WOMEN’S STRIKE: WE WILL DEFEAT YOU WITH LOVE Professor Andrzej Rychard, director of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, talks to Witold Żygulski.
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or several weeks now, a wave of protests has been sweeping across Poland after the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling practically prohibiting abortion due to malformations and damage to the fetus. What kind of impact has the Women’s Strike had on the situation in Poland? In my opinion, it is, or at least is meant to be, a real breakthrough. We have a few features of this situation that may not yet qualify it as revolutionary, but it comes close. First of all, there is quite a strong social mobilization resulting from the frustration of women’s communities. However, this frustration does not only concern women and does not only come down to issues related to abortion. Although this is the main catalyst of the protests, the Women’s Strike has a wider dimension. It results from various types of restrictions on freedom. This process is based on the defense of liberal values, contradicting the argument that Polish society is rather conservative and does not like liberalism. However, the second necessary factor 4
Winter 2020
that could lead to some fundamental systemic change is the existence of a program of changes. Frustration itself is a necessary but not sufficient condition. The protesters must have some model of the future to pursue. Does this model exist? In my opinion, yes. The Women’s Strike movement has managed to revive a slogan that appeared to have become passé: the anti-PiS slogan. It has gained new relevance. Today this is enough for the first element of a program. The anti-PiS idea has come to mean a desire and respect for freedom, liberal and European values, and respect for individual rights.
THE WOMEN’S STRIKE MOVEMENT HAS MANAGED TO REVIVE A SLOGAN THAT APPEARED TO HAVE BECOME PASSÉ: THE ANTI-PIS SLOGAN The Warsaw Voice
