Culture and Politics

Republic and republicanism

Political reality and the idea of a well-governed state

Call for Papers

"Culture and Politics" invites all interested scholars to reflect on the issue of republicanism which shall be the theme of the next issue of our journal.

Civil society, civil rights and liberties, patriotism, civic virtues, the common good, representative government, public service, the sovereignty of the people, the universal consensus - these concepts are the key terms of contemporary political language of our culture. They are also elements of the set of ideas, which is called the republic. Latin res publica has its counterpart in each of the European languages. Republican tradition accompanies humankind since the Antiquity and is unquestionably one of the most important legacies of Western civilization. The concept of res publica has become almost synonymous with "good governance" (identified with the Greek politeia) and even in the reality of monarchy remained in common use (such as Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or British Commonwealth of Nations). Studies in republicanism are therefore the studies on the western experience of political systems, but also the studies on the intellectual exploration of an ideal (or as close to the ideal as only possible) formula of a "well-governed state", a state which not only remains stable, but also ensures the success of its residents. This desire often turned out to be a utopia, the attempts to implement it often brought untold suffering, but this insatiate desire constantly stimulated and still stimulates us to reflect and, more importantly, to act. Each consecutive attempt in creating the ideal republic was meant to overcome the difficulties experienced in the previous attempts and to ensure that the lessons from previous failures would be learned. This road led from the Roman Republic through the Italian merchant republics, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Calvin's Republican Geneva, Puritan England and New England, an initial idea of the Founding Fathers of the United States, the First French Republic, to the modern republicanism of the liberal democratic rule of law. But also from More's Utopia, Andreae's Reipublicae Christianopolitanae descriptio, Campanella's The City of the Sun, Bacon's New Atlantis, Harrington's Oceana to Cabet's Travel to Ikaria.

The Republic is not only a form of government. It is also a specified, social reality, a peculiar cultural phenomenon described for example with such a remarkable mastery, by William Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice.

The TEU scientific journal "Culture and Politics" takes interest in universal topics, those which are important both for Polish and European (or Western) identities. Undeniably, republicanism is one of those topics.

Deadlines and Submission of Articles

Topics and abstracts of 1800-2000 characters in doc or rtf format can be e-mailed to us at:

The closing date for the receipt of abstracts: 31^st March, 2011.

"Culture and Politics"

 "Culture and Politics" is a scholarly peer-reviewed biennial journal published by Tischner European University. The journal aims to foster and promote contemporary ideas and investigation in the social sciences, particularly in the fields of international relations, sociology and linguistics. The conjunction "and" in the title of our periodical is meant to demonstrate the significant yet subtle relationship between and politics and culture, two fundamental areas of human activity.

All abstracts submitted to the editorial board are reviewed by the Board of Editors. The papers accepted for publication will be passed on to the Editorial Advisory Board for further revision and commentary.

Publisher

Tischner European University in Krakow, Poland

• prof. Marek Bankowicz
• prof. Paweł Dembiński
• prof. Jarosław Górniak
• prof. Mykhaylo Kirsenko
• prof. Zdzisław Krasnodębski
• prof. Marek Kucia
• prof. Ryszard Legutko
• prof. Zdzisław Najder
• prof. Joanna Nowicki
• prof. Czesław Porębski
• prof. Tadeusz Sławek
• prof. Piotr Sztompka
• prof. Marta Wyka
• prof. Andrzej Zięba

Contact Details

Website: http://www.wse.krakow.pl/pl/Kultura_i_Polityka

e-mail adress:

Wyższa Szkoła Europejska im. ks. Józefa Tischnera

ul. Westerplatte 11

30-033 Kraków

POLAND

www.wse.krakow.pl/en