The introduction aims at presenting the Central and Eastern European perspective on the problem of the decolonization of International Relations and Development Studies, with a special focus on the largest country in the region, namely Poland.

Knowledge decolonization has attracted a lot of attention recently, but at the same time decolonization is usually associated with the Global South, and the Global East is often omitted. Bearing in mind that Poland has been under colonial rule or partitioned for a total of 123 years, with certain parts of Poland being under foreign control for much longer and similar history is shared by other Central and Eastern European countries we may challenge this traditional approach, presuming that Poland (and other Central European countries experienced post-colonial past).

At the same time, there are significant differences between the Global South and the Global East (including CEE countries), both in terms of the historical development of knowledge, and currently available resources. It is argued that Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, is a semi-peripheral region and that its colonial past represents an important hurdle to being included in the core of knowledge production in both International Relations and Development Studies.  

About the Speaker 

Marcin Grabowski, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Science and International Relations of the Jagiellonian University of Krakow and the Director of the Centre for International Studies and Development.

Marcin has graduated in International Relations from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He studied at Columbia University in the City of New York (School of International and Public Affairs), George Washington University in Washington (Sigur Center for Asian Studies), and University of California, San Diego, where he completed the Global Leadership Institute program.

Marcin is a chairman of Krakow branch of Polish International Studies Association and the vice-chair of Global International Relations Section of the International Studies Association (ISA). He also serves as the member of the Executive Council of Central and East European International Studies Association, as well as Representative of Poland on the EADI Executive Committee (2023 - present) and the Treasurer of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI).

Marcin’s research interests focus on the Asia-Pacific Rim, especially institutional arrangements of the region (APEC, ASEM, ASEAN, EAS, ARF, SAARC), American and Chinese foreign policies, theories of IR, with the special focus on complexity theory, and the International Economics.