the ‘two currents’ theory
‘두 흐름’ 이론
The ‘two currents’ theory was an official propaganda and investigative framework of the Polish People’s Republic that divided the 1956 Poznań uprising into a legitimate workers’ protest and violence attributed to ‘provocateurs and criminals.’ It enabled the authorities to absorb some workers’ demands while managing responsibility through the arrest and prosecution of selected participants.
In depth
The phrase is documented in connection with a 17 July 1956 press interview by Marian Rybicki, Prosecutor General of the Polish People's Republic. Rather than rejecting workers’ economic grievances and the protest in its entirety, the authorities separated a ‘workers’ current’ that could be incorporated from a ‘criminal current’ subject to prosecution. The uprising, however, began as collective action by factory workers; detainees were coercively interrogated and hundreds were held. The formula therefore functioned as a governing discourse that displaced attention from the protest’s socioeconomic causes and state violence while constructing legitimacy for the trials.
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) (supports the protests, detentions, official attribution to provocateurs, and subsequent trials/repression)
- eng.ipn.gov.pl (supports the official distinction between ordinary workers and alleged trouble-makers/provocateurs and identifies Prosecutor General Marian Rybicki's 17 July 1956 formulation of the “two currents” concept)