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Podstawą sprawnie funkcjonującego społeczeństwa jest jego dobrowolne i wynikające z wewnętrznej potrzeby jego członków zaangażowanie we wspólne sprawy. Dotyczy to nie tylko szeroko ujmowanej polityki, rozumianej jako rozsądna troska o dobro wspólne, ale także kwestii społecznych i tych związanych z kulturą. Aktywizacja jednostek i grup poprzez zaangażowanie w pielęgnację, ochronę i tworzenie dziedzictwa kulturowego może stanowić jedną z form lub strategii budowania i/lub wzmacniania społeczeństwa obywatelskiego. Istotną funkcję pełnią tu organizacje pozarządowe, działające na poziomie zwłaszcza lokalnym i regionalnym, oraz uczelnie wyższe, dysponujące bazą teoretyczną. Współpraca uniwersytetów oraz podmiotów tzw. trzeciego sektora stanowi przykład łączenia koncepcji z praktycznym działaniem. Partnerstwo uniwersytet-organizacje pozarządowe (UNI-NGO) 1 wydaje się mało wykorzystanym sposobem, choć nie jedynym, wzmacniania potencjału społecznego, a w dalszej kolejności i konsekwencji-także gospodarczego. Kultura, stanowiąc źródło indywidualnych i zbiorowych zachowań, odgrywa fundamentalną rolę w budowaniu poczucia wspólnotowości,

European Roma Policy – Towards Inclusion? This article aims to present the concepts of current European Union’s policy towards the Roma, starting with its origins up until recent years, as well as briefly diagnose the involvement of the EU’s institutions in developing and implementing programs and guidelines for national policies towards the Roma people in member states. This research paper also analyzes to which degree the activities of the European Union, with special emphasis on the period from 2011, positively influences the level of inclusion and integration of the Roma people into mainstream societies of EU member states. Finally, this article attempts to evaluate the results of the implementation of the above-mentioned policy as well as to predict the challenges which may arise in case of continuation of activities in this area.

The present volume, published by the Jagiellonian University research journal Politeja and within the series known as Jagiellonian Cultural Studies, contains a collection of articles submitted by Polish and foreign authors which demonstrate an interdisciplinary analytic approach. The presented works concern three fields of research exploration: ethnicity, culture and politics. These fields are related to the basic axioms of the Jagiellonian Cultural Studies, namely man, dialogue and cultural development. These elements are noticeable in all of the articles. However, the scale of their appearance is obviously different. Finally, the submitted collection highlights the necessity to endorse the idea of exchanging research experience. In this special case, such an idea has been put forward by the Chair of Ethnocultural Politics from the Institute of Intercultural Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. The above Chair was established in 2012 in response to the call for conducting broad research endeavors on the relations between ethnicity, culture and politics. The research refers to different aspects of interculturalism, the conditions for maintaining intercultural dialogue, as well as conducting analyses of the conflict prerequisites derived from ethnic, national or cultural diversity. Politicized ethnocultural affairs emerge as a significant area of deepened enquiries, the results of which may affect the political process and prevent ethnic conflict. The editorial team of this volume wants to express its conviction that the already established research ties. both on a national and international level, will be kept in the future for the benefit of all contributors. Without any extended discussion, the three fields of research exploration mentioned above, namely ethnicity, culture and politics, may be understood by referring to classic interpretations of them. According to Nathan Glazer and Daniel P. Moynihan the category of ethnicity was introduced into sociology and political science by David Riesman in 1953. It is defined by them as […] a tendency by people to insist on the significance of their distinctiveness and

International Romani Movement – Wasted Opportunity or Future of the Nation? The subject of this paper is the issue of the international Romani movement and the influence of the European Union’s activities and policy on its development. The special emphasis was placed on the history of the process of mobilization of the Roma within the framework of international non‑governmental organizations and the creation of new organizations and platforms on European level involving many activists and organization from various European countries. Can we still speak about international Romani organizations or are they only a relict in the face of European integration and European umbrella organizations and initiatives? This article tries to find some answers to this question.