Politicising the Communist Past

Aleks Szczerbiak is Professor of Politics and Contemporary European Studies at the University of Sussex, UK.

The book meticulously unwinds the twists and turns of lustration debates and laws, taking in major controversies such as the accusations, now seemingly proved, that Lech Wałęsa was, for a period in the early seventies as a relatively obscure working-class activist, an active informer for Poland’s communist secret police, the SB.Sean Hanley,University College London, https://drseansdiary.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/polands-secrets-and-lies/Clear, detailed and extremely knowledgeable.Professor Andrzej Zybertowicz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, and adviser to the President of the Republic of PolandA highly valuable source of theory-orientated analysis [that] offers detailed insights into the logic of the Polish truth revelation discourse.Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski, Wroclaw University, in Polish Political Science ReviewPoliticising the Communist Past provides an authoritative and balanced analysis of the post-Communist political scene. Aleks Szczerbiak’s study of the convoluted politics of transitional justice and truth revelation in Poland will particularly interest students of Central and Eastern Europe, but also provides food for thought to readers interested in the dilemmas of enacting transitional justice in other countries across the globe…This is a rigorously researched, clearly argued and solidly structured monograph.Anne White, University College London, in Slavonic and East European ReviewThis book examines the political debates over truth revelation in post-communist Poland originating from the "flawed democratic transition" controlled by the political elite, showing how history can be manipulated to serve contemporary politics. The analysis is clearly structured and easy to follow, and conclusions are fact-based and mostly convincing.Woyu Liu, Nanjing University, in Europe-Asia Studies

• 1. Introduction: What are truth revelation procedures and why do they matter? 2. Truth revelation in post-communist Poland: A case of late (and recurring) lustration and file access 3. What drives late truth-revelation?: Electoral-strategic interests or ideological-programmatic concerns (or both) 4. Truth revelation and post-communist democratisation: The revival of lustration and file access debates in the mid-2000s 5. The ‘Bolek’ affair: Using truth-revelation procedures for political legitimation and de-legitimation 6. Communist-forgiving or seeking historical justice?: Public attitudes towards truth revelation and dealing with the communist past 7. Conclusions: The unfinished business of a contested transition? Appendix 1 – List of interviewees