Political analytics and applied political science (when political scientists not only write theoretical articles or give lectures, but participate in the development of programs and act as experts/advisers in the political process, too) can only exist when in a state there exists politics. Such a trite thought per se returns us once again to the question of what politics is. This question has no simple answers within the framework of the applied political knowledge. Simple answers appear when one tries to customize definitions to the realities and conventions of a concrete country; when it is supposed that if there is a state, then there is politics as well, and this politics corresponds to the realities and conditions in this concrete state. “If in Belarus there is a state, then there is politics there, too” – this statement is rather doubtful, although it corresponds to common sense and ordinary reasonableness
Рубрика: In English
Public dialog in Belarus: from grass-roots democracy to civic participation (book)
The book continues the “Belarus for Beginners” series and deals with the problem of organizing political dialog in Belarus. The book studies successively a number of questions which lie in the foundation of this problem: from the differentiation of the notions “people” and “society” — to the specificity of public communication and dialog organization principles.Much… Читать далее Public dialog in Belarus: from grass-roots democracy to civic participation (book)
EDUCATION
Education is a function of society serving reproduction and development of the society itself and social activity systems.
This function is fulfilled through culture transmission and the implementation of cultural norms in changing historical situations, based on the new fabric of social relations, by generations of people that continuously replace each other.
As a function, education is distributed throughout the system of human relations. As an organised process, education is carried out by specialised social institutions. For some institutions, education is the ultimate exhaustive framework for their existence that defines goals, values, subculture and self-identification of people: schooling of all levels, teacher’s profession. The purport of existence of other institutions is not limited to educational function, but without it they are unthinkable: the family, the state, the church. Placing the educational function exclusively in the institutions responsible for its implementation reduces the adaptability and viability of the social system as a whole, limits its development, and can lead to cultural decline, regression and degradation.
We continue to Think Belarus!
While others are doing it. They destroy, spoil, rob.
But what some people build, others can destroy.
The opposite is also possible: what is now being destroyed and spoiled will have to be restored, repaired, updated. The main thing is that those who can do it remain.
The Road Map Of The Belarusan Revolution
The Belarusan revolution began without any plans and strategies and — if it had led to the victory of democracy at once — we would have felt no need of them. However, the victory is being postponed and, probably, for a quite long period. It means it is necessary to transfer the spontaneous revolutionary protest energy to the form of a more organized task-oriented social movement. Here, the deficiency of strategies and plans becomes crucial, i.e. there is a need to fill the existing gap.
In contemporary methods of planning in business, in politics, and in military science, the rigid methods of planning gave place to their flexible analogs (“road maps”, “scenarios”, etc.). Unlike the rigid methods, the working-out of Road Maps presupposes the definition of purposes, intermediate stages, ways and techniques of their achievement, and there is a possibility of constantly reorganizing these ways and techniques, depending on the changing situation. The ultimate goal of a Road Map remains the same, while there are many ways to accomplish one’s end. A Road Map also defines stages and points on the way to the ultimate goal, and they cannot be bypassed.
Freedom and Thinking. Essays on Civil Society (book)
Excerpts from the book.
The author analyses the foundations of civil society and the role media, public opinion, and the state play in its development and maintenance, how civil society relates to the nation, to different actions and practices of public participation.
Moving on to current challenges, Uladzimir Matskevich examines in detail the evolution of social connections and relations and raises questions about new forms of civil society in the contemporary era.
I am a philosopher and a methodologist
Philosophy is what I do. After I withdrew from all official duties, stopped managing and running the structures I had once set up and that were still operating by the time I turned 60, philosophy became my daily occupation. Before that, I had also given a lot of attention to philosophy, but among all other… Читать далее I am a philosopher and a methodologist
Thinking Belarus!
What should the eye be equipped with for Belarus to “be”? What can you oppose to the evidence? The answer given by the whole history of European thought is that the opposite of evidence is speculation. The eye must be equipped with the mind. Only reason can create Belarus. This country, unlike Russia, should be intelligible to the mind. You can also believe in Belarus, the faith helps retain the memory about Belarus for a couple of centuries of the country’s absence within the space of the evident and to keep European identity in times of Asian rule of barbarity. The transition from faith to reason, from dream to realization is difficult and one should carry out such a transition carefully, cautiously and meticulously.
Taking Responsibility for Oneself. Notes of a Philosopher With a Tart Temper (book)
Excerpts from the book.
The book consists of three parts. The first part, “My Place of Power”, is about the philosopher’s and intellectual’s self-identification in political and public practice, their place and work. The second part, “Lack of Meaning”, analyses the situation in the country on the eve of transformations and upheavals. Uladzimir Matskevich explores the nature of the contemporary Belarusian dictatorship, the state of the public sphere, moods, identity, and social foundations for change in society. The third part, “Coming After You”, is a performative statement. It contains an open letter to the president and proposals for a course of action for political leaders. After the events of 2020-2021, these proposals serve both as an imprint of that political situation and a basis for reflection and criticism of revolutionary action.
Global Warming After the Cold War
Why do Belarusians do nothing to change their country? Because one part of society is sure (it has such an illusion) that it cannot go on for so long, and democratic and market changes are objectively inevitable, so they just need to wait for them. Another part of society is convinced that the existing state of affairs is the only possible one, there cannot be anything else, therefore all attempts to change something are known to be futile and doomed to failure.