Polemics on Polish Progressiveness and Patriotism: A Fanonian Reading of National Consciousness

This article examines cultural hierarchies in practices of knowledge production using Robert Kulpa’s concept of leveraged pedagogy. Engaging with the work of Stanley Bill and Jennifer Ramme on Poland’s progressive organizing, conceptions of Polishness and patriotism, we challenge the binaries of the transnational and the national, and national and exclusionary, by entering into a scholarly polemic guided by the Fanonian notion of national consciousness which proposes that ideas related to the nation may also lead to visions of national liberation. Ultimately, we argue that the debate over abortion in Poland must be seen as a reflection of broader national, political and historical struggles, deeply entangled with issues of independence, gender, and cultural identity. By emphasizing Second World contextuality, we argue that leveraged pedagogy is a valuable sense-making tool for addressing the inadequate representations and misinterpretations of local struggles.