In this fortnight's episode, Ivan Vejvoda welcomes Karolina Wigura to the podcast for an in-depth look at Poland’s political trajectory. With parliamentary elections looming on October 15th, Karolina analyzes the state of Poland’s democracy amidst the rise of populism. She explains how the ruling Law and Justice party manipulates the media and campaign finance to maintain power and explains how - while Poland has backed Ukraine - democratic backsliding has created tensions with the country's Western allies. Karolina discusses the complex outlook for the opposition and the importance of the Polish-German relationship and provides insights from her research on historical trauma and emotions in politics. As Poland stands at a crossroads between reclaiming liberal democracy or descending into autocracy, this is a necessary examination of the ideas and conflicts that are shaping Poland’s future.

Europe's Futures Fellow Karolina Wigura is an acclaimed Polish intellectual shaping debates on democracy, historical memory, and emotions in politics. As a historian of ideas, sociologist, and journalist, she brings an interdisciplinary perspective to examining the forces threatening liberal democracy. Wigura is a board member of the Kultura Liberalna Foundation in Warsaw and a senior fellow at the Center for Liberal Modernity in Berlin. She lectures at the Warsaw University Institute of Sociology, focusing on 20th century political philosophy, transitional justice and collective trauma. Published extensively in outlets like The Guardian, The New York Times, and Gazeta Wyborcza, Wigura's award-winning book "The Guilt of Nations" explores forgiveness as political strategy, while her latest book "The Invention of the Modern Heart" examines emotions in philosophy. She is a leading voice on safeguarding democracy amidst the rise of populism in Poland and Europe. 

find Karolina on X @KarolinaWigura
Read the New York Times piece discussed in the episode here.
Details on Karolina's new book with Jaroslaw Kuisz - Posttraumatische Souveränität - are available from the publisher here

Ivan Vejvoda  is Head of the Europe's Futures program at IWM implemented in partnership with ERSTE Foundation. The program is dedicated to the cultivation of knowledge and the generation of ideas addressing pivotal challenges confronting Europe and the European Union: nexus of borders and migration, deterioration in rule of law and democracy and European Union’s enlargement prospects.

The Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) is an institute of advanced studies in the humanities and social sciences. Founded as a place of encounter in 1982 by a young Polish philosopher, Krzysztof Michalski, and two German colleagues in neutral Austria, its initial mission was to create a meeting place for dissenting thinkers of Eastern Europe and prominent scholars from the West.

Since then it has promoted intellectual exchange across disciplines, between academia and society, and among regions that now embrace the Global South and North. The IWM is an independent and non-partisan institution, and proudly so. All of our fellows, visiting and permanent, pursue their own research in an environment designed to enrich their work and to render it more accessible within and beyond academia.

you can find IWM's website at:

https://www.iwm.at/

Ivan Vejvoda  is Head of the Europe's Futures program at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM Vienna) implemented in partnership with ERSTE Foundation. The program is dedicated to the cultivation of knowledge and the generation of ideas addressing pivotal challenges confronting Europe and the European Union: nexus of borders and migration, deterioration in rule of law and democracy and European Union’s enlargement prospects.

The Institute for Human Sciences (IWM Vienna) is an institute of advanced studies in the humanities and social sciences. Founded as a place of encounter in 1982 by a young Polish philosopher, Krzysztof Michalski, and two German colleagues in neutral Austria, its initial mission was to create a meeting place for dissenting thinkers of Eastern Europe and prominent scholars from the West.

Since then it has promoted intellectual exchange across disciplines, between academia and society, and among regions that now embrace the Global South and North. The IWM is an independent and non-partisan institution, and proudly so. All of our fellows, visiting and permanent, pursue their own research in an environment designed to enrich their work and to render it more accessible within and beyond academia.

For further information about the Institute:

https://www.iwm.at/