Anita Prazmowska: Breaking with Poland's past
[Anita Prazmowska is professor in international
history at the London School of Economics.]
All historic events seem to need a definition in terms of where they start and end. The collapse of communism in Poland was played out in full view of the world's media. The establishment of the Solidarity movement could well be treated as the starting point of this process. The alternative date could be that of the conclusion of the round table talks or even the first genuinely free elections. For Poland, 1989 was a time of change.
I initiated a debate on this subject at this year's Hay festival. Timothy Garton Ash, well known to Guardian readers, and Slawomir Sierakowski, a young editor of a challenging leftwing publication in Poland, were asked to tell the audience when they thought the history of communist Poland had come to an end and the transformation in accordance with the liberal democratic model and free market principles began. Both speakers grappled with the problem created by the power of symbols, which tend to trap us in a timewarp and prevent us moving on to understanding the complexities of present day politics in Poland. The belief that the Polish pope destroyed the evil communist regime is a cliche beloved by the Conservatives as much as it is by the left, which was profoundly critical of the communists' lack of respect for human rights. It was my aim to lead the speakers away from such stereotypes.
To an audience only too well aware of the way politics distort principles, as has been the case in British politics, any thoughts on Poland will be interesting. The present-day Polish political landscape looks unimpressive; parties defined by personalities rather than political programmes, an embarrassing president who seem to pride himself in not wanting to understand international politics, controversial intervention in the European parliament, all suggesting political immaturity and lack of a way forward. For Poland the last 20 years have not been easy. The process of party formation – dealing with the post-communist realities and finding a way of communicating with a constituency that demanded that solutions should be very different from those that the fallen communist regimes had followed – created problems and, by implications, new solutions.
Garton Ash, a witness of the great defining moment in the birth of Solidarity, has suggested that Poles have been seeking and should continue to seek a Polish neo-liberal way forward, not neccessarily based on what happens in other developed European states. Sierakowski, who was too young to participate in the events that shaped Poland's present political institutions, presents a new road: that of Poland reclaiming the right to consider the full spectrum of political ideas, including leftwing ideas, unburdened by its communist one, which he calls the Third Way. His view is that Poles should get over their anxieties about the left and should once more look at social democracy as a way forward...
Read entire article at Guardian (UK)
history at the London School of Economics.]
All historic events seem to need a definition in terms of where they start and end. The collapse of communism in Poland was played out in full view of the world's media. The establishment of the Solidarity movement could well be treated as the starting point of this process. The alternative date could be that of the conclusion of the round table talks or even the first genuinely free elections. For Poland, 1989 was a time of change.
I initiated a debate on this subject at this year's Hay festival. Timothy Garton Ash, well known to Guardian readers, and Slawomir Sierakowski, a young editor of a challenging leftwing publication in Poland, were asked to tell the audience when they thought the history of communist Poland had come to an end and the transformation in accordance with the liberal democratic model and free market principles began. Both speakers grappled with the problem created by the power of symbols, which tend to trap us in a timewarp and prevent us moving on to understanding the complexities of present day politics in Poland. The belief that the Polish pope destroyed the evil communist regime is a cliche beloved by the Conservatives as much as it is by the left, which was profoundly critical of the communists' lack of respect for human rights. It was my aim to lead the speakers away from such stereotypes.
To an audience only too well aware of the way politics distort principles, as has been the case in British politics, any thoughts on Poland will be interesting. The present-day Polish political landscape looks unimpressive; parties defined by personalities rather than political programmes, an embarrassing president who seem to pride himself in not wanting to understand international politics, controversial intervention in the European parliament, all suggesting political immaturity and lack of a way forward. For Poland the last 20 years have not been easy. The process of party formation – dealing with the post-communist realities and finding a way of communicating with a constituency that demanded that solutions should be very different from those that the fallen communist regimes had followed – created problems and, by implications, new solutions.
Garton Ash, a witness of the great defining moment in the birth of Solidarity, has suggested that Poles have been seeking and should continue to seek a Polish neo-liberal way forward, not neccessarily based on what happens in other developed European states. Sierakowski, who was too young to participate in the events that shaped Poland's present political institutions, presents a new road: that of Poland reclaiming the right to consider the full spectrum of political ideas, including leftwing ideas, unburdened by its communist one, which he calls the Third Way. His view is that Poles should get over their anxieties about the left and should once more look at social democracy as a way forward...