Thesis defence The Bra Capital of Poland: Socialism, Capitalism, and Economic Change in Polish Lingerie Industry, 1940s–2020s Add to calendar 2026-02-13 10:00 2026-02-13 13:00 Europe/Rome The Bra Capital of Poland: Socialism, Capitalism, and Economic Change in Polish Lingerie Industry, 1940s–2020s Sala del Torrino Villa Salviati - Castle YYYY-MM-DD Print Share: Share on Facebook Share on BlueSky Share on X Share on LinkedIn Send by email Scheduled dates Feb 13 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CET Sala del Torrino, Villa Salviati - Castle Organised by Department of History PhD thesis defence by Mart Chmielewski This dissertation examines the evolution of the Polish lingerie industry in Głowno from the late 1940s to the early 2020s, focusing on the intersections of socialism, capitalism, gendered labour regimes, and economic change. It explores how transformations from state socialism to postsocialism in Poland reshaped labour organisation, political subjectivities, consumption patterns, and sexual politics within this feminised industry. Drawing on archival research, including previously unexplored cooperative archives, and 21 semi-structured oral history interviews with Cooperative workers, managers, and private business owners, the study offers an analysis of local experiences amid global neoliberalisation. Contrary to narratives of abrupt rupture in 1989, the thesis argues for a more complex understanding of continuity and change in economies of Eastern European states. It shows that flexible, fragmented, and gendered labour regimes characteristic of neoliberal capitalism had roots in socialist-era industry. The socialist cooperative sector in Głowno combined centralised state control with decentralised, gendered production systems, creating layered inequalities within the working class. The post-1989 transition brought increased privatisation, entrepreneurialism, and transnational capital integration, which reconfigured rather than erased socialist labour patterns. The rise of subcontracting, especially with global brands like Triumph International, imposed new controls while perpetuating local precarity and uneven power relations. Gender plays a critical role in these processes: women entrepreneurs of the 1990s navigated a male-dominated business environment by emphasising family frameworks and aligning with neoliberal discourses of empowerment, often obscuring persistent inequalities. Additionally, the material culture of bras reflects shifts in class, sexuality, and consumption, as the industry’s modernisation under socialism gave way to consumption frustrations in the 1980s and commodification in postsocialism. This study contributes to the literature on Eastern European economic transformations by highlighting the entanglement of socialism and neoliberalism in shaping gendered labour and industry decline, situating Głowno’s lingerie sector within global neoliberalisation while centering local experiences. Register