The idea of European federation keeps recurring in politicians' and intellectuals' discourses on the future of the European Union. The logic of global rivalry of “large territories” favors this in particular, as it somehow forces Europe’s states to enter into a tighter integration if they want to realize their politics. The biggest challenge which the Union faces is the problem of leadership, understood both in the context of internal policy and relationally towards the surrounding. The problem, however, is the diversity of the member states and the unrelenting tension between particular concern about a national interest and European universalism. European federation sensu stricto, just because of this diversity has still been a utopian project. The future of the European Union most probably lies in a new intermediate model, as unique as the European Commonwealths used to be in the 1950s.

In reflection summary it can be stated that social policy is both a possibility and a barrier in the development of a new corporate culture–civilization, referred to as globalization. Main forces shaping the new global reality, and the face of social policy are: technical and scientific progress, international laws and education focused on raising awareness of global change. Quick pace of civilization reveals an inability to adapt to a wide range of society the realities of the world of IT and information, and consequently the phenomenon of exclusion and widening of social pathologies. The image shaping social policy sets out the special role of participatory unit. The implementation of the project of European integration reveals a large gap between the assumptions and practice of social life. Standards of social policy remain in the realm of vision, a declaration of hope, the boundaries between the real world and virtual information and disinformation and manipulation. An important role in this regard play the media, which in its action shall submit to the effectiveness of the delivering authentic information about contemporary social realities and social policy pursued in its various structural dimensions.

Current discussion on the consequences of modernity, and social effects of the ongoing globalization of the world, more and more frequently focus on the increasing number of signs of the world’s unification, and at the same time tendencies to divide it not necessarily according to the designated national borders, are becoming visible. Towards the end of the 20th century, factors conducive to integration of the world and communities that inhabit it, began to become more apparent. Integration complements, clubs and harmonizes particular spheres of human existence and activity. It is a process, during which the structure of integrating elements alters (they frequently undergo a forced change and adapt to each other) and the bond is subject to evolve. It is a dynamic process that creates new quality.

A characteristic feature of a modern state is dichotomy of its development. On one hand, it is striving a!er unification and universality of social, political and economic solutions aiming to integrate the world, but on the other, there is a growth of tendencies disintegrating a country, development of localness, aspiring to give local communities high level of independence and self-deciding powers, that is: the reverse of massive society. The phenomena connected with unification and aspirations for preserving local identity are complementary and complement one another. The globalization of world-wide system does not mean its inner homogeneity. The world is perceived as an internally diverse reality.

The study indicates that migratory movements are one of the fundamental values of life and culture of civilization. The heritage of the past is rich, revealing their scale, consequences, opportunities and barriers to development. Since the end of the 18th century, migrations have been deeply involved in the political life of each country and international environment. A new cultural dimension is associated in fact with the global formation of civil society, in the process of the simultaneously occurring unification and diversification of cultural life. The image of the migration life clearly involves the presence of Poland and Polish people both in terms of migrants and immigrants.

The peculiarities of foreign models of the welfare state caused by modernization processes have been elucidated. The modern political concept of welfare state models has been created. The main tendencies in the development of the welfare state under the circumstances of modern globalization challenges have been defined. The parameters of the long-range national welfare state model have been traced on the basis of the analysis of the Ukrainian welfare state formation processes.

Article „Languages – a tool in the hands of nationalists and globalists – the current situation in Europe” is going to present the current problem that appears on the Old Continent in the area of using the case of knowledge of languages to present the political situation. In the current times nationalistic tendencies are staring to be more visible – by in example rising of popularity of conservative and right-oriented parties or growing up of nationalist movements that are using xenophobic slogans. By focusing on the procedure of applying for citizenship of one of the European Union’s country, and on the position of languages in he European Union it is possible to understand some processes that are appearing in the political area. By taking into account these tendencies it is also possible to take attention on the fact of development of position of the languages in the Europe.

REVIEW

Self-immolators as a new social movement? An attempt to systemize phenomenon in integral and system conceptualization

In this paper an author highlight that political self-immolation has been occurring for nearly two thousand years and the main center of this phenomenon is in Asia. Unification of attitudes and globalization are factors that in a flash spread information around the world. This means that about self-immolation everyone, potentially, know in a minute after it occur. Against common knowledge self-immolation are done because of socio-political reasons, deeply altruistic and not because of psychological reasons or unadjustedness of self-immolators as proposed by representatives of nondemocratic regimes. Self-immolation phenomenon is worth of permanent observation by political scientists as they may lead to political changes of great importance as it was in Tunisia (2010). Those who have power and authority by breaking human rights are responsible for self-immolation acts.

Artykuł przedstawia genezę i rozwój koncepcji systemu-świata i omawia jej wizję procesów globalizacji. Z tego punktu widzenia od połowy XVI w. mamy do czynienia z procesem powstawania światowego systemu ekonomicznego opartego na międzynarodowym podziale pracy. W efekcie tworzy się globalna cywilizacja, działająca według reguł kapitalizmu, którą na potrzeby tekstu nazwiemy cywilizacją kapitalistyczną. W artykule zostanie przeanalizowana siatka pojęć tego podejścia i rozwój jego teorii. Zarysowane zostaną współczesne wyzwania dla koncepcji cywilizacji kapitalistycznej – o charakterze polityczno-ekonomicznym i naukowym.

Western Europe of the early 21st century is going through a process that is sometimes referred to as “the arrival of the Third Wave civilization”, that is the information civilization. The civilizational transformations result in two “revolutions” – post-national and post-industrial. Just like the 19th-century national and industrial revolutions, they involve deep social changes and consequently provoke resistance and a wave of counter-mobilisation against the upcoming “new order” – global, post-national, and post-industrial. The basic assumption of this article is that the classical theoretical schemes developed by Stein Rokkan and Seymour Lipset may come as analytical tools useful in explaining contemporary political phenomena. Rokkan’s theory seems to be the analytical model that is still helpful in explaining the election behaviours as well as political conflicts and divisions present within current political systems, and its heuristic power is high.

The English language has become the communication vehicle of the process of globalization, enhanced and accelerated also by the development of technologies. It is the default language of international contacts nowadays. English is the language most often learned and taught as a foreign/second language, and it has become the language of planetary range. The new role and status of English has inspired the author to search for new educational goals and dimensions of English language education. English as a global language means that its learner acquires a new global (planetary) identity and teaching English as a foreign language has gone far beyond traditional glottodidactics. There arises a new role for the English teacher, who is also a broker of global (planetary) values and universal cultural issues. The author also outlines the concept of planetary education through teaching English as a global language.

Globalization processes stimulate the emerging of new cultural borderlands including, among many others, cyberspace and global cites. They create complex socio-cultural spaces of participation which can be described in the categories of diversity, instability, hybridity and creolization as well as multiple forms, ways, contents and institutions of socialization. The aforementioned changes impact the perception of the “place” category, the contemporary meaning, includes not only the physical space but also its history and cultural traditions. They also create new challenges and conditions for the processes of identity forming. Identification with the culturally diverse milieu can support development of the culture borderland identity. In certain conditions there can also be created a culturally uprooted protean identity or be neo-tribal identity of a bulwark defender. The above – mentioned processes and phenomena challenge contemporary education by creating new chances as well as jeopardizing socialization of youth.

States, being the fundamental forms of political organization of contemporary societies, are presently undergoing dynamic transformations connected with the processes of globalization and integration, among others in the field of the functions exercised by them, as well as the way of their performing. This has considerable significance, especially in the context of state security, for its assuring to citizens, both in the internal and external dimensions, is still one of the most important objectives of emerging and lasting of such a community. Key is also here the problem of the new comprehension of sovereignty. Among the most essential factors influencing this substance are undoubtedly globalization and regional integration processes. Thus, the 21st century states in the whole world are facing totally different, unknown hitherto challenges, requiring from them to adapt their tasks and, in consequence, also their legal orders to the constantly changing political and legal reality.

Edukacja jako szczególna wartość w dzisiejszym świecie stanowi siłę generującą aktywność zarówno polityczną, społeczną, jak i gospodarczą. Jest ona czynnikiem kształtującym samoświadomość. Z tego powodu Polska przywiązuje dużą wagę do problemów edukacyjnych nie tylko w kraju, ale również w polskich środowiskach emigracyjnych. Przykładem państwa, które miało i ma ogromne znaczenie dla ruchu emigracyjnego jest Francja.
Celem artykułu jest próba usystematyzowania wiedzy o kształtowaniu się życia oświatowego polskich emigrantów we Francji, wskazanie realizowanych zadań i wyzwań z jakimi przyszło się jej zmagać na przestrzeni wieków.
Wykazano, że niezależnie od epoki w której przyszło żyć polskim emigrantom, hołdowali oni wartościom, które nie przemijają: poczucie odrębności, patriotyzm i miłość do ojczyzny oraz posiadali nieustanny pęd do zdobywania wiedzy.

This study focuses on the effect that internationalization of higher education has on the nation branding of South Korea. To better understand the role that international students in higher education play in nation branding, research is needed on the actual experiences of international students in the country. In this study, current and former African university students’ experiences living and studying in South Korea are investigated. This study, therefore, uses the nation branding framework within the context of South Korea and the role of higher education as an image enhancement strategy geared toward global public inclusion; its focus is on the experiences of African students. In order to obtain multiple perspectives on African student experiences, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire. The empirical evidence obtained in this study demonstrates that African students’ experiences in South Korea are relevant in their perceptions of the host country. The results suggest the positive impact that the South Korean government has on improving the country’s image through encouragement of internationalization of higher education, especially among African students who come to the country for their tertiary education.

The paper analyses competences of the teacher in a  virtual classroom. It describes the reconfiguration of social behaviours and the role of the teacher in the virtual class after taking into account the theory of dialectics of globalization by Anthony Giddens, developed by Norman Fairclough with respect to social discourse and interpersonal interactions. Taking into account the results of different authors’ empirical research on online teaching, social features of such a process and personality traits, social roles and professional competences of a virtual class teacher in Poland and the Republic of Korea are described.

Shmuel N. Eisenstadt has fundamentally modified the classical theory of modernization. Over the course of his work, which is connected with the changes of sociological theory since the 1950s, he has executed a turn from the comparative analysis of institutions to the research program of comparative civilizations. The research program of multiple modernities has emerged out of this attentional shift coming from the First Research Program 1986, which led to “multiple modernities” and to the Second Research Program 2003. A key milestone was the critique of the theory of structural differentiation as the main process underlying the socio­structural evolution of societies; this began with The Political Systems of Empires (1963), along with the development of convergence theories of modernization, which have had impact on contemporary sociological theory beginning with that same book. In the meantime, the research program of multiple modernities now continues into the Third Research Program of Multiple Modernities, Membership, and Globalization 2016 and its implementation (Preyer and Sussman, 2016a, b). Firstly, I will show how the program seeks to sketch an updated vision of the theoretical systematization of research on globalization since the 1990s. Secondly, I will go on to sketch the foci of research within the Third Research Program in our era of globalization; finally, I shall outline some consequences of changes in the research situation within sociological theory.

Zasadnicze aspekty dzisiejszej rzeczywistości wyznaczone są przez dominującą odmianę systemu społeczno-gospodarczego, który zbudowany jest wokół pojęcia rozwoju (czy w ujęciu węższym – wzrostu gospodarczego). Efektem dominacji neoliberalnej wizji gospodarki stają się nierówności socjoekonomiczne, prekarne warunki zatrudnienia, wszechogarniająca niepewność ludzkiej egzystencji, jak również rzeczywiste ograniczenia praw obywatelskich poszczególnych kategorii społecznych (zbywatele) i dewastacja środowiska naturalnego. W obliczu tych zjawisk zasadne zdają się pytania o granice i następstwa pojęcia rozwoju gospodarczego z perspektywy konsekwencji społecznych albo – szerzej – o kierunek, w którym zmierza „postęp” cywilizacyjny. Niniejszy artykuł o charakterze poznawczym ma za zadanie: (a) eksplorację zagadnienia nierówności społecznych poprzez zastosowanie – swoiście ujętego – pojęcia cywirozlelizacji oraz (b) uściślenie tak przekształconego konstruktu poprzez egzemplifikację klasycznych i nowych form problemów i wykluczeń społecznych, występujących w rozwiniętych społeczeństwach.

Coraz intensywniejsze powiązania między państwami i ludźmi, lepiej znane jako globalizacja, są dziś przesłankami do sądów o konieczności wykreowania rządów i form zarządzania na poziomie globalnym. Zgadzający się na taki ogląd utrzymują, że tylko poprzez rząd globalny / dla autora jest to globalizm / państwa i narody będą mogły kooperować na wielu polach od ekonomicznej poczynając, a politycznej i bezpieczeństwa kończąc, prowadząc dialog w sposób pokojowy, bezkonfliktowy. Brak zarządzania globalnego owocuje barierami, protekcjonizmem i warunkami sprzyjającymi konfliktom. Idea globalnego państwa jest zamysłem wprowadzenia tego, co najlepsze, w społeczność międzynarodową i uratowania jej od form zła spotykanych dziś.
Zauważamy, iż globalizm ma pociągać za sobą systematyczną transformację organizacji politycznej i ekonomicznej państw umocowanych w suwerenności terytorialnej w kierunku wciąż niejasnych kształtów nieterytorialnych, nadnarodowych struktur rządzenia. Obecnie żyjemy w okresie charakteryzowanym jako „rządzenie bez rządu”. Chociaż wiele międzynarodowych instytucji jest reprezentowanych przez demokratycznie wybierane rządy, to te fakty ani są dobrze zrozumiałe, ani transparentne. Ch. Kindleberger, historyk ekonomii, powiedział pewnego razu, że państwa narodowe mogą sobie radzić politycznie, ale są zbyt małe, by znaczyć wiele kulturowo. Oczywiście jasne jest, że istniejące już instytucje niewiele znaczą dla większości ludzi i brak im politycznej legitymacji, chociaż wiele z wciąż potężniejących problemów może być rozwiązanych tylko przez współpracę międzynarodową. Zadanie łagodzenia negatywnych konsekwencji globalizacji poprzez struktury zarządzania globalnego może powiększyć zasięg potrzeb i przesłanek do efektywnej współpracy.