Suchergebnisse

1. Pierre Bourdieu's perspective and the problem of dependence: empires, colonies and peripheries -- 2. The field of power in the condition of stateless / post-colonial / space -- 3. The Polish field of power since 1900 – reading history relationally -- 4. The Polish social sciences field in a global context -- 5. A relational history of Polish linguistics since 1900 -- 6. Discourse analysis and the logic of fields of power in Poland. .

This book revisits the modern history of Poland, from the perspective of its social sciences. The book makes this case study a model for the application of Bourdieus approach to the historical analysis of non-core Western societies. The book is, in other words, a reflexive study of the application of Bourdieus social theory. At the same time, it also critically studies the application of Western social theory in Poland, which is largely seen as a peripheral country. The study of Polish social sciences, with particular emphasis on linguistics and literary studies, points to the peculiar dynamics of peripheral intellectual and academic fields and their external dependencies. These insights offer a critical extension of Bourdieus theory of state and social elites beyond the Western core focusing on how the theories can be used in the reinterpretation and expansion of post-colonial theory, global history and comparative studies of post-communism. The book will be suitable for scholars and students of all those interested in the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu, global historical sociology, societies in Central and Eastern, socio-linguistics, literary studies and political sociology.

Abstract: This article examines the figure of an outstanding Polish philologist — Maria Renata Mayenowa (1908–88) — attempting to interpret her life trajectory with the help of sociological tools. It is argued that Mayenowa's biography is significant in the context of the history of Polish, as well as Eastern European intellectual thought, for several reasons. First, it can be helpful in the reconstruction of the Polish involvement in the development of social theory in the twentieth century. Second, it provides insight into Polish-Russian, and more broadly, Polish-Eastern European intellectual relations in the twentieth century. Finally, the third reason is the non-obvious forms in which the history of Eastern European Jewish elites, and in particular the Jewish bourgeoisie, manifested itself in her biography.

W tekście zaprezentowano krytyczną analizę książki Marcina Piątkowskiego Europejski lider wzrostu. Polska droga od ekonomicznych peryferii do gospodarki sukcesu [2019], rozumianej jako reprezentatywny przykład dyskursu entuzjastycznego wobec tzw. transformacji postkomunistycznej. Wspomniana praca rozpatrywana jest jako przykład dyskursywnej formy legitymizacji zachodzących wówczas radykalnych zmian, a przede wszystkim procesów przekształceń własnościowych, których ważnym elementem było przejście znaczącej części majątku narodowego w ręce właścicieli zagranicznych. Ramę interpretacyjną przyjętą w rozprawie stanowią teoria zależności oraz krytyczna teoria kapitalizmu Davida Harveya. W tej drugiej jednym z kluczowych elementów jest proces wywłaszczenia jawiący się jako ważna siła napędowa ekspansji globalnego kapitalizmu. Jak pokazano w tekście, w takich właśnie kategoriach wywłaszczeń rozpatrywać można nie tylko procesy przekształceń własnościowych w okresie po upadku PRL, ale także wcześniejsze cykle zmian własnościowych, szczególnie po 1918 r. oraz te rozpoczęte w 1945 r. Można zatem uważać zaproponowaną interpretację za próbę wpisania dominujących narracji na temat transformacji w ramy materialistycznej analizy ewolucji systemu światowego. Wskazano też, że omawiane procesy i dyskursy legitymizują pośrednio półperyferyjny status Polski w systemie światowym oraz strukturalnie uprzywilejowują elity inteligenckie, m.in. kosztem krajowej burżuazji.

The text starts with a supportive opinion on the concept of the Global East, evaluating it as a convincing and useful tool for the development of critical studies on the so-called post-communist or the second world in a wider global perspective. In the remaining comments, several reasons for possible problems with the broader implementation of the proposed concept are discussed. They include both the resistance which it could encounter in Central and Eastern Europe, and broader, structural reasons why introducing it as a frame parallel to the Global South paradigm may be problematic. Among the examples of similar issues with new theoretical projects, the experience of the complex and not always enthusiastic reception of the post-colonial theory in Poland is briefly discussed.

This paper deals with the role of social sciences, and more specifically of geography and regional planning, in the legitimization of European integration and neo-liberal economic and social reforms introduced since 1989 in Poland and, more broadly, in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. Using the example of an intellectual biography of Antoni Kukliński, one of the most prominent Polish geographers, the role of the old intelligentsia elite and its American profes­sional experiences in the evolution of the Polish academia is also analyzed, as well as its involvement in the first non-communist government. The paper also discusses the absence of critical schools within the field of Polish geography as well as other disciplines of social sciences. This is done though the reconstruction of the basic structure of the given academic field and its evolution over time from late communist period to present days. This specific structure of the field of Polish geography, which as it is argued is similar to other fields of social sciences and humanities in Poland, also helps to better contextualize the trajectory of Kukliński.

This paper deals with the role of social sciences, and more specifically of geography and regional planning, in the legitimization of European integration and neo-liberal economic and social reforms introduced since 1989 in Poland and, more broadly, in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. Using the example of an intellectual biography of Antoni Kukliński, one of the most prominent Polish geographers, the role of the old intelligentsia elite and its American profes­sional experiences in the evolution of the Polish academia is also analyzed, as well as its involvement in the first non-communist government. The paper also discusses the absence of critical schools within the field of Polish geography as well as other disciplines of social sciences. This is done though the reconstruction of the basic structure of the given academic field and its evolution over time from late communist period to present days. This specific structure of the field of Polish geography, which as it is argued is similar to other fields of social sciences and humanities in Poland, also helps to better contextualize the trajectory of Kukliński.

This article proposes to look at the current moment in the recent history of the so-called Central-European countries, with Poland as a critical case study, through a structural comparison with an earlier historical cycle, that is one of the first three decades of the communist rule in the region. Thus, I propose to compare the social and economic situation in Poland of circa 1975 with that of 2019, so 30 years after the establishment of a new given political order (30 years after 1945 and 1989 respectively). The paper will offer a general overview of the trajectory of Poland in the post-war era, based primarily on the perspective of the world-system theory and that of the critical sociology of elites, one which will also point to the essential structural contexts of the post-communist dynamics of society. This paper will be based on a basic observation: even if both the 1970s and late 2010s can be considered as periods of relative political stabilization and economic growth for the region as such, and Poland in particular, these countries are, at the same time, subjected to a considerable and even increasing economic dependence on the Western core. In the conclusions, it is argued that the proposed comparative approach, taking into account both an earlier historical cycle and the broader structural dependency of the region, may allow to cast a new light on the nature of current dynamics in Polish politics as well as on the possible future trajectories of the country.

The departure point for the author's reflections is Agata Zysiak's book entitled Punkty za pochodzenie. Powojenna modernizacja i uniwersytet w robotniczym mieście [Points for Class Origin: Post-War Modernization and the University in a Working-Class City] (2016). He develops his earlier ideas on the role of the intelligentsia in Poland's social hierarchy, particularly in connection with the world elite, which, after Bourdieu, he calls the "field of power." Zysiak's analyses provide him with arguments for the statement that the period of the Polish People's Republic can be treated, in multiple dimensions, as having strengthened the position of the intelligentsia and especially of selected milieus within it. Zysiak's proposed description of the "university in a workers' city" produces a picture of the triumph of the intelligentsia-elite, whom the new institution of higher learning effectively forms into a successive tool for the strengthening of its privileged status. It also, in the author's opinion, a factor in the failure of the "new bourgeoisie," that is, the parts of the middle class that after the periods of modernization reforms had large hopes of maintaining both their status and financial privileges. At the same time, in opposition to the traditional intelligentsia, the new bourgeoisie overlooked the classic distinction games of the elite and believed in the compensatory strength of the manifestation their — usually recently — acquired material resources. The author also reflects on the current picture of Polish scholarship.

This paper proposes a relational and critical sociological perspective on discourse analysis, in particular on so-called "Critical Discourse Analysis" (CDA). The main argument of this paper is that CDA has not yet been able to turn its critical perspective towards its own field. Meanwhile, neither CDA nor other schools of discourse analysis can still pretend not to be integral parts of the system legitimizing social hierarchies in modern societies. The paper argues that discourse analysis can be seen as highly dependent on power relations, both because of its institutional positioning and because of its restricted reflexivity. A call for the development of a critical sociology of discourse analysis based on a relational approach is therefore presented. Its draft programme is largely based on inspiration from the sociology of knowledge, in particular from "the sociology of sociology" of Pierre Bourdieu.