Informatorium of Slawomir Józefowicz: page 5

Dr SŁAWOMIR JÓZEFOWICZ

Institute of Political Science - University of Warsaw
> http://www.uw.edu.pl/

POLISH SOCIETY and POLITICS: Main Issues and Controversies
- facultative course in English for foreign students at INP UW

E-MAIL CONTACT:
Slawomir.Jozefowicz@uw.edu.pl
or s.jozefowicz@wp.pl

Office hours: WEDNESDAYs, 13.15 - 14.30, room 209, second floor, Nowy Świat Street 67.

Announcements:

If you want to talk about your grades and/or essays, you can reach me on Wednesday,
February 10th between 1.15 and 2.30 pm.

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For the last 20 years Poland - the sixth European Union nation in terms of population and the largest among 12 new EU members - has been undergoing considerable changes. Back in 1988 it was still a socialist country, one of the satellites of the Soviet Union (even if the most rebellious), a member of the Warsaw Pact. Today Poland, a full-fledged parliamentary democracy and a growing market economy, is an active member of both NATO and the European Union, having fulfilled its most important goals of the post-communist era.

The course will try to explain how these historic changes have been possible, examining the unique and unprecedented processes of transition and transformation, their mechanisms, positive and negative consequences.

Focusing on recent and contemporary developments the course intends to foster foreign students’ ability to understand the significance of the mentioned changes in the wider context of Poland’s past, accordingly it will begin with an outline of history of Polish statehood, discussing most important periods in Poland’s history.

The main part of the course will introduce students into the major socio-political, economic and cultural problems of contemporary Poland, including the most recent developments and controversies.

Even though the course will focus specifically on Poland, it will foster better understanding of the recent evolution of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe in general.

Topics:

I. Outline of history of Polish statehood. The roots of Polish national mentality and political consciousness.

1. Shaping of Polish nation and state over centuries. The year of 966 and the symbolic beginning of Christianisation of Poland as a separate entity. Poland as a regional empire (in the union with Lithuania) under Jagiellonian dynasty in 15th and 16th centuries. Culture of the noblemen. Golden age of Polish tolerance. Peculiarities of political culture in 17th and 18th century Poland: elected monarchs, „democracy” of noblemen, the practice of liberum veto and its consequences. Importance of the constitution of May 3, 1791. Gradual partition of Poland in late 18th century by neighboring powers. Reasons of the loss of independence.

2. Polish struggle for national identity and independence. The insurgent ethos (uprisings in 1794, 1830-31, 1863-64). The role of resistance and insurrections in Polish national consciousness.

3. Regaining of independence in 1918. Pilsudski and Dmowski - two main figures in the history of Polish politics in the mid-war period. International situation of Poland before the Second World War.

4. Poland during the Second World War. Underground state structures and the insurgent ethos. Warsaw uprising. Poland and the problem of Holocaust. The case of Jedwabne. The consequences of the Yalta conference for Poland. Poland in the post-war order.


II. The origins and forms of the communist system in Poland.

1. Characteristics of Polish Peoples’ Republic (PRL). Different „stages of socialism”: Stalinist era, Gomulka’s rule, the decade of Gierek. Decisive role of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR) in the political system and social life. System of „nomenclatura” and censorship. Everyday life in Poland under communist regime. Peculiarities of the Polish variant of communism.

2. Political crises in the communist period: 1956, 1968, 1970, 1976 - their origins, consequences and significance. Outline of the history of anti-Communist opposition before 1980. Profiles of two main currents in dissident movement: KOR (Committee for Defending of Workers) and KPN (Confederation for Independent Poland).

3. The old system’s remnants in the present Poland: infrastructure, mentality, political culture. How far is contemporary Polish Republic from the Polish Peoples’ Republic?

III. Solidarity revolution 1980-1981 and the period of martial law.

1. Strikes in 1980. Solidarity as a trade union and social movement. Profile of the Solidarity leader Lech Walesa. Characteristic features of the period of „self-limiting revolution” 1980-1981.

2. Communist counter-revolution: martial law of December 13, 1981, and its consequences. Banning of Solidarity. Insurgent ethos revisited: growth of underground culture. Profile of general Wojciech Jaruzelski.


IV. Transition and transformation – towards parliamentary democracy and free market economy.

1. The origins and the content of the Round Table talks between communist government and Solidarity-led opposition in 1989. The impact of the situation in the USSR (Gorbatchev’s plan of perestroika and glasnost). Historic agreement on the transfer of power. Relegalization of Solidarity.

2. Partially free elections in June 1989 and the triumph of opposition. „Contract Parliament”.

3. Political and social dimension of economic reforms. Getting out of the command economy: Balcerowicz’s Plan of „the shock treatment”. Rapid growth of the private sector. Mercantilization of social consciousness.

4. Outline of developments on the Polish political scene between 1989 and 2005. Presidencies of Jaruzelski, Walesa, Kwasniewski and Kaczyński. Consecutive parliamentary elections, changing governments and power shifts on the Polish political scene.


V. The main problems of contemporary Polish politics and society.

1. Political system in Poland. Division of powers. The role and interdependence of Sejm (parliament, state legislature), President (the head of state) and the Council of Ministers (government).

2. Party system in Poland. The evolution of the system since 1989: from pluralization and fragmentation to consolidation. Main features of the present electoral system. Political parties and alliances in Poland.

3. Recent reforms and socio-economic challenges for Poland: modernization of country’s infrastructure, reconstruction of the healthcare and education systems, environmental questions and problems of energy supplies (energy security), the coming adoption of Euro.

4. Importance of the Catholic Church in Poland. The concept of “Polak-katolik”. Characteristic features of Polish Catholicism. The role of the Pope John Paul II. Relations between Catholicism and other religions. Controversies over political influence of the Catholic Church. The phenomenon of Radio Maryja.

5. Spectrum of major ideas and ideologies in Poland. Is the concept of left and right still valid in Polish circumstances? „Europeans” and “modernizers” vs. „traditionalists”, “liberals” vs. “statists“: disputing national identity, moral values and the costs of social modernization.

6. Forms and repercussions of the ongoing modernization (Westernization/Americanization) of the Polish culture and the way of life. Impact of consumerism and popular culture.

7. Polish foreign policy after 1989. Consequences of entering NATO (1999) and EU (2004). Polish eastern policy – relations with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus. Poland as a member of the UE – opportunities and challenges.


Obligatory reading for the first part of the course:
Norman Davies, Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland\'s Present, various editions.

The following selected chapters and articles - available in digital format - will be e-mailed to participants by the lecturer:

 Oscar Halecki, Why was Poland Partitioned? Slavic Review, vol. 22, No.3, 1963, p.p. 432-441.
 M. B. Biskupski, The History of Poland, p.p. 82-94.
 Antoni Sulek, The Polish United Worker\'s Party - From Mobilisation to Non-Representation, Soviet Studies, vol.42, No. 3, 1990, pp. 499-511.
 Grzegorz Ekiert, The State against Society, Chapter 8 (The Crisis of the Post-Stalinist Regime), pp. 222- 236, (The Self-Limiting Revolution), pp. 236-256, Chapter 9 (Poland under Martial Law and After), p.p. 256-282.
 J. C. Sharman, Repression and Resistance in Communist Europe, pp. 96-105.
 Adam A. Hetnal, The Polish Catholic Church in Pre- and Post-1989 Poland: An Evaluation, East European Quarterly, Vol. 32 (1998),
 Brian Porter, The Catholic Nation: Religion, Identity and the Narratives of Polish History, The Slavic and East European Journal, vol. 45, No. 2, 2001, p.p. 289-299.
 Elizabeth Pond, The Rebirth of Europe, Brookings Institution, 2000, p.p. 105-118, 126-135 (Present at the Rebirth: Poland and Central Europe ).
 Joseph Rothschild, Nancy M. Wingfield, Return to Diversity. A Political History of East Central Europe since World War II, p.p. 211- 216 (The Return to Europe).
 Hilary Appel, Anti-Communist Justice and Founding the Post-Communist Order: Lustration and Restitution in Central Europe, East European Politics and Societies 2005, 19/ 379.
 Szczerbiak, Dealing with the Communist Past…, Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 54, No. 4 (2002), p.p. 553-572.
 George Sanford, Overcoming the Burden of History in Polish Foreign Policy, in: Rick Fawn (ed.) Ideology and National Identity in Post-Communist Foreign Policies, Frank Cass, 2003, p.p. 178-203.
 Miroslava Marody, Polish identity in the process of Europeanisation, in: Willfried Spohn, Anna Triandafyllidou, Europeanisation, National Identities, and Migration: Changes in Boundary Constructions between Western and Eastern Europe, Routledge, 2003, p.p. 144-152.
 Donald E. Pienkos, Consensus and Division over Poland\'s Entry into the European Union, East European Quarterly, Vol. 37, 2003.
 Voytech Zubek, The Rise and Fall of Rule by Poland\'s Best and Brightest, Soviet Studies, vol.44, No. 4 (1992), p.p. 579-608.
 Frances Millard, Polish Politics and Society, Routledge, 1999, p.p. 124-142 (The Political Role of the Catholic Church).
 Krystyna Iglicka, Mechanisms of Migration from Poland before and during the Transition Period, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 26 (2000).
 Kiran Bhat, At a Loss: The Exodus from Eastern Europe, Harvard International Review, vol. 28 (2007).
 Alexi Mostrous and Christine Seib, Tide turns as Poles end great migration, The Times On-Line, February 16, 2008.


The course will be taught through a combination of lectures, classes and group discussions. Your attendance in this course is essential and will be taken on a daily basis, at the beginning of each class. No more than 3 classes may be missed without affecting your grade. Leaving class without permission also counts as an absence.
If you are absent more than three times, some additional reading will be required from you.
More than six absences may result in automatic failure.
Good attendance will be rewarded. One or two absences combined with good participation can result in substantial rising of your final grade.
It is important that you are able to do all or least most of the reading required for each class; this will enable you to participate fully in discussions. You are encouraged to use other relevant materials as well. Participation in class discussions will be taken into account when deciding about your final grade.
Participants will be asked to e-subscribe to The Warsaw Voice Daily Update and to follow current developments in Poland, as we are going to discuss them in class.

Apart from lectures, you can contact me during my contact hours (Wednesdays, 13.15 – 14.30, Nowy Swiat 67, room 209) or send e-mail (s.jozefowicz@uw.edu.pl) to discuss any problems which may arise regarding your reading, presentations, essay writing, etc.

Assessment
Students are required to:
 prepare a presentation on a relevant issue (circa 15 minutes)
 or to write a short home essay (6-8 pages = 11000-15000 characters)
(in both cases the topic has to be consulted with the lecturer)
 take a mid-term test
 take a final test

If you are absent from a mid-term test, you will have to make it up on individual basis, taking a more advanced test.

Deadline for proposing your home essay topic (if you are not going to have a class presentation):
December 9th. Paper due: on the last day of classes – January 20th.

You are encouraged to propose your own topic, but it must be relevant to content of the course. You must also use at least some of the course reading materials and/or sources suggested by the lecturer.

Your essay must include a thesis, clearly identified in your introduction, and then supported by coherent argumentation. You must include footnotes and bibliography – essays that do not meet the formal requirements, will not be accepted. If you have questions regarding essay writing for this course, you can discuss them with me during my office hours or by appointment.

Please note that all work submitted in this course must be your own. Plagiarism will not be accepted, representing the work of others as your own will result in serious consequences.

Students able to fulfill all the requirements will receive 8 ECTS credits and/or certificates according to a specific program they are enrolled in.

The course includes an optional visit to one of the most important political institutions in Warsaw: either Sejm (the parliament) or Presidential Chancellery.


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Useful links for foreign visitors and students:

Study in Poland/Warsaw
http://www.studyinwarsaw.pl/

General info about Poland in 7 languages
> http://www.poland.gov.pl/

English language weekly with news and comments
> http://www.warsawvoice.pl/

English language information about the University of Warsaw
> http://www.uw.edu.pl/en/

Life in Warsaw
> http://www.warsaw-life.com/

Tourist information
> http://english.poland.com/


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