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Select topic: Transformation

Introduction. The Horizons Of a New Freedom

Jarosław Kuisz · 3 September 2014
Maria is a 70 year-old retired engineer. Following the Transformation of 1989, she worked for over a decade outside of Poland, then returned home to retire. Maria and her family enjoy a decent standard of…

Liberalism, the Right and the Left – points of contention

Liberal Culture · 3 September 2014
EVALUATING POLAND’S POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION Both the Left and the Right wings of Poland’s political divide see the post-1989 Transformation in a singularly negative light. For the Right, the Round Table…

Broken windmills – interpretations of success required by Poland today

Jarosław Kuisz · 3 June 2014
The time has come to change the story we tell about contemporary Poland. The 25th anniversary of the first free elections in its modern history appears to be a celebration which has Polish citizens smiling, but…

A whole new sense of frustration

Marta Bucholc · 3 June 2014
My hypothesis is as follows: in order to sum up the past 25 years of Polish history, we must take into account the sense of frustration which comes with being offered endless possibilities. The map of Polish…

Children of the Transformation

Piotr Kieżun · 25 March 2014
On the subject of Paulina Wilk’s book “Special characters”   They can remember Poland under communism, yet they have been raised and educated in a new reality. Not yet old, but no longer young. Who…

Scapegoats

Łukasz Pawłowski · 23 March 2014
They aren’t just responsible for hail, earthquakes and whooping-cough –this is the impression one might have reading ongoing attacks unleashed a full 25 years after the Transformation against liberals and…

Memories of the transformation or transformed memories?

Błażej Popławski · 1 August 2014
Interest in the concept of collective memory tends to grow during extraordinary moments, in times of crisis or change. More “round” dates allow us to reinterpret the past. At times, this is merely a…

Squabbles and saintliness. The Left and the Right and their problems with the Round Table

Tomasz Sawczuk · 11 February 2014
Disputes over the Round Table are also disputes over our present-day democracy. Tomasz Sawczuk presents his commentary on the debate which took place in the Presidential Palace as part of the celebrations of…

Energy, ecology and freedom. On the unfinished liberal revolution in the energy industry

Kacper Szulecki · 3 September 2014
Edward Gierek, former First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party, had energetic dreams about power. Back in the days of General Jaruzelski, work had begun on building an atomic power station in Żarnowiec….

The Round Table – the meaning of the game

Karolina Wigura · 11 February 2014
Many people believe the events which took place in Poland 25 years ago should today be reviewed with sobriety, leaving aside all unnecessary emotions or nostalgic tendencies. The problem with this apprach is…

The Feast of Imperfections

Łukasz Bertram · 3 June 2014
In the spring and summer of 1989, the people of Poland had no energy and no desire to celebrate their revolution. Does it make sense, however, to now regret this and to try to “make up” for lost time? How…

The Third Polish Republic – our humble modernity

Michał Jędrzejek · 10 June 2014
The debate about the recently ended 25-year period of Polish history is becoming enlivened by the voices of critics of modernity. This simple story of historical triumph is now contrasted with apocalyptic…

“What a beautiful catastrophe” … ?

Jan Tokarski · 10 June 2014
Listening to media commentary covering the 25th anniversary of the first partially free elections in Poland, I couldn’t shake off the impression that older generations – the initiators and participants of…

LIBERAL CULTURE DEBATE. The lost symbol of ’89

Brzozowski, Bielawski, Borcuch, Pinior · 20 May 2015
Why has Poland’s turning point of 1989 not earned its own visual symbol yet? How are the times of the transformation perceived by both younger and older generations? Grzegorz Brzozowski in conversation with…