Polarization: the polemic with the article “Fanaticism as an educational problem”

The criticism of the article “Fanaticism as an Educational Problem” focuses on the selective treatment of fanaticism symptoms, ignoring the role of political polarization and age in analysing this phenomenon. Gałkowski and Gałkowski’s article (2023) presents a valuable proposal for a minimal educational program, but it requires considering a broader social, cultural, and individual context in diagnosing fanaticism and applying effective tools to counteract this phenomenon. The starting point of the debate is the observation that fanaticism remains a negatively perceived label that excludes individuals or social groups, hence the need for clarification on how cultural diversity and intercultural communication can contribute to it. Fanaticism is associated with an existential crisis, but there are also specific developmental phenomena in children that can be mistaken for fanaticism. Literary works can help in understanding this phenomenon. The proposed examples indicate that fanaticism is primarily a group phenomenon characterized by action rather than solely an attitude to the truth. In preventing and dismantling fanaticism, it is important to consider emotions related to uncertainty and develop skills to cope with it. Finding effective alternatives to psychoactive substances in emotional regulation and violence prevention poses a challenge. Fanaticism can be present in the inertia of customs and can be recognized by sensitive young people in society’s reactions to demands for social change. The situation of individuals expelled at the Polish-Belarusian border highlights the difference between uncompromising commitment and fanaticism. Human rights should be respected without exceptions, and the willingness to accept external judgment distinguishes activists from fanatics. Building relationships free from fanaticism in communities, especially in the case of refugees, requires considering the atmosphere and pedagogy of the place, which play a crucial role in combating fanaticism.

Violent behaviors among students are becoming an important matter for studies in educational research. Especially, this kind of behaviors has been observed in elementary schools. In this study we investigated violent behaviors among the elementary school students in rural and urban areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate the violent behaviors regarding some variables such as gender, classroom and location of the school. We focused on five dimensions of violence (physical, verbal, sexual, emotional and institutional). Survey method was used in the study. 2811 students, being educated in 7 rural and 7 urban areas, participated in this research in Turkey. As a result of this study, we found that there was a significant difference between the students educated in rural and urban areas in terms of the institutional violence dimension.

Turanism as a Cultural-Civilizational Model of Social Organization

The article presents a brief description of Turanism as one of the basic cultural-civilizational models that are substrates of modern systems of social organization. The cultural-civilizational model is understood axiologically as a system of values and principles of human community organization. The author presents and briefly substantiates the key values and principles on which Turanism is based: mobility, teleologism, chieftaincy, cult of power, hero ethos, brotherhood in arms, subordination to the leader, violence, expansionism, utilitarianism of extensive type, voluntarism and legal nihilism. The author presents examples and arguments in favor of the thesis that Turanism is not a historical relic, but an actively functioning model of social organization in the modern world. In particular, wherever there is an authoritarian structure of society with the use of physical violence, the cult of a strong leader, the dominance of masculinism, frequent violation of the rule of law and preference of extensive economy to intensive one, we can speak of a turanistic mode of cultural-civilizational organization. Where in everyday life preferences for forceful problem solving are preserved, preference is given to activities that risk life and health, male culture dominates over female culture, impulsiveness and voluntarism dominate over moderation and prudence, we can see the preservation of the turanistic axiological system.