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34
MariaMendel,WiesławTeiss
noalternative,”derivedfromaspeechbyMargaretTatcher,establishingtheneo-
liberalparadigmandcourseasinevitability.MoreorlesssinceTatcher)speriodin
ofce,thisparadigmhasbeenconsistentlymaintained,andisincreasinglycurrent
globalsocio-politicaldiscourse.“Tereisnoalternative”hasenteredtheglobal
dictionary,givingitsnametothe“TINAsyndrome,”thatis,totherhetoricthat
dominatessocialdebate,arhetoricthatbuildsthebeliefthatknowledgeoffree
marketprinciplesmakesallfuturescenariosknowninadvanceandthat,therefore,
visionsofanotherworlddonotmakeanysense.6
Anequallysignificantdimensionofthesemanipulationswithtimeisanideol-
ogythatreferstoconservativevalues.TimothySnyderdescribesthismanipulation
asanti-historyandbelievesthatneo-liberalism,likeneo-conservatism,generates
numerousexamplesofananti-historicalviewofthepast.7Hebelievesrightlythat
efectssimilartothosethatbringclosurewithinasociallysharedsenseofinevita-
bility,shapethinkingintermsofeternity,thinkingcharacteristicofneo-conser-
vativemovements,inparticularofnationalpopulists.(Tistakesplacewhenthe
pastisperceivedasafoggyspacefullofmonumentsofnationalmartyrdom,each
ofwhichisequallydistantfromthepresent,andallareeasytomanipulate.8)
Insuchconditions,wehavelostfaithinallutopiasandwehaveforciblyfelt
theinstabilityofthepresent;wearefulloffearofanunpredictablefutureandare
unabletoprefigureit.BaumanwritesaboutthisinhisRetrotopia,whendescrib-
ingtheparadigmaticprincipleofthemodernworld.Tisruleisclosetoutopian
thinking,butitreversesitsorder.Retrotopiagrowsoutofutopia,but-unlikeit-
itfocusesonthepast.TisisaccomplishedwithinwhatBaumanunderstandsas
the“territoriallysovereigntopos,”whichmeanswithintheconditionsofusingthe
culturalcommonplacesofculture(intheGreeksenseoftopos).Culture,indeed,
isalwayscreatedlocally(ingeographicallydefinedplaces,“among”people),but
ithastheabilitytospread,andeverylocalknowledgeisinvolvedinglobalflows.
Tus,retrotopiahasbecomeaprincipleofreality,inthatutopia,asaplacethatis
knownandbringsustogether-avisionofthefuture-haslostanymeaning.
Hence,todaywecanspeakofaretrotopicalstructureofmemory,ofmemory
that,aswehavealreadymentioned,isaplacepermeatedbythepresentthatfabri-
catestherelevanceofwhatispast.Tisproductioncanvalidateandbringtoview
variedsocialpractices,includingdestructiveonesthatdismantle-forexample-
thedemocraticfoundationsofsociallife.Terearemanyexamplesinthisarea.
Youcanevensaythateverydaylife-inmanypartsoftheworldwithnational
6
See,interalia:J.Żakowski,Anty-TINA.Rozmowyolepszymświecie,myśleniuiżyciu,War-
szawa:Sic!2005,p.8.
7
T.Snyder,Otyranii.Dwadzieścialekcjizdwudziestegowieku,tłum.B.Pietrzyk,Kraków:
ZnakHoryzont2017,p.119-128.
8
Ibidem,p.123-124.
