Tomasz ZARYCKI, University of Warsaw, Poland
In my paper, I would like to draw attention to the characteristic tendency of changing imaginaries of European space in Poland and some other communist countries. The starting point for my observations will be the communist period, in particular the 60s and 70s, when the dependency theory was being actively developed in the region, often in close cooperation with some Western scholars. In the 1980s Polish academics slowly began to abandon thinking in its categories and moved towards a liberal vision of the European space. According to this vision, European integration is a process providing equal opportunities for economic development to all countries that express a political will to join the European Union. Possible regional inequalities in this view are mainly explained by problems of "cultural backwardness". At the beginning of the 21st century, this idealist vision is limited to the waning liberal camp, and various visions referring to traditional geopolitics are gaining influence. In Russia, this tendency appeared even earlier and its best-known representative is Alexander Dugin. In Poland, the most famous and influential geopolitician in recent years is Jacek Bartosiak. Geopolitical ideas are of course most often referred to by right-wing forces, which seek justification for their identity projects and attempts at gaining relative dependence on Western countries. The return to classical dependency theory does not occur for many reasons that will be discussed in the paper. An important aspect of the development of geopolitical discourses, in stark contrast to the earlier development of dependency theory, is that they are largely developed outside of academia. Their authors operate more often in expert institutions and, in particular, do not aspire to the status of scholars recognized in Western countries. This tendency also indicates the changing role of the field of science in Poland and other post-communist countries.
Mots clés : geopolitics|dependency theory|conservatism|ideologies of space
A103354TZ