Dissident Legacies of Samizdat Social Media Activism: Unlicensed Print Culture in Poland 1976-1990 (Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe)

This book tells the story of the dissident imaginary of samizdat activists, the political culture they created, and the pivotal role that culture had in sustaining the resilience of the oppositional movement in Poland between 1976 and 1990. This unlicensed print culture has been seen as one of the most emblematic social worlds of dissent. Since the Cold War, the audacity of harnessing obsolete print technology known as samizdat to break the modern monopoly of information of the party-state has fascinated many, yet this book looks beyond the Cold War frame to reappraise its historical novelty and significance. What made that culture resilient and rewarding, this book argues, was the correspondence between certain set of ideas and media practices: namely, the form of samizdat social media, which both embodied and projected the prefigurative philosophy of political action, asserting that small forms of collective agency can have a transformative effect on public life here and now, and are uniquely capable of achieving a democratic new beginning. This prefigurative vision of the transition from communism had a fundamental impact on the broader oppositional movement. Yet, while both the rise of Solidarity and the breakthrough of 1989 seemed to do justice to that vision, both pivotal moments found samizdat social media activists making history that was not to their liking. Back in the day, their estrangement was overshadowed by the main axis of contention between the society and the state. Foregrounding the internal controversies they protagonized, this book adds nuance to our understanding of the broader legacy of dissent and its relevance for the networked protests of today. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction: Dissident imaginaries, samizdat social media and the Hirschman question The Hirschman question Unlicensed publishing as a culture Dissident imaginary of samizdat makers Prefigurative politics Samizdat social media The argument Notes Part I: Introducing samizdat social media Chapter 1: Imaginaries and practices of samizdat social media Historicizing social media Samizdat networks and its actors Participatory dimension A DIY culture Social media imaginaries Notes Chapter 2: The fate of the free word depends on ourselves : The origins of dissident social media activism Anti-politics or prefigurative politics? Samizdat activism as prefigurative politics A collective organizer in search of a media model Publishing networks as a community The free word on trial Notes Part II: Solidarity media matters Chapter 3: Democracy as oversight: The trade union and its press Counter-democracy, oversight, publicity Dissident media activists and solidarity press Radiating democracy Debating the role of the trade union press Notes Chapter 4: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Trade union press between social media and surrogate mass media Publishing infrastructure: concentrated or distributed? Top-down organization of bottom-up opinion Mounting tensions The party strikes back Censorship and the Program Council Days Without Press Before the National Congress Notes Chapter 5: Indivisible are the principles which orient our actions: The trade union press in the proceedings of Solidarity’s First National Congress Trade union press in Solidarity’s Charter Inside the program committees Solidarity’s media in the Action Program Trade union press at the crossroads Toward martial law Notes Part III: The underground society Chapter 6: Dissident social media during and after The Martial Law Prefigurative politics goes underground Democracy and conspiracy Free initiative Samizdat as an identity Gatekeepers and barricades Notes Chapter 7: The political economy of unlicensed publishing 1 The business of publishing A second economy? Publishing crisis Movement or market? Fund for independent publications A networked economy Movement, enterprise, network Notes Part IV: Lost in transition Chapter 8: Crisis and compromise The fatigue of the war of position The reconquest of publicity Legitimization exchange Inside the Civic Committee Notes Chapter 9: The exceptional moment of dissident politics Transitional arrangements New media order Shelter from the storm On the ground we seize today we shall build tomorrow Notes Chapter 10: The margin of liberty A final amnesty Pre-emptive Thermidorianism A foul Notes Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index This book tells the story of the dissident imaginary of samizdat activists, the political culture they created, and the pivotal role it had in the sustaining the resilience of the oppositional movement in Poland between 1976 and 1990. It adds to our understanding of the legacy of dissent and its relevance for the networked protests of today.