October 9, 2024
Stefan Batory Foundation
Warsaw, ul. Sapieżyńska 10A
Jerzy Turowicz Conference Room, 11.00 am – 4.30 pm and online
Winning elections is a task for political parties and their associated politicians, while the outcome of the political competition depends on their ability to win and convince the electorate. However, when the fate of democracy itself and its underpinning values are at stake, mass social mobilisation is needed to effectively oppose anti-democratic forces. The recent parliamentary elections in Poland (2023) and France (2024) showed that such mobilisation would be impossible without the involvement of civil society and social movements. However, attempts at social mobilisation and the involvement of democratic civil society organisations do not succeed everywhere.
We will be seeking answers to these questions at the conference Society in action. The power of mobilisation and self-organisation, hosted one year after the parliamentary elections of October 15, 2023. This meeting will not aim to summarise the first months of the October 15 Coalition’s rule, nor will it seek to account for the eight years in power of the United Right. Instead, we will look at the evolution and development of civil society in Poland in recent years, its transformation in response to attacks on the institutions of a democratic state under the rule of law, attempts to change the political system by extra-constitutional methods, violations of human rights and attempts to subordinate the spheres of culture, education and science to ideological control by parties in power.
Based on the results of quantitative and qualitative research, we will show how civil society in Poland has transformed, becoming an increasingly strong and autonomous subject of public life. A subject not only capable of opposing anti-democratic practices of the authorities, but also mobilising during crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. We will also compare the Polish experience with that of other societies, reflecting on what challenges and tasks civil society faces today at national and European level.
Please register your participation via the form.
The conference will be interpreted into Polish and English as well as into Polish Sign Language.
Avaliable online on Facebook and YouTube
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
Session 1, 11.00 am – 12.15 pm
Evolution, development, consolidation. How has civil society in Poland changed between 2015 and 2024?
Moderator: Anna Materska-Sosnowska (Board member, Stefan Batory Foundation)
Speakers:
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Session 2, 12.30 pm – 2 pm
Civil society in the face of populism and the threat of authoritarianism. European experience
Moderator: Edwin Bendyk (Chairman of the Board, Stefan Batory Foundation)
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Session 3, 2.45 pm – 4.30 pm
Challenges and tasks. Civil society after October 15, 2023
Moderator: Ewa Kulik-Bielińska (Director of the Stefan Batory Foundation)
Edwin Bendyk – chairman of the board of the Stefan Batory Foundation. Journalist, writer, columnist of the Polityka weekly. He deals with the subject of civilisation as well as relations between science, technology and politics, economy, culture, social life. Co-founder of the Research Centre on the Future at Collegium Civitas. Member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. He runs an online blog called Antimatrix.
Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz – PhD, assistant professor of sociology at UCL Social Research Institute (Department of Education and Society, University College London), research associate in the Conflict and Civicness Research Group at LSE IDEAS and fellow at Visegrad Insight. His current research interests include transnational entrepreneurs working towards civic goals in Ukraine.
Sarah Durieux – activist and organiser involved in the largest civil society initiative related to the 2024 early parliamentary elections in France. Co-director of Multitudes, a European foundation supporting political change-makers working to make politics more inclusive, hopeful and humane. Prior to joining Multitudes, Sarah launched and ran Change.org, an activist platform for 13 million members in France, helping millions of French people change laws, business practices and develop movements that changed the country’s discourse.
Joanna Gzyra-Iskandar – Feminoteka spokesperson, cultural scientist, Polish language expert and feminist. Professionally active in PR and communication (10 years) and NGOs (4 years). As an activist, she works in the areas of combating gender-based violence, access to safe abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
Urszula Karaś – researcher at More in Common Poland. She is a graduate of psychology at the University of Warsaw, specialising in social psychology. Her research interests include attitudes towards migrants from different cultural backgrounds, the impact of empathy and moral foundations on attitudes towards minorities, and gender equality.
Kuba Karyś – chairman of the Committee for the Defence of Democracy, journalist (member of the Journalism Society), publicist, TV producer and director, filmmaker. A wonderful family, two dogs and two cats as well as the fight for a democratic Poland and building civil society consume all of his quality time. Opposition to breaking the law and the Constitution have become his priority number one. For the past nine years, he has stood up for every call for defending freedom, especially the least audible ones. Because democracy is not given once and for all. And neither is freedom, and the world must constantly be pushed in the right direction – even by a millimetre. Because, in the immortal words of Władysław Bartoszewski, ‘it is worth being decent.’
Elżbieta Korolczuk – PhD, professor at the University of Warsaw, sociologist. She works at Södertörn University in Stockholm and the Centre for American Studies at the University of Warsaw. She researches social movements, civil society, including anti-gender movements. Author of two monographs, five co-authored volumes and more than 60 scientific papers published in journals such as East European Politics and Societies, Social Politics and Signs. Journal of Women in Culture and Society. In 2022, together with Agnieszka Graff, she wrote Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment, a book issued at Routledge Publishing which earned them the Bronisław Malinowski Award for outstanding achievement in the social sciences from the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America. Korolczuk is also a social activist and commentator.
Agnieszka Kosowicz – founder and president of the Polish Migration Forum Foundation. Initiator of multiple projects on integration of foreigners and intercultural dialogue, including the Migroteka project, which provides a network of Polish libraries with literature on migration, refugees and interculturalism. Author of the monograph Working Together – 15 years of UNHCR in Poland, describing the beginnings of the refugee protection system in Poland. Co-author of numerous publications on foreigners in Poland. For more than six years, she managed the information policy of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Poland. Journalist by profession.
Ewa Kulik-Bielińska – director of the Stefan Batory Foundation, activist of the democratic opposition and the Solidarity movement in the 1970s and 1980s, editor of opposition and trade union magazines, translator of American literature. Since 2000, she has been involved in activities aimed at improving the conditions for the operation of non-governmental organisations, the development of philanthropy and civic activity in Poland and Europe. Initiator of social actions and campaigns, e.g.: for liberalisation of the law on public collections, the law on foundations and associations, elimination of barriers to the operation of non-governmental organisations, establishment of the EU instrument for supporting non-governmental organisations working for the promotion of rights and values (CERV), participation of non-governmental organisations in programming and monitoring EU funds and development of public policies. Author of articles, statements and opinions on the state of civil society and philanthropy, condition and legal, financial and practical conditions for the functioning of civic organisations. Winner of the 2018 Paweł Włodkowic Award for standing up for fundamental values, the 2019 Pericles Award for her work on freedom and democracy, and the 2023 Henryk Wujec Civic Award for her support for human rights activists.
Rasťo Kužel – a media and elections expert with over 25 years of international experience, who runs MEMO 98, a media monitoring organisation with extensive experience in providing analysis and technical assistance to election stakeholders. Rasťo has worked as an analyst, consultant and trainer, participating in numerous election observation missions and projects. His interests also include disinformation and the role of social media during elections. Co-author of Elections in Digital Times, a practical guide on the Internet, social media and artificial intelligence published by UNESCO.
Georgie Laming – director of campaigns and communications at HOPE not hate where she managed the successful campaigns to remove Andrew Tate from the platform and to expose the racist activities of British media mogul Paul Marshall on social media, as well as led election efforts to prevent the far right from being elected. Prior to joining HOPE not hate, Georgie campaigned for women’s rights and increased access to housing with various UK charities.
Dominika Lasota – activist, co-founder of the EAST initiative and member of the global climate movement Fridays For Future. She fights for a fair transformation of the Polish economy so that no one has to fear either the end of the world or the end of the month. Co-creator of Women Are Enough of Being Quiet, the most influential campaign promoting voter turnout, which influenced hundreds of thousands of additional female voters in the recent parliamentary elections.
Paweł Marczewski – PhD, sociologist, historian of ideas, publicist. Head of the Citizens section in the Stefan Batory Foundation’s ideaForum. He deals with social movements and organisations as well as social justice.
Anna Materska-Sosnowska – board member of the Stefan Batory Foundation, political scientist. Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Systems at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Warsaw.
Kacper Nowicki – founder and CEO of the Varia Posnania Foundation. Formerly chairman of the Youth Council of the City of Poznań, co-author of dozens of local policies and legal changes in the field of education and social participation. He promotes the rule of law and equality in schools and communities.
Małgorzata Szuleka – lawyer, graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. She has worked at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights since 2010. She coordinates activities in the field of monitoring legislation, international advocacy and research, among others in cooperation with the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. In particular, she monitors the state of the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and the situation of civil society in Poland and other Central European countries. Author of numerous HFHR reports and analyses.
Europe cannot be a green island in a dirty world. We live on an interconnected planet and if the European Green Deal is to succeed, the EU must be a “driving force” in developing sustainable economic systems and societal wellbeing both at home and across the globe.
Join the discussion at the Polish launch of “The International System Change Compass – The Global Implications of Achieving the European Green Deal”, which lays out a roadmap for the systems change needed for a globally just & sustainable in Europe and across the world. The report provides key principles and policy recommendations for Europe to build new resilient relationships with global partners for a net-zero and green transition.
Online and in-person:
20 January 2023 15:00-17:00 CET
Stefan Batory Foundation
ul. Sapieżyńska 10a
00-215 Warsaw
Report Presenters:
Keynote speaker: Marcin Korolec (Director of the Institute of Green Economy former Polish Minister of Environment).
Reaction panel:
Host and moderator: Edwin Bendyk, Chair of the Board, Stefan Batory Foundation.
Livestreams:
English: https://www.youtube.com/live/wdp6zAFD5SE?feature=share
Polish: https://www.facebook.com/events/583859506903023
“The International System Change Compass: The Global Implications of Achieving the European Green Deal” report is co-authored by SYSTEMIQ, The Club of Rome, and the Open Society European Policy Institute. It was collaboratively written by Matthias Ballweg, Donald Blondin, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Heather Grabbe, Bertram Kloss, Julia Okatz, Janez Potočnik, Maria Jose Rodezno Ayestas, Anna Schwarzmann, Frauke Thies, Isabella Wedl, and Laura van der Zande. It builds on the analysis first presented in the System Change Compass from 2020 co-written by The Club of Rome and SYSTEMIQ.
