Kuroń and the Global Educational Revolution

Marta Wojciechowska, LSE and UCL SSEES

Jacek Kuroń (1934-2004) was a Polish dissident, a member of the Round Table Agreements and one of the creators of the Polish socio-political order after the changes of 1989. Initially a Marxist, he turned against this system and towards supporting a liberal economy and parliamentary democracy. At the end of his life, however, Kuroń found himself in opposition to the economic and political changes which he had helped to introduce. He was concerned about the social consequences of liberal market reforms and lack of public engagement in Polish democracy. As a result, in his late writings, Kuroń searched for ways to correct the pitfalls of modern capitalism. He believed that a global civil society and mass education have this ability. In this blog post I would like to present Kuroń’s political thought as a relevant voice in a modern debate on capitalism and its alternatives.

Kuroń, like other intellectuals of Poland’s transformation, considers freedom and human agency as important values. Freedom is here understood simply as the unhindered ability to act in a creative way. The limit of freedom, so-defined, is the well-being and freedom of other people. The emphasis on the well-being of an individual reveals the continuing influence of socialist ideals on Kuroń. For Kuroń, agency and ability to act are essential to human life. When a human being is limited in her agency by, for instance, a state, then her ability to realise her own desires is restricted, which in turn leads to alienation and frustration.

As a result, Kuroń assesses modern democracy and liberal markets from the perspective of human freedom and individual well-being. A pessimist towards modern liberal economy and state, Kuroń assumes that a socio-political system which does not prioritise individual agency and freedom is fundamentally wrong. Modern democracy and capitalism have led to situation in which vast social groups reached a satisfactory level of living. The main focus of their life is cycle of earning, spending and consumption. For Kuroń, this constitutes an ideologically empty life. Furthermore, in the capitalist system, individuals can become successful by acting on their own. Kuroń claims that this weakens the need to act with other people which, in turn, leads to frustration and emptiness in life. As a result, capitalism breaks down the need of living and acting with other people and leads to the alienation of human beings.

As a solution to drawbacks of modern capitalism, Kuroń offers a vision of a global civil society. In his opinion, only a genuine social movement on a global scale can end alienation and express individuals’ dignity and freedom. The common aim of a global civil society should be a global educational revolution. Kuroń believes that only mass education can stop alienation and increase individuals’ employment chances in a global, capitalised market. Yet, more importantly, education can be a process which is never-ending; a constant process of becoming a better and wiser person. Thanks to education, people can fully interact with others, create and act and, consequently, understand the political and market changes that happen around them. For Kuroń, education is a necessary condition for human agency and a necessary condition for being free. Kuroń envisions the idea of a global educational revolution as being realised through an international network of educational social organisations. These organisations should aim to activate local communities.

In times of austerity and fear, Kuroń’s ideas offer a solution which can overcome negative consequences of modern capitalism. At the same time, Kuroń envisioned a special role for intellectuals and academics in initiating and supporting global educational revolution. By recalling Kuroń ideas, I hope to make a first step for this revolution to happen.