The ‘Capital of Bras’ and the Transformations of Capitalism: Cooperative and Private Undergarment Production in Socialist and Postsocialist Poland
Guest: Marta Chmielewska
Date: January 16th, 18:00
Location: Room 405, FSAS Mărăști
This presentation will highlight the main findings from my PhD project, which explores the evolution of the lingerie industry in Głowno, known as the “bra capital of Poland,” over the past 70 years, from the 1949 to the 2020s. Through oral history interviews with workers, managers, and business owners in the corsetry industry, I examine the shift from independent cooperative production to state socialist shop floors, and eventually to private entrepreneurship, reflecting broader shifts in global value chains. I focus on a dual process of privatization: one through sub-production contracts with Western companies, and another driven by small-scale entrepreneurship—a form of privatization „from below.” In doing so, I contribute to scholarship on how the interplay between global capitalism and local experiences generates inequalities based on class, nationality, race, gender, and sexuality, offering new insights into labor and capital dynamics in post-socialist Europe.
Marta is a PhD student in the History Department at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. Before joining EUI, they studied art history and sociology at Warsaw University and Central European University. Marta is currently teaching Introduction to Queer Theory as part of the GTFP CEU program at UBB. They are passionate about intersectional economic research, feminist, and queer theory.
