ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on some of the elements of the moral economy combined with nostalgia for socialism that originated in ‘shock therapy’, with the former state-owned enterprises that were acquired by foreign capital in the 1990s. It summarizes some of the discussions on the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in East-Central Europe and proposes how to relate this discussion to the articulation of the moral economy of globalization in Poland. The chapter follows changes in Polish industry during the course of 1980s and 1990s. It shows how industry reforms are remembered afterwards by factory employees, that is, with a prevailing sense of nostalgia for missed alternatives. The chapter positions the 1990s as a critical period for Poland, not only for working through the socialist experience, but also for dealing with globalization and neo-liberal corporate culture at a factory micro-level.
