Academic conference “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)” - Instytut Pileckiego

Four speakers during the question-and-answer session. From the left: a participant in a leather jacket is speaking into the microphone. Next to him sits a speaker wearing glasses, a shirt with a subtle check pattern, and beige pants. Next to them is a female speaker in a white outfit holding the conference program, and a participant in a navy blue blazer. On the table in front of them are bottles of water, glasses, and a blue folder containing conference materials.
The Institute / News

27.07.2026 (Mon)

Academic conference “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)”

The second academic conference in a series “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)” brought together representatives of various fields of the humanities and social sciences from numerous research centers in Poland and abroad.

The aim of the three-day international conference was to create a space for interdisciplinary reflection on women’s strategies for resistance, their social and political contexts, the consequences of oppositional activities and the memory of these experiences. The participating scholars analyzed and discussed the fates of both individual women and entire women’s groups who engaged in the opposition movement against authoritarian and totalitarian rule and were deemed dangerous by the authorities of the time. Non-democratic systems developed extensive mechanisms of control, violence and repression, which particularly affected women. The conference provided an opportunity to share insights about the functioning of the power apparatus and its methods of coercion, with a special emphasis on surveillance, blackmail, administrative pressure, political and economic repression, as well as arrest, imprisonment and deportation.

Participants in the academic panel during the discussion. On the left, partially in the frame, is a figure wearing a purple outfit. Next to her, a female speaker with short blonde hair and glasses is speaking into the microphone. Further back sits a participant in a dark blazer with floral and leaf patterns, with a colorful fabric featuring geometric patterns draped over her lap. On the right is a speaker wearing glasses and a blue tie with diagonal stripes. All panelists are wearing green lanyards with name tags around their necks.
Photo: Pilecki Institute

The papers covered various aspects of women’s experiences connected with the emergence of authoritarian systems in Europe after 1918 and during the Second World War, the oppositional engagement of women after 1945, and their political and social resistance to the realities imposed by totalitarian systems in 20th-century Europe. The thematic panels discussed, among others, the forms and methods of resistance to the authorities, women’s agency manifesting itself in oppositional engagement, and activities expressing dissent against the order implemented by the regime in non-democratic systems.

Considerable attention was paid to women who have hitherto been underrepresented in the academic discourse, including so-called secondary historical figures and intellectuals from the educational, academic and artistic milieus. Individual experiences served to paint a broader picture of the complex fates of participants in systemic change and women who fought against authoritarian and totalitarian systems, expressing their dissent both in spectacular, highly visible ways and through more subtle means of soft opposition.

The speakers combined microhistorical analyses with broad transnational comparisons, basing their findings on various source materials from Polish and foreign archives and libraries. In total, more than 60 papers were delivered during the conference, including panel presentations, concluding remarks by moderators and daily summaries by the academic committee. During the three days of debate, thematic sessions and panel discussions, the participants demonstrated the significance of the topic and the need for further research into the history of women in the 20th century, especially as regards the biographies of individual women involved in the opposition, their daily lives and motivations behind adopting various stances of resistance to the authoritarian and totalitarian realities.

A group photo of six organizers and speakers against a backdrop of conference banners. Standing from the left: a speaker wearing a colorful scarf and a long beige skirt, a participant in a gray cardigan and white pants, a person in a coral blazer and jeans, a man in a light blue shirt, a woman in a white jacket, and a speaker in a dark blazer with a floral and leaf pattern. In the background, roll-up banners display the logos of the “Wektory Nauki” program, the Pilecki Institute, and the Institute for Women’s Studies.
Photo: Pilecki Institute

The project was financed from the state budget funds awarded by the Minister of Science and Higher Education under the “Wektory Nauki” program.

The conference was held under the honorary patronage of Marta Cienkowska, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

The conference was held under the honorary patronage of Mirosław Karolczuk, the Mayor of Augustów.

 

Logos of the institutions and the program. From left: the flag of the Republic of Poland, the Polish coat of arms, the logo of the Minister of Science and Higher Education, the logo of the “Vectors of Science” program, the logo of the Institute of Women’s Studies, and the logo of the University of Białystok.

Honorary patronage

Logo of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage
The Augustów city logo, featuring a coat of arms depicting the intertwined initials of King Sigismund Augustus.

Media patronage

Logos of the media sponsors: Forum Akademickie and Polskie Radio Białystok.
A speaker at a wooden lectern is speaking into the microphone.

Visit the conference website (more). 

A speaker addressing an international academic conference. The speaker, wearing glasses and a white jacket, stands at the podium with a laptop, holding a microphone and the conference program in her hands.
A speaker with gray hair and straight bangs, wearing glasses and a green, patterned blouse, is giving a presentation at the podium with a laptop. In the background are roll-up banners featuring the logos of the “Wektory Nauki” program and the Augustów Roundup Memorial House—a branch of the Pilecki Institute. The banners display the title of an international academic conference on the history of women’s forms of opposition activism in the 20th century.
A speaker with dark, curly hair, wearing a sea-blue dress, is giving a presentation at the podium with a laptop. In the background are roll-up banners displaying the title of an international conference on women’s engagement in the 20th century, as well as the logos of the Pilecki Institute and the “Vectors of Science” program.
A speaker wearing glasses, a gray jacket, and a plaid skirt is giving a presentation at the podium with a laptop. In the background, roll-up banners display the logos of the “Wektory Nauki” program and the Augustów Roundup Memorial House—a branch of the Pilecki Institute. In the background, the other members of the panel are seated, waiting for their turns to speak.
Participants in the panel discussion sitting in chairs while listening to a presentation. From left: a speaker in a white blazer and black skirt, a speaker in a green jacket and a skirt with white and blue stripes, and a speaker in a gray cardigan. On the table in front of them are bottles of water and glasses. A view from behind the blurred technical equipment in the foreground. A conference organized by the “Vectors of Science” program.
A speaker with short dark hair, wearing glasses, a light-colored shirt with a subtle check pattern, and a dark blazer, is delivering a presentation at a wooden lectern. He is holding a printed copy of his speech and a bottle of water. In front of him stands a microphone on a stand and a Dell laptop. In the background, a vertical roll-up banner from the Pilecki Institute is visible, along with a screen displaying an archival black-and-white photograph.
A participant in an academic session, wearing glasses and a beige blazer, asks a question while holding a microphone. He has a lanyard with an ID badge around his neck. In the background, the silhouettes of the other attendees participating in the conference discussion are visible.
A speaker at an academic conference is speaking into a microphone at a lectern while holding a laptop. In the background, informational banners display the conference title, “Forms of Women’s Resistance in 20th-Century Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems,” along with the logos of the Pilecki Institute and the Ministry of Science’s “Vectors of Science” program.
A speaker wearing glasses, a white shirt, and a navy blue blazer is giving a presentation at the podium with a Dell laptop. The man is holding the microphone in his right hand and gesturing with his left; he is wearing a black watch on his left wrist. In the background, a screen displays a scientific presentation featuring an archival black-and-white photograph, as well as roll-up banners showing the full title of the conference and the logos of the Pilecki Institute, the “Vectors of Science” program, the Minister of Science and Higher Education, and the Institute for Women’s Studies. The foreground is out of focus and shows the camera recording the presentation.
A speaker wearing glasses and a rust-colored jacket is giving a presentation at a conference. She is standing at the podium, holding the microphone with both hands. In the background, banners displaying the Pilecki Institute’s logo and the event’s title are visible, as well as a screen showing a portion of an academic presentation.
Four speakers during the question-and-answer session. From the left: a participant in a leather jacket is speaking into the microphone. Next to him sits a speaker wearing glasses, a shirt with a subtle check pattern, and beige pants. Next to them is a female speaker in a white outfit holding the conference program, and a participant in a navy blue blazer. On the table in front of them are bottles of water, glasses, and a blue folder containing conference materials.

 

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