What has really happened in Poland since the election of 2005? After such spectacular events as the practice of lustration and the questioning of solidarity with the European Union, one has to ask: what is the nature of this newly emerging society? As with many of the recent developments in former communist countries that seem to be mysterious and irrational, the situation and ensuing problems are complex and the answers neither trivial nor easy. This book, by the distinguished Polish philosopher, addresses these complexities through the role of the communist past in post-communist Poland. It describes the events that led to the collapse of the Solidarity program and the growing influence of the nationalistic and religious parties in the government. The author investigates the nature of social and political temporality and develops a theoretical framework that allows him to apply his conclusions not only to Poland but also to other formerly communist countries.
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What has really happened in Poland since the election of 2005? After such spectacular events as the practice of lustration and the questioning of solidarity with the European Union, one has to ask: what is the nature of this newly emerging society? As with many of the recent developments in former communist countries that seem to be mysterious...
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Preface
Chapter 1. Political Time or the Past as a Political Issue
Memory of Politics, Politics of Memory: The Politics of the Past in Post-totalitarian Poland
Mechanisms of Exclusion and Inclusion
Liberating the Future from the Past: Liberating the Past from the Future
The Politics of Political Biography: Self-realization, Loyalty, and Political Change
Civil Society as an Ethical Challenge
Life as Simulacrum: Stanislaw Lem’s Science Fiction
Chapter 2. Social Time or the Ontology of Expectations
Ontology of Expectations
Genealogy of Expectations
The Myth of the Unity of the Nation
Marxism as a Way of Life: The Failure of an Impossible Project
The Mythologies of Solidarity
Chapter 3. Perspectives on Time: From Philosophy to Anthropology
The Problem of Time in Pragmatism and Phenomenology
Time, Dialogue, and Society
Time and Social Practices
Politics of Memory, Politics of Time
Epilogue: What has Happened to Us? The Rise of Post-post-communism
The Emergence of Post-post-communism or Populist Post-communism
What is Post-post-communism?
Democracy against Democracy or Who has Hijacked the Common Background?
Possible Scenarios and Two Conservatisms
New Tribalism, Post-post-communism, and the Politics of Time
Epilogue – Supplement
Appendix: Post-communism and Pop Music: Annihilation or Restoration of Memory in Disco-polo
Two Views on Disco-polo: Intellectuals’ “Horror Vacui” and the Nation’s Hope “All Poles” or What is Disco-polo?
The Glorious Past and the Slavic Soul
In Opposition to the West
Disco-polo and the Dilemmas of Polish Past and Present
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781845455101
Publisert
2008-08-01
Utgiver
Vendor
Berghahn Books
Vekt
454 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Aldersnivå
UP, 05
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
196
Forfatter
Biographical note
Leszek Koczanowicz is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Cultural Studies Department at University of Lower Silesia (DSW) in Wroclaw. His previous affiliations include Wroclaw University (1977–1997), Opole University (1997–2002), SUNY/Buffalo (1998–1999 and 2000–2001), and Columbia University (2004–2005) where he was Distinguished Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs. He is an author and editor of six books and numerous articles in Polish and English.