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Język Polski
Political science at the Polish University Abroad in London (1960–1989)
Abstract
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of the article is to present the history of the Institute of Political Science, which constituted an important field of study at the Polish University Abroad, established and maintained in London by the Polish political émigré community after the Second World War.
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: Following the imposition of a communist system in Poland after the Second World War, Polish scholarship, including political science, was forced into the framework of a totalitarian ideology and constrained by institutionalized falsehood and preventive censorship. The Polish political émigré community active in the West sought to continue the achievements of the Second Polish Republic and, drawing on its legal regulations, established institutions, organizations, and universities. During the Cold War, the most important of these was the Polish University Abroad in London. The academic community gathered around this university undertook the effort to organize political science studies that sought to correct the distortions imposed on universities in Poland. The reconstruction of the history of émigré political science presented here is based on the analysis of primary sources and scholarly literature.
THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The article first outlines the organization of Polish political science studies in London, the principal centre of the Polish political émigré community, prior to their establishment at the Polish University Abroad. It then discusses the activities of the Commission for Law and Political Science and its lecturers, and finally addresses the neglect of its scholarly achievements after Poland regained independence in 1989.
RESEARCH RESULTS: Under conditions of exile, the functioning of academic institutions, like that of other organizations, was limited primarily by financial constraints. Despite these difficulties, the group of scholars associated with political science studies not only conducted teaching activities for students but also provided Polish media and organizations with up-to-date analyses of political developments both in Poland and internationally.
CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The article describes how Polish émigré scholars sought, under conditions of academic freedom, to continue rigorous political analysis while opposing the subjugation of Polish scholarship in a country undergoing Sovietization.
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