He specializes in the history of Polish political thought of 19th and 20th centuries, Second Polish Republic and right-wing National Democracy political camp.
[1] Kawalec graduated from Juliusz Słowacki Grammar School in Wrocław in 1973 and later entered studies at the University of Wrocław, where he studied e.g. under prof. Henryk Zieliński.
[2] Since 1978 he works as academician at the Institute of History of University of Wrocław.
Since the creation of Solidarity trade union at his university in 1980 he was a member of this organization.
[3] His book Spadkobiercy niepokornych: Dzieje polskiej myśli politycznej 1918-1939 (Heirs of Unyielding: History of Polish Political Thought 1918-1939), published in 2000, won the KLIO Prize (Nagroda KLIO) in 2000 for the best scientific monography.