Tomasz Kitliński (born 29 December 1965) is a Polish political philosopher, cultural and social analyst, and civic activist. He was a lecturer and trade unionist at

Maria Curie-Sklodowska University Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

: since 2023 he has been Professor at the Academy of the Arts in Szczecin. He is also an author of books (''Dream? Democracy!'' ), articles, petitions and letters of protest. In his research and teaching, he deals with contemporary society, culture and politics,

intellectual history Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualization, conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of ...

, literary and

critical theory Critical theory is a social, historical, and political school of thought and philosophical perspective which centers on analyzing and challenging systemic power relations in society, arguing that knowledge, truth, and social structures are ...

, art practice, religious studies and

social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

. In his activism, he champions women's,

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

, labour and refugee rights and participation.

Biography

Tomasz Kitlinski holds his M.Phil. from the

Paris Diderot University Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Diderot merged with Pari ...

, where he prepared his thesis, supervised by Julia Kristeva. He conducted research under

Hélène Cixous Hélène Cixous (; ; born 5 June 1937) is a French writer, playwright and Literary criticism, literary critic. During her academic career, she was primarily associated with the Centre universitaire de Vincennes (today's University of Paris VIII) ...

Maria Janion Maria Janion (24 December 1926 – 23 August 2020) was a Polish scholar, literary theorist and critic, as well as a feminist. She was a professor at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, specialising in literary Ro ...

and

Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva (; ; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, ; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and novelist who has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She has taught at Colum ...

. He was a

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

at the New School for Social Research in New York, where he participated in the seminars of

Ágnes Heller Ágnes Heller (12 May 1929 – 19 July 2019) was a Hungarian philosopher and lecturer. She was a core member of the Budapest School philosophical forum in the 1960s and later taught political theory for 25 years at the New School for Social Rese ...

, Richard J. Bernstein and

Jonathan Schell Jonathan Edward Schell (August 21, 1943 – March 25, 2014) was an American reporter and writer whose work primarily dealt with American foreign policy from the Vietnam War to the War on Terror, as well as the threat posed by nuclear weapons and ...

. He also conducted research and presented a paper at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Recipient of Maria Skłodowska-Curie Intra-European Fellowship. He was a Fellow at Margherita von Brentano-Zentrum für Geschlechterforschung at the Freie Universität in Berlin, 2021- 2023. In 2023 he served as Senior Fellow in Image Science (Bildwissenschaft) at the Department of Art History, Technische Universität Dresden, where he conducted a project "A Comparative Study of the Politics of Women's, Queer and Refugees' Protest Art, and Visual Culture in Poland, 2015-present." Kitlinski is a member of Poland's Green Party. At the

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based in Brighton on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieved university status in 1992. T ...

, he moderated a meeting with Britain's only Green MP,

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who was the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2003 to 2006, 2007 to 2012, and 2016 to 2018. She was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parli ...

. In a letter to the editor, published in the Guardian, he has written on the importance of

Zygmunt Bauman Zygmunt Bauman (; ; 19 November 1925 – 9 January 2017) was a Polish–British sociologist and philosopher. He was driven out of the Polish People's Republic during the 1968 Polish political crisis and forced to give up his Polish citizenship. ...

's scholarly output. In 2011 he curated

Transeuropa Festival The Transeuropa Festival is a bi-annual festival of culture, arts and politics held in different European cities since 2010. It includes discussions, presentations and workshops concerning transnational issues. Organisation European Alternative ...

in Lublin, where he organised a series of queer, feminist and Jewish events, to which he invited Irena Grudzinska-Gross,

Robert Biedroń Robert Biedroń (; born 13 April 1976) is a Polish politician, former mayor of Słupsk, and LGBT activist who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He is the Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equal ...

Kazimiera Szczuka Kazimiera Szczuka (Polish pronunciation: ; born 22 June 1966 in Warsaw) is a Polish historian of literature, literary critic, feminist, journalist and television personality, known from the Polish edition of ''The Weakest Link''. Life and career ...

Anna Grodzka Anna Grodzka (born 16 March 1954) is a Polish politician. A trans woman, she was elected to the Sejm in the 2011 Polish parliamentary elections as a candidate for the left-liberal Palikot's Movement, and was the first openly transgender Membe ...

and Robert Kuwałek. Kitlinski was cited by the ''New York Times''. He has been involved in filmmaking; Kitlinski collaborated with directors Helen Whitney, Raphael Lewandowski, Urszula Pieregonczuk, Grzegorz Linkowski and Piotr Brozek. On

2019 Polish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 13 October 2019. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate of Poland, Senate were elected. The ruling right-wing Law and Justice (Poland), Law and Justice (PiS) won re-election to a ...

Kitliński was a candidate for the sejm from The Left. He received 2334 votes.

Books

* ''Dream? Democracy! A Philosophy of Horror, Hope & Hospitality in Art & Action'', Lublin: Maria Curie-Sklodowska Press, 2014 (table of contents:) * ''Love and Democracy: Reflections on the Queer Question in Poland'' (with

Paweł Leszkowicz Paweł Leszkowicz (born 17 December 1970) is a Polish art historian and art curator. He works as a lecturer and researcher at the Department of History of Art, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and lectures at the University of Fine Arts in ...

), Cracow: Aureus, 2005. * ''The Stranger Is within Ourselves: How to Love according to Julia Kristeva'', Cracow: Aureus, 2001. * ''Love. Hate'' (with Dariusz Fodczuk and Chris Hurford), Lublin: Ex-Libris, 1991. * ''Parallel Lines'' (with Angus Reid), Wroclaw: Galeria x, 1990.

References

Bibliography

* Kitlinski's contribution, co-authored with Joe Lockard and Pawel Leszkowicz, to the NYU Press collection of essays: Laurent Berlant, Lisa Duggen (eds), ''Our Monica, Ourselves''. New York: New York University Press, 200

* Sociologist Eric Fassin on Kitlinski's article, co-authored with Joe Lockard and Pawel Leszkowicz, about Monica Lewinsk

* Kitlinski's contribution to the Palgrave Macmillan collection of essays: Angela Jones (ed), ''A Critical Inquiry into Queer Utopias''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013 * Kitlinski's biography at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London

* Kitlinski's biography in the scholarly journal ''Inter Alia''

* Kitlinski's biography at Gender Center, Polish Academy of Sciences

* Sociologist Dota Szymborska-Dyrda reviews Tomasz Kitlinski and Pawel Leszkowicz's book ''Love and Democracy: Reflections on the Queer Question in Poland''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitlinski, Tomasz 1965 births The Greens (Poland) politicians Living people Polish LGBTQ rights activists Maria Curie-Skłodowska University alumni Academic staff of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University 21st-century Polish philosophers