Dystopia's Provocateurs

"By concentrating on the local strategies of combination in the areas of uprootedness, Materka has made an interesting and valuable contribution to our knowledge of human behavior. References and the use of Polish words for important concepts are exemplary. . . . [H]er collection of narratives provides food for thought on the relation between formal regulation and human ingenuity."—Baltic Worlds

"Rare and exceptionally well-researched analysis of an invisible practice. "—Alena Ledeneva, author of Can Russia Modernise?: Sistema, Power Networks and Informal Governance

"Materka has produced an eloquently written, exciting, and meticulously analyzed ethnographic history that marks an alternative to the vast majority of strictly archival-based historical literature on the German-Polish borderlands. Within the field of Polish history, this book is also an important contribution as the first extensive work on the critical role of informality in the politics, society, and economy of People's Poland."—Peter Polak-Springer, H-German

"Indeed, Dystopia's Provocateurs is an unorthodox scholarly work with regard to both content and form. Venturing beyond scholarly conventions, Materka smoothly blends ethnographic analysis with cultural criticism as she dissects the ghosts of kombinacja in post-1989 Poland (p. 173–193) and when she compares the current developments in Pomerania and Silesia (p. 201–210). . . . Dystopia's Provocateurs is a highly inspiring book not only for those interested in the history of East Central Europe, but also scholars working in the vibrant field of informality studies."—Kornelia Kończal, Hsozkult