General interest in Polish affairs has increased recently and mostly for political reasons. Since the 2015 electoral victory of the conservative-nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS), Poland has frequently appeared, next to Hungary, as a prominent example of the illiberal wave, democratic decline, or even a new type of authoritarianism. Whether or not we agree that liberal democracy is directly threatened, the political shift to the right has been clear and unmistakable. How much of it can be explained by examining education, culture, and change in values? In her introduction to this comprehensive and engaging book, the leading editor, Sabrina P. Ramet, emphasizes “values” rather than democracy as the main focus. Nonetheless, contemporary audiences would probably reach for this study to find a better understanding of the underlying sociocultural currents that made the conservative-nationalist turn possible and long-lasting, including, but not limited to, the most recent re-election of the PiS government in 2019 and the widely-anticipated victory of the current president, Andrzej Duda, this spring.

The book includes contributions of fifteen scholars, political scientists, sociologists, and experts in gender and cultural studies; a well-balanced representation of perspectives from the US, western Europe, and Poland. The editors organized the material well, divided into three parts: “The System,” “Values in Poland,” and “Vehicles of Socialization,” with a heavy emphasis on the necessary historical background that is essential for the general audience. Understandably the most thoroughly-explored theme is the impact of Catholicism and the Church as an institution on the value and belief systems of Poles. Chapter 6 offers a very good summary of the role of Catholicism in public life, including the legal status of the Church. Even if, surprisingly, it fails to explain much about the influence of Pope John Paul II and his enduring legacy. Other authors explore significant continuities in this still deeply religious society that contrasts sharply with the majority of secularized European countries and seriously impedes progress in relation to LGBT rights (Ch. 7) and the persistence of antisemitism (Ch. 8). The discussion of attitudes toward ethnic and religious minorities, including Jews, is a welcome contribution (Ch. 4). It gives us useful historical context and acknowledges the recent rise of anti-Muslim attitudes. Nonetheless, it lacks sufficient depth and analysis of the evolution of attitudes before and after communist rule. In addition, the authors make no mention of the impact of the 1968 anti-Semitic campaign by the Władysław Gomułka regime and the latest mass Ukrainian migration to Poland.

Chapters dedicated to the party system and voting behavior (Ch. 3), and civic values (Ch. 5) are most likely to satisfy readers seeking a cultural explanation behind the current crisis of democratic norms and institutions. As the evidence shows, Poles have largely rejected political parties as credible vehicles of democratic representation, and even though they are increasingly politically tolerant and willing to engage in protests and volunteer in charity organizations they display the lowest level of political trust in Europe (126). Curiously, however, Kristen Rigdal's chapter (Ch. 5) is the only contribution that uses the European Values Study surveys as a major reference. Moreover, since the contribution draws on research completed in 2015–16, the authors could not account for the most recent dramatic surge in electoral participation since then, as illustrated in consecutive European, local, and most recently parliamentary elections in Poland, which could challenge some of the major findings.

Part Three, devoted to socialization, could potentially serve as the most fruitful contribution to our understanding of the origins, continuity, and change of the values and attitudes in Polish society. It covers a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from civic education and school textbooks, to rock music, film, and the media. The chapters on civic education (9 and 10) are informative and essential for explaining the potential values shift in the postcommunist era. Unfortunately, they lack deeper analysis of the impact of the school curriculum on the attitudes and beliefs of students. How important is civic education and especially history education, as opposed to the family, pier groups, or other outside sources, in shaping the politics and culture of young Poles?

In turn, the chapter on the Polish national cinema (12) is an excellent summary of the exceptional influence and endurance of the nationalist-romantic paradigm, now backed by powerful and generous governmental sponsors. Its author, Elżbieta Durys, supplies the most appropriate quote that can serve as the motto for the whole volume: “Poland is a past-oriented country” (281). The other two contributions, focusing on rock music (Ch. 11) and the media (Ch. 12), provide a wealth of information but mostly historical and largely selective, leaving out the newest and politically-controversial rap and hip hop music scene, the impact of social media and the internet, the private opposition-backed news channels such as TVN, and the moderate right-wing media such as the daily Rzeczpospolita that still make Polish journalism much more pluralist or diverse than in many other postcommunist countries.

Overall, despite a wide-range of topics and a balanced, interdisciplinary perspective, the book would probably disappoint readers who are looking for a more theoretically-informed approach through an analysis of value transformations, their sources, and impact in today's Poland. One crucial missing element, for example, is a thorough examination of generational change, that is, the coming of age of young Poles, aged 30–35 and below, with no memory of communist rule. How different are their value systems today from those of their parents and grandparents? Are they likely to bring up their own children again in ways that remain oriented to the past rather than the future? We get only a few hints of possible answers that can prove decisive for the quality and endurance of liberal democracy. Also, regrettably, we learn little about value changes resulting from several decades experience of living and working in a capitalist, consumer-oriented society with increasing wealth, urbanization, and middle-class life-styles imported from the west. Finally, in the conclusion, Ramet could have tied the main themes of the book together in a comprehensive way. Instead, she engages in critical polemics aimed at the crisis of democracy under the current government. In this final chapter we learn that despite the anti-EU policies and nationalist rhetoric of the government-dominated media and education, as many as 81% of Poles support EU membership. How do we explain this discrepancy? Unfortunately, this study does not go far enough to give us satisfactory answers to such vital questions.