TOMASZ RAWSKI

2023, 28 April
2023, 25 March
2023, 27 February
  • I have just returned from a DisTerrMem research trip to Pakistan (3 weeks) and Afghanistan (one week). The stay was excellent and very fruitful. Many thanks to all the FCCU team who hosted us in Lahore in the best possible way – Muhammad Younis, Mudassir Farooqi, Umber bin Ibad, Rabia Malik! Also, my special thanks go to Jagoda Grondecka, who made sure we had a soft landing in Kabul. Jagoa, without your help, the Afghan research certainly wouldn’t have happened!
  • Meanwhile, my essay on Ewa Klekot’s book ‘The Trouble with Folk Art’ was published in Widok. Many thanks to Krzysztof Świrek for the invitation. Enjoy your reading!
2022, 20 December
“Problems of Post-Communism” just published my article on how, in the late 1990s, Polish official memory established anti-communism as the key symbolic foundation of the contemporary Poland. You can download the entire article here. Enjoy your reading! Recently at DisTerrMem we did a series of workshops on managing memories of disputed territories in Europe and Asia. I created and, together with Małgosia Łukianow, co-chaired a very interesting panel on the politics of memory and contemporary armed conflicts with Mudassir Farooqi, Arsen Hakobyan, Ivan Gololobov and Ilya Kononov as participants. You can find a description of this event here. A recording should appear soon.
2022, 25 October
“Kultura i Społeczeństwo” has just published an important issue on post-war peoples’ histories. In the issue, along very interesting articles by Magda Szcześniak, Agnieszka Mrozik, Agata Zborowska, Łukasz Bertram, Marta Gospodarczyk and other authors, you will also find my essay on Pavel Kolář’s Post-Stalinism (Warsaw, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar 2022), published in Polish this year. I titled this piece “The Pendulum of Utopia” because I argue that the main value of Kolář’s work lies in thinking of post-Stalinism as an era that tried to redesign communist utopia as a relatively open, possibly diverse and non-definitive project – one that would allow communists to simultaneously dissociate themselves from Stalinism and save the revolutionary horizon from collapse. Enjoy your reading!
2022, 19 September
  • I returned from Armenia at the beginning of September. The research trip was fruitful and greatly deepened my understanding of contemporary politics and culture in the countries of the South Caucasus. My special thanks for all the conversations, advice and guidance go to my Armenian friends, particularlt Harutyun Marutyan, Nelly Manucharyan, Arsen Hakobyan, Tigran Marutyan, Arpine Konstanyan and all the others. You are the best!
  • We had a great 18th National Sociological Congress in Warsaw last week. Firstly, congratulations to the whole organizing team, in which great work was done by my colleagues from the UniWarsaw. Secondly, at the Congress I presented a paper on ‘Memory and hegemony. Narratives of the socialist past in Poland and Germany”, so I am posting my presentation here. Enjoy!
2022, 10 August
The International Journal of Comparative Sociology has just published an article on the memory of socialism in Poland and the former GDR, specifically, the gap between official and biographical memories in these countries. We wrote it together with Anke Fiedler and Krzysiek Swirek. You can download the full article here. Enjoy!
2022, 4 August There’s been a lot going on in the DisTerrMem lately.
  • In late June, we held an internal project conference in Warsaw, which started the project anew after a break forced by COVID
  • Throughout July we we were in Armenia (Yerevan) with a strong research team: Joasia Wawrzyniak, Małgosia Głowacka-Grajper, Tomasz Rawski, Agnieszka Nowakowska, Zosia Rohozińska, Sara Herczyńska. We saw, we heard, we talked, we experienced. Zosia and I collected materials for a comparative article on the trajectories of Armenian and Polish (social)realism after 1956. Thanks to the whole team for a great stay!
  • Since the beginning of August, I’m staying in Armenia alone and have been collecting materials for an article on street art related to the Nagorno-Karabakh war. I am conducting interesting interviews with artists and am looking forward to the next article, which will hopefully be written sooner rather than later.
2022, 5 June
I just returned from the CEPSA conference in Slovenia (Bled), where on a panel moderated by Jerzy Wiatr and Anton Bebler, I talked about how Aleksandar Vučić’s political leadership – especially his multipolar foreign policy orientation – affects the structural dynamics of the Serbian economy and defense. Here you can find my presentation from that speech (with interesting data). My special thanks for the inspiring discussions during and around the conference go to Jerzy Wiatr (on the photo below), Małgosia Kaczorowska, Sebastian Kubas, Jacek Wojnicki, Agnieszka Bejma and Zoltan Gal!
2022, 28 May
The latest issue of “Stan Rzeczy” has just published my essay discussing the intellectual framework of new research trend in Polish social sciences: People’s history of Poland. I wrote this essay last summer and encourage you to read it! I also recently spoke on Radio Kielce about why Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina still don’t support sanctions against Russia. You can listen to my comment at the May 21 broadcast (from 32:40). Enjoy!
2022, 18 March
Most recent news from my activities!
  • I’ve become the Polish team leader in the H2020 grant: Disterrmem. I took over this function from Joasia Wawrzyniak, whom I thank for her trust. The project is just thawing out after a time of pandemic stagnation, and the first events are scheduled for in June. Thus, I encourage you to follow the DisTerrMem website!
  • In January and February, I was at the University of Bologna on a research stay within the NAWA project on relationality in social sciences (ISS UW, Tomasz Zarycki – Bologna Paolo Terenzi). Both faculties: Political and Social Sciences, and Philosophy are very inspiring places that encouraged me to think more about working out such a processual-relational understanding of politics which would put the notion of political action at its very centre and, in this way, help building a counterbalance for the Bourdieusian structural determinism. For the invigorating discussions on this and more, I am especially grateful to Gennaro Imbriano, Marco Puleri, Giulia Cimini and Sanja Kajinic.
  • My first article in Montenegrin language has just been published in the regional journal “Humanističke studije” (9/2021). This article discusses the main directions of post-war Bosniak nationalist politics and is a modified & expanded version of one of the chapters of my book. My special thanks here go to Nikola Zečević for the invitation to contribute.
  • For Radio Kielce, I recently commented on how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has politically polarised the Balkans and what does it mean for the region as a whole. You can listen to my commentary at the end of the March 12 broadcast.
2021, 23 November
In the latest issue of “Nationalities Affairs” you can find my latest article on Post-war Bosniak Memory Politics of the Srebrenica Mass Killings. Using the Bosniak example, the article shows that contemporary B&H nationalist elites have never lost their monopoly on producing legitimate interpretations of the wartime past primarily because they have learned to turn to their own advantage the shortcomings, limitations and contradictions of the state-building policy pursued by the International Community in Bosnia. The article may also lead to the conclusion that in Bosnia and Herzegovina nationalists of all three options – Bosniak, Serb and Croat – are equally dangerous, so that any attempt to build a division into “good” and “bad” nationalists must be politically motivated. Enjoy your reading!
2021, 21 September
2021, 5 July
Tomorrow I am taking part in the Memory Studies Association Fifth Annual Conference, as a representative of the Centre for Reseach on Social Memory, in two events:
  • as a speaker on the panel “B4: East Central Europe: Memory Conflicts and Entanglements” (11:00-13:00)
  • as a panelist in the roundtable “C5: Agonistic memory in the post-colonial context; mutual contentions and dialogue” (13:00-15:00)
I invite you all to participate!
2021, 27 February
I’ve recently commented for “Świat na wskroś” two issues:
2020, 14 December
Great news! My book “Bosniak nationalism” has just received the Slavic Foundation Award: Debut of the Year 2019. I would like to thank the Award Committee for this honour.
2020, 5 October
I have just returned from a two-week library search in Zagreb, where I was collecting knowledge and materials for a new article and a research grant. The stay was very refreshing. Many thanks go to all my friends and colleagues from the University of Zagreb: Leo, Lana, Tvrtko, Jelena, Edo and Stipica for the inspiring discussions and valuable advice!
2020, 7 September
An unexpected change of government in Montenegro – for the first time in 30 years. I commented on the parliamentary elections in Serbia for Świat na Wskroś. You can listen (stream from 5 September, from 26:15) here.
2020, 21 August
Here it is! An extremely important and absorbing “The New Realism in the Russian Literary Field after 1991” by Katarzyna Roman-Rawska! The book is about the latest Russian literature (after postmodernism) and its relations to politics. Inside you can find e.g. a criticism of liberal post-politics and praise for the protest, resistance and struggle for its place in the social space. The book is available on the publisher’s website in paper or e-book. Must have!
2020, 20 August
The latest issue of “Stan Rzeczy” is out! We prepared it together with Krzysztof Świrek. You can read it (free access) here. Our issue focuses on total intellectuals, i.e. such thinkers and scholars who go beyond standard ways of doing science, beyond bureaucratic logic, beyond narrow disciplinary divisions, beyond the role of experts “in something”. Enjoy!
2020, 19 August
The site returns to regular activity after a longer break caused by Covid-19 pandemic and server problems. Thanks, Puldzian, for new hosting! In recent months I’ve been active in the media. I put some comments below.
2020, 2 April
My short reflection on how the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is commemorated in today’s Armenia has just been published on DisTerrMem website. Enjoy!
2020, 20 March
My Polish translation of the book “Korzenie Antyautorytaryzmu (The Origins of Anti-Authoritarianism)” written by Nina Witoszek has just been published! This book is about revolution of dignity. The author analyzes the activity of the democratic opposition in Poland in the years 1976-1989 and argues that the revolution of dignity is often the result of hard work of small, courageous groups of “humanist outliers” on whom moral progress depends. Enjoy your reading!
2020, 29 February
Art and science go hand in hand. The artist-sociologist Piotr P. Płucienniczak created an art work inspired by the academic article published recently in Colloquia Humanistica 8, a journal issue co-edited by me.  The work “Examining the boundaries of contemporary art” became a part of the Warsaw exhibition “Salon Parametryczny+ / Parametric Salon+”. As we could see at Saturday’s vernissage – the artist did great! This work can be admired until March 21 in Galeria Salon Akademii Koneser.
2020, 10 February
I spent the last month in Yerevan (Armenia) on a research stay within the H2020 project: DisTerrMem. The host organization Educational and Cultural Bridges welcomed us wonderfully and provided excellent conditions for launching our research on competing memories of disputed territories in Armenia. We also received a lot of support from the people of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Armenian Academy of Sciences. During the stay we’ve met a lot of great people and eagerly shared our knowledge and research results with local organizations and interested audiences. Yerevan is a great place! Thank you for everything and see you again in June!
2020, 8 January
The new liberal president of Croatia owes his success in the elections primarily to the ineptitude of the Croatian right. I recently commented on the election of Zoran Milanovic as president:
2019, 14 December
The Balkans divided on Handke’s case. My comment for “Świat na wskroś” on the controversial award of the Nobel Prize to Peter Handke is available (from 39:04) here.
2019, 28 November
I had the pleasure of co-editing the latest, eighth issue of the international journal Colloquia Humanistica (CH8) which has just been published! The issue is about problematizing Hierarchies and Boundaries in Eastern Europe. Inside you can find not only the thematic introduction and many insightful articles, but also e.g. my review of the latest work by Siniša Malešević – Grounded Nationalisms (2019) Enjoy your reading!
2019, 26 October / 2 November
I commented for “Świat na wskroś” two issues:
2019 AUTUMN My latest book is available! You can find “Bosniak Nationalism. Nation-building Strategies After 1995” (so far in Polish) at the website of WN Scholar Publishing. In the book I argue that Eastern European nations emerge and exist in the course of a constant political struggle for the symbolic content that determines their nature. I discuss this process on the example of Bosniak nationalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina showing how it historically emerged and explaining its contemporary way(s) of functioning through the lens of official memory politics around the Srebrenica massacre, the Siege of Sarajevo and the Battles over Mostar. Short English description of the book is here. Enjoy!
2019, 15 October
Today I joined a strong Polish research team working on the international Horizon2020 grant: Disputed Territories and Memory. On the Polish side, the project is coordinated by the incomparable Joanna Wawrzyniak. The full description of our team is available on the DisTerrMem website.
2019, 15-21 September
I spent a very interesting week-long-fellowship at Charles University in Prague, at the invitation of the Chair of Russian and Eastern European Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences. My fellowship was part of the “Plurality of Memories: 4EU+” programme and was aimed at finding partners for joint research on memory politics in Eastern Europe. My special thanks for a great discussion go to Kateřina Králová as well as the organizers and participants of a very inspiring ENRS Conference. At the website of 4EU+ Alliance you can read my short comment regarding this stay.
2019, 10-14 September
I had the pleasure to participate in the 17th National Sociological Congress in Wrocław as a member of a strong delegation from the Institute of Sociology of the University of Warsaw. On the second day of the Congress, I delivered a paper on the decline of anti-fascism in Polish official memory, based on this article published in East European Politics and Societies. I would like to thank the organizers and participants for a very interesting event. My special thanks go to the speakers of the symposium on the 1960s as the peak of modernisation in Poland.
2019, 09 September
I commented for Al Jazeera Balkans the award of the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Prize to the President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. You can find the article here. 
2019, 18-30 August
I had the pleasure to participate in the great 48th Zagreb School of Slavic Studies in Dubrovnik, which has just ended. I’m coming back home with many new research and teaching inspirations. Thank you all for our days and evenings spent in Dubrovnik. My special thanks go to Tatjana Pišković for inviting me to the school; Lana Molvarec for an excellent literary-sociological seminar; Maša Kolanović for a perfect set of cultural studies lectures and activities. See you again! I shared my impressions with a journalist from the DULIST newspaper. You can read his article here.
2019, 4 August
I commented the issue of the supply of new military equipment by Moscow to Serbia for “Świat na Wskroś”. You can listen to the comment (from 37:22)
2019, 17-19 June
Together with colleagues from REPAST we organized a panel on the troubled past in European countries at the international CEESA-ISA 2019 conference in Belgrade. I delivered a paper on the reasons for the failure of the international memory politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina after 1995. Thanks for the great panel!
2019, 14-16 June
I delivered a paper at the international conference ASEEES Summer Convention 2019 in Zagreb on symbolic struggles within nationalist movements on the example of intra-Bosniak struggles for the memory of the siege of Sarajevo. The paper was a part of a panel on symbolic divisions in South-Eastern Europe, which we organized with colleagues from the Post-Yugoslav Area Research Center PROP
2019, 6 June
I took part in a panel discussion “From Empires to States. Multiple Modernities After the Ottoman Empire?”, organized by the Institute of Sociology and the French Culture Centre of the University of Warsaw.My thanks for an interesting conversation go to the co-panelist(s) as well as the audience!