Defeat of Solidarity: Anger and Politics in Postcommunist Europe [Hardcover]

David Ost (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2005

How did the fall of communism and the subsequent transition to capitalism in Eastern Europe affect the people who experienced it? And how did their anger affect the quality of the democratic systems that have emerged? Poland offers a particularly provocative case, for it was here where workers most famously seemed to have won, thanks to the role of the Solidarity trade union. And yet, within a few short years, they had clearly lost. An oppressive communist regime gave way to a capitalist society that embraced economic and political inequality, leaving many workers frustrated and angry. Their leaders first ignored them, then began to fear them, and finally tried to marginalize them. In turn, workers rejected their liberal leaders, opening the way for right-wing nationalists to take control of Solidarity.

Ost tells a fascinating story about the evolution of postcommunist society in Eastern Europe. Informed by years of fieldwork in Polish factory towns, scores of interviews with workers, labor activists, and politicians, and an exhaustive reading of primary sources, his new book gives voice to those who have not been heard. But even more, Ost proposes a novel theory about the role of anger in politics to show why such voices matter, and how they profoundly affect political outcomes. Drawing on Poland's experiences, Ost describes lessons relevant to democratization throughout Eastern Europe and to democratic theory in general.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ost's book is personal, the result of repeated visits to Polish factories and mines, real knowledge of Polish mental habits, and familiarity with the abundant Polish sociological literature. It is also the work of a man who once saw Solidarity as a possible inspiration for the Western Left, and who has now come to see it rather as a cautionary tale of globalization. Indeed, the argument seems relevant in an American context, where the conservative voting of patriotic workers is a cause of distress on the Left, and perhaps dangerous to democracy."-Timothy Snyder, Times Literary Supplement, 23 and 30 December, 2005

"Ost goes against the grain, insisting that class is still a useful, indeed vital, sociopolitical category and that the working class, although usually among the losers in the transition from socialism to capitalism, remains a necessary impetus, not an obstacle, to democracy."-Foreign Affairs, March/April 2006

"David Ost draws upon his thorough research to make many important points. The Defeat of Solidarity will be of interest not only to those who study Poland (and other former Communist countries) but also to those who study social movements and the political role of blue-collar workers."-Mark Kramer, Harvard University

"The relationship between labor and democracy is very important but often insufficiently examined and understood, as David Ost shows. In The Defeat of Solidarity, which is based on his detailed knowledge of the Polish case, he also argues that class should be brought back to the forefront of political analysis."-Jan Kubik, Rutgers University

"This theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich new book focuses on workers, liberal intellectuals, and the prospects of post-communist democracy. David Ost long ago established himself as a truly original thinker on labor politics in Eastern Europe. His argument that the mobilization of anger along class lines-as opposed to ethnic or religious lines-is the best way to secure liberal democracy will provoke intense discussion in the field for years to come."-Bela Greskovits, Central European University

"The Defeat of Solidarity is a vigorous plea for bringing labor back into the study of post-communist politics. Well documented and based exclusively on the 'special' case of Poland, this book by David Ost nevertheless raises crucial issues affecting all of Eastern Central Europe. The stark contrast he draws between the politics of class interest and alien identity-as alternative means for-congealing anger' in the course of democratization may not convince everyone, but it does make an original and provocative contribution to the literature."-Philippe C. Schmitter, European University Institute

From the Inside Flap

"This theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich new book focuses on workers, liberal intellectuals, and the prospects of post-communist democracy. David Ost long ago established himself as a truly original thinker on labor politics in Eastern Europe. His argument that the mobilization of anger along class lines—as opposed to ethnic or religious lines—is the best way to secure liberal democracy will provoke intense discussion in the field for years to come."-Bela Greskovits, Central European University

"The Defeat of Solidarity is a vigorous plea for bringing labor back into the study of post-communist politics. Well documented and based exclusively on the 'special' case of Poland, this book by David Ost nevertheless raises crucial issues affecting all of Eastern Central Europe. The stark contrast he draws between the politics of class interest and alien identity as alternative means for congealing anger' in the course of democratization may not convince everyone, but it does make an original and provocative contribution to the literature."—Philippe C. Schmitter, European University Institute

"David Ost draws upon his thorough research to make many important points. The Defeat of Solidarity will be of interest not only to those who study Poland (and other former Communist countries) but also to those who study social movements and the political role of blue-collar workers."—Mark Kramer, Harvard University

"The relationship between labor and democracy is very important but often insufficiently examined and understood, as David Ost shows. In The Defeat of Solidarity, which is based on his detailed knowledge of the Polish case, he also argues that class should be brought back to the forefront of political analysis."—Jan Kubik, Rutgers University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (April 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801443180
• ISBN-13: 978-0801443183
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,793,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best post-Communist studies, November 13, 2007

By 

R. L. Huff "An old reader" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Defeat of Solidarity: Anger and Politics in Postcommunist Europe (Paperback)

I strongly recommend this work as one of the finest studies of "the missing link" in democracy-building in post-Communist eastern Europe. The author's thesis is that "little people don't matter" - democracy is "too serious a business" to be left to the herd - echoes the political elitism which has always dominated this region, reinforced by contemporary "money first" free market Western pseudo-democracy.

Which brings me to two relatively mild critiques of Ost's presentation. Precisely because we're dealing with central Europe and aristocratic notions that persisted all through the "Peoples' Republic," Polish intellectuals still carried a residue of class snobbery, no matter how temporarily infatuated with Solidarity in 1980. They were thus primed by class culture to eventually turn away from the workers. Only alluded to in Ost's work, but of equal importance, was the wining and dining of these people on their Western junkets, filling their heads with schemes of personal enrichment, leading them to believe that the privileges pushed on them on these Western visits would continue to be theirs back home if they followed said advisors. A pure case of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," without the redeeming epiphany. The experience of Solidarity's leadership in the halls of the West is quite similar to that of the African National Congress of South Africa, as given in William Gumede's "Thabo Mbeki and the Soul of the ANC." In both cases the "vanguard leadership" of a radical, grass-roots organization was separated from its base in the name of furthering Western interests, to the lasting harm of the people they purported to lead.

Another aspect of Ost's work is his excellent description of how and why the Polish working class turned from the liberals to embrace a nationalist-"family values" platform that has nothing to do with their economic plight. But Ost tends to glide over the fact that the nationalist right could so easily take up this slack precisely because of its deep roots in Poland. Poland is like Ireland, in its wedding of underdog nationalism to Catholicism, and as in Ireland the Church has taken on itself the task of keeping a poor population content with its economic lot while turning anger elsewhere. There is nothing post-Communist in this, as witness Jan Gross' "Fear," describing how violent anti-Semitism wracked Poland across all class lines in the mid-1940s. Because of the deep-seated nature of Catholic nationalism it was poised to take over the social base of Poland, much more so than in Czechoslovakia or Hungary, unless liberals and social democrats could offer a competing ideal. The tragedy in Poland, as Ost so ably describes, was that they could have - but didn't want to.