European Studies Unit

Dr hab. Joanna Fomina, prof. IFiS PAN – Head
Dr Edit Zgut-Przybylska
mgr Tymoteusz Ogłaza

Тhe European Studies Unit conducts sociological research on the European integration processes. The sociology of European integration takes a “bottom-up” view, in contrast to the still dominant “top-down” perspective, which consists of analysing European law and its impact on national law; relations between European institutions and with the Member States; patterns of governance; relations between the Member States within the Union and with non-EU countries and more.

The European Studies Unit’s research focuses primarily on the processes of Europeanisation of the EU member-states’ societies; the political, social and cultural factors as well as effects of European integration; sources of support for the idea of coexistence and cooperation within the community of European countries and EU enlargement and other socio-political issues related to European integration. The relevance of this perspective stems, i.a. from the fact that without social support the existence of such a complex organism as the European Union would not be possible. At the same time, understanding the socio-political and cultural effects of European integration processes is essential not only for analysing support for the European project, but also for better understanding the research driven by the “top-down” perspective as well as informing the EU level policy making. The sociology of European integration draws on contributions from the sociology of culture, the sociology of social movements, the sociology of organisations, the sociology of knowledge, the sociology of politics, the sociology of migration and others.

The European Studies Unit was founded by Prof. Józef Niżnik, who led its work for more than two decades, actively engaging doctoral students from the School of Social Sciences in the collaboration.  After Prof. Niżnik’s retirement in 2023 prof. Joanna Fomina has become the new Head of the Unit. Prof. Katarzyna Andrejuk, currently Head of the Sociology of Migration Unit, was also a member of the Team for several years.

Selected publications:

Wybrane publikacje Zespołu:
2025
● Fomina, J. (2025). Warring for peace and democracy: Russian migrant dissidents resorting to violent means of contestation. Post-Soviet Affairs, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2025.2522634
● Fomina, J., & Kucharczyk, J. (2025). The immigration policy debate in Poland, 1989–2023: From institutionalisation to instrumentalisation. In K. Walecka, S. Guerra, & F. Casal Bértoa (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Polish politics. Oxford University Press.
● Csehi, R, and Zgut-Przybylska, E. (2025). “Countering National-Level Populism with Local Politics? Broadening Participatory Processes in Budapest in Illiberal Hungary.” Problems of Post-Communism, August, 1–11.doi:10.1080/10758216.2025.2536028.
● Zgut-Przybylska, E. (2025). “Democratic backsliding in Poland – An autocratic remodeling attempt under PiS rule.” In M. Barlai, C. E. Griessler, M. R. Herbers, et al. (Eds.), Democratic backsliding in Europe (pp. 223–246). Nomos: Baden-Baden.
2024
● Volintiru, C., & Zgut-Przybylska, E. “The eroding force of informal rules: Romania between democracy and Europeanization”. In: “Post-Communist progress and stagnation at 35. The Case of Romania”. Palgrave Macmillan. (2024): 57-81.
● Zgut-Przybylska, E: “The Pro-Russian Far-Right is reinforced by the Orban regime. In: Kacper, R., Renard, T. and Molas, B. (ed)s: “Russia and the Far-Right. Insights from ten European countries”. The Hague: ICCT Press.
● Fomina, J., & Pachocka, M. (2024). Polish society’s initial responses to the arrival of forced migrants from Ukraine in early 2022. Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, 30(1), 52–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/11926422.2024.2310245
2023
● Zgut-Przybylska, E. (2023). Tilting the playing field through informal power in Hungary and Poland: How did Russia’s war in Ukraine change the EU’s approach? re:constitution Working Paper, Forum Transregionale Studien, 23/2023.
● Zgut-Przybylska, E. (2023). Two tales of anti-minority approaches in Poland and Hungary. In: Democracy without minorities. European Network of Political Foundations. Warsaw.
2022
● Niżnik, J. (2022). Facing nationalisms in the European Union. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
● Fomina, J. (2022). „Emigration mit Verantwortung”: Die Aktivitäten russischer demokratisch orientierter Migrant:innen und ihre Reaktionen in der EU auf Russlands Krieg gegen die Ukraine. Russland-Analysen, 420. https://doi.org/10.31205/RA.420.01
● Fomina, J. (2022). Political dissent and democratic remittances: The activities of Russian migrants in Europe. New York & London: Routledge.
● Zgut, E. (2022). Informal exercise of power: Undermining democracy under the EU’s radar in Hungary and Poland. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 14(2–3), 287–308.
● Zgut-Przybylska, E. A Lucrative Relationship: Clientelist Corruption Underpins Orbán’s China Policy. Policy paper. Association for International Affairs (2022).
2021
● Fomina, J., & Kopka-Piątek, M. (2021). Polexit w polskiej debacie publicznej. Warszawa: Instytut Spraw Publicznych.
● Fomina, J. (2021). Voice, exit and voice again: Democratic remittances by recent Russian emigrants to the EU. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47(11), 2439–2458.
● Niżnik, J. (Ed.). Polska w Europie jutra. Polityka europejska Polski w kontekście zmian międzynarodowych XXI wieku. (2021). Warszawa: IFiS PAN.
● Zgut, E. (2021). United in Euroscepticism: Populist foreign policy in Hungary and Poland. IstanPol Working Paper.
● Csehi, R., & Zgut, E. (2021). ‘We won’t let Brussels dictate us’: Eurosceptic populism in Hungary and Poland. European Politics and Society, 22(1), 53–68.
● Zgut, E. (2021). Tilting the Playing Field in Hungary and Poland through Informal Power. Policy paper. German Marshall Fund of the United States.
2019
● Fomina, J., & Dunin-Wąsowicz, R. (2019). The Euromaidan moment: The making of Ukrainian diasporic civil society in Poland. In O. Oleinikova & J. Bayeh (Eds.), Democracy, diaspora, territory: Europe and cross-border politics (pp. 91–111). New York: Routledge.
● Carothers, T., & O’Donohue, A. (Eds.). (2019). Of “patriots” and citizens: Asymmetric populist polarization in Poland. In Democracies divided: The global challenge of political polarization. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
● Fomina, J., & Niżnik, J. (Eds.). (2019). Europe on test: The onus of the past. Warsaw: Polish Academy of Sciences.
2017
● Fomina, J. (2017). The unlikely Eurosceptics: The undercurrent anti-European attitudes among young Poles and the role of the domestic context. Polish Sociological Review, 198(2), 141–165.
● Fomina, J. (2017). The EU failed, we need more EU? The public perceptions of the EU and European integration in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict and the ‘migration crisis’. In A. Bârgăoanu, R. Buturoiu, & L. Radu (Eds.), Why Europe?: Narratives and counter-narratives of European integration (pp. 169–183). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
2016
● Fomina, J., & Kucharczyk, J. (2016). The specter haunting Europe: Populism and protest in Poland. Journal of Democracy, 27(4), 58–68.

Adres: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii PAN,
00–330 Warszawa, ul. Nowy Świat 72, pokój 104,
tel. 22 657–27–65

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