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BEYOND THE FREEDOM LINE:
ANALYSING LIBERTARIAN DIGITAL
COMMUNITY IN POLAND
KRIS KALETA
PHD 2024
2
BEYOND THE FREEDOM LINE:
ANALYSING LIBERTARIAN DIGITAL
COMMUNITY IN POLAND
KRIS KALETA
A Thesis Submitted In Partial
Fulfilment Of The Requirements Of
Manchester Metropolitan University
For The Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy
Department Of History, Politics And Philosophy
Manchester Metropolitan University
2024
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
3
ABSTRACT
This thesis examines how the virtual libertarian community in Poland has adapted and evolved in
relation to technological advancements in a digital society. Drawing upon the contextual framework
of the 20th and 21st centuries digital revolution, this doctoral thesis focuses on individual
experiences and the broader implications for the community, as perceived by its members.
Employing Episodic Narrative inquiry (ENI) for data collection and thematic analysis bolstered by
auto-ethnographic elements for data interpretation, this study uncovers common trends and
themes across interviews.
It contributes to a deeper understanding of online socio-political activities within the virtual
libertarian community in Poland, moving beyond the examination of their philosophical beliefs. In
doing so, it also allows for a unique, as it is the first of its kind, insight into the virtual dimension of
libertarianism. It contributes to drawing new perspectives on virtual social groups and their impact
on society.
Key findings include the integral role of technology in shaping the real-life experiences of those
individuals, the dichotomy of online and offline experiences they shared, and the transformative
impact of increased connectivity and access to information they underlined. The study not only
offers valuable insights into the experiences of Polish virtual libertarians but also illuminates the
transformative potential of digitally driven social groups. By exploring the complex dynamics
between technology, individual experiences, and collective engagement, this study paves the way
for future research on the societal impact of technological advancements in the digital age as well
as on the virtual character of libertarianism.
4
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
Title
Table Location
In-text location
FIGURE 1
WEB PERIODISATION
274
25
FIGURE 2
AGE AND GENDER GROUP OF THE INTERVIEWEES
275
80
FIGURE 3
MUELLER'S SIX STEPS OF CONDUCTING THE EPISODIC NARRATIVE INTERVIEW
276
81
FIGURE 4
ENI-DRIVEN INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND PROMPTS
277
84
FIGURE 5
DESCRIPTION OF THE THEMATIC CATEGORIES
278
84
FIGURE 6
THEMATIC MAP
279
84
FIGURE 7
EXAMPLE CODE GENERATED IN PHASE ONE USING CODE-MATRIX A
280
87
FIGURE 8
EXAMPLE CODE GENERATED IN PHASE ONE USING CODE-MATRIX B
281
88
FIGURE 9
EXAMPLE CODE GENERATED IN PHASE ONE USING CODE-MATRIX C
282
89
FIGURE 10
THE ORGANISATION OF THE CODES
283
89
FIGURE 11
MURAL ‘BITCOIN’
284
173
FIGURE 12
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘PROTO-LIBERTARIANS’
285
101
FIGURE 13
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘ACTIVISTS’
286
109
FIGURE 14
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘INTELLECTUALS’
287
115
FIGURE 15
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘LIBERTARIANS OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA ERA’
288
118
FIGURE 16
THE INFLUENCE OF FAMILIAL SOCIALISATION ON THE ADOPTION OF LIBERTARIAN VALUES.
289
135
FIGURE 17
THE INFLUENCE OF SCHOOLING AND EDUCATIONAL SOCIALISATION ON ADOPTION AND REINFORCEMENT OF
LIBERTARIAN VALUES.
290
148
FIGURE 18
FACTORS INFLUENCING POLITICAL ATTITUDES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON BELONGING TO A COMMUNITY.
291
159
FIGURE 19
THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIALISATION FACTORS ON THE FORMATION OF MY INTERVIEWEES' POLITICAL VIEWS AND
THE IMPACT OF SUCH VIEWS ON THE SEARCH FOR COMMUNITIES ON THE INTERNET.
292
176
FIGURE 20
THE IMPACT OF NETWORKING FACTORS ON THE VALUE OF INTERACTIONS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
293
170
FIGURE 21
FACTORS INFLUENCING COMMUNITY INTEGRATION.
294
174
FIGURE 22
INTEGRATION PROCESSES WITHIN THE COMMUNITY AND THEIR IMPACT ON INTERVIEWEES' EXPERIENCES.
295
177
FIGURE 23
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘INTERNET ACCESS’
296
186
FIGURE 24
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘MOBILE ACCESS’
297
190
FIGURE 25
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘INFORMATION ACCESS’.
298
193
FIGURE 26
THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF ACCESS AND ITS IMPACT ON MY INTERVIEWEES' EXPERIENCES
299
193
FIGURE 27
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘PRINTED PRESS AND TV’
300
196
FIGURE 28
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘PRE-SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS’
301
201
FIGURE 29
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘SHARING PLATFORMS’
302
205
FIGURE 30
EVOLUTION OF MEDIA PLATFORMS AND THEIR IMPACT ON MY INTERVIEWEES
303
205
FIGURE 31
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘FACEBOOK GROUPS’.
304
210
FIGURE 32
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘NETWORK EFFECT’.
305
215
FIGURE 33
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘RISKS’
306
223
FIGURE 34
THE IMPACT AND INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA (ESPECIALLY FACEBOOK) ON MY INTERVIEWEES’ EXPERIENCE AS
VIRTUAL LIBERTARIANS
307
223
FIGURE 35
SUMMARY OF THE CODES ARISING FROM THE SUBSECTION ‘VIRTUAL AND NON-VIRTUAL SPACE’
308
228
FIGURE 36
THE INTERPLAY OF THE ONLINE AND OFFLINE REALMS FOR MY INTERVIEWEES’ PARTICIPATION IN THE
COMMUNITY
309
228
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
5
LIST OF FIGURES 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7
FOREWORD 8
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 13
OVERVIEW 13
RESEARCH PROBLEM AND SIGNIFICANCE 14
RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 32
OUTCOMES OF STUDY 33
RESEARCH PLAN 35
RESEARCH METHODS 36
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 38
INTRODUCTION 38
INDIVIDUALS AND THE MEDIA 38
VIRTUAL COMMUNITY 46
VIRTUAL MOVEMENTS 50
DIGITAL ACTIVISM 55
RIGHT, LEFT AND HETERODOX 58
INDIVIDUALS AND THE SYSTEM 65
THEORETICAL MODEL 68
CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS 70
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY 73
INTRODUCTION 73
DEMOGRAPHY 73
INTERVIEWEES 76
NARRATIVE RESEARCH 79
EPISODIC NARRATIVE INQUIRY 80
ANALYSIS 84
CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS 91
CHAPTER 4. ANALYSIS: ORIGINS OF THE POLISH VIRTUAL LIBERTARIANS 93
OVERVIEW 93
BACKGROUND 93
PROTO-LIBERTARIANS 97
ACTIVISTS 103
INTELLECTUALS 110
LIBERTARIANS OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA ERA 116
CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS 119
CHAPTER 5. ANALYSIS: BELONGING TO THE POLISH VIRTUAL LIBERTARIAN COMMUNITY 127
OVERVIEW 127
POLITICAL SOCIALISATION 129
COMMUNITY BINDERS 163
CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS 175
6
CHAPTER 6. ANALYSIS: ENABLING THE VIRTUAL LIBERTARIAN COMMUNITY 180
OVERVIEW 180
GETTING ONLINE 181
BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND ONLINE MEDIA 195
FACEBOOK 206
LOGGING OFF 225
CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS 229
CHAPTER 7. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 231
SYNTHESIS 231
KEY DISCUSSIONS 232
REFLECTIONS, LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE STUDIES 241
CONTRIBUTIONS 245
BIBLIOGRAPHY 252
APPENDIX 272
CODEBOOK 272
FIGURES 275
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
7
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I extend my heartfelt gratitude to my dedicated team of supervisors, Dr Adi Kuntsman,
Dr Beate Peter, and Dr Davide Schmidt, whose invaluable guidance and unwavering
support have been instrumental in bringing this work to fruition. I am also grateful to
my esteemed professors from universities and schools in Poland and England. Special
mention goes to Professor Jan Kubik of Rutgers University, for restoring my belief in
academia's potential to reach beyond academic circles, Dr Łukasz Stach of Jagiellonian
University for fostering academic debate, and Prof. Radosław Marzęcki of the
Pedagogical University of Krakow for his exemplary composure and the knowledge he
imparts. I am also indebted to Marek Śliwa, my high school teacher, who played a
crucial role in channelling my interests and steering me away from teenage
distractions.
I would like to thank my family and friends for their constant support and patience in
attentively listening to my academic thoughts and discussions I brought on many
occasions. I am deeply grateful to my parents, Barbara, and Stanislaw, for their love
and encouragement. Particularly for being able to read what I felt like at night, for
signing up to the library as a little boy – far below the minimum enrolment age – and
for inspiring stories about the world. To my brother, Kamil, who wisely predicted during
my early years in school that I would quickly become bored with traditional studies
(and rightfully so!), I am grateful for your insight. To my sister Olga, thank you for your
invaluable support during pivotal moments in the last decade. I wouldn’t be able to do
anything like this without you. I would also like to express my gratitude to my friends
Anna P., Michal S., and Michal L., for their countless hours of engaging conversations
through our teenage years, and for being the first to hear about my aspirations to
pursue a career in academia. From the depths of my heart, thank you to all who have
played a part in shaping my journey, and to those not mentioned here.
But first and foremost, to my beloved Marika, who has been by my side for the past
years. Thank you for your support, shared passions, and for navigating our way through
Europe's unknown wilderness. Here's to countless more adventures together, with the
promise of new horizons, trees, waters, and lands; and essentially, as many stops as it
takes for you to see all the new plants and flowers. ‘Always’.
8
FOREWORD
The modem at my dad's office made a loud and unusual noise. It went beep, beep,
bloop…whirr – reminiscent of the sound made by old computer or radar machines
from the Cold War period that I had seen in movies on public television in the mid-
1990s.
I was filled with excitement. My dad turned on his computer and moved the mouse
around to show me something that was called the Internet. He sent my sister to the
other room so she could surf it as well. It took a few minutes to load the main page
of Wirtualna Polska1, which was the website that my dad knew about and typed in
the browser for me. After a while, he left me alone too, as he started to look for
some documents around the office. The page was loading slowly as I stared at the
computer screen.
When it was finally fully loaded, I couldn't take my eyes off it. There were no flashing
ads on this site, nor a friendly user-interaction system that was to lead me through
the content. There were no social media widgets, no discussion forums, or chats;
no additional windows popped up after hovering over random site elements. In
fact, it looked much like a Word document, only opened in the web browser. There
were plenty of textual links, a few graphics, and simple banners on top. I felt excited
because it was completely new. Sure, we already had a computer at home – with a
slightly broken monitor and a greenish screen – but it wasn’t intended to offer the
fully immersed virtual experience yet. Our computer ran various programs,
including basic games of the time (with my siblings, we mainly played Minesweeper,
known as Saper in Poland), but not much more than that. I remember that one of
my daily distractions on it was quite amusing from the perspective of the second
decade of the 21st century – I was opening some applications at random, just to
see how they worked. This was my initial foray into understanding the technology.
1 Wirtualna Polska (The Virtual Poland), is the oldest Polish Internet portal, founded in 1995. See:
Our history [Online] [Accessed: 20th April 2023] https://holding.wp.pl/en/history
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
9
In such a reality, the Internet seemed to be something completely unknown, and
so much more fascinating. In my view, such was the level of computer and Internet
literacy among plenty of my peers – if not even slightly lower.
The Internet of the time, or rather the interface of what’s known as the Internet,
acted like the old media – like television, radio, or the press. It was simply
transmitting information from the creators of the site directly to me: one of many
internauts, the receiver of their communication. A time for the co-created, or
rather co-curated, content was yet to come. Nevertheless, it was still a special
moment for me; or so I keep telling myself years later. Loading a single webpage –
this seemingly trivial activity from today’s point of view – was for me a real technical
miracle of the mid-1990s, just like the Eiffel Tower was to be a technical miracle for
the people of the fin de siècle era.
At that time, it was ambitious to assume that the virtual world would become not
so much of an alternative reality, but rather an overlay on what is real in the physical
sense; and that it will largely redefine the lives of my contemporaries. Today, in
these few minutes that back in the 1990s took so long to load a single page, I can
perform multiple tasks at once. I can open several, if not hundreds, of pages. I can
make a music recording, perform photo editing, download a movie, or just spend
some time on social bonding. Back then, the page took as long to open as it takes
me today to download a 100-hour console game. The prior miracle is a current
commodity. Not only because the technology has changed the speed and ease of
Web access, but rather because it affected the nature of the connection itself. If in
the past I needed an expensive and very loud modem to connect to the virtual
world, today I can perform virtual operations from the level of the device in my
pocket, or even a watch on my wrist.
It resulted in several social adaptations, of which perhaps the most important is the
way we perform human contact. In earlier years, the short distance – more intimate
and direct in essence – was the dominant mode of human communication. of
course, this was dependent on the culture, as brilliantly researched by Hall (1966)
amongst others. Yet, with the advancement of such virtual networking, contact
with other people gained seemingly contradictory characteristics: both universal
10
and indirect in form. Today, such interaction is largely performed through various
devices that act as an extension of what feels natural for the human body and mind.
Accessing the Internet is highly personalised. There is an individual approach to
everything in this realm, including bonding, communication, or something as
complicated as the process of community-making. And, while we are seemingly
stripped of intimacy due to the ubiquity of these connected devices in our everyday
lives, we are also able to hide behind the screen of virtuality, if we really want to.
Even though we are being exposed to potentially hundreds of contacts with other
people daily, we are also able to purposefully select which ones are worthy of our
time. Such a revolution in contact-making resulted in a change in the
understanding of various sociological macro-concepts, including community,
society, mobility, and possibly even… humanity.
A quarter of a century has passed since my first attempt to log in to the Internet. I
grew up, graduated from universities and worked towards co-creating the Internet
of the future (which turned out to be the Internet of… the now). I have familiarised
myself with the world of technology. It was all connecting to and via the Internet. I
have been making simple websites already back in the 2000s and became a
Wikipedia contributor around that time. I’ve learned basic digital skills, become a
digital media professional, and finally a digital consultant. I watched the
development of the Internet and technology, as I was part of it. At some point, I
accessed foreign content sources, thanks to which I became acquainted with the
intellectual legacy of thinkers from outside of what was known (thus popularised)
in Poland.
In such a way I encountered the libertarian worldview. I read Robert Nozick's
‘Anarchy, State, and Utopia’ (1974) first, followed by some other online
publications on this philosophy. Finally, I reached out to other people who have
discussed these ideas on IRC channels and within emailing groups. I was more of a
lurker2 than a contributor, having not had much to say at that age. It turned out
2 Lurker is a person who uses forums, chats, and other virtual media but does not participate in
their activities (Nonnecke and Preece, 2001).
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
11
that libertarian ideas were known in the Anglo-Saxon world, but they did not reach
too widely in other areas of the Globe. Smaller communities of this type did exist in
places like Poland, but access to them was difficult, if only because they required
knowledge of the term itself – and it was a concept relatively unknown even among
those with a keen interest in political philosophy until the late 2000s and beyond.
The history of this community inspired me to rethink how technology supports the
development of various human clusters. How virtuality – a concept that is not so
new, as it has been discussed for decades now – has expanded the possibilities of
transmitting information, establishing contacts, building both individual and group
co-responsibilities, but also real emotional ties. I found it even more fascinating that
it did not become a popular theme in academic writing. Reflections that would
touch on this part of virtuality are the domain of bloggers, consultants,
futurologists, and Internet historians. Rarely, however, are these deliberations even
hooked on an academic nature. It seems that this study may allow for drawing and
further explaining a whole new plane of virtual community studies: the
community’s self-analysis in terms of the impact of technological advancements on
its creation.
This thesis is the result of this thorough research and my reflection as both a Polish
libertarian virtual community member and a researcher. It is also a testimony to
the experiences of individual representatives of various generations of Internet
users who have integrated themselves into the virtual world in the last three
decades. I treat this work largely as a gateway that opens many threads in the
context of virtual group research. It provides insights into a unique group that has
been forming on the Polish Internet for three decades. It allows us to understand
how the philosophy that its users share affects both their professional and private
lives, but also how their adherence to this community influences them over time.
It outlines an important look into the division of virtual groups into virtual
communities and virtual social movements as groups that seem to largely
amalgamate in the virtual world. Such a multifaceted approach – looking at
sociological, political, psychological, but also technological issues – allows a better
understanding of the individual experience of Internet users. That, in turn, opens
12
many doors for future research. In addition, it is the first work to study virtual
libertarians in Poland. The abundance of data obtained during the interviews has
made it possible to outline the history of this community in the eyes of these
selected interlocutors, address the various interactions within its structures, but
also to understand the socio-political needs of the interlocutors on both political
and social levels.
When browsing the Internet for the first time, it never occurred to me that it could
become something more than a form of interactive play for a six-year-old. Yet, it
became my workplace, the object and focus of my academic research interests, a
space in which I am maintaining my daily interactions. It is my treasure trove of
knowledge seeking, but also a hell of repetitive, time-wasting activities, to which
we are all addicted.
The playground has indeed become a space that I want to be able to explain and
make clearer for others.
And that is also the aim of this work.
Manchester, Barcelona, and many places in-between, 2019-2024
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
13
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Overview
This doctoral thesis is a unique narrative project that focuses on understanding the
impact of technological changes on members of the virtual libertarian community
in Poland. As the first study of its kind, it seeks to deepen our understanding of their
activities in both online and offline realms and, above all, the role of technology in
shaping these processes. This work contributes to the growing body of literature
on the intersection of digital technologies and digitally driven social phenomena,
particularly concerning the emergence of virtual communities.
To begin with, let me introduce the phenomenon at the core of this study. The
digitisation of society has transformed various aspects of human existence,
contributing greatly to the emergence of virtual communities. This, in turn, enabled
the popularisation of political ideas that were largely inaccessible to audiences
outside narrow, and often academic, circles. One such concept was libertarianism
which emerged as a philosophical idea after the Second World War and gained
popularity in the Anglo-Saxon world (Hamowy, 2008). It was largely the product of
the intellectual work of Murray Rothbard, a disciple of Ludwig von Mises – one of
the leading exponents of the Austrian School of Economics and a 20th-century
continuator of the thought of classical liberalism. Libertarianism – which, at least in
its early form, combined an Austrian approach to the economy and a classical-
liberal set of views – essentially became the successor of the classical-liberal
heritage in the post-war era (Juruś, 2012)3. Despite its initial American-centric
focus, libertarianism has evolved into a more universal philosophy that has gained
a foothold in various intellectual markets around the world, based on a
fundamental commitment to individual liberty and limited government
intervention in the economic and social spheres. It remains an influential and widely
discussed philosophy in the contemporary intellectual landscape (i.e., Miąsik,
3 It is important to note that libertarianism initially focused primarily on American society and its
political and economic structures. The philosophy only gained international traction when its
aspect of virtuality, or rather opportunities to reach a wider audience through virtual means, was
brought to the fore (Thierer and Szoka, 2009).
14
2010). On the back of these two processes – the emergence of the online realm
and the blossoming of libertarians’ ideas in other countries – a community of virtual
libertarians in Poland has begun to emerge. This study aims to explore the
experiences of the Polish virtual libertarian community members in such contexts.
This chapter will focus on outlining the research problem and providing a discussion
on its significance as well as on the articulation of research questions. I will focus
on presenting the overview of the philosophy of libertarianism, the Polish virtual
libertarians, and the technological advancement of the last couple of decades that
are crucial for this work. Finally, the overview of the research plan will be presented.
Research Problem and Significance
The digital revolution of the 20th and 21st centuries has transformed how humanity
processes information and interacts with the world. From the advent of personal
computers and the Internet to the rise of artificial intelligence and big data, this
revolution has reshaped industries, birthed new forms of communication, and
redefined the boundaries of possibility. Throughout these transformative years,
there have been notable milestones: the ubiquity of smartphones, the growth of
social media, and the development of cloud computing, to name a few. Each
innovation has not only altered the landscape of technology but also influenced the
cultural, social, and economic fabric of societies globally. This has universally been
referred to as the ‘digitisation’ phenomenon (Popkova, et al. 2021). Many scholars
have argued that technological advancements have led to important changes in
social and political life (Castells, 2009; 2010; Turkle, 2011; Van Dijck, 2013).
According to Castells (2010), the advancement of digital technologies has
significantly altered social dynamics by enabling communication and interactions
on a global scale. It has changed the way people interact and communicate
(Rheingold, 2000; Boyd, 2014). This has led to the emergence of virtual
communities – groups of people who share common interests or goals and
communicate primarily through digital channels. Virtual communities have become
increasingly prevalent and have been shown to have both positive and negative
effects on their members (Wellman and Gulia, 1999; Hampton et al., 2011;
Carpenter and McEwan, 2016). Even though virtual communities have been studied
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
15
in various contexts, such as online consumer behaviour (Kozinets, 2015) and
political activism (Bimber, 2012), there is still a noticeable gap in the literature
examining self-conscious decisions of individuals to enter and remain in a particular
community in the context of various ongoing life and technological changes.
Additionally, other scholars argue that digital technologies have facilitated the
emergence of online social movements that challenge traditional modes of political
engagement (Bennett and Segerberg, 2012). They suggest that the ability to
mobilise quickly and efficiently through digital channels has led to a
democratisation of political action, which plays an important role in some groups
seeking more decentralised ways of political activities. The Internet has provided a
platform for social movements to form and organise (Tufekci & Wilson, 2012;
Shirky, 2011). Digital technologies play a role in the formation of transnational
social movements and the challenges they pose to traditional political structures
(Juris, 2012).
The Polish virtual libertarian community exemplifies a group that emerged in the
context of the phenomenon outlined above. In a nutshell, libertarianism is a
political philosophy that emphasises individualism, self-responsibility, and a far-
reaching critique of the State – in some cases including a proposal to replace state
institutions with their private counterparts, a market devoid of government
interference (in libertarian view, a truly free market) and a concept of ownership
as an extension of individual rights (i.e., Rothbard, 1978; Hayek, 2005; Nozick, ibid.;
Friedman and Friedman, 1982; Boaz, 1998; Doherty, 2007). A critical element in
these considerations is the fact that, whilst libertarianism has been extensively
studied in the literature, less attention has been paid to its virtual dimension (i.e.,
Thierer and Szoka, ibid.; Barlow, 1996; Mueller, 2017).
Polish Experiences with State(s) Since the End of the 18th Century
This section aims to clarify Poland's historical and socio-economic development
since the end of the 18th century when it lost its independence. It is organised into
three key stages, each highlighting significant changes in governance and socio-
economic policies. This analysis helps contextualise two particular issues: firstly, the
16
Polish people's attitudes towards the concept of a state, especially in reaction to
the oppressive regimes that have governed since the fall of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth; and secondly, the role of media in reinforcing state-driven
narratives since the mid-19th century. Over the last two centuries, except for brief
periods of journalistic freedom, the media in Poland has largely been used by
various powers to limit public discussion on political, socio-economic, and cultural
topics. This context explains the rapid rise and extensive Internet reach in post-
communist Poland, marking it as one of the first media platforms to offer
unrestricted information access, significantly affecting public engagement and
information dissemination.
Decline of the state and the birth of oppression: 1795-1918
In the late 18th century, the territories, people, and cultural heritage of the Polish-
Lithuanian Commonwealth were annexed by neighbouring powers: the Kingdom of
Prussia, Tsarist Russia, and the Habsburg Empire (Halecki, 1963). The decline into
partitions was due to a weakening political system that was unable to reform and
resist the expansionist pressures from surrounding empires. Efforts to assimilate
Poles through 'Russification' in Russia and 'Germanisation' in Prussia saw the Polish
language relegated from official status, with Poles becoming marginalised as
second-class citizens (Grzywacz, 2012). Conversely, in the Habsburg Empire, Poles
played a more active role in governance, although they remained subordinate to
central authorities. It is worth noting that some authors said that by 1918, the
region of Galicia became ‘almost a junior partner in the monarchy (Wandycz, 1967).
The partition and division of Poland among different political spheres led to
markedly uneven development across the regions. In Prussia, integrating Polish
territories into the wider economy was a priority, with significant infrastructure
developments like railways and telegraph lines enhancing both economic and
military control (Davies, 2005; Clark, 2006). Agrarian reforms redistributed land to
create a class of German peasant proprietors, significantly altering the rural
landscape at the expense of Polish landholders and culture (Blanke, 1993).
Effectively, the economic modernisation under Prussian rule, although bringing
about industrial growth, did so at the cost of significant Polish cultural dilution.
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
17
The Russian Empire's approach was characterised by economic neglect and
exploitation. Infrastructure development was minimal and focused more on
military needs than civilian benefits. This neglect stunted economic development,
exacerbated by Tsar Alexander II's view of Poles as a direct threat to Russian
stability (Weeks, 1996). The suppression of consequent Polish uprisings led to
increased tsarist control, including mass deportations and restrictions on the Polish
language, and curtailing the Polish bourgeoisie's entrepreneurial activities (Davies,
ibid.). The continuation of serfdom until the late 19th century further hindered
advancement.
The Habsburg monarchy's governance in Galicia and Lodomeria was comparatively
lenient, promoting agricultural development and cultural and linguistic tolerances
that maintained a stronger Polish identity (i.e., Davies, 2023.; Berend, 2003).
However, this region was notably poorer than other parts of the former
Commonwealth and the Habsburg territories, with per capita income barely half
that of Hungary and very high taxation levels (Davies, ibid.), leading to its pejorative
nickname Golicja and Głodomeria, translating to 'the naked and the famished.'
These historical legacies, as explored by scholars like Davies (ibid.), have shaped
contemporary Poland's political and social landscape. Electoral trends still show
clear differences between regions, with former Russian and Eastern-Austrian
territories favouring conservative and nationalist parties and anti-European Union
tendencies, while those from the Prussian and Western-Austrian partitions show a
preference for more liberal and pro-European Union representatives (i.e.,
Applebaum, 2012).
Short unification period: 1918-1939
The restoration of independence in 1918 marked Poland's re-entry into the
geopolitical landscape of Europe. The interwar years were characterised primarily
by significant efforts to unify the country's long-separated regions, alongside early
industrialisation and attempts to achieve economic stability amid the increasingly
militarised European environment of the 1920s and 1930s (Koryś, 2015). Despite
these efforts, the period did not fully reflect the principles of a liberal democracy.
18
Under Józef Piłsudski and his Sanation regime, which seized power after the May
Coup in 1926, Poland adopted a mild-authoritarian stance, reflecting similar trends
across several European nations during this time (Davies, 2005). The government
restricted political opposition and curtailed press freedoms, often justifying such
measures as necessary for state security and political stability (Wandycz, 2001).
Despite its initial popularity, Piłsudski's administration increasingly faced criticism
for its undemocratic practices, including the persecution of political adversaries and
minority groups, and the imposition of policies that suppressed political pluralism
(Davies, ibid.). During this era, trust in the government was not universally held,
with substantial portions of the population remaining sceptical of the state's
intentions and wary of its centralising policies (Davies, ibid.). However, this
scepticism did not equate to a lack of support for an independent Polish state or
for Piłsudski himself, who was often mythologised as the father of the Polish
rebirth. Nevertheless, Suchodolski (2015) argued that the Polish state was
constructed ineffectively, focusing on large-scale projects and imposing high
taxation rates, which were estimated to be 70-100% higher than those in Western
countries. Consequently, Poland lagged behind other local economies at the onset
of the Second World War.
Decline of the oppression and the birth of the new state: 1939 to 1990
Poland's independence, restored in 1918, was abruptly halted with the onset of the
Second World War, initiated by the invasion of Poland first by Nazi forces on 1
September 1939, and subsequently by the Soviets on 17 September 1939. This
sequence of events was a direct outcome of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, which
pre-designated Poland as the boundary between the Third Reich and the Soviet
Union. Post-war arrangements made at the Yalta Conference, contrary to the
assurances given to Polish leaders, led to Poland being carved up once again,
placing it under the sphere of the newly formed Eastern Bloc (Quinn, 2020). The
country underwent a Soviet military occupation, accompanied by manipulated
elections that installed a puppet regime. Simultaneously, the state police carried
out arrests and sham trials of opposition groups, especially the remaining war
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
19
officers associated with the Armia Krajowa4. Quinn (ibid.) details a significant
incident: on 28 March 1945, leading members of the Polish resistance, including
the Commander of the Polish Home Army, General Okulicki, were arrested by the
Soviets, tortured, and forced into confessing to anti-Soviet activities, coinciding
strategically with a conference on Poland's governance. Thus, socialism was
established in Poland. It lasted in various forms until 1989.
The imposition of socialism in Poland radically transformed the economic
landscape. The Soviets prioritised heavy industrialisation and collectivisation of
agriculture, sidelining consumer goods and economic efficiency. A centrally
planned economic model was adopted, leading to inefficiencies and stifling
innovation by focusing on meeting arbitrary production quotas instead of
responding to market demands. Private property was abolished, and all industries
were nationalised, embedding Poland's economy deeply within the Eastern Bloc's
economic system, characterised by unequal trade dynamics with the USSR,
focusing on exporting (at discounted prices) raw materials to the USSR and
importing (at inflated prices) finished goods (Wróbel, 2013). Those policies
culminated in some of the largest social protests in the Eastern Bloc, lasting
intermittently from 1976 to 1989 (ibid). Additionally, an alternative economy
flourished, notably in the form of a robust black market and underground
publishing (Kochanowski, 2017), as citizens sought to circumvent state controls and
shortages.
Free to choose: Poland after 1989
The most recent period in Polish history, continuing to the present day, began with
the restoration of political independence following the events of 1989, including
the Round Table Talks (Okrągły Stół) and the subsequent democratic elections in
1989 and 1990. Unlike the interwar period, this era marked the emergence of
Poland as a leading economy in the region. This resurgence not only signified the
reclamation of political and economic sovereignty but also paved the way for
substantial economic and cultural transformations. The economic liberalisation
4 Armia Krajowa – the Home Army, one of the largest underground resistance movements of the
1940s.
20
that characterised this period involved opening up trade and privatising state-
owned enterprises, actions that were instrumental in integrating Poland into the
global economy and attracting foreign investment. These changes fundamentally
reshaped the economic landscape, establishing Poland as a major economic player
in the region (Piatkowski, 2018). Culturally, the period after 1989 witnessed a
renaissance of national identity, which had been stifled under communist rule. This
renewal of Polish culture was deeply linked with the adoption of a broader
European identity, especially after Poland acceded to the European Union in 2004.
Joining the EU not only furthered Poland’s cultural rejuvenation but also aligned its
cultural and political orientations more closely with Western Europe.
Shaping of the political communication and media in the 19th and the 20th centuries
This section provides a concise overview of the history of political communication
and media since the partitions – a division that lasted for decades and has
significantly impacted contemporary Poland. The media landscape during this
period was profoundly shaped by the governing policies of Prussia, Russia, and the
Habsburg Monarchy, each reflecting their broader administrative goals and cultural
norms.
Under Prussian rule, both the media and the education system were utilised as
instruments of Germanisation, promoting German language and values. This
strategy effectively integrated the Polish territories both economically and
culturally into the Prussian state framework (Davies, ibid.). Conversely, the Russian
Empire implemented heavy censorship and restricted the operation of Polish
language media as part of its Russification efforts, significantly stifling Polish
cultural expressions and limiting public discourse in the 19th century (Davies, ibid.).
Meanwhile, the Habsburgs facilitated a more pluralistic media landscape. Despite
some censorship, they permitted a certain degree of linguistic and cultural
freedom, allowing the use of the Polish language in publications and cultural
activities, which contributed to a more vibrant public sphere in this region (Judson,
2016).
The differences in media freedom and the role of communication across these
partitions not only shaped national consciousness during this period but also left a
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
21
lasting imprint on the region's subsequent development. In territories once
controlled by Prussia, the assimilation policies and German-centric media
contributed to a complex identity landscape, where the Polish language and
traditions had to be consciously preserved against dominant German influences
(Bjork, 2008). Regions under Russian control experienced a resurgence of Polish
cultural and national identity as a direct response to Russification—revival efforts
significantly mediated through underground publications and clandestine
educational efforts (Davies, ibid.). The relatively liberal media policy in Habsburg
territories fostered the flourishing of Polish cultural expressions and the growth of
a Polish public discourse, crucial during the nation's later struggles for
independence. Yet, the territory was also characterised by an extremely low literacy
rate, and effectively, the press only reached intelligentsia circles.
During the interwar-independence, the media landscape in Poland thrived under
the newfound freedom of the press, although some books continued to be
censored at the publishing level, evident from visible white spaces in texts crossed
out by state censors (Kawalec, 2016). This era saw the emergence of various
publications like Gazeta Warszawska and Ilustrowany Kuryer Codzienny, which
actively participated in shaping the national discourse and identity.
The 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany significantly curtailed this period of
media richness, imposing full censorship and severely limiting the freedom that the
Polish media had previously enjoyed. The occupation aligned the press with the
occupiers' propaganda, shut down many outlets, or forced them underground.
Soviet influence later deepened this control, as the USSR sought to integrate Poland
into its ideological framework, using the media as a tool to shape public opinion
and suppress dissent (Miłosz, 1990). They exerted strict control over the media in
Poland, establishing a censorship system that restricted the flow of information and
enforced a narrative conducive to Soviet interests.
Post-1989, the media and communications landscape in Poland underwent
significant development again. The end of state media monopolies led to a vibrant
and diverse media environment, coinciding with the evolution of civil society. That
may be why the Internet has been adopted in the country so quickly, as it
22
revolutionised access to information and connectivity. By the late 1990s and early
2000s, as internet penetration increased, it gave Poles unprecedented access to
the global community, opening a critical window to the West during Poland's
transition, and providing access to a wealth of information inaccessible for over two
centuries.
The historical trajectory of Poland since the late 18th century provides a crucial
backdrop for understanding the context in which the research on the Polish virtual
libertarian community takes place. This history reveals a pattern of oppression by
various state powers, from the Partitions through Nazi occupation and Soviet
domination, with Poles repeatedly falling victim to authoritarian regimes abusing
their power over society. This pattern, far from being unique to the Soviet era, had
been firmly established in this area for a total of over 170 years – between 1795
and 1918 and again between 1939 and 1989. Such prolonged experiences with
oppressive states have profoundly shaped Polish society's attitudes towards
centralised authority and government power which was reflected in the Polish
culture of the period, especially in literary works. One of the best-known examples
in the English-speaking world was Czeslaw Milosz's ‘The Captive Mind’ (1990), for
which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The state interference with
the freedoms of Poles extended to the realm of information circulation, with media
consistently used as tools for controlled dissemination by those in power. Whether
through Germanisation, Russification, or limited cultural freedoms under Habsburg
rule during the Partitions or through strict censorship and propaganda during the
Nazi and Soviet eras, for over two centuries, most media in Poland provided only a
limited service, functioning as means of controlled information circulation. The
emergence of the Internet marked a radical departure from this pattern, offering,
for the first time, limitless and borderless access to information. This shift is
particularly significant when considering the changes that digital media have
brought to human interaction and community formation. In a society with such a
long history of struggles against abusive states, the advent of unrestricted digital
communication platforms holds high importance. It has allowed for the emergence
of virtual communities, like the libertarian group studied in this research, which can
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
23
now form, grow, and evolve without the historical constraints that limited such
associations in Poland. Thus, the study of how the virtual libertarian community in
Poland has adapted to technological advancements gains additional significance,
offering insights into how a society deeply impacted by a history of oppression
responds to and utilises new technologies that promise freedom of information and
association.
Digitisation
The emergence of the Internet has substantially influenced society since the 1990s
(i.e., Giannelis, 2022). It offered access to diverse modes of communication and a
plethora of information, making it a pivotal tool for the modern exchange of
knowledge and experiences. Such a process has heavily influenced the creation of
virtual communities (i.e., Siuda, 2008). It is worth pondering upon the way the
introduction of new technologies in Poland initiated these changes and asking what
the future holds for such communities. Understanding this phenomenon from the
perspective of those involved, i.e., the members of this community, seems to be
even more interesting in such reflections. It is important to study it both in objective
form – that is, as a kind of technological process taking place in the world in recent
decades; and its subjective form, experienced individually by virtual libertarians.
Let me start with a historical outline of technological advancement. In the 1980s,
personal computers (PCs) were starting to be perceived not so much as a vision of
the distant future, but rather as the announcement of a coming decade. Yet, no
one could have guessed how far-reaching changes first the PC, followed by the
virtual network, and then the World Wide Web, would entail. Indeed, technological
changes were enthusiastically received by some, but they were taken with a grain
of salt by the public at the time. To illustrate the then discourse, it’s worth looking
at some comments of the leading technology executives of the 1970s and 1980s.
For instance, Ken Olsen – the president of DEC, the leading computer company at
the time – noted that there is no reason why computers should or would become
a personal domain (Schofield, 2011). For many people at the time, the computer
did not seem to be a tool that could improve the lives of the average person. It was
perceived as a working tool used to compute numbers used in solving mathematical
24
or engineering problems. Crucially, the Internet was also underestimated. Even
Robert Metcalfe, the inventor of the Ethernet, a fundamental component of the
Internet boom, forecasted its decline in the mid-to-late 90s (Strohmeyer, 2008). On
the contrary, the PC and the Internet have become the dominant elements of our
everyday life in the 1990s. The Internet became a mass medium as early as the late
1990s. PC became accessible to the public even earlier, but its sales blossomed with
lower prices and higher availability in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The World
Wide Web (the Web or WWW) has been functioning since the early 90s and
became practically a commodity for more advanced markets already in the late
2010s. This context is, against all appearances, very important. It should be noted
that Poland underwent a political system change at the turn of the 1980s and
1990s. In previous years, under the communist regime (1944-1989), computers
were the domain of public institutions and the military. Private computers, with the
opening to the international market, began to popularise in Poland much later than
in the United States, only in the early 1990s. However, the Internet, which gained
its popularity worldwide in the mid-1990s, became more widespread in Poland as
it coincided with the PC-market explosion. Over a decade and a half, Poland caught
up with technological access. From a country that in the late 1980s had only a few
state-owned television channels, state-owned radio stations and a few state-
owned newspaper titles, it became a country where Internet access became a norm
amongst wider access to other types of media.
The evolving digital market has earned an academic periodisation within the
literature. This periodisation seems quite important, as it shows the degree of
change in the context of the average Internet user. The most popular is the
classification of web development, which takes as its object of categorisation the
way that the user interacts with the content and the form of content delivery itself.
The read-only assumption of Web 1.0 was related to the available programming
languages at the time. Most information on individual websites during this period
still referred to its database (Algosaibi, et al., 2017). It was known as a static-page
period. Users were factual recipients of the content created by the site’s authors.
Interactivity happened on the basic IRC and forum platforms, through e-zines sent
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
25
across the network of emails, etc. (Viswanathan, et al., 2010). This was also the
stage when the first virtual communities began to grow, including those based on
emailing discussion boards. In turn, Web 2.0 was to be a read-write type of site,
with communities being formed around chatrooms, private sites and first blogs, as
well as newer versions of forums – often based on phpBB. What started in the
second phase of Web development became the axis of the third phase. While
earlier technology was still dependent on human action, in the third, so-called,
semantic phase, computers have become one of the three centres that participate
in the information exchange process (read-write-execute through software-to-
software communication), which led to improved information sharing between
users and sites (i.e., Sayre, 2010; Isaias and Kommers, 2015; Burke, 2016; Ugarte,
2017). Virtual communities during this period formed mainly around social media,
which became the axis of their interaction.
The term Web 2.0 was coined in early 1999 but became a popular concept a few
years later, around 2004 (DiNucci, 1999; Strickland, 2007; 2008). Ironically, at this
time it has been used as a catchy slogan for the Internet conference that Tim
O’Reilly was organising, only to become a leading concept of Web periodisation in
later years (Strickland, 2008). The interactive aspect seems to be the key change in
that period. Websites have become more of an interactive platform of
communication. Consequently, both users and the Web began to affect each other
to an unobservable extent (Isaias and Kommers, ibid.). The significance of the
change is sometimes overlooked. Users influenced their decisions on the way
websites were shaped, and in consequence, they also influenced associated
technologies. Indeed, this period – sometimes called the Social Web – has become
a major contribution to the online boom of the late 2000s (i.e., Isaias and Kommers,
ibid.; Strickland, 2007). Examples of this process were blog sites – a type of site
commonly run by one author – that were to become one the most important
elements of the Web in the late-2000s. In the first phase of the Web, they
resembled classic diaries simply transferred to the virtual space, with basic-to-no
interactivity components implemented across the site. However, their popularity
increased exceptionally over time, and simultaneously their operational framework
26
advanced. Instead of a classic diary-like way of posting, blogs became the platform
of interactive content distribution for individuals. In the second phase, especially in
the late 00s and forward, blogging platforms, and blogs as a medium, became one
of the most dominant aspects of Internet communication. Platforms like Twitter
(initially intended to be a micro-blogging space) have also become increasingly
popular, changing how news media function in the 2010s. often, blogs were
effectively private sites where authors published content and communicated it
directly to their audiences. One could say that they have become synonymous with
the interactive nature of the network itself. Blogs have also contributed to the
development of a network of private media channels of so-called influencers –
bloggers, vloggers, and podcasters, who in turn form the communication axis of
Web 3.0.
The third phase brought new interaction levels to the table. The concept of
blockchain was to become a crucial component of Web interactivity (Figure 1).
Simultaneously, computerised applications were to analyse historical users’ – often
consumers – behaviour on and across the Web. Based on these data, they served
fitted results to the end-users, whilst constantly improving their services and
offerings. Such a Web has also become largely interdependent on large content-
platform owners. While in Web 2.0 they could not compete with large media
entities (including virtual ones), in Web 3.0 their influence on end users grew and
is growing to this day. It is they who have had and continue to have a major impact
on the way end users get their information; in effect, taking over the role of the old
media in content distribution.
There are a few authors who disagree with such periodisation. In their view the
Internet itself hasn’t changed that much besides the introduction of new
technology; hence we cannot say that the Web/Internet has changed in some
purposeful manner. For them, there was no turning point between Web 1.0 and
2.0 at all. For instance, Ankerson (2015) points out that some of the technologies
usually associated with Web 2.0 were functional and in use as early as the mid-90s.
Berners-Lee (2006), himself a creator of the Web 1.0 concept, advocated the use
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
27
of the term Web 3.0 but heavily criticised the current understanding of Web 2.0
virtual reality.
Although this work does not endeavour to provide a more refined or superior
approach to periodising the evolution of the Internet, it does strive to enhance our
comprehension of how those alterations have influenced the personal experiences
of users and their corresponding social interactions. By doing so, this undertaking
not only contextualises those deliberations concerning personal experience but
also facilitates the comprehension of them on a more personal level.
Libertarianism
Libertarianism constitutes a family of beliefs and views that accentuate individual
freedom and strong individual responsibility as the protector of such freedoms (van
der Vossen, 2023). Libertarian theory focuses on the role and position of the
individual in the social realm and assumes as the core of its considerations the
private property. As Juruś (2012:10) notes, 'libertarians maintain that the property
right is a fundamental human
right’ and that it is ‘the foundation of (libertarian)
thinking about man and the state'. Also because of that, the individual is self-
owned, and self-determined (Nozick, ibid.). Everyone is perceived as free if they do
not infringe on the individual's property, and independent; fully responsible for self,
yet also limited by the freedom of others – these stem precisely from the notion of
private property and the idea of self-ownership. Libertarians follow a moral
obligation known as the non-aggression axiom or the anti-coercion principle – an
ethical belief that aggression, or forceful extortion, is inherently wrong, and leads
to one’s right for forceful defence in case of its violation (Zwolinski, 2016). The
freedom of an individual is defined by its ability to fully decide upon its fate for as
long as it doesn’t impose aggression on other individuals. Initialising any form of
aggression is, therefore, inseparably connected with the individual responsibility of
the aggressor (Boaz, 2008). Those logical assumptions influence negative
libertarians’ take on several seemingly natural political concepts, including politics
itself. This is also reflected in their criticism of the state, which they believe is based
on forced social order and imposed means of controlling such order via licensed
organisations of violence, i.e., the army and police. On a political and economic
28
ground, libertarianism once more orbits around individual freedom and private
property, whilst assuming that the market economy is the most efficient and ethical
result of a human economic organisation (Hamowy, ibid.).
The most important virtue for libertarians, in an economic sense, would be private
property and fully voluntary market relationships among individual agents (van der
Vossen, ibid.). Libertarians draw the concept of individualism from the Scottish
Enlightenment, particularly from the likes of John Locke, Adam Smith, and David
Hume. They follow the idea that the liberty of an individual is a precondition for a
valid and functional human organisation (ibid.). Interactions between people,
therefore, become the product of such thinking. For libertarians, the basic
assumption of human relations starts with Isaiah Berlin’s concept of negative
liberty. Berlin introduced the distinction between positive (‘freedom to’) and
negative (‘freedom from’) liberties in his “Two Concepts of Liberty” (Berlin, 2002).
The two concepts are usually associated with specific social orders – positive
liberties form a key political credo for the democratic and soc-democratic
ideologies, whilst negative liberties form the axis of libertarian and classic-liberal
ideas. Libertarians fully reject positive liberties as they perceive them as artificial
and unjust (Rothbard, 1978; 2009; Rand, 2005), and factually an effect of an
imposed order. Libertarians assume that the state, and the government as its
product, are unjust, immoral, and even tyrannical (Rothbard, 2009; Konkin, 2006).
Some of them also believe that existing governments might cease to exist at some
point in history. They propose various strategies that were to lead to it: from
limitation and concurrent cease of the state’s functionalities (i.e., Rothbard, ibid.),
constructing alternative market solutions with resulting state-controlled markets
failure (i.e., Konkin, ibid.), to limitation of the existing state and concurrent creation
of the minimal state (i.e., Boaz, ibid.). In economy, most of the libertarians are
proponents of the absolute free market as proposed by the Austrian school thinkers
(von Mises, 1998; Rothbard, ibid.), although there are also representatives of other
free-market economic schools (i.e., Friedman, 2014; Graham, 2005).
On a psychological ground, libertarians tend to have a ‘strong endorsement of
individual liberty at the expense of other moral considerations’ and a ‘robust
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
29
relationship between libertarian morality, a dispositional lack of emotionality, and
a preference for weaker or less-binding social relationships’ (Iyer, et al., 2012, p. 4).
They share disapproval for authority and universalism, but also have relatively low
scores on elements of both individual morality (i.e., emotions towards victimised
groups) and group-level morality (i.e., loyalty and tradition), as they could feel that
those virtues might constitute a hidden attack on individual liberties. They do,
however, score higher on measures of economic and lifestyle liberty (Iyer, et al.,
ibid.).
There is a clear academic gap regarding the virtual character of libertarianism. Even
though some researchers study products of libertarian communities such as
cryptocurrencies (Sotirakopoulos, 2017), or unrestricted Internet usage (called
sometimes cyber- or cypher-libertarianism) (i.e., Thierer & Szoka, ibid.); there are
practically no studies on the character of libertarian virtual communities, and
virtual libertarianism itself. One reason for this may be a misunderstanding of the
concept of libertarianism and its frequent identification with groups that partly
overlap with libertarian views - in the literature often being linked primarily to far-
right communities. This is an important aspect to study, given that the Internet has
been crucial in spreading libertarian popularity in recent years (Short et al., 2022).
Even more intriguing is to capture the dynamics of group interactions within the
libertarian community, specifically within this project. After all, libertarians are
thoroughly imbued with individualism. Their guiding rule for group functioning is,
in its essence, individualistic, which – in the context of community studies – gives
this research a new and deeper character. Libertarian communities can indeed
exist, manifesting as fractal and heterodox virtual entities. These communities
challenge conventional notions of group dynamics by embracing fully decentralised
and adaptive structures that reflect libertarian principles. They thrive in digital
spaces, utilising online platforms for collaboration and idea-sharing while
maintaining fluid membership and situational leadership. This unique framework
allows for the preservation of individual autonomy alongside community
engagement, effectively bridging the apparent paradox between libertarian
individualism and collective action. The fractal nature of these communities
30
ensures that smaller units mirror the larger whole and their heterodox character
accommodates non-mainstream perspectives.
Polish Virtual Libertarian
Until the late 1990s and the creation of Yahoo groups, it was difficult to speak of an
organised group of libertarians in Poland, and even more so, the virtual libertarians.
Initially, Polish libertarians were part of the wider Polish anarchist milieu, clustered
around underground periodicals, such as Mać Pariadka5, and An Arche!6 (Miąsik,
2010). Some virtual libertarians admit that they learned about the idea from other
underground sources, if only from interviews with alternative or punk musicians
(ibid). The actual virtual libertarian organisation started in the late nineties with two
emailing discussion groups parked on the Yahoo mailing lists – ‘libertarianizm’ and
‘Libertarianie’. Around 2001 they were combined into one group named
‘Libertarianizm_PL’ (ibid.). With the establishment of the latter, the number of
users interested in discussing libertarianism began to grow, and in effect – and
partially also due to problems with the Yahoo mailing list – they have created a
modern libertarian forum. It was followed by the creation of a few libertarian sites
parked on the same server and domain, most notably libertarianizm.pl. Together,
it was called Libnet, and under that name, the project began to gain considerable
popularity among Polish Internet users (Ibid.). To this day, Libnet is a vital part of
the libertarian community, which largely forms its own, rather self-contained (that
is, participating in internal conversations and rarely contacting other libertarian
groups) environment. In recent years, in addition to the forum and the individual
pages (at this point, largely inactive), Libnet users have also started to use the
Discord platform7.
In the mid-2000s, other free-market media also began to emerge, centred around
free-market politicians (above all Janusz Korwin-Mikke and a forum of his
5 Mać Pariadka (Mother of Order), founded in 1990 by Krzysztof Galiński, was a pioneering Polish
online magazine, often referred to as a zine. It was the oldest publication of its kind in Poland but
ceased publication in the early 2000s. See: archived issue from December 2002 [Online] [Accessed:
20th April 2023] http://jawsieci.eu/mac-pariadka/opismie/index.htm.
6 Gazeta An Arche! (An Arche! Magazine) was a notable Polish zine that emerged during the 1990s
and continued its publication into the 2000s.
7 [Online] [Accessed: 20th April 2023] https://discord.com/invite/v5Znwh2
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
31
supporters), and intellectuals and activists (above all the Polish Instytut Misesa8).
From the outset, their popularity was relatively high, as demonstrated by the large
number of users engaged in discussions on these platforms. As time passed, the
function of these libertarian communication spaces was gradually overtaken by
social media, particularly Facebook. According to libertarian media owners, it was
largely the people associated with these former platforms who made up the first
wave of libertarian social media users.
With time, other important free-market organisations were established on and via
Facebook (i.e., Fundacja Wolności i Przedsiębiorczości9, and Stowarzyszenie
Libertariańskie10). The platform not only provided space for organisations but also
for individuals who promoted pro-libertarian ideas. Publishers, bloggers, vloggers,
and podcasters such as Agent Tomasz – Tomasz Agencki, Antistate – Rafał Trąbski,
Jacek Sierpiński, Stanisław Wójtowicz, Jacek Gniadek, Liberte! – and even musicians
like Kelthuz and Libertaryat – gained popularity from the 2010s onwards. To this
day, each of these pages or profiles has tens of thousands of followers, even if their
content is not always strictly libertarian.
This popularity has also translated into political interest. In the 2019 elections, a
few candidates and then MPs of the Konfederacja party declared libertarian-like
views, including Jakub Kulesza, Dobromir Sośnierz, Konrad Berkowicz and Artur
Dziambor11. However, some libertarians believe that this was not a representation
of libertarianism itself, but merely a political ploy aimed at winning votes from
8 Fundacja Instytut Edukacji Ekonomicznej im. Ludwiga von Misesa (Polish Mises institute of
Economic Education, IM) is the oldest Austrian School and libertarian non-governmental
organisation (NGO) in Poland. Established in 2003, the institute is dedicated to promoting the
teachings of the Austrian School of economics, which emphasises the principles of free markets,
individual liberty, and limited government intervention.
9 Fundacja Wolności i Przedsiębiorczości (Freedom and Entrepreneurship Foundation, FWiP/FEF) is
one of the oldest libertarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Poland. It was established
in 2012 with the mission to promote and defend the principles of individual freedom, free markets,
and entrepreneurship.
10 Stowarzyszenie Libertariańskie (Polish Libertarian Association, SL) is one of the oldest libertarian
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Poland. It was established in 2013 with the aim of
promoting libertarian principles and advocating for individual liberty, limited government, and free
markets.
11 See: party’s website with a list of MP candidates before the 2019 elections [Online][Accessed:
20th April 2023] https://web.archive.org/web/20220121194153/https://wolnosc.pl/poslowie-
korwin/ [Retrieved via Wayback Machine]
32
supporters of the idea (Sierpiński, 2019). Nevertheless, Polish virtual libertarians’
activity was not limited only to digital communication but moved to social activities
that happen in the physical setting. Polish libertarians organise cyclical meetings
and conferences12, and with time, also charity13, social14, and even political
activities15. Still, the axis of their communication and belonging remains in the
digital world.
To date, no works have been published that address the phenomenon of this group.
Moreover, there are no similar studies in the wider international context of virtual
libertarians. This space holds tremendous significance in the context of the
Internet's influence on the formation of social and political beliefs among its users.
Its importance demands not only this but also further studies in the field.
Research Aims and Objectives
The fundamental phenomenon explored in this thesis is defined as the
advancement of the Internet, and other related technologies that have profoundly
transformed human existence, the process that is universally recognised as the
"digitisation" or digital revolution of the 20th and 21st centuries (Popkova, et al.,
ibid.). This phenomenon serves as a contextual framework for examining the
experiences of members of the virtual libertarian community, who have
encountered it in various aspects of their virtual and physical existence.
Additionally, it is relevant to the broader community of libertarians in Poland, which
they are a part of. The study will consider both their individual and shared
experiences in such contexts.
This work acknowledges and explores the diverse and complex nature of digital
phenomena, which surpasses the traditional framework of social research.
12 i.e., Weekend Kapitalizmu (Capitalism Weekend) is Poland's largest free-market conference with
accompanying events. [Online] [Accessed: 20th April 2023] https://weekendkapitalizmu.pl/
13 I.e., Charity activities, Stowarzyszenie Libertariańskie, ‘Pomóż 13-latce walczącej z rakiem!’ (Help
a 13-year-old battling cancer!). [Online] [Accessed: 20th April 2023] https://slib.pl/pomoz-13-latce-
walczacej-z-rakiem/
14 i.e., Laissez-Fest Festival is a Polish libertarian music and arts festival. [Online] [Accessed: 20th
April 2023] https://laissezfest.pl/
15 I.e., Nie dla ACTA w Polsce (No to ACTA in Poland) is a social movement opposing the European
Union's proposed regulation of the Internet [Online] [Accessed: 20th April 2023]
https://www.facebook.com/nieACTA/
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
33
Technological factors play a crucial role in the investigated processes, further
highlighting the need to extend its boundaries. The primary objective of this study
is to explore the interplay between the phenomenon, as explained above, and the
concurrent growth of the Polish virtual libertarian community, as recounted
through the personal narratives of its members. By doing so, the primary research
question – which pertains to the way community members experienced
technological transformation and the significance they attach to it – can be
investigated. Additionally, it will facilitate an examination of the impact of
technological progress on the entire community, as perceived by the narrators. The
contexts in which the findings are situated will be utilised to provide a
comprehensive framework for understanding and interpreting the results, allowing
for identifying patterns and insights into the impact of technological progress on
the interviewees and the community.
Hence, the research questions that become the research axis of this thesis are as
follows:
1. How do members of the community experience technological change, and
what significance do they attribute to it?
2. What impact, according to the community members, this technological
advancement had on the whole community?
Outcomes of Study
This unique narrative project embodied the voices of members of an influential
digital community of libertarians in Poland, contributing to understanding their
online social and political activity. Most importantly, it aimed to shed light on the
evolving social structure of the digital world, which has undergone significant
changes with the advent of digital technologies and the rise of virtual communities.
By examining the dynamics of the virtual community of Polish libertarians and its
manifestation in the digital realm, this study sought to uncover the transformative
processes at play. Specifically, it focused on how the community evolved, adapted,
and shaped itself within the digital landscape, as it was experienced by its members.
Through this exploration, I aimed to gain insights into the profound shifts occurring
34
in the social fabric of the digital world and provide a clearer understanding of the
changing nature of virtual communities. The research simultaneously introduced
and analysed various factors that explained the characteristics of members of this
community, whilst providing a unique and unprecedented glimpse into the
composition of the group they belong to. By doing so, it paved the way for future
analyses of similar online groups. It was also the first research to explore the virtual
dimension of libertarianism, going beyond the mere examination of libertarians'
philosophical beliefs, which had been the focus of most research in this area.
Moreover, this work aimed to provide some insight into the changes occurring in
the social structure of the digital world. It highlighted the potential for virtual
communities to transform into politically motivated social movements, achieving
their defined political goals, and then reverting to purely social functions. Whilst
this attempt did not intend to provide hard proof of such a process, it was a step
towards a better understanding of the boundary between virtual communities and
online social movements. This study helped address this gap and contributed to a
new perspective on how we perceive these social groups in virtual contexts.
It also introduces the idea of fractal and heterodox communities. It is a virtual
community that deviates from mainstream norms, political and economic
ideologies, and practices, often challenging established paradigms. It is
characterised by a decentralised and adaptive structure, operating through
networks of interconnected individuals or small groups, each functioning
autonomously but reflecting the overall ethos and goals of the larger community.
Leadership within these communities is fluid and situational, allowing for rapid
adaptation to changing circumstances without more rigid hierarchical structures at
play. These communities heavily utilise digital platforms and tools as central
infrastructure for connection, idea-sharing, and collaboration. Membership is also
fluid and dynamic, with individuals joining and leaving based on evolving interests
and needs, contributing to the community's resilience, and responsiveness to
internal and external changes. Drawing parallels with heterodox economics, these
communities embrace diverse perspectives outside mainstream thought and often
transcend conventional political alignments. Finally, the findings of this thesis
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
35
allowed for grounding individual experiences of technological change in the context
of technological advancement and its impact on society, by outlining the ways
virtual communities could engage politically and diffuse their political ideas.
Research Plan
This dissertation comprises seven chapters that collectively contribute to our
understanding of the virtual libertarian community in Poland and the role of
technology in shaping their experiences. The first chapter introduces the main
phenomenon of interest and explains the basic concepts at play. The second
chapter explores the relevant literature that focuses on the concepts of digital
advancement and its impact on the individual, virtual community and social
movements, as well as digital activism. It also analyses the foundations of the fractal
and heterodox communities.
Such a background helps in drawing the theoretical model to be employed in
further chapters of this thesis. The third chapter discusses the methodology
adopted in the study. It begins by acknowledging the qualitative nature of the
research and bringing the focus on gathering subjective accounts from community
members. Various methods, including mixed methods and digital ethnography,
were considered before selecting Episodic Narrative Inquiry (ENI) as, in my view,
the most suitable approach. The chapter further discusses the use of thematic
analysis and the inductive approach to coding, thus introducing a mixed-method
component to the research. This chapter emphasises the importance of both the
contexts and human experience in analysing the data and provides a foundation for
understanding the subsequent analysis of the interview data.
In the next chapter, I explore the origins of the interviewees within the community,
their initial experiences with the digital realm as well as their intellectual journeys
towards libertarianism. I introduce sub-categories of interviewees, including proto-
libertarians, activists, intellectuals, and libertarians of the social media era,
analysing the pathways that led them to join the virtual libertarian community. The
fifth chapter focuses on their sense of belonging to this community. It also analyses
the societal and cultural influences that fostered a desire for libertarian self-
36
identification among them. The chapter explores themes such as family influence,
educational experiences, and the role of networking in creating connections within
the community. All those components are crucial in understanding not only their
pathways towards libertarianism, especially its virtual realm but also in exploring
the concept of the virtual community as the extension of their real lives. The sixth
chapter focuses on the technological aspects that enabled and supported the
virtual libertarian community. It discusses the Internet, media, and information
accessibility, the influence of different media platforms – particularly Facebook –
and the demarcation between the virtual and real worlds as experienced by
community members. I have employed the funnel approach, in which many of the
threads analysed in this chapter have their roots in the previous two chapters. This
approach helps the reader contextualise the data and consequently to better
understand the experiences of my interviewees.
Finally, in the seventh chapter, I offer a synthesis of the findings, discussing their
implications and providing concluding remarks. The chapter examines the
significance of technological change in shaping community members' experiences
and perceptions, as well as the broader impact of technology on the community. It
also concludes the main findings, highlights contributions to the understanding of
virtual communities and technology's role in shaping social dynamics, and suggests
space for future research.
Research Methods
This study is grounded in qualitative research. It was conducted via interviews with
members of the virtual libertarian community in Poland. I have adopted a
pragmatist paradigm as the overarching theoretical perspective, aiming to explore
the way that community members navigate and make sense of technological
change in their social and political activities within the virtual libertarian
community. This paradigm acknowledges the practical consequences of knowledge
and emphasises understanding of the social and cultural contexts in which
knowledge is produced and applied. Ergo, it provides a framework for
understanding the interplay between technology, human experiences, and the
broader social and cultural contexts.
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
37
To effectively capture and analyse the personal narratives of community members
and focus on a specific phenomenon, I have selected Episodic Narrative Inquiry
(ENI) as, in my view, the most suitable method for this study. I considered
alternative mixed methods and digital ethnography, before deciding on ENI. While
some other mixed-methods research approaches would have allowed for a broader
exploration of those threads by combining qualitative and quantitative data, my
focus is on gaining an in-depth understanding of community members' experiences
and perceptions. I also considered digital ethnography, which involves observing
and analysing online communities and their interactions. However, ENI emerged as
the most optimal method as it enables a more comprehensive exploration of the
way that community members understand and perceive technological change. By
using ENI, I can uncover the rich and subjective experiences of individuals, providing
insights into their unique perspectives and the broader social dynamics of the
community. Further elaboration on these methodological choices will be presented
in the Literature Review (Chapter 2) and Methodology (Chapter 3) chapters,
offering a detailed understanding of the research design and its alignment with the
research questions.
38
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter explores how the Internet and its surrounding technologies have
redefined social living by ascribing virtuality to its core, and how it has collectively
reshaped ways in which individuals form identities, build relationships, and
ultimately, engage with the world. It explores new technologies facilitating
continuous, accessible, and multilayered communication, thus transforming social
interactions, human integrations, political engagement, and even cultural
dynamics. It focuses on the emergence of new technologies and the resulting
hybridisation of communication systems. It follows up with the formation of virtual
communities and movements, but also focuses on the idea of digital activism.
Through this exploration, I seek to understand the broader implications of living in
an era where the digital and the real are inextricably linked, shaping new paradigms
of human integration in which new forms of communities emerge. I will investigate
how these changes have led to the creation of fractal and heterodox communities,
characterised by their fluid, decentralised nature and their resistance to traditional
hierarchical structures. A theoretical model resulting from these considerations will
also be presented.
Individuals and the Media
The shape of today's media has been largely determined by the development of
two parallel technological planes of the last three decades, the Internet and mobile
technologies. Each offered an innovative mode of communication, enabling people
to interact more freely and to integrate further into society. The Internet has
evolved from a closed-circuit network intended for sharing information between
research and military centres to a complex ecosystem of global real-time
communication for any agent, that supports – amongst millions of other digital
tools – interactive media and instant communication channels (i.e., Banks, 2008).
Simultaneously, mobile technologies have progressed from digitised telephone and
telegram functionalities – like calling and texting on the go – to sophisticated smart
devices providing access to the Internet everywhere we go (i.e., Lengacher, 2015).
Beyond the Freedom Line: Analysing Libertarian Digital Community in Poland
39
Alongside this, other technologies and tools were developing, which allowed the
digital world to get increasingly integrated into our daily lives – be it the AR/VR
attempting to recreate the multi-sensory experience of physical interaction with
the world (i.e., Cipresso et al., 2018). All those changes have made communication
in the 21st century continuous, accessible, and multifaceted, allowing users to
engage in social activities, manage work, and access entertainment all from the
same device(s); anytime and anywhere. Schroeder (2016) even says that there is
‘an increasing interpenetration between media and two areas of social life: politics
and culture’ and that ‘digital media have extended the reach of media into everyday
life’. Ergo, these changes impacted our consumption and exchange of information,
the interactions we carry, and finally, how we integrate with the world and its
structures.
This interpenetration would not be possible without the synergy of potentials
offered by different types of media in a process known as hybridisation. Such hybrid
media have thus become a key phenomenon of the communication shift. The
hybrid media system is characterised by the interplay between traditional media
forms (i.e., TV, press) and new digital platforms, integrating their respective
operational logics. This system significantly affects the creation, distribution and
consumption (Chadwick, 2017). The 21st-century individual lives in an
interconnected world where digital is ingrained in the physical, essentially, digitally
fuelling the integration of different aspects of life (i.e., Klimmt et al., 2018). Various
media played unique roles in such a digital integration. Most of them focused on
building – or rather providing building toolsets for – digital interactions.
Social media are the pinnacle of such a media system, focused on social interactions
and developing social ties. With the advancement of the Internet, platforms were
created, that offered aggregation of all types of digital interactions, i.e., Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and TikTok, etc. (i.e., McFarland &
Ployhart, 2015). Amongst such interactions, one could think of basic connecting and
conversing with others in real-time (agora-like networking), sharing and consuming
information, collaborating on projects, or engaging in discussions and debates (i.e.,
Hopkins, 2016). Such affordances of social media play a crucial role in altering
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various groups' socialisation processes and knowledge sharing; and even play its
part in power balancing (i.e., Majchrzak, 2013). By finding newer and