Project description DEENESFRITPL A closer look at Poland’s slide to illiberalism Poland emerged from the shadow of communist dictatorship to join the European Union and NATO. The country was frequently lauded as one of the most successful examples of democratic transitions. However, democracy in Poland has recently taken an illiberal turn. The EU-funded COMLIB project aims to take a closer look at the dynamics of reform communism before 1989 as well as its impact on the transition afterwards. The “social-democratisation” of communism and the “neoliberalisation” of social democracy will be considered. The project’s working hypothesis is that the Polish Left’s gradual abandonment of social democratic values during the post-communist transition contributed to their demise in the mid-2000s and facilitated the illiberal turn. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Communists into Liberals: The Transformation and Demise of the Left as Precursor to the Illiberal Turn in Poland‘Communists into Liberals’ (COMLIB) seeks a historically grounded explanation to the recent ‘illiberal turn’ in Poland by pursuing a new line of inquiry into the country’s transition from state socialism to a European liberal democracy. Rather than focusing on relatively short-term political and economic structural contingencies, the project aims to bring both historical process and agency of key protagonists to the fore as a factor precipitating the developments of the past years. In doing so, three historical processes spanning from 1968 to the mid-2000s are placed in correlation to each other: the demise of communism and transition to liberal democracy in Poland, exchanges of ideas that transcended the Cold War divide of Europe, and the political trajectory of the Polish and European Left. Within this framework, the project examines the agency of a particular group of politicians and activists from the Polish Left and investigates how their ideas and policies set the stage for the recent so-called ‘illiberal turn’ fueled by populism of the Right. In doing so, it aims to re-examine the dynamics of reform communism prior to 1989 as well as its impact on the transition afterwards highlighting two issues: the ‘social-democratisation’ of communism and the ‘neoliberalisation’ of social democracy. COMLIB’s working hypothesis is that the Polish Left’s gradual abandonment of social democratic values during the post-communist transition contributed to their demise in the mid-2000s and facilitated the ‘illiberal turn’. The project’s methodological framework adopts a collective biography approach based on oral history, archival research and qualitative analysis of written sources. Fields of science humanitiesother humanitieslibrary sciencessocial sciencespolitical sciencesgovernment systemsdemocracyhumanitieshistory and archaeologyhistorycontemporary history Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2018 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2018 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE Net EU contribution € 175 673,28 Address VIA DEI ROCCETTINI 9 50014 Fiesole Italy See on map Region Centro (IT) Toscana Firenze Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 175 673,28
