The Ghosts of the 80s and Early 90s: Approaching Everyday Life under Transformation

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

Olga Drenda's concept of "duchologia" (hauntology) presents an alternative chronology of transformation processes as an "in-between period" that started several years before the end of the state-socialist system when certain consumer goods became accessible more easily: "a passport (and therefore foreign currency and imported goods), satellite TV, a single-family home, a used foreign car, a video tape." With a focus on Poland, Drenda marks the end of this period in 1994, with the passing of the "anti-piracy law" as well as the devaluation of the Polish zloty. Her approach re-shapes the periodization of transformation and shifts the focus away from political and macroeconomic cesurae to everyday life in its various dimensions.
At the same time her concept suggests to think about transformation not in terms of “before” and “after”, of socialism and post-socialism, of an abrupt and linear move from one state of affairs to another. Instead, it raises questions about whether and how “in-betweenness” itself was an experience people made in their everyday life during transformation; whether and how it materialized in cultural artefacts, social practices and discourses; and how it shaped perceptions of historical time in people’s attempts to make sense of the changes surrounding them. By applying the concept of "duchologia" to the analysis of selected case studies on transformation in Poland, the panel aims at opening up a conversation between cultural anthropologists, cultural scholars and historians to get hold of the ghosts of transformation and its multiple temporalities.

Sub Unit

• History: Central and Southeast Europe, Since 1918

Chair

• Luminita Gatejel, U of Regensburg (Germany)

Papers

• Ghosts, Specters and Afterimages: An Attempt to Describe Daily Life in a Liminal Period - Olga Teresa Drenda, Independent Scholar

• Sniffing out Scents and Sensibilities: An Olfactory Approach towards Transformation in Poland - Stephanie Weismann, U of Vienna (Austria)

• How to Deal with the Future after Communism?: Towards a Historical Sociology of Anticipation in Poland’s Economic Transformation - Lukas Becht, U of Vienna (Austria)

• Cars for the East: The Case of Szczecin, Poland - Matthias Kaltenbrunner, University of Alberta (Canada)

Discussant

• Luminita Gatejel, U of Regensburg (Germany)

Session Manager

• Ellen Bleier, U of Notre Dame