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Foreword
GraemeKirkpatrick
ViewedfromtheUnitedKingdom,whereIlivedatthetime,Poland
inthe1980swasapeculiarplace.Itwasinthenewsasthecountrywithan
avowedlysocialistgovernmentbeingchallengedbyaheroictradeunioncalled
“Solidarity.”ItwasonmoviescreensinMoonlighting(JerzySkolimowski,1982),
afilminwhichJeremyIronsplayedaPoleworkingillegallyinBritainandwatch-
ing,onmultipleTVsetsinashopwindow,scenesofchaosinthestreetsofhis
hometown.Partofthepoignancyofthisscenewasthesenseofdistanceandre-
moteness-theshopisclosed,thescreensareonthefarsideoftheglasswhich
Ironswipesfuriouslyinanatempttoseebeter-conjoinedwithoneofintimacy
andcloseness-thestreetsarefamiliar,hisfamilyare“there”afewfeetaway,yet
allflightshomehavebeensuspendedduetothemilitarycoup.
Inthe1980sBritainhadanoppressivegovernmentofitsown,engaged
intheviolentrepressionofmorethanonetradeunion.Polandseemedsimilar,
familiareven,yetallthetermsthroughwhichsuchconflictsarenormallyinter-
preted(inparticular,lef/right)seemedtobereversed,asifinamirror.
Allaroundtheworldatthistimenewtechnologicalmediawerespringing
intoexistence.InBritain,theTVshopalsodoubtlesscontainedVCRs(indeed,
inonesceneweseeasignadvertising“videorecorders”),TVsatellitedish-
esandpossiblysomeofthenewhomecomputersthenbeingmanufacturedin
theUK(Spectrums,Dragons,Acorns,BBCs).Tereceptionandsocialshaping
ofthesetechnologiesintheWesterncontexthasbeenwellstudied,especially
byscholarswithaconstructivistoutlook.TedisciplineofScienceandTechnol-
ogyStudies(STS)hasexploredthesocialshapingofhomecomputers,1forexam-
ple,showinghowtheywerecaughtupinandshapedbymarketingstrategieswith
various,competingconstituenciesinmind.
TesituationinPoland,whichispresentedinthisbook,wasverydilerent
andyetinmanywaysalsosimilar.Tefirstappearanceofnewmediawasinacon-
textlargelyfreeofmarketing.Inconstructivistterminology,thenewtechnolo-
gieswere“underdetermined”everywhere-AndrewFeenbergwritesthathome
1TomLean,ElectronicDreams:How1980sBritainLearnedtoLovetheComputer
(London:BloomsburySigma,2016).
