Tadek has an interdisciplinary background, drawing on both social psychology and critical security studies in his work. He earned a BA in Political Science and Social Policy and an MA in American Studies from the University of Warsaw, as well as an MA in Peace and Conflict Management from the University of Haifa. He completed his PhD in International Conflict Analysis at the University of Kent and later held a postdoctoral research fellowship at Uppsala University (Uppsala Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies).
His work has been published in Political Psychology, International Studies Quarterly, International Affairs, Contemporary Politics, and International Studies Perspectives. Before joining the Alfred Landecker Lecturer Program, Tadek was awarded a Jacques Rozenberg Research Grant and a Conny Kristel Fellowship.
At the heart of this project is the rise of the new politics of memory in Poland.
The study will examine why and how the state adopts remembrance policies in the context of Polish-Jewish relations. The focus of the project on the politicization of memory is directly related to the aim of the Lecturer Programme: to research the social and political transmission of Holocaust memory.
Today, the EU’s member states are in deepening conflict over the rule of law and the future of the union itself. Memory politics play a key role in this battle. Holocaust memory, in particular, is increasingly instrumentalised as a key element in Europe’s public diplomacy. With the rise of populist and far-right politics across the continent, the remembrance of the Holocaust became a central point of contention between liberal and emerging illiberal forces.
By analysing how Poland deploys memory at home and abroad, this project sheds light on the deeper motivations driving the revisionist turn in Eastern European countries.
The project relies on multimethod data generation. I.e. an analysis of Poland’s public communication on memory policies, in-depth interviews with Polish officials and experts, and field observations of remembrance events.