, conducted with Anselm Hager, reveals the remarkable resilience of dissident organisations under surveillance. By analysing declassified secret police archives from communist-era Poland, we discovered that localities surveilled most heavily by secret police in the 1980s also hosted more strikes and rallies. Our research focused on the wave of protests that marked the foundation of Solidarność , the movement that eventually toppled the regime in 1989.
To determine how opposition groups continued to thrive despite intense monitoring, we first examined why people continued to join them. We found that the fear of surveillance was trumped by another, more powerful emotion: anger — which our research revealed was the most common sentiment expressed by opposition members while discussing surveillance. Some Polish dissidents argued that being monitored constantly was such a humiliating experience that they took to the streets.
But anger alone does not fully explain the success of Solidarity. We also examined how surveilled dissident organisations protected themselves from infiltration and the corruption of members. Unexpectedly, we found that one of the hallmarks of surveillance in communist regimes — heavy reliance on civilian informants — was one of its major weaknesses.
In Poland, the widespread use of informers meant that surveillance could be conducted by anyone, including close acquaintances or relatives. Essentially, everyone was a potential regime collaborator. One might expect that the resulting social mistrust would have made it harder for the opposition to organise. Instead, it provided citizens with an incentive to reveal their true loyalties in public.
Authoritarian regimes use surveillance to deter protest through fear and disruption. But our research shows that surveillance can encourage people to stand up against the regime. The awareness of being watched drives an anger that is more powerful than fear and, in turn, widespread mistrust encourages dissidents to declare their loyalties publicly.
Reminds me of the Series POI.
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