Humanistyka: jej prawa i powinności

Contemporary humanities, as always, are in danger because of three factors: market, politics and bureaucracy. But for humanities in the country like Poland there is one more risk: lack of intellectual autonomy. Polish humanities were ever interested much more in western novelties than in their own traditions. Thereby now, as usual, they take the role rather of travelling agents for foreign ideas instead of creating original theories and narrations by themselves which would make it possible for their culture, society and country to come into prominence.Achieving independence of thinking is the first purpose for Polish present-day humanities. Współczesna humanistyka, jak zawsze, jest zagrożona przez trzy czynniki: rynek, politykę i biurokrację. Ale nauki humanistyczne w kraju takim jak Polska są w niebezpieczeństwie jeszcze z jednego powodu: braku intelektualnej autonomii. Polscy badacze zawsze interesowali się dużo bardziej nowinkami z Zachodu niż ich rodzimą tradycją. To dlatego, jak zwykle, pełnią rolę raczej komiwojażerów cudzych idei, zamiast samodzielnie tworzyć oryginalne teorie i narracje, które nadałyby znaczenie ich kulturze, społeczeństwu i krajowi. Osiągnięcie niepodległości w myśleniu jest najważniejszym wyzwaniem dla dzisiejszej polskiej humanistyki

Słowo wstępne

Niniejsza publikacja dedykowana jest Profesor Marii Wieruszewskiej-Adamczyk w 70. rocznicę urodzin i niemal 50-lecie pracy naukowej. Jest swoistym hołdem złożonym Uczonej, która zajmuje wyjątkowe miejsce w nauce polskiej i w ogóle europejskiej. Dorobek naukowy Jubilatki powstawał w dwóch środowiskach: łódzkim (Instytut Etnologii i Antropologii Kulturowej UŁ) oraz warszawskim (Instytut Rozwoju Wsi i Rolnictwa PAN).Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

POLISH MIGRATIONS IN LONG-TERM AND GREAT-AREA VIEW

Migrations of rural people have long tradition and specific characteristics in Poland. They arę incomplete, cyclical and they uphold traditional forms of life. The main effective cause is here the character of great-area economy, where centre countries take advantage from countries on periphery (specially - their labour force). These aims were imminent in Nazi plans named "Grossraumwirtschaft" (H. Kahrs) and the same are inherent in present plans of European integration (D. Diner). Each time the basic condition is to remove small landholders from their property and change them into 'wandering workers'

Polish village – results of transfomation process

Nietrudno zauważyć, że mijające właśnie dwadzieścia lat transformacji to zarazem dwadzieścia lat nieustannych ataków na to, co wiejskie i chłopskie. W tym krytykowaniu, ale częściej w szkalowaniu, biorą udział nie tylko dziennikarze i uczestnicy kolejnych debat publicznych, ale również socjologowie, często zresztą prezentujący swoje opinie w mediach jako uznani eksperci. Wszystkie te wypowiedzi – zawarte w nich oceny oraz sądy wyrażane nie wprost, lecz oddziałujące przez swoje mniej lub bardziej zawoalowane konotacje – stworzyły jednoznacznie negatywny obraz rzeczywistości

Polish Countryside in Times of Transition: Myths and Reality

Any attempt to recapitulate research findings on the countryside during the transition period should not neglect the prevailing view of the countryside in sociology. The systemic transformation in Poland did not bring a parallel transformation in thinking within sociology. The prevailing paradigm is that of modernisation, i.e. an anti-rural view which sees the countryside as an inferior sector, doomed to adapt to current trends: to communist rules before 1989 and to market economy and civil society rules at present. Numerical data for the last 60 years, reflecting the essential social and economic transformations in the countryside and agriculture, suggest a viewpoint which is different from the prevailing one. The agrarian segment has not been undergoing a transformation but, rather, desolation. The latter is a consequence of another modernisation paradox experienced by Poland after 1989, i.e. transformations effectively financed by the countryside and implemented at the expense of the country’s rural areas

A Hundred Years of Village Monographs in Poland. Jubilee Reflections

Monographs of local rural communities played an important role in Polish sociology until the 1970s. They had been preceded by numerous sociographic descriptions and social surveys made already in the first half of the 19th century.Numerous critical remarks made about classical (descriptive, encyclopedic) monographs, which stressed that such accounts lacked a representative character and provided no material for formulating general conclusions, that they represented a synchronic and not a diachronic approach and contained redundant details, were justified. However, the best monographs in Polish sociology met all the strict methodological requirements and their most important value was a reliable description of social reality, which has been neglected since the moment of the popularization of research conducted with the help of questionnaires that concentrate mainly on the analysis of the respondents’ awareness. Traditional monographs seem to represent an interesting approach to scientific investigations, even from the point of view of present dilemmas in social sciences (the postulated restraint on the part of the author, incoherence of culture, the researcher’s ethos, science’s non-involvement in temporary matters). Therefore, it is worth examining this inconsiderately abandoned genre of sociological literature

On the need and benefits of researching rural areas and agriculture in Poland

The article presents arguments for the cognitive, theoretical and methodological benefits of studying the countryside and agriculture. Contrary to the often repeated opinions that they owe their existence to the anti-ruralist orientation of social sciences, orientalisation procedures or urban chauvinism, these are not unimportant phenomena in the contemporary world: they still constitute a significant part of the current socio-economic reality, the shape of many other important processes and events depends on their existence, and their study allows for the verification and falsification of established judgments, including many recognised scientific concepts. Also, the achievements of Polish rural sociology, agricultural economics or economic history – in most cases interdisciplinary in nature – turn out to be pioneering and significant in the light of later achievements of world science, which indicates that the problems of the countryside and agriculture are still a promising area of ​​research

On the so-called patriarchy in the Polish countryside

‘Patriarchy’ is one of many terms frequently applied in the studies of the Polish countryside (its culture and people’s mentality). Perceived as self-evident, the notion hardly ever comes with an in-depth justification for its use. At the same time, ethnographic literature, classical rural sociology, diary materials, monographs, and linguistic data offer no evidence to support the claim about patriarchy in rural areas. While Polish society, part of which was rural, and the attitude of the Church as a rule could be described as patriarchal, rural communities developed mechanisms and customs that contradicted this general profile. Based on a review of arguments from various sources, the author draws a different conclusion and proposes its justification. As suggested by contemporary humanities and, more broadly, social sciences, dichotomous categories may hinder the theoretical analysis of reality, making a search for new, less dualistic but more adequate, concepts necessary. In view of the above, the term ‘patriarchy’ should not be used unquestioningly as a strictly ideological epithet

From Folk Festivities to the Organoleptic Concept of Culture

Contemporary cultural phenomenon and the type of their receipt uncover that applied up to now ideas are faulty. More and more we have to do witch texts that their receivers do not pay attention to signs and values but to sensual qualities. “Return to things” and “neomaterialism” are popular slogans in contemporary humanities but without conviction that it means necessity of resignation prevailing foundations (for ex. understanding or interpretation) and forces us to acceptation rather naturalistic ideas. Describe of enterprises which are popular on rural and in small towns in Poland shows us that this change is important and unavoidable