COLLECTIVE PROTEST IN POSTCOMMUNIST POLAND, 1989-1993 - A RESEARCH REPORT

The authors' original research project provides new evidence that coll ective protest constituted a significant part of Polish political life during the first years of post-communist transformations. The paper d emonstrates that the magnitude of protest increased from 1989 to 1993, Major features of protest politics are described: participants' socia l backgrounds, organizations sponsoring or leading protest, repertoire of contention, demands, targets of protest actions, and finally state responses and protest effectiveness. The main conclusion is that alth ough protest was intense and politically significant, it was at the sa me time highly institutionalized. The concept of institutionalized con tentiousness captures this phenomenon. (C) 1998 The Regents of the Uni versity of California. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.