CfP: A decade of exercises in historical logic. The influence, reception, and criticism of Prześniona rewolucja

 

The last decade in Polish humanities has been a special period. Research on 20th-century society, culture, and history has seen the emergence of new ways of thinking about post-war modernization, new approaches to the history of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, reinterpretations of the legacy of the People's Republic of Poland, as well as attempts to capture the history of class struggles within the so-called “zwrot ludowy” – and beyond. These scattered threads are linked by a common question about how to understand the transformations of Polish society after World War II and how to talk about their legacy in the present.

It is no coincidence that this intense intellectual moment coincided with the publication of Andrzej Leder's book Prześniona rewolucja. Ćwiczenie z logiki historycznej (Sleepwalking the Revolution: An Exercise in Historical Logic, 2014), which became one of the most important points of reference for reflections on Poland's post-war history. Leder, combining the tools of psychoanalysis with the analysis of historical processes, proposed a way of thinking about society that in the following years was developed, criticized, and reinterpreted in many fields of the humanities and social sciences.

The upcoming issue of “Culture and Society” aims to contribute to this broader debate on memory, social change, and narratives of modernity in 20th-century Poland. It was inspired by a conference held in December 2024 at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences to mark the tenth anniversary of the publication of Prześniona rewolucja – however, the aim of the issue is to invite a much broader discussion, going beyond the scope of a single book.

We encourage you to submit texts that address, among other things:

* reflections on methodological and theoretical approaches to studying Polish society after 1939,

* analyses of memory, trauma, modernization, and social transformation,

* critical readings of Prześniona rewolucja and its impact on contemporary humanities,

* proposals for new interpretations of social, political, and cultural processes in 20th-century Poland.

We invite researchers from various fields—history, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, cultural studies, literary studies—to participate in an interdisciplinary discussion on ways of understanding Polish modernity.

We invite authors to submit papers in both Polish and English. The guidelines for submission are available at: https://czasopisma.isppan.waw.pl/index.php/kis/about/submissions

The issue's guest editors are dr Barbara Barysz (IFiS PAN, barbara.barysz@ifispan.edu.pl) and dr Mikołaj Ratajczak (IFiS PAN, mikolaj.ratajczak@ifispan.edu.pl)

The issue is scheduled for publication in March 2027. The deadline for submissions is May 31, 2026. Submissions will be accepted exclusively via the journal's website: https://czasopisma.isppan.waw.pl/kis