Polish Discussions about the Status of Historical Sources in 1989–2019. Selected Examples and Applications

The aim of this article is to present selected methodological threads of the discussion on the status of historical sources which took place in Polish post‑war historiography. In the article, I present the concepts of the historical source formulated in 1957–1989, mainly by Gerard Labuda and Jerzy Topolski. Further in the text, I will present the discussion about Topolski’s concepts and characterize the peculiarities of contemporary history as regards historical sources. In the light of the presented classification of sources, I will reflect on the status of the documents created by the apparatus of repression of the Polish People’s Republic

Between positivism and narrativism in Polish methodology of history

This paper has two main purposes. Its primary purpose is to present the reception of the discussion between positivism and narrativism in the Polish methodology of history. A secondary one is to paraphrase, using the notion apparatus of the idealisational theory of science, the issue of the accuracy of explanation. The article consists of six parts. In the first part, Hempel’s deductive-nomological (or covering-law) model of explanation is presented. In the second part, the main tenets and assumptions of the Poznań school of methodology are presented. The emergence of this school at the end of the 1960s delayed the popularisation of narrativism in Polish methodology of history. In the third part, the manifold reasons of this delayed reception are analysed. The popularization of narrativism was only possible in Poland after 1989, but it had a primarily imitative character. This outline of cultural and scientific context allows Chris Lorenz’s proposals (on the problem of the accuracy of explanation) to be put in a wider perspective (part four). Namely, this author describes “a theoretical historical debate” on the status of scientific laws and refers to a post-positivistic approach to science represented by Nancy Cartwright. This approach was to introduce new perspectives to the understanding of lawfulness. In the fifth part, the main assumptions and tenets (for example, modes of explanation) of another post-positivistic approach to science, namely the idealisational theory of science, are presented and compared with the Hempelian model of explanation. In the sixth part, Hempel’s explanatory sketch is paraphrased using the notion apparatus of the idealisational model of science which provides a solution in this theoretical framework, to the problem of accuracy of explanation posed by Lorenz

Interpreting Poland

The paper aims to interpret the political situation in Poland after 2015 double elections in terms of non-Marxian historical materialism. According to presented interpretation the taking power by Law and Justice Party not only limits the scope of influence of the previous ruling party but can lead to significant redistribution of political power, economic profits and intellectual influence. In the last part of paper, the prognosis about future development of situation in Poland is propose

Communitarian Dimensions in the Socio-Political Thought of the Solidarity Movement in 1980–1981

The purpose of this paper is an interpretation of the social and political thought of the Solidarity movement in the light of the political philosophy of communitarianism. In the first part of the paper, the controversies between liberalism and communitarianism are characterized in order to outline the communitarian response toward the authoritarian/totalitarian challenge. In the second part, the programme of a self-governing republic created by Solidarity is interpreted in the spirit of communitarianism. I reconstruct the ideal vision of human being expressed in of ficial trade union’s documents and essays of Solidarity’s advisers (e.g., Stefan Kurowski and Jozef Tischner), and the efforts of the movement for telling the truth about history and its vision of Polish history. Also, I interpret the programme of Self-Governing Republic adopted during the First National Convention of Delegates of Solidarity. In these programmatic documents of Solidarity, one may find ideas characteristic both of the communitarian and liberal political philosophy. However, the liberal ones—including, primarily, the guarantee of human and citizens’ rights, and of individual liberties—were subordinated to the postulate of reconstructing the national and social community. In the course of transformation after 1989, these communitarian elements of Solidarity programme, incompatible with liberal ideological agenda, have been erased

From Proletarian Revolution to National Uprising. An Overview of Conceptualizations of Polish Solidarność

The purpose of paper is to review of various approaches to this movement in the social science and the humanities. The author is going to seek answer to the following interpretative question: whether a given conceptualization grasp „Solidarity” movement in dynamic or in static way. In the second part of the paper interpretations of „Solidarity” in analytical categories of insurrection, civil, ethical revival, postmodern, religious, republican, revolutionary and social movements are presented. Finally, the author tries to identify reasons of dynamic or static approach to „Solidarność.

Between Modernization and Enslavement: The Historiosophical Implications of Two Approaches to the Social Divisions in Real Socialism

The purpose of this chapter is to review and discuss conceptualizations of social divisions in real socialism. Namely, I will compare a neo-Marxist approach to social stratifi-cation with a neo-Weberian ones. The examples of the works made in Marxist tradition are concepts of Milovan Djilas and Michael Voslenski, whereas Leszek Nowak's non-Marxian historical materialism can be interpreted as continuation of neo-Weberian tradition. This comparison will be made according to the following criteria: the position of party apparatus, the manner of explication, the status of political sphere and the vision of historical process. The compared concepts lead to different historiosophical and theoretical implications present in the empirical works which silently assumed a given approach. In the neo-Marxist approach, the very coming into existence of real socialism is discussed in terms of modernization processes, that is, the necessity to 'catch up with' the historical delay of Central and Eastern Europe. In the version of neo-Weberian approach presented here, it is assumed that the basic interest of the political authorities is to gain domination over the rest of a society and that real socialism occurs as a result of the dominance of power over property in the societies of Eastern Europe

The Historical Distinctiveness of Central Europe

The aim of this book is to explain economic dualism in the history of modern Europe. The emergence of the manorial-serf economy in the Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary in the 16th and the 17th centuries was the result of a cumulative impact of various circumstantial factors. The weakness of cities in Central Europe disturbed the social balance – so characteristic for Western-European societies – between burghers and the nobility. The political dominance of the nobility hampered the development of cities and limited the influence of burghers, paving the way to the rise of serfdom and manorial farms. These processes were accompanied by increased demand for agricultural products in Western Europ

The Coronavirus in liberal and illiberal democracies and the future of globalized world

The aim of this article is to compare the effectiveness of two political systems: liberal democracy and illiberal democracy in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The analysis has been carried out on the basis of the theoretical assumptions and conceptualization of non-Marxian historical materialism. In the first part of my article, I present the concept of "regulative credit" which has been introduced in that theory. In standard socio-political conditions, the growth of power regulations is usually contested by citizens. However, in a situation of danger, when social order is undermined, citizens support the authorities’ extraordinary regulations. This social support, called regulative credit, lasts as long as the danger persists. In chapter two, I characterize shortly liberal and illiberal democracies. In liberal democracy, there is a balance between different branches of power, and citizens share a socio-political consciousness of the individualistic type. In illiberal democracy, the executive branch of power -although it has been democratically chosen- has an advantage over the two other kinds of power, and citizens share a socio-political consciousness of the collectivist type. Those differences result in diverse reactions of the authorities to a situation of threat. The political authorities of an illiberal democracy react faster in comparison with the political authorities in liberal democracies that react slower. Also, the attitude of citizens toward the introduced restrictions varied. Societies of illiberal democracies are more self-disciplined and more willing to accept restrictions from above. Whereas societies of liberal democracies are more individualistic and less willing to accept limitations. In the fourth part of my paper, I analyze briefly the influence of the pandemic on globalization processes and on the relations between the EU and the nation states in Europe. In the summary (chapter five), I predict that the mass use of modern technologies to control social life and strengthening of the sovereignty of nation states will be the two most important effects of the pandemic

Jak narracje wyjaśniają? Wokół Paula A. Rotha koncepcji narracji historycznej

Celem artykułu jest prezentacja koncepcji wyjaśniania narracyjnego Paula A. Rotha i zestawienie tego ujęcia z koncepcją narracji historycznego Jerzego Topolskiego oraz idealizacyjnym ujęciem narracji historycznej (Izabela Nowakowa i dalsze rozwinięcia). Zestawienie tak odmiennych perspektyw teoretycznych pozwoli wydobyć ukryte założenia i tezy przyjęte w obu porównywanych stanowiskach. W rozdziale II i III przedstawiona została wizja nauk historycznych Paula A. Rotha oraz rozwijana przez niego koncepcja narracji. W dwóch następnych rozdziałach przedstawię główne założenia idealizacyjnej teorii nauki (rozdział IV) i koncepcję narracji historycznej Jerzego Topolskiego i Izabeli Nowakowej (rozdział V). W rozdziale V przedstawię również próbę własnego rozwinięcia idealizacyjnej koncepcji narracji historycznej o tzw. wariant narracji rozgałęzionej. W rozdziale VI zawarte będą końcowe wnioski i tezy

Wyjaśnianie historyczne w tradycji analitycznej filozofii historii

Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie rozmaitych sposobów wyjaśniania stosowanego w praktyce badawczej historyków. Autor prezentuje model dedukcyjno-nomologiczny Hempla i dyskusję wokół stosowania praw naukowych w historii, wyjaśnianie działań ludzkich poprzez odwołanie się do założenia o racjonalności oraz wyjaśnianie przyczynowe i wyjaśnianie narracyjne