'Out from Underground': Greek Catholic Public Activism in Poland and Ukraine, 1980-1991

• In Event: Between States and Nations: Contesting Sovereignty in the Era of Collapse, 1980s-1990s

Abstract

This paper examines the activism of Greek Catholic parishioners from 1980 until just after the legalization of the church in 1989: massive public liturgies, city walks, and the occupation of former Greek Catholic churches. These forms of public agitation, like concurrent movements such as Solidarity in Poland and Rukh in Ukraine, were at once political protests and communal rituals, reinforcing the community’s cohesion as an influential social force. I consider how such protests contested the regimes’ ownership of the public arena, including churches and non-religious spaces.

Author

• Anna Bisikalo, Harvard U