This book claims that 1989 was not the rupture-point in Polish politics which studies in transitology and democratization have taken it to be. The book's primary objective is to examine the causes for Poland's lengthy transition to Western models of political and societal organization using two tracks of analysis. Part One develops a methodological framework that permits an analysis of crisis and conflict in pre- and post-1989 Polish politics as a permanent threshold situation, in which political elites have recurrently found themselves between a dissolution of order and political utopias. Part Two analyzes the socio-genesis of three images that have become central to identity politics in Poland's transition. It argues that the autonomy of Polish political elites in shaping the political order is flawed by dependencies on past images.

This book studies transition in an interdisciplinary spirit. It addresses issues of identity politics by elaborating a conceptual framework which contributes to theory-building in East European transitions and also addresses students interested in theoretical questions of political and social change.

'In this theoretically sophisticated and intellectually exciting book, Harald Wydra challenges the widespread notion that 1989 constituted a fundamental break or watershed in Polish history. Having rejected simple dyadic constructs, such as communism and post-communism, Wydra demonstrates that the Round Table discussions constituted just another example of antagonists coming together in a way that has happened many times in Polish history, for instance in 1980-1. This approach is consistent with his broader notion of permanent transition theories. While many will disagree with at least aspects of Wydra's thesis, it is an argument that must be addressed seriously by any scholar of Poland, post-communism, or transition theories.' - Leslie Holmes, Professor, Contemporary European Research Centre

'The problem of contingency and continuity, innovation and perpetuation, in postcommunist Eastern Europe is at the centre of any analysis of the so-called transition. Wydra has provided us with an original and brilliant analysis of the issue, based on an examination of the Polish case but with a far wider resonance. This subtle and rich analysis of the various layers of reality and subjectivity in societies in transition provides an analytical framework that allows postcommunist studies to make an important contribution to comparative politics and political sociology.' - Arpad Szakolczai

Preface
The Continuity of Second Reality
PART I
The Continuity of Permanent Transition
The Continuity of Historical Antagonisms
The Continuity of Backwardness
PART II
The Continuity of the Image of the West
The Continuity of the Image of Solidarity
The Continuity of the Image of 1989
The Continuity of Expecting Discontinuities
Bibliography
Index

HARALD WYDRA teaches Political Sciences at the University of Regensburg. He studied History and Political Science at the Universities of Regensburg and Salamanca. He holds a Ph.D in Social and Political Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence.