Socialism under Construction. Law and Ideology in Housing, Construction and Spatial Planning in Poland 1944-1989

Piotr Eckhardt focuses on a certain aspect of the history of Polish law in the period 19441989, in particular, administrative law but also touches on the issues of political and legal doctrines (in terms of views on the essence, organization, and function of the state), ideology, and the history of architecture, which traditionally include issues regarding the reconstruction of cities, urbanization, and broadly understood construction and housing. The structure and composition of the work are well thought out. Throughout the work, the author refers to doctrine and practice (including interwar doctrine and practice), compares, draws conclusions, and points to inconsistencies between practice and legal status. He also tries to connect the title issues with the socio-historical changes taking place in Poland over the years 19441989. Professor Tomasz Dolata The monograph is devoted to the influence of official ideology on law-in-the-books and law in action relating to housing, spatial planning, architecture, and construction under Peoples Poland, i.e., in the years 19441989. The author specialising in legal history as well as legal and political thought analysed respective pre-war legislation that could be formally in force over many years (the case, in particular of the 1928 Construction Law) and cumulative new legislation, in order to abstract an ideological background of their enacting and implementation, frequently distant from the texts. The monograph contributes much to our knowledge of the field it is devoted to, as well as to general knowledge of complex relationships between ideology on the one hand and spatial planning and architecture on the other hand. Professor Hubert Izdebski PIOTR ECKHARDT Doctor of Law, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Legal Education and Social Theory, University of Wrocław. Author of several scientific publications in the field of history of law and history of political and legal thought. Lecturer at the Jagiellonian University of the Third Age. His scientific interests focus on the relationship between law and politics, especially in the context of state socialism, political transformation and post-socialism in Central Europe.