This issue of Stan Rzeczy [State of Affairs] examines the changes that have occurred in the epistemic landscapes of Central and Eastern Europe over the past decades. It considers the history of contemporary conflicts in which truth is contested, for example, discussions of “fake news” or “alternative facts.” The contributions address the practical contexts and the embedding of truth claims, while identifying truth figures and truth scenes that could help to understand truth as an operational and functional category.
In his initial essay, Bernhard Kleeberg expounds a praxeological approach to the analysis of truth cultures. Anna Shor-Chudnovskaya and Andreas Langenohl analyse the appropriation (or rejection) of legal and voting practices during the Soviet era, while Thari Jungen examines the global mal-connections of truth, elections, and economic interest on social media in her story of alt-right aesthetics. Finally, Anna Grutza and Paweł Bagiński look at media practices and their paramount importance for making truth claims in the context of Radio Free Europe and the Polish #MeToo (#JaTeż) action in October 2017 respectively.