Magdalena Nowicka

The societies of Central Europe – ‘hungry’ for democracy, capitalism and free mass media – are turning into a fascinating laboratory of ‘self-criticism’ and ‘self-improvement’ which conceal the frailty of legitimization for democratic transformations. My project examines the evolution of self-critique: from a political act as an institution of coercive apparatus, and the moralizing self-critique of elites, to quasi-self-critique in the media in order to save public careers in the face of vetting, corruption or moral charges.