The Perceived Social Conflicts in Poland, 1988-2023: A Discontinuity or a Growing Trend in Popular Perception?

The objective of this paper is to explore the stability and change of social conflict perceptions in Poland between 1988 and 2023. The research focused on four key domains of social life—wealth, labor, managerial roles, and political power — and aimed to trace how public perceptions of conflict in these areas shifted across two fifteen- year periods of Polish history — late socialist and early post-socialist (1988-2003) — and the ups and downs of Western-style democracy and market capitalism (2008-2023), interspaced by Poland's entry into the European Union, from referendum to full legal adjustment (2003-2008). The analysis is based on examination of the extent to which these perceptions were consistent over time and how they might have been institutionalized following significant political and economic transformations.