A few years of populist rule fundamentally changes the politics of a country. The question is, does it change irrevocably? Not necessarily. In countries where populists have been successfully removed from power, as in Poland, there is theoretically a window of opportunity for a return to liberal democracy. In practice, however, this is extremely difficult, as the current government of Donald Tusk is discovering. The challenge is all the greater as the war in Ukraine and the crisis of democracy in Western countries affect the entire region.

Drawing on his book “The New Politics of Poland” (Suhrkamp, 2023), as well as the book “Posttraumatische Souveränität” (Suhrkamp, 2023), Dr Jarosław Kuisz will analyse the post-populist moment in Poland against the background of the country’s recent, but also medium and longer political history. With a comment by Dr Eli Gateva, the seminar will also examine similarities and differences with other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.