Poland's membership in the European Union (EU) marked a major crossroad in the country's extraordinary path of reform since the peaceful overthrow of communism in 1989. Drawing on life stories told to me over the course of twenty years, I examine this critical period from the perspective of the generation who came of age in the earliest years of neoliberal and democratic transformation, and established careers and families as Poland negotiated its place within the EU. I also advance an approach to identity that recognizes the primacy of people's experiences and their associated thoughts and feelings. I start with the assumption that the only way to understand why some collective identities resonate while others fall flat is by considering what individual selves think, feel and do in response to historical circumstances. In other words, identity is an inherently psychological phenomenon; it takes shape within people's minds.

This may seem to some readers like an obvious point, but much scholarship in anthropology has started with the premise that there is no way of knowing what goes on in people's heads. Those inclined toward interpretive approaches have instead focused on collective representations, especially symbols, rituals, media reports and other forms of communication between people; those taking a materialist approach have tended to focus on objects, institutions and power hierarchies. Correspondingly, rather than talking about “selves” or “individuals,” studies have instead discussed “subject positions,” “social actors” or “roles and statuses,” and thus avoid dealing with the particular people who fill those categories. I argue, by contrast, that unless we take into account the personal experiences, thoughts and feelings of bounded, integrated selves, we diminish what we are able to understand about two fundamental areas of anthropological interest: identity and culture. If we do not pose questions that take into account psychological phenomena, we close ourselves off from ever understanding why people do what they do or believe what they believe.

In 2005, only a year after Poland's historic entrance into the EU, I talked with Poles about their experiences as EU citizens, as well as their thoughts and feelings about EU membership. Their responses were often surprising considering conventional expectations based on socioeconomic and other demographic factors.