SSEES 100: A Sociologist Abroad - Understanding Poland Under Communism 

A Centenary M B Grabowski Memorial Lecture 2015 presented by Professor George Kolankiewicz

Over the last few years, there has emerged a growing publishing industry aimed at providing images and insights in what life was like in Poland under communism for those who were barely touched by it.

This does not conceal the discomfort expressed by Polish sociologists as to their own lack of foresight of the sudden collapse of that type of system, in part brought about by Solidarność (Solidarity) within which many of them were embedded.

The lecture will argue that from the point of view of someone who travelled in and out of Poland over the last 45 years, a sociological “outsider”, this reflexive guilt is misplaced and that the very survival of Polish sociology during these years provided an important resource for understanding People’s Poland with all its absurdities and achievements. Furthermore it was well placed to engage in the building of the new Poland when it eventually emerged contributing to the undoubted success story.

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George Kolankiewicz is an Emeritus Professor of Sociology and former Director of UCL SSEES.