectures and seminars held by most prominent professors and intellectuals from Poland and abroad, and Wolne Niedziele (Free Sundays) – weekly experimental and avant-garde music concerts. In July 2012, the community centre 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: Bialystok, Bydgoszcz, Bytom, Cieszyn, Gdansk, Głogów, Gniezno, Elblag, Jelenia Góra, Kalisz, Kielce, Kraków, Lublin, Lodz, Opole, Piła, Poznan, Siedlce, Szczecin, Toruń, Włocławek, Wrocław. The Network of Clubs constitutes the first attempt to build solid institutional foundations to enhance the commitment and integration of a large group of young people in the name of reviving the ethos of the engaged intelligentsia. “Krytyka Polityczna” has opened two common rooms - in the north (Tricity) and south (Cieszyn) 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 their 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 transactions, works of Polish authors and important reissues. Over 70 titles have been published until August 2010 either in one of the eight-book series (Readers, Ideas, Canon, Journalistic, Literary, Jacek Karon Writings, Historical, Economic) or outside series. Among the authors published by the press are: Louis Althusser, Timothy Garton Ash, Alain Badiou,

Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński Tadeusz Kamil Marcjan Żeleński (better known by his pen name, Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński or simply as Boy; 21 December 1874 – 4 July 1941) was a Polish stage writer, poet, critic and, above all, the translator of over 100 French literary classics ...

, Stanisław Brzozowski, Judith Butler,

Manuel Castells Manuel Castells Oliván (; ; born 9 February 1942) is a Spanish sociologist. He is well known for his authorship of a trilogy of works, entitled The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. He is a scholar of the information society, co ...

, Roman Frydman,

Bruno Latour Bruno Latour (; 22 June 1947 – 9 October 2022) was a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist.Wheeler, Will. ''Bruno Latour: Documenting Human and Nonhuman Associations'' Critical Theory for Library and Information Science. Libraries ...

, Chantal Mouffe,

Marian Pankowski Marian Pankowski (9 November 1919 – 3 April 2011) was a Polish writer, poet, literary critic and translator. Pankowski was born in Sanok. He was a member of the Polish resistance during World War II, and a prisoner in the Nazi concentratio ...

, Jacques Rancière, Nicholas Stern, Artur Żmijewski, Slavoj Žižek.

Website

"Krytyka Polityczna" website is an independent news provider (among other things, concerning social actions and cultural events), as well as a space for commentary (political analyses, columns, essays, reviews). One can find announcements, reports, photos and audio recordings of various meetings organized by "Krytyka Polityczna". The website serves also as a forum for 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, and invitations.

The team

* Editorial Team: Yael Bartana (Arts Editor), Magdalena Błędowska, Kinga Dunin, Maciej Gdula, Dorota Głażewska, Maciej Kropiwnicki, Julian Kultyła (Vice Editor-in-chief), Sławomir Sierakowski (Editor-in-chief), Michał Sutowski (Managing Editor), Agata Szczęśniak (Vice Editor-in-chief), Artur Żmijewski (Arts Editor) * The Team: Agata Araszkiewicz, Michał Bilewicz, Katarzyna Błahuta, Magdalena Błędowska, Zygmunt Borawski, Michał Borucki, Jakub Bożek, Marcin Chałupka, Anna Delick (Sztokholm), Paweł Demirski, Karol Domański, Kinga Dunin, Joanna Erbel, Katarzyna Fidos, Bartosz Frąckowiak, Maciej Gdula, Dorota Głażewska, Katarzyna Górna, Agnieszka Graff, Agnieszka Grzybek, Krzysztof Iszkowski, Izabela Jasińska, Adam Jelonek, Jaś Kapela, Tomasz Kitliński, Maria Klaman, Karolina Krasuska, Małgorzata Kowalska, Maciej Kropiwnicki, Julian Kutyła, Łukasz Kuźma, Adam Leszczyński, Jarosław Lipszyc, Jakub Majmurek, Adam Mazur, Dorota Mieszek, Kuba Mikurda, Bartłomiej Modzelewski, Paweł Mościcki, Witold Mrozek, Maciej Nowak, Dorota Olko, Adam Ostolski, Joanna Ostrowska, Janusz Ostrowski, Tomasz Piątek, Konrad Pustoła, Magda Raczyńska, Joanna Rajkowska, Przemysław Sadura, Sławomir Sierakowski, Jan Smoleński, Andreas Stadler (Nowy Jork), Beata Stępień, Kinga Stańczuk, Igor Stokfiszewski, Michał Sutowski, Michał Syska, Mikołaj Syska, Jakub Szafrański, Agata Szczęśniak,

Kazimiera Szczuka Kazimiera Szczuka (Polish pronunciation: ; born 22 June 1966 in Warsaw) is a Polish historian of literature, literary critic, feminist, journalist and television personality, known from the Polish edition of ''The Weakest Link''. Life and caree ...

, Barbara Szelewa, Jakub Szestowicki, Eliza Szybowicz, Magdalena Środa,

Olga Tokarczuk Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk (; born 29 January 1962) is a Polish writer, activist, and public intellectual. She is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland; in 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize ...