Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach

Behav. Sci. Terror. Political Aggress. – 2021, no. 0, s. 1-29

Abstract

The primary objective of this paper is to map the online presence of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) media branch – Ebaa News Agency (ENA) – on the surface web. It also measures three years of propaganda output of the group and its viewership, as well as outlines the thematic landscape of its productions based on the content analysis of a sample. It argues that Ebaa’s messaging pattern constitutes a peculiar mixture of opposing priorities. It paid a great deal of attention to portraying itself as an independent news agency that has nothing to do with violent terrorist organizations (VEOs). In effect, its productions are easily available on the surface web. A closer look, however, proves that since 2017 ENA has been dedicated to supporting HTS’s radical Islamist agenda. This paper provides evidence of this. Moreover, Ebaa adopted a two-vector distribution strategy of its productions, composed of standalone websites and Telegram channels. In this context, the output of this media cell appears to be quite impressive. Between 2017 and 2020, it was capable of releasing more than 13,000 pieces of propaganda on its websites. At the same time, however, their viewership was lower than initially expected.

Nataliya Petlyuchenko, Dana Petranová, Halyna Stashko, Nataliya Panasenko

Lege Artis (Trnava). – 2021, iss. 2, s. 106-164

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Eur. Res. Stud. J. – 2021, iss. 3, s. 349-366

Abstract

Purpose: The cognitive purpose of this article is to define the specificity of the Polish precariat and their needs, as well as the degree to which they are realised in the context of the current policy that supports employment as well as the social policy of the Polish government. Its utilitarian purpose is to define a set of actions that may be undertaken by governments to meet the needs of the precariat and to reduce the size of this social group. Design/Methodology/Approach: In order to determine to what extent the current government in Poland meets the needs of the precariat, a questionnaire was devised and delivered via the Internet to a research panel of respondents. The study used a stratified-quota sample selection, corresponding to the proportions of people in Poland working on various fixed-term contracts or as self-employed. 1,000 respondents who work with flexible forms of employment participated in the study. The research was carried out at the end of March/ beginning of April 2021. The basis for determining the main types of needs felt by the Polish precariat was shaped by sociological research in this area conducted in Poland. Practical Implications: Taking into account the opinions of the Polish precariat, one should consider the need for governments (including the Polish government) to create tools for effective communication with members of the precariat. One potential solution to this problem may be the creation of a government portal that provides an accessible means of discovering the available tools and programs that promote employment, including the conditions for their eligibility, and offer know-how on entrepreneurship. A practical solution presented in this study is also a new approach to subsidies granted by employment offices to start one’s first business, a form of support that incorporates the possibility that members of the precariat might participate in businesses run within franchising networks. Originality/Value: In terms of value, this study aims to enrich knowledge about the precariat, their needs and life aspirations. It also provides suggestions on action that can be taken by governments and their agendas to scale back this phenomenon.

Asian Aff. – 2021, iss. 4, s. 826-851

Abstract

The article aims to analyze the autumn war in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which took place in 2020, and explain its impact on the strategic balance of power in the South Caucasus region. This issue is important for regional security and power projection in the South Caucasus. The author focused on 1) The characteristics of the course of the war; 2) The impact of the war on the politics of Armenia and Azerbaijan; 3) The impact of the war on the new division of the sphere of influence between Russia and Turkey. In the course of the research, research techniques and methods characteristic of political science and security science (neoclassical realism paradigm) were used, including critical analysis of the literature on the subject, analysis of policy makers’ statements, secondary analysis, and interpretation of quantitative data.

Probl. Post-Commun. – Vol. 68 (2021), iss. 0, s. 1-6

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Abstract

The aim of the article is to explain how the political forces in Moldova used the issue of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve their particular goals. The instrumentalization of the fight against the pandemic was particularly visible as an element of the political rivalry preceding the presidential election. The analysis of social data confirms that the pandemic situation has become another field of competition in the internal policy of the state, as is customary in Moldova during crises.

 Asian Aff. – 2021, iss. 4, s. 872-889

Abstract

The year 2020 marked a change in Kazakhstan’s approach to Kazakh asylum seekers from China. For the first time, ethnic Kazakhs escaping China’s security and ethnic policy apparatus in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR; Xinjiang) were granted a right to a temporary stay in the country. The status was valid for one year only, yet it was a significant improvement as until 2020 similar cases were lost in Kazakh courts. This change was possible due to the international advocacy of local Kazakh human rights activists, the growing international recognition of the Xinjiang issue by the West, and the ambitions of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has been developing his own style of the presidency with social issues as its centrepiece. The purpose of this article is to assess Tokayev’s approach to Xinjiang as a human rights issue in the context of his domestic and foreign policies. This article argues that despite the initial improvement in how the country dealt with asylum seekers from China, the situation of both human rights activists and refugees has deteriorated, forcing them to seek shelter in a third country. The article also finds that Kazakhstan’s foreign policy under Tokayev has been increasingly China-oriented, prioritizing economic and political relations with Beijing over those with the West. This approach immediately affects Tokayev’s strategies towards anti-Chinese activists and asylum seekers from China; it also has a long-lasting effect on the country declarative multi-vectoral and Eurasian foreign policy outlook.

Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. – Vol. 90 (2021), s. 275-284

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JSRI (Online). – 2121, iss. 60, s. 3-22

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Abstract

Nowadays, man has been transformed from animal rationale and animal symbolicum into homo videns, and this state of affairs determines the tools at the disposal of religious institutions to carry out the work of new evangelisation, to contest global secularisation, or to point out the correct moral solutions from a Christian point of view to the problems of today’s civilisation. Religious advertising is just such a new tool of information and persuasion. It is one of the elements of communication aimed at promoting values, ideas, services and shaping attitudes and behaviours appropriate to a given religion. It contains certain elements of the sacrum and aims to make recipients aware of their spiritual needs, arouse the desire to satisfy them and indicate the attractiveness of Christianity. It is supposed to create appropriate preferences, show the beauty and positive image of the sender and the “product” that faith provides. A specific type of advertising is a billboard campaign. Poland is the most Catholic country in Europe. At the same time, it ranks first in terms of the rate of secularisation among young people. In Poland, at the turn of 2020/2021, we had an anti-abortion billboard campaign, which was the result of the long-standing policy of the conservative ruling camp against various forms of contemporary secularisation and global secular ideologies. The campaign proved to be controversial and ineffective. The aim of this article is to describe the specifics of social advertising in the context of the issues discussed on the example of the Polish anti-abortion campaign.

PLoS ONE. – 2021, no. 16, s. 1-13

Abstract

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic represents an unprecedented situation in the most recent history. It has had a number of negative consequences for individuals and for whole societies. Individual effects of the pandemic include not only loss of life and of physical health, but also deteriorated quality of life.

Objective: This study examines the effect of core self-evaluations (CSE), social support and fear of COVID-19 on the well-being of university students in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We conducted an online survey on a nationwide group of 1,000 students of Polish universities. The survey was carried out between 1 and 15 March 2021. The respondents filled out the following set of tools: World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale, Core Self-Evaluations Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and The Fear of COVID-19 Scale.

Results: The findings showed that core self-evaluations (CSE) were significantly positively associated with well-being in each of the four domains studied: physical health (r = 0.519), psychological (r = 0.763), social relationships (r = 0.465) and environment (r = 0.496). Similarly, social support correlated positively with physical health (r = 0.277), psychological health (r = 0.306), social relationships (r = 0.552) and environment (r = 0.496). Fear of COVID-19 correlated negatively with well-being in the domain of physical health (r = 0.188), in social relationships (r = 0.042) and with regard to the environment (r = 0.071), the correlations were weak. However, the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and well-being in the psychological domain was not confirmed.

Conclusion: The findings point to the significant role of CSE and the role of social support in the perceived quality of life of young people during the pandemic. They provide valuable data concerning individuals who are particularly vulnerable to the adverse psychological effects at the time of the pandemic. They also prove that research conducted to explore other factors protecting individual well-being in difficult situations, including that of the pandemic, should be continued.

PeerJ, Life & Environment, – Vol. 9 (2021), art. no. 11263, s. 1-18

International Communication Gazette. – 2021, iss. 2, s. 169-192

Barbara Myslik, Liudmila Khalitova, Tianduo Zhang, Sophia Tarasevich, Spiro Kiousis, Tiffany Mohr, Ji Young Kim, Agnieszka Turska-Kawa, Craig Carroll, Guy Golan

This study aims to advance the theoretical and practical knowledge of political public relations, and influence that political profile of the media can have on the agenda-building process. The influences of agenda indexing are also discussed with regard to different media profiles. A quantitative content analysis was conducted to examine the influence of Polish and Russian government messages from presidents and prime ministers regarding the Smolensk plane crash on media coverage in both counties. Newspapers were categorized by political profile representing pro-government, mainstream, or opposition profile. Nearly all of the hypotheses were fully supported for the first, second, and third level of agenda building. Results of this study demonstrate that political public relations’ success and agenda indexing can be affected by a medium’s political profile, particularly in the case of opposition media. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed along with areas of future research.

Eur. J. Sci. Theol. – 2021, no. 2, s. 83-95

The aim of the presented research is to analyse the political sources of secularisation processes in Poland. In specific circumstances, the sphere of politics may be a predictor of secularisation processes. This can be fostered by a strong link between state structures and religious institutions. In the course of the research procedure, two potential political sources of secularisation processes were identified: institutional and social ones. The institutional one involves the acquisition of political relevance by new party movements with secularisation-oriented programme assumptions. This is considered in particular interms of their non-adherence to the traditional shape of the left-right dyad. The social source of secularisation processes may involve the emergence of populist attitudes among the general public. Political populism can be a factor in reducing individuals‟ motivation to follow traditional rules.It may also weaken the ties to traditional political parties.The analysis has shown that in Poland, political factors are a weak source of secularisation processes. This is due both to the poor institutionalisation of new political parties in the Polish party system and to the generally negligible presence of populist attitudes in the Polish society.

Stud. Confl. Terror. – Vol. 0, iss. 0 (2021), s. 1-26

This article aims to map the online propaganda presence and activities of the Turkestan Islamic Party’s media arm—Islam Awazi (“Voice of Islam”). It also discusses its capabilities in terms of producing new releases and attracting online audiences. In order to reach these objectives, this study exploited a methodology which is a combination of open source intelligence techniques (OSINT) with limited content analysis. It argues that the Uyghur-oriented Islam Awazi’s (IA) propaganda strategy was primarily based on one standalone website, which constituted a central repository of its new productions. It was supported by several Telegram channels. However, open source intelligence investigation allowed other domains proliferating the IA’s productions, which were still accessible but abandoned at the time when this study was carried out, to be discovered. It also proved that the organization was capable of producing more than 160 propaganda releases between January and September 2020. Their viewership on the surface web was, however, quite limited. Finally, this study also outlines a peculiar connection between Islam Awazi’s websites and two networks of domains exploited by the cyber-criminal underground to distribute pornography and malware. This may be considered as a sign of an existing—and widely discussed by the academia—terror-crime nexus.

Secur. J. – 2021, iss. 0, s. 1-10

This paper, which takes the form of a case study, aims to contribute to the debate on activities of the Islamic State’s unofficial media bureaus. Based on tools of open source intelligence, as well as a limited content analysis, it maps the online presence and activities of Ahlut-Tawhid Publications (AHP). Its means of distributing pro-Daesh content in the surface web as well as its general impact are discussed. It also deliberates on the interconnectedness of AHP with other online propaganda cells supporting the self-proclaimed “Caliphate.” This paper argues that this group was part of the ongoing online campaign of the Islamic State in the World Wide Web in 2018 and 2019. It maintained quite an impressive and long-lasting online presence, combining the potential of the most popular microblogs, hosting services and social media with the flexibility of standalone websites. In contrast to the most recognized propaganda cells of Daesh, such as al-Hayat Media Centre or Amaq News Agency whose productions have been quickly detected and removed from the mainstream webpages for years, AHP kept a low profile for the most part of 2018. In effect, it benefited from its relative anonymity and for months operated a network of pro-IS distribution channels throughout Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 environments. This ceased to be the case in 2019, when most of them were incapacitated (banned) by law enforcement or abandoned. It is clear that the attention given to proliferating propaganda through the surface web decreased at this time, probably in favor of the Telegram communication software, as the discovered statistics suggest. The only active (still updated) locations—partially related to Ahlut-Tawhid Publications—belonged to the Bengali Ansar network. It has to be stressed, however, that AHP failed to spark increased attention of Internet users.

Stud. Confl. Terror. – Vol. 44, iss. 7 (2021), s. 565-580

This article attempts to fill a gap in research on the propaganda methods exploited in the Islamic State’s flagship online magazines, Dabiq and Rumiyah. Its major objective is to discover methods exploited by their editors either to convince readers to join the ranks of the Islamic State, or to partake in jihad in the form of violent actions against infidels. The article also attempts to understand the magazines’ modus operandi in terms of legitimizing the “Caliphate’s” violence against its enemies. In order to reach these goals, content analysis and comparative analysis were utilized. This article argues that while the legitimization of violence and call to violence was strongly emphasized in both magazines, there are significant differences in terms of recruitment messages. On the one hand, Dabiq prioritized this issue (e.g., through the promotion of hijrah). On the other hand, Rumiyah was much less interested in inciting followers to join its ranks in the Middle East. Instead, it focused on calling Ummah to participate in jihad against the infidels, especially in the form of lone-wolf terrorist attacks.

Religions (Online). – 2021, iss. 3, s. 1-14, art. no. 188

The essence of the Catholic Church implemented in the modern world is of crucial importance for the understanding its mission towards the state, especially when developing appropriate civil attitudes. One sources of cognition is the historical reflection made on an analytical basis of Catholic media content. This article presents the discourse analysis of Gość Niedzielny (i.e., Sunday Guest), which was one of the most important Catholic publications in Poland, during the reconstruction of the Polish statehood. The pro-state mission of the Catholic Church was an expression of responsibility for common good, was nonpartisan and was connected with the promotion of values that condition the social order. It was believed that the condition of the state is determined by the moral form of its citizens and their level of involvement in social life. Christian values were though to secure and protect also the good of non-Catholic citizens. Here, the research and discourse analysis allows us to define the conclusions regarding contemporary relations between Church and the state in Poland. The key thoughts included in the publications of Sunday Guest, have contemporary application and their message is extremely up-to-date. View Full-Text

Commun. Today (Trnava). – 2021, no. 1, s. 29-42

Multilevel migration management is, in the face of current negligence, a postulated management activity on many territorial levels: transnational, national and local. This process requires the intertwining of various spheres – public and private, internal and international. This kind of management is designed to define the dynamics of management and eliminate the barriers of the decision-making system, understood physically – as the boundaries of administrative units, and functionally – as political constraints. Growing deficits on the local labour markets require the state’s activity and taking targeted action in municipalities aimed at attracting and integrating immigrants. With the use of all tools available, especially digital media, territorial marketing and the resulting marketing communication can play a key role in this process. The main objective of the present study is to reflect on the problem of how to use digital media in order to acquire and integrate migrants into local labour markets. The article has the character of theoretical considerations. According to the author’s view, it is possible to conduct pre-integration of migrants even at the moment when they are still in their native country, during the period of making the decision to leave.

JSRI Volume 20, Issue 59, Summer 2021

In 1966, two thinkers – Mircea Eliade and Leszek Kołakowski – independently of each other carried out a comprehensive analysis of the mythological sphere of human life. Each became an important researcher in the philosophy of culture and religion not only in his own country but also in the world. In their view, myth serves the human being to explain the existence of the world, of which we remain a constituent element, or it serves as a defence against the destructive influence of the Enlightenment heritage. Rationalistic anthropological concepts abolish boundaries that make it impossible for human beings to orient themselves axiologically, while myth sets strict boundaries between what is good and bad in human conduct. Myth is a response to transience, fear, uncertainty and human despair in the choice between individual freedom and autonomy and acceptance of and submission to the sacral order. Both Eliade and Kołakowski consider myth in relation to the tension between sacrum and profanum. They refer to the same concepts in their research to explain what myth is. The aim of this paper is to answer whether they interpret in the same way what myth is and what its significance for human existence is.

MDPI, 2021, iss. 5, art. no. 355, s. 1-20

Although spirituality has been considered a protective factor against shopping addiction,
the mechanisms involved in this relationship are still poorly recognized. The present study aims to
test the association of daily spiritual experiences, self-efficacy, and gender with shopping addiction.
The sample consisted of 430 young adults (275 women and 155 men), with a mean age of 20.44
(SD = 1.70). The Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Bergen
Shopping Addiction Scale were used to measure the study variables. The results showed that: (1)
Daily spiritual experiences had a direct negative effect on shopping addiction; (2) daily spiritual
experiences were positively related to self-efficacy, thought the effect was moderated by gender;
(3) self-efficacy negatively correlated with a shopping addiction; and (4) the indirect effect of daily
spiritual experiences on shopping addiction through self-efficacy was significant for women but
insignificant for men. The findings confirm that spirituality protects young adults against developing
a shopping addiction. They also suggest that when introducing spiritual issues into shopping
addiction prevention or treatment programs, the gender-specific effects of spirituality on shopping
addiction via self-efficacy should be considered to adequately utilize young women’s and men’s
spiritual resources.

W: Innovation management and information technology impact on global economy in the era of pandemic : proceedings of the 37th International Business Information Management Association Conference. – Cordoba : IBIMA, 2021. – S. 862-869. – ISBN 978-0-9998551-6-4

The precariat is a new social category that occurs in all countries around the world. It is made up of people who undertake odd jobs and are employed under civil law contracts. In Poland, it is almost two million people, largely under 30 years of age. They constitute 25% of the economically active people in this country. The purpose of this article is to define the specificity of the Polish precariat and its expectations towards the social policy of the Polish state. Its utilitarian goal is to define a set of possible national governments and their agendas aimed at limiting the scale of this phenomenon.

Eur. Polit. Soc. (Print). – 2021, iss.0, s. 1-14

The purpose of the article was to analyse the implications of the Velvet Revolution on the bilateral relations of Armenia with the entities of supra-regional reach (European Union and Russian Federation) and Poland, in the context of active shaping of the eastern dimension of the European Union foreign policy by this country. The article focuses on the external relations of Armenia in the second decade of the twenty-first century, emphasising the consequences of the events of 2018. The topicality of the issues raised by the authors and their key importance in shaping the foreign policy by the centre of power in Yerevan following the phase of the revolutionary transformation in the country deserves particular attention. The relations between Warsaw and Yerevan are a result of the relations between UE, NATO and the Russian Federation, but also of the dialogue between Poland and Russia. Despite the aspirations of the Polish authorities to shape pragmatic and active politics towards Armenia to bring this country closer to the European structures, the possibilities of Warsaw in this respect are limited.

Eur. J. Sci. Theol. – 2021, nr 4, s. 119-139