Project description
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.
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 (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities other humanities library sciences
- social sciences political sciences government systems democracy
- humanities history and archaeology history contemporary history
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
50014 Fiesole
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.