Towards A New Kind Of Legitimacy? Jan Gross’s Neighbors And Poland’s Reckoning With The Past
Towards A New Kind Of Legitimacy? Jan Gross’s Neighbors And Poland’s Reckoning With The Past
Author(s): Jenny WüstenbergSubject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Central European University (CEU) - Center for Policy Studies
Keywords: Poland; communism; past;
Summary/Abstract: This article discusses the controversy surrounding Jan Gross’ book Neighbors – The Destruction of the Jewish Community of Jedwabne, Poland. Rather than review arguments and protagonists of the debate in Poland, I concentrate here on its meaning as a source of state legitimacy. I argue that the Jedwabne issue has been employed by ‘Westernizing’ Polish elites to bolster Poland’s credentials as a modern democratic state and that it is an important part of a new kind of mnemonic legitimacy.
Journal: CEU Political Science Journal
- Issue Year: 2007
- Issue No: 02
- Page Range: 152-174
- Page Count: 23
- Language: English