Community Diversity and Organized Protest in Communist Poland

• In Event: Historical Roots of Democratic Support

Abstract

Does community diversity affect organized protest against a predatory regime? From a theoretical perspective, the effect of diversity is ambivalent. On the one hand, community diversity reduces the capacity for collective action, including the capacity to organize and coordinate protest. On the other hand, diversity is also associated with lower levels of informal cooperation and local public goods provision, exacerbating hardships and increasing the incentive to mobilize. What, then, is the net effect of diversity on protest? To address this question, we draw on evidence from communist Poland. We measure cultural diversity using post-WWII population transfers. We measure organized protest using granular, untapped data on Solidarność uprisings in 1980—1986. Preliminary results suggest that community diversity increased organized protest against communist regime. This runs counter to popular historical wisdom, suggesting novel implications for theories of postconflict resettlement and peace.

Author

• Krzysztof Krakowski, Collegio Carlo Alberto