In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Jarosław Kuisz and Karolina Wigura – authors of Posttraumatische Souveränität. Ein Essay – explain why they have centred the concept of posttraumatic sovereignty in their new book and how it might help us account for current trends in East Central Europe; reflect on the prevalence of trauma discourses and the tensions and risks inherent to such discourses; and discuss how East-West relations in Europe may have been transformed by Russia’s violent escalation and ongoing war against Ukraine and the varied responses to it.
Jarosław Kuisz is a legal historian and political analyst. He is based at the University of Warsaw. He is an associated researcher at the Institut d’histoire du temps présent, CNRS in Paris and acts as a senior fellow at the Zentrum Liberale Moderne in Berlin. He is editor-in-chief of the Polish political weekly Kultura Liberalna. His newest book in English is The New Politics of Poland.
Karolina Wigura is a sociologist and historian of ideas. She is based at the University of Warsaw and acts as a senior fellow at the Zentrum Liberale Moderne in Berlin. She is a board member of the Kultura Liberalna Foundation. She has recently co-authored, with Tomasz Terlikowski, Polka ateistka kontra Polak katolik.
Posttraumatische Souveränität. Ein Essay has been published by Suhrkamp Verlag.
