Gdańscy liberałowie - środowisko polityczne, ruch polityczny czy obóz? Próba definicji
Gdańsk Liberals – a Political Environment, a Political Movement or a Camp? An Attempt at Finding a Definition

Summary/Abstract: In his paper “Gdańsk Liberals – a Political Environment, a Political Movement or a Camp? An Attempt at Finding a Definition”, the author seeks to answer the question of how to define the non-institutional form of activities taken by Gdańsk liberals, who played an important role in Polish politics after 1989. It is an attempt to describe the activities of people such as Donald Tusk, Janusz Lewandowski and Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, who contributed to the political history of the Third Polish Republic.The author presents three different forms of the non-institutionalized group, forms that are distinguished in political science. These are: a political environment, a social and political movement and a political camp. Then, after studying their biographies, the formation of the group of Gdańsk liberals around the magazine “Przegląd Polityczny” [Political Review], as well as ideas and value systems articulated by its members, the author concludes that the liberals satisfy the definition of a political environment. We learn that they were in fact a group who was, of course, interested in politics, but ideologically – at least in the first years of their activity – not yet fully defined. Their assessment of the then sociopolitical situation was rather similar, and members of the group were connected by informal ties. There was no clear structure, although of course some of them, such as Donald Tusk who inspired numerous activities, aspired to become the leader. The citizens of Gdańsk fit with the specifics of the then discourse of the anti-communist opposition, but were distinguished by the values they stressed. They would often distance themselves from the opposition groups in Warsaw and Gdańsk, such as the Movement of Young Poland. An important stimulus for the politicization of the Gdańsk liberals’ environment was anti-communist emotions (the memory of December 1970), while the publication of the first issue of “Przegląd Polityczny” was a significant, if not a turning, point of their activities.The author also outlines the further fate of the Gdańsk environment in the Third Polish Republic, their ideological disputes and attitude towards conservatism, and he also raises issues that may be an interesting starting point for further research on liberalism in Poland after 1989.

• Details
• Contents