Dr. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz-the holder of IWP’s Kościuszko Chair of Polish Studies-has just published a new book in his native Poland. Entitled Trasnformacja czy niepodległość? [Transformation or Independence?] (Gdańsk: Patria Media, 2014), the work assesses the past quarter-century of post-communism in Poland (1989 – 2014).
In his latest publication, Dr. Chodakiewicz asks several key questions, e.g.: did the “transformation” of communism necessarily lead to democracy? Why did the post-communist elites prefer the term “transformation” to “independence”? Why did was the establishment of post-1989 Poland unwilling to reach out and harness the talents and abilities of the Polish émigrés then living in the West? What is the nature of the competing politics of historical memory and identity in post-communist Poland?
Trasnformacja czy niepodległość? is essential to understanding Poland in the early twenty-first century.
Dr. Chodakiewicz’s new book can be purchased online.