The Context of Restructuring in Poland

Abstract

To understand restructuring in Poland, it is necessary to sketch the political, economic and social context in which it took place. The aim of the chapter is to position the empirical study within a historical and theoretical framework. We will briefly discuss the Polish economic transformation path and the role of the EU and its enlargement policy, — only general points will be discussed, as a thorough sector-specific discussion on restructuring, linked to labour-market policy and industrial relations, will be reserved for Part II. Further, we will learn about the state of civil society in Poland, and our findings will look at the reality or otherwise of a number of common assumptions. The work will then be set against existing research on many aspects of restructuring in Poland and in Central Eastern Europe more generally.