Pawel Knut, Author at Public Seminar

Migration

At the Border

Going into Poland’s forests to help migrants gave me a sense of peace but the journey is far from over

December 17, 2021 • by Pawel Knut and Franciszka Sady

Before leaving for Podlachia I naively assumed that my trip would have a beginning and an end, that I would gain a better understanding of the ongoing crisis and the role people such as myself could play in it. I seem to have reached some geographical and symbolic end. However, ...

Democracy

A Few Remarks on Outing

February 8, 2021 • by Pawel Knut

In August and September 2020 a lively discussion about another case of “outing” of a public figure, i.e. disclosing a person's sexual orientation against their will, entered Polish public debate. This time, Jan Kanthak, a MP from the conservative party “United Poland” (Solidarna Polska), was outed by Michał Kowalówka, a local ...

Democracy

Pandemic as Opportunity?

The meaning of COVID-19 to the Polish LGBT movement

June 30, 2020 • by Pawel Knut

When discussing the Covid-19 outbreak, metaphors of crisis, stasis, or threat are often invoked to describe the atmosphere of the current moment. Such metaphors powerfully capture the situation of LGBT communities around the world that are particularly vulnerable to the economic and political effects of the pandemic. Sadly, some decision-makers, instead ...

Migration

In Limbo

My journey through the pandemic

April 21, 2020 • by Pawel Knut

That is how my personal journey through the pandemic began. I was spending the academic year in New York City on a Fulbright scholarship at The New School. After living in the city all fall and winter, my wife and I were planning to leave at the end of April. ...