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C. I.2.b. Solidarity Movement in Poland 1980-89

The sit-in strike at the Gdansk shipyard in August 1980 launched Solidarity: as a mass movement and alternative trade union, which soon had branches in almost all sectors of society. As a predominantly worker movement, demonstration of nonviolent power, and a challenge to the Soviet bloc, Solidarity stimulated a large literature from different ideological perspectives at the time and has been the focus of subsequent scholarship. The movement was the culmination of rising dissent among students and intellectuals, major worker strikes in 1970 and 1976, and the creation of KOR (the Workers Defence Committee) which bridged the gap between workers and intellectuals. A few titles covering earlier dissent as well accounts and assessments of Solidarity are listed below.

Ascherson, Neal, The Polish August: The Self-Limiting Revolution, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1981, pp. 320

Account up to mid-1981 by British journalist familiar with Eastern Europe, with text of Gdansk and Szeczecin Agreements between strikers and government and postscript on December 1981.
Barker, Colin, Festival of the Oppressed: Solidarity, Reform, and Revolution in Poland, 1980-81, London, Bookmarks, 1986, pp. 192

and also his essay ‘Fear, Laughter, and Collective Power: The Making of Solidarity at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, August 1980’, pp. 175-194, Goodwin; Jasper; Polletta, Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements (A. 6. Nonviolent Action and Social Movements) .
Bernhard, Michael H., The Origins of Democratization in Poland: Workers, Intellectuals and Opposition Politics, 1976-1980, New York, Columbia University Press, 1994, pp. 298

Brumberg, Abraham, Poland, Genesis of a Revolution, New York, Vintage Books, 1983, pp. 336

Garton Ash, Timothy, The Polish Revolution: Solidarity 1980-82, London, Jonathan Cape, 1983, pp. 386

Highly regarded first hand analysis by scholar of Central Europe and commentator on other civil resistance struggles.
Laba, Roman, The Roots of Solidarity: A Political Sociology of Poland’s Working Class Democratization, Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 1992, pp. 264

Between arriving in Poland in 1980 and being expelled in 1982, the author engaged in firsthand research and gathered relevant documents to question the emphasis on the role of intellectuals, and develop his thesis on the central role of working class activism and their talent for democratic organization.
Long, Kristi S., We All Fought for Freedom: Women in Poland’s Solidarity Movement, Boulder CO, Westview Press, 1996, pp. 208

Explores women’s consciousness of the period through interviews, many with local Gdansk activists, notes women’s marginalisation in union structures and discusses implications for post-Communist period.
Osa, Maryjane, Solidarity and Contention: Networks of Polish Opposition, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2003, pp. 296

Places participation in Solidarity in context of engagement in previous Polish ‘protest cycles’.
Penn, Shana, Solidarity’s Secret: The Women Who Defeated Communism In Poland, Ann Arbor MI, University of Michigan Press, 2005, pp. 372

Piotrowski, Grzegorz, Grassroots Groups and Civil Society Actors in Pro-democratic Transitions in Poland, Florence, European University Institute, 2012, pp. 34

Potel, Jean-Yves, The Summer Before the Frost: Solidarity in Poland, London, Pluto Press, 1982, pp. 229

Eye-witness account of early stages, combined with broader analysis. Includes notes on key individuals and organizations and a chronology.
Smolnar, Aleksander, Towards “Self-limiting Revolution”: Poland 1970-1989, In Roberts; Garton Ash, Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements), Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 127-143

Touraine, Alain ; Dubet, François ; Wieviorka, Michel ; Strzelecki, Jan, Solidarity: The Analysis of a Social Movement; Poland 1980-1981, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pp. 203

Leading theorist of social movements explores research into opinions of ordinary members of Solidarity, and examines strategic decisions.
Walesa, Lech, A Way of Hope, New York and London, Henry Holt and Pan Books, 0, pp. 325

Memoir by central (but increasingly controversial) figure in Solidarity.
Zielonka, Jan, Strengths and weaknesses of nonviolent action: The Polish case, Orbis, Vol. 30, issue Spring, 1986, pp. 91-110

Includes interesting material on Solidarity’s underground period after December 1981.

See also:

Adam Michnik, Letters from Prison and Other Essays, (A. 1.a.iii. Social and Political Writings cited in Civil Resistance Literature)