Civil Society Against the State: Poland 1980-81

Abstract

Abstract The categories of civil society are not extraneous to the Polish events. The participants themselves and their Western collaborators have characterized their struggle in terms of society against the state. "The state has not been able to successfully dissolve civil society," writes Smolar in the preface to a volume of writings by Polish dissidents. "The texts … are manifestations of the existence and vitality of civil society in a country ruled by a communist party." As Kuron put it, "Society organizes itself as a democratic movement and becomes active outside the limits of the institutions of the totalitarian state." KOR (an acronym for Workers' Defense Committee) is renamed KSS-KOR (Social Self-Defense Committee-KOR) to indicate its support of all initiatives for both interest representation and the defense of civil rights.

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