Opole is a provincial city of the smallest region in the country. Nevertheless, its inhabitants manifest their views on matters important from their point of view. The analysis of the largest protests in recent years in this region shows that the inhabitants of Opole most often and loudly demonstrate in defense of democracy – both at the national and local level. In the chapter Opole demonstrations in defense of democracy, Katarzyna Daniel proposes an analysis of two problems that caused Opole inhabitants to take to the streets, i.e. protests in defense of the broadly understood judiciary initiated in 2017 and demonstrations and strikes caused by the enlargement of the administrative borders of the city of Opole on January 1, 2017. Cyclical demonstrations in many cities grew stronger when changes were proposed regarding, inter alia, election of members of the National Council of the Judiciary by the Seym by a simple majority, introduction of disciplinary liability of judges, or retirement of the First President of the Supreme Court during an uninterrupted six-year term of office in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. On the other hand, the cause of numerous demonstrations in Opole was frustration related to the disregard for the voice of the inhabitants regarding the enlargement of the city (over 90% responded negatively in social consultations). The opponents of the enlargement of Opole believed that the incorporation of their communes was done by force, against the local community, for reasons that were not entirely purely moral. The most active were the inhabitants of the Dobrzeń Wielki commune, who, along with other demonstrators, expressed their dissatisfaction in the form of: numerous demonstrations, collecting signatures on letters opposing the enlargement of Opole, high activity in public consultations, road blockades, a protest in Warsaw, meetings with journalists and local government officials, politicians or a hunger strike. These were undoubtedly one of the largest and cyclically repeated protests in Opole for several years. The causes of the problems were indicated, as well as the course and forms of manifestation and its effects.
Equality Parades, which are connected with demonstrating social diversity which is the source of social inequality of Polish society to the public and which have been organised in big Polish cities for a few years, get a varied public response. They evoke reluctance of a part of the society, are actively supported by others but the majority of Poles do not openly declare their support or disapproval for public manifesting of otherness and demanding equal rights for minorities. Lack of open manifestation of views thus makes it difficult to analyse tolerance level that would determine the actual attitude of Poles to minorities, including sexual ones. The survey that was carried out in Krakow after Equality Parade in 2010 was an attempt to examine the views of Krakow residents concerning the organisation of such demonstrations and getting to know the level of tolerance for public manifestation of views by minorities, including sexual ones.
Basing on research carried out on a representative group of Poles, as part of a national research project called „Political preferences. Attitudes-Identities-Behaviours”, it can be concluded that respondents the most often point expressing their beliefs through petitions (23%), local initiatives (21%) and demonstrations (12%). Research shows that men more frequently than women express their opinions through petitions (54,2%-45,8%), local initiatives (54,3%-45,7%) and demonstrations (61,6%-38,4%). Inhabitants of villages and towns over 200 thousand people were nearly two times more active than citizens of medium-sized villages. Having at least a secondary school education definitely increases people’s activity (approx. 40%), more than having a vocational education (approx. 13%). Expressing views is also dependent on age because younger people do it more frequently than elder ones. The most indicated were individuals in the age group 25-34 (62%), more rarely although in comparable proportions people aged 18-24 and 35-44 while in the next age groups that activity drops significantly. People aged 18-24 and 45-54 the most willingly take part in demonstrations. People aged 25-34 sign petitions and engage in local initiatives. Among citizens in the age of 55 and more there is not evident diversity in the forms of participation. The differences in the behaviour of people with various views are also highlighted. Those who declare themselves as left wing prefer petitions (39%) against local initiatives (35%) and demonstrations (26%). Centrist voters the most often choose petitions (49%) against local initiatives (34%) and demonstrations (17%). And people who declare themselves as right wing mainly indicate local initiatives (43%) against petitions (36%) and demonstrations (21%). But those citizens, who could not determine themselves, the most often decide to petitions (49%) against local initiatives (32%) and demonstrations (19%). Taking under consideration declared political views there are no significant differences when it comes to membership in political parties, trade unions, non-government organizations and local associations. Greater disproportions are highlighted when comparing belonging to different types of organizations. Regardless of the opinions the most popular are local associations, followed by non-government organizations, trade unions, and the least political parties. In conclusion, it can be said that the political participation in Poland clearly indicates who is more frequent and who is more seldom willing to be active in this area. It seems to be an important clue for those wishing to take effective activities to increase the involvement of citizens.
This case study focusses on an analysis of the place of collective memory at the For an Independent Judiciary (in Czech: Za nezávislou justici) demonstrations that took place in the Czech Republic in 2019. It combines the folkloristic approach of inscription folklore research with the theoretical approaches of memory studies. During participant observation of the protests, banners were documented, which the study understands as a specific verbal expression of a folklore nature, anchored in a text and balancing on the borderline between individually and collectively shared opinions regarding particular events. Frequent themes presented on the banners included references to historical events, prominent people, and periods. The past was put into a new context, as it became part of ongoing events and was thus (re)interpreted. This study observes which historical events, people, and periods appeared on the banners, how they were contextualized within ongoing political events, and what symbolic value was assigned to them. The secondary goal of the study is to continue the discussion about the place of research on written expressions of a spontaneous/situational nature in folkloristics, which was opened by Czech folklorists in the 1990s. Memory is seen as a multilayere phenomenon that is permanently living, present, and re-formulated based on current needs. While analysing the materials, I considered the relationship between formal and non-formal components of memory and their political potential.
The present contribution is a corpus-based analysis of protest messages that could be read during demonstrations in Poland against the decision of the Constitutional Court imposing further restrictions on the abortion law in 2020. The corpus is made up of 1000 texts written on placards and banners of the demonstrators, which were photographed and uploaded on newspaper websites or on Facebook between October 22 and November 22. The author examines the slogans with the aim of grasping the discursive identity/identities of protesting women, and reflect on the changing perception of the role of women in the Polish society.
In German cities thousands of people take to the streets, demanding a ceasefire in the Middle East. Despite the police warnings of delegalizing gatherings in case of law breach, the Holocaust is regularly relativized and hatred – regularly incited. During demonstrations, posters with the slogans, e.g., “Stop genocide in Gaza”, “From the river to the sea, we demand equality”, “Israel. A terror sate” or “Culture of the apartheid” are shown. The demonstrations are called by various pro-Palestinian groups with the co-participation of the German far-left political spectrum. During the gatherings we also face appeals for the establishment of the Islamic caliphate in Germany. In some cases, “being pro-Palestinian” is only an excuse to hold a strictly “Islamic religious gathering”, which is seen, e.g., from the fact that, during the marches, a strict sex segregation is obeyed, including the placement of women with children at the end of the protesters’ column.
The article discusses the demonstrations and rallies and the sometimes accompanying riots that took place in 1920–1939 in Toruń. The author presents why riots took place in Toruń, who participated in them and what consequences they brought about.
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W artykule przedstawiono demonstracje, wiece i towarzyszące im niekiedy zamieszki, jakie miały miejsce w latach 1920–1939 w Toruniu. Autor pokazuje, z jakich przyczyn dochodziło do zamieszek w Toruniu i kto brał w nich udział, a także ich skutki.
The article describes the preparation and holding of information and protest actions of Canadian Ukrainians at the Summer Olympic Games of 1976 in Montreal. Thanks to these actions, the Ukrainian issue was at the center of attention (at least in the United States and Canada), along with the boycott of the Olympics by a number of African countries and the denial of the Taiwan team. Therefore, an effort by Canadian Ukrainians in this regard can be considered successful enough. After the World War II, a movement emerged in the Diaspora for the participation of Ukrainian athletes in the status of an independent team at the Olympic Games, and its participants substantiated the thesis of “sports colonialism”. For this purpose, the Ukrainian Olympic Committee (UOC) was created in 1952. The UOC was preparing information about Ukrainian Olympians by requesting the International Olympic Committee to ensure the independent participation in competitions of the Ukrainian team, on the grounds that the Ukrainian SSR was a full member of the United Nations. On the eve of the 1976 Olympics, led by Yaroslav Pryshlyak, the Ukrainian Olympic Committee in Montreal was created. In April 1976, the Provincial Department of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee (UCC) in Quebec opened an Information Bureau whose task was to coordinate public initiatives. At the same time, such mass events as the Olympics served as a good media propaganda for information campaigns of Ukrainian organizations in the free world in order to draw attention to the problem of human rights violations in the Ukrainian SSR. As a result, the 1976 Olympic Games took place in the context of anti-Soviet actions (flagging blue-and-yellow flags during competitions, distributing information materials to the guests of the Olympics, calls for the release of Ukrainian political prisoners, holding thematic exhibitions and press conferences). The leaflets distributed by representatives of Ukrainian youth organizations condemned the Soviet regime and put forward slogans for the release of political prisoners, respect for human rights and the decolonization of Ukraine. Based on the materials of the former KGB, it is shown how the Soviet side tried to prevent such “hostile manifestations” by resorting to thorough ideological treatment of athletes and pressure on Canadian law enforcement agencies to disrupt the measures planned by Canadian Ukrainians. In preparation for the visit of the Olympic team of the USSR to Montreal, a special representative of the KGB to ensure the security of the Soviet delegation specifically flew to Canada to negotiate with representatives of Canadian special services. At the same time, there were preparations for advocacy aimed at improving the image of the Soviet Union in the international arena. In addition to measures to neutralize anti-Soviet actions, the KGB did not mind the opportunity to create negative publicity of the Ukrainian Diaspora in Canada.