PUNO zaprasza: XIV Konferencja Kwietniowa

The Politics of History and Memory in Poland in the 20th and 21st Century

– Between Continuity and Change.

The electoral defeat of the Law and Justice (PiS) party in Poland in October 2023 ended the dominance of this political formation, which hugely invested in the historical and cultural legitimization of its rule. The reframing of the national past in a way that legitimized PiS’s political project and privileged an ethnocentric and Catholic identity is a powerful example of the politicization of history and memory.

However, in its reliance on history, memory, and culture in the quest for the empowerment of new elites and the promotion of a particular form of national identity, Jarosław Kaczyński’s party joined the procession of political forces and actors that have dominated Poland since 1918 and which have made selective and instrumental use of the past.

In different periods, ideologically and politically driven projects have sought to provide an account of Polish contemporary history while simultaneously claiming that specific political movements embody national values and the true expression of Polishness.

What were the similarities and differences in the way historical policy was conducted in the Second Republic, the Polish People's Republic, and the Third Republic? This main question will be addressed during an international conference on the politics of history and memory in Poland organised on the 18 May 2024 by the European History unit of Polish University Abroad in London.

This online event aims to provide us with a better understanding of the problem of the contemporary politics of history and memory, presented in a broader historical perspective than existing analyses and studies.

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PROGRAMME

10:00 – 10:20: Opening of the conference (Prof. Włodzimierz Mier-Jędrzejowicz, Rector,
Polish University Abroad)

10:20 – 11:05: What do we mean by politics of memory? (Prof. David Clarke, Cardiff
University)

11:05 – 11:30: Q&A

COFFEE BREAK

PART I:

11:40 – 12:00: The politics of memory as a means of influencing society during the period of
Sanacja rule after 1926 (Dr hab. Paweł Duber, Polish University Abroad)

12:00 – 12:20: Between Continuity and Rapture: On the Politics of History of Polish Exiles
in the late 1980s (Dr Michał Przeperski, Institute of History of Polish Academy of Science)

12:20 – 12:40: Politics of History after 1945 (Dr hab. Maciej Górny, Institute of History of
Polish Academy of Science)

12: 40 – 13:10: Q&A

LUNCH BREAK: 13: 10 – 14:00

PART II:

14:00 – 14:20: Commemorating of History in the Polish Parliament’s Resolutions in Years
1989-2023: An Attempt at Analysis (Prof. Krzysztof Brzechczyn, Adam Mickiewicz
University / Institute of National Remembrance)

14:20 – 14:40: A Beech Tree for the Righteous. On the Interplay between Local and
Transnational Memory Politics (Dr. Zofia Wóycicka, University of Warsaw)

14:40 – 15:00: Poland Besieged. The Law and Justice Party and Its Politics of History (Prof.
Paweł Machcewicz, Institute of Political Studies of Polish Academy of Sciences)

15:00 – 15:30: Q&A

COFFEE BREAK

15:45 – 16:45: Panel Discussion: Dr. Ewa Ochman (University of Manchester), Prof. Piotr
Osęka (Institute of Political Studies of Polish Academy of Sciences), Prof. Paweł Machcewicz,
Prof. David Clarke. Moderator: Prof. Mikołaj Kunicki

16:45 – 17:15: Q&A

17:15: End of the conference