DEKOLONIALNY ZWROT W SOCJOLOGII HISTORYCZNEJ BLOKU WSCHODNIEGO
DECOLONIAL TURN IN THE HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY OF THE EASTERN BLOC

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to consider the usefulness of Latin American decolonial theory for thestudy of Eastern Europe and to characterise the decolonial turn in the study of the region’s past asa tool for overcoming power relations in post-socialist societies. We can see the growing interest ofhistorians in locating Eastern European societies in global transformation processes in the period1945–1989. In parallel to professional historical research, the socialist era is increasingly the objectof analysis by social critics as a source of innovative thought and social practice, also important forthe present day. This kind of decolonial perspective searches for the subversive potential of socialistmodernities for both past and contemporary emancipatory processes, revealing their entanglementin global social struggles. This approach remains critical both of orthodox decolonialism andthe existing concepts of postcolonialism and postsocialism. This perspective would increase thevisibility of former Eastern Bloc societies in the global reflection of social sciences, showing theirlocation within past and contemporary processes of global capitalism. The debate surroundingthe reception of decolonial theory in Eastern Europe also refers to Poland as a specific area ofhistorical reflection. In this context, reflection on socialist modernities is a way of overcoming themarginalisation of these issues in the Polish field of history and at the same time an attempt to joinglobal historical debates dominated by Western researchers.

• Details
• Contents