In search of faith: The metaphysical dialogue between Poland's opposition intellectuals in the 1970s

Abstract

Since the communist system collapsed in 1989, the parting of ways between former friends and allies in opposition has been a prominent feature throughout Eastern Europe. Under the impact of political and economic change, previous beliefs and values have been questioned, and the assumptions and premises underlying past resistance subjected to sceptical, often cynical, reappraisal. What is certain, however, is that the overthrow of the communist system in the 1980s presupposed a united opposition, and that this owed a great deal in turn to the common ground achieved by diverse opposition figures during the previous decade. In Poland, the Solidarity union could look to the consensus of objectives and principles forged by intellectual discussions since the early 1970s, which had born fruit in the emergence in 1976 of the 'Komitet Obrony Robotnik6w' (KOR) (Committee to Defend the Workers), communist-ruled Eastern Europe's first organised opposition group. Sure enough, this process of encounter and rapprochement affected only a small core of dissidents. But most boasted the potential at the time to exert an influence within their respective milieux, and have since enjoyed an importance far outweighing their actual numbers. Today, for the first time since democracy returned to Poland, questions are being asked about what happened to the shared ethos embodied in Solidarity, to the normative values and common principles which were once so tenaciously defended. In this process, it is worth looking again at what the discussions of the 1970s entailed, and at the role played by the rediscovery of absolute values and religious beliefs in the articulation of political priorities. By mid-decade the search for absolute values had become a dominant theme of opposition discussions as the collapse of Marxism's materialist premises, brought to a head by the traumatic anti-intellectual clampdown of 1968, continued to impel disillusioned enthusiasts to search for spiritual alternatives. This process had coincided with what sociologists identified as a wider 'desecularising current', as the psychological and cultural impact of industrialisation over the previous 20 years gradually slackened, producing signs of a more widespread religious revival. While 90 per cent of all Polish citizens were baptised Catholics, the proportion of students and young intellectuals describing themselves as Christians had fallen to 62 per cent. But three-