Japanese “Solidarity” Experience: A Suggestion for Polish Disaster Preparedness

The paper suggests effective use of the socio-political culture of “Solidarity” as a potential basis for disaster preparedness in Poland from the perspective of Japanese experiences.

    Poland holds a cultural tradition known as the Solidarity Movement, whose potential for mobilizing society continues to this day. Through a unique mechanism of self-organization, it unifies individuals with diverse interests and beliefs to concentrate the impact of different regions and local communities; the “subjectivized” activities of Polish citizens attained its primary aim of a change in the country’s political system at the end of the 1980s, while presenting its operative revitalization in the face of prolonged European economic crisis in the 21^st century.

    Crucially, Japan’s disaster experiences, especially those of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (1995) and the Great East-Japan Earthquake (2011), show the rise of its own solidarity. In the two contrasting disaster-hit communities, i.e. Kobe City and the rural Tohoku Area, activists call for the mobilization of the cultural tradition of “bonds (kizuna)”. These bonds have been functioning not only in the first phase of collective euphoria, but also in the long-term process of building social subjectivity and community rehabilitation to see the rise of sustainable civil society after disaster situations.

    Through the lens of Japanese experiences, the paper suggests a conscious activation of the socio-political culture of Solidarity in the approaches of disaster policy in Poland, due to its lack of preparedness despite frequent damage from different natural and human-caused catastrophes including flooding. By analyzing cases of cooperation among Japanese citizens, social organizations, and local as well as national governmental institutions, the paper presents the option of transferring Polish Solidarity experiences from the field of polarized politics to that of potential disaster policies to fortify Poland’s future resilience.