The transmission of political values across generations often hinges on community ties, yet their precise role remains elusive in post-conflict societies.
This paper examines forced population transfers at Poland's border change following WWII as a natural experiment to test these influences. Specifically analyzing descendants of Galician migrants displaced onto former East German territory,
we isolate the effect of communities versus families by leveraging the quasi-random settlement patterns where some became majority groups and others minority factions in their new villages.
Community Bonds vs. Family Influence: By exploiting this unique historical context, we identify how community bonds impact long-term value transmission.
Galician Migrant Descendants Today: We survey individuals now living on both sides of the displacement to capture contemporary manifestations.
Our findings reveal a clear pattern: residents in Galician-majority settlements today express stronger alignment with values associated with Austrian imperial rule from their ancestors' homeland. This effect persists even after controlling for family background, suggesting community bonds play a crucial role in preserving political traditions across generations—a phenomenon not captured by existing theories emphasizing individual rational choice.
These results highlight the significance of collective memory and social networks in shaping contemporary attitudes within post-conflict societies.
| The Role of Communities in the Transmission of Political Values: Evidence from Forced Population Transfers was authored by Volha Charnysh and Leonid Peisakhin. It was published by Cambridge in BJPS in 2022. |
