Historical policy-making in post-1989 Poland: a sociological approach to the narratives of communism

International audienceSince the early 2000s, Poland has experienced growing social and political interest in the recent past. This paper studies the impact of the creation of the Institute of National Remembrance (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, IPN) on Polish historiography of communism. Historiography is the outcome of struggles between peers; historians’ positions within the field of history inform their interpretations of the communist past. Historians’ activities within the IPN are both shaped by their own social properties and by the functions assigned to this policy instrument. I first examine the IPN’s position within the field of contemporary history. Then, the most recent developments of historiography are illustrated via the analysis of a sample of publications, taking into account the social properties of their authors. Finally, I draw provisional conclusions about how state intervention in the academic field might affect research outcomes, by promoting an unambiguous image of Poland’s communist past. The result is a distorted representation of the People’s Republic, based on the totalitarian paradigm, only rarely producing innovative research