Limiting Privilege

"This may well be the most important book on the history of communist Poland written so far this century, but that's not mainly why I'll be recommending it. Henceforth, if anyone expresses an opinion on affirmative action, the role of social justice commitments in academia, the use of quantified metrics in higher education, or the interplay between broader social structures and university policy, I'll ask them, 'Do you know Agata Zysiak's work? If not, read her new book, and then we'll talk.'" —Brian Porter-Szűcs, author of Poland in the Modern World: Beyond Martyrdom

"This volume captures an epochal clash that occurred in early Stalinist Poland between universities bent on maintaining ivory tower freedoms and a communist regime determined to make them tools of radical social reform. Neither side intended the end result. Universities were modernized and helped millions move up the social ladder, while becoming loyal servants of the system; yet they remained bastions of privilege stuck in feudal trappings, which produced the most cutting dissent in the Soviet Bloc. In her humane and dispassionate study, Zysiak takes readers to the heart of controversies and drama, remaining attuned to social theory while never losing sight of the humans who make history." —John Connelly, Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley