Poland's Memory Wars: Essays on Illiberalism

This volume of essays and interviews by Polish, British, and American academics and journalists provides an overview of current Polish politics for both informed and non-specialist readers. The essays consider why and how PiS, Law and Justice, the party of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, returned to power, and the why and how of its policies while in power. They help to make sense of how "history" plays a key role in Polish public life and politics. The descriptions of PiS in Western media tend to rework old stereotypes about Eastern Europe that had lain dormant for some time. The book addresses the underlying question whether PiS was simply successful in understanding its electorate, and just helped Poland to revert to its normal state. This new Normal seems quite similar to the old one: insular, conservative, xenophobic, and statist. The book looks at the current struggle between one `Poland' and another; between a Western-looking Poland and an inward-looking Poland, the former more interested in opening to the world, competing in open markets, and working within the EU, and the latter more concerned with holding onto tradition. The question of illiberalism has gone from an `Eastern' problem (Russia, Turkey, Hungary, etc.) to a global one (Brexit and the U.S. elections). This makes the very specific analysis of Poland's illiberalism applicable on a broader scale.

Table of Contents:
Contents Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction: Jo Harper, Illiberal, Aliberal, Anti-liberal? PART I Essays on PiS Jo Harper, Never Mind the Boleks! Andrzej Rychard, What's Finished, What's Beginning? David Ost, Authoritarian Drive in Poland Brian Porter-Szucs, The Triumph of National Communism Artur Lipinski & Agnieszka Stepinska, Polish Right-wing Populism Nicholas Richardson, Crisis, What Crisis? Jan Mus, Foreign Relations in the Age of Kaczynski PART II PiS's Politics of History Joanna Srednicka, The New Romantics Jan Darasz, The History Men Ewa Stanczyk, Poland's Culture of Commemoration Dariusz Czaja, Poland's Theater of Death PART III PiS's Politics of Normality Urszula Chowaniec, The Quest for the "Normal" Family Tomasz Basiuk, Straight Talking Remi Adekoya, An Identity Reset Conclusion: Jo Harper Part IV Interviews Jan Gross, History As We May Wish It To Be Neal Ascherson, 966 and All That Mikolaj Kunicki, The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same Mateusz Kijowski, History Repeats Itself Pawel Ukielski, Understand the War, Understand Poland Neal Pease, Defenders of the Faith Appendices Appendix I: Timeline Appendix II: Glossary The Cast Concepts Politics Romantic and Post-Romantic Poets and Dramatists List of Contributors Index

About the Author :
Jo harper is News Editor, Deutsche Welle. He worked over the past decade at Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, contributing for the New Statesman (London), The Guardian and other publications.

Review :

"If you want to know what went wrong with the poster-boy of the postcommunist democratic transformation, read this book. Read it especially if you want to understand what needs to be done for the country to get back on track again and to prevent others from getting similarly derailed. As illiberal forces progress across the continent, Poland's singularity has a very European flair to it."

"This comprehensive collection of essays by many of the leading scholars in the field gives a convincing and multifaceted account of the nature of the present populist government in Poland. It is essential reading for all those interested in the new trends in European political life."

"Poland is still a mystery: after an unprecedentedly successful transformation from pseudo-communism, the country spent a quarter of a century trying to join "Old Europe." So, why now is it turning away from her? Jo Harper has collected an excellent and diverse group of authors to explain this. He himself displays an impressive knowledge of the country, which again--mostly for the wrong reasons--is headline news in the international media."

"Jo Harper has managed to assemble an impressive range of experts, providing a unique perspective on current events in Poland. This is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the election of the Law and Justice Party in Poland in 2015 and the opposition movement that rose against it."