THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF METAPHOR AND ITS DISCREET CHARM

U raščlambi suvremenih društvenih, kulturnih i gospodarskih procesa u postkomunističkome svijetu, osobito u Poljskoj, Češkoj i drugim srednjoeuropskim zemljama autor primjenjuje metafore dobro poznate u etnologiji i antropologiji (unutar teorije o obredima prijelaza). Kako se van Gennepova i Turnerova teorija temelje na istraživanjima plemenskih društava i rituala, Buchowski temeljito propituje doseg metafora obreda separacije, liminalnosti i agregacije, da bi provjerio mogućnost primjene spomenutih teorija u proučavanju suvremene svakodnevice na razini cijelih nacija. U tom se poslu osvrće na rad znamenitoga poljskog kulturologa Zvgmunta Bajjmana, koji se u jednom svom članku bavi sudbinom društava u poslijekomunističkom razdoblju. Razvijajući svoju analizu između priklanjanja "diskretnom šarmu metafore" i skepse spram vjerodostojnosti znanstvenih modela i znanstvenih prognoza u odnosu na njihovo ostvarenje u praksi, Buchowski je napisao zanimljiv i posve izvoran tekst, koji i hrvatskoga čitatelja - etnologa može potaknuti na sličnu analizu i slična propitivanja hrvatskoga materijala

Impact of Pregnancy on Loss of Deformity Correction After Pedicle Screw Instrumentation for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

OBJECTIVE: A retrospective multicenter comparative study was carried out to evaluate whether pregnancy leads to the loss of deformity correction (LOC) in female patients surgically treated for idiopathic scoliosis. METHODS: A total of 128 female patients who underwent segmental spinal instrumentation and fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) between 1999 and 2014 were reviewed. Of these patients, 62 became pregnant (surgery-pregnancy group [SPG]), whereas 66 did not (surgery-nonpregnancy [SNP] group). Radiographic parameters were analyzed before surgery, after surgery, before pregnancy, up to 1 year after delivery, and at final follow-up (FFU). Health-related quality of life was analyzed using the Scoliosis Research Society outcome questionnaire (SRS-22r). RESULTS: The mean age at the time of surgery was 16 years in both groups. The mean preoperative major curves were 65 degrees (standard deviation [SD], 12 degrees) versus 67 degrees (SD, 11 degrees), 18 degrees (SD, 9 degrees) versus 17 degrees (SD, 9 degrees) immediately after surgery, and 20 degrees (SD, 8 degrees) versus 20 degrees (SD, 8 degrees) at FFU in the SPG and SNP groups, respectively (P > 0.10 for all comparisons). The mean loss of correction was 3.5 degrees (SD, 3 degrees) in the SPG and 4.5 (SD, 3 degrees) for SNP groups, respectively (P = 0.379). The mean preoperative thoracic kyphosis (T5-T12) was 26.5 degrees (SD, 11.9 degrees) for SPG and 24.7 degrees (SD, 14.5 degrees) for SNP, after surgery 19.2 degrees (SD, 9.5 degrees) for SPG, 18.8 (SD, 8.9 degrees) for SNP and at FFU, 20.3 degrees (SD, 9 degrees) for SPG and 21.3 degrees (SD, 8.5 degrees) for SNP. CONCLUSIONS: Women who have undergone pedicle screw instrumentation and fusion who have had >= 1 pregnancies do not have curve progression or deterioration in the longer-term outcomes compared with patients who have not become pregnant.Peer reviewe

Deconstructing and Reconstructing. Embracing Alternative Ways of Producing, Classifying and Disseminating Knowledge

U ovom kratkom radu autori se zalažu za temeljito preispitivanje i reorganizaciju proizvodnje znanja. Intelektualna i kulturna nejednakost dio su socioekonomske nejednakosti. Kako možemo stvoriti bolji svijet ako nismo načisto s premisama znanja koje o tom svijetu imamo te načinom na koji se ono proizvodi? Moramo pažljivo razmotriti što je utišano, a što se glasno izgovara, što je zamagljeno, neprimjetno iako je očigledno ili čemu je dano središnje mjesto. Zadatak nije samo jasno razabrati ono što se ukazuje nakon što se iskopaju te duboko ugrađene pretpostavke. Riječ je i o tome da je potrebno stvoriti nove riječi, nove metode i nove institucije koje neće ponoviti iste greške. Zalog je sljedeću generaciju odgojiti drugačije kako bi bila spremna ucrtati novi put za proizvodnju, klasifikaciju i korištenje znanja na konstruktivniji i inkluzivniji način.In this short piece, we argue for a fundamental reconsideration and reorganization of knowledge production. Intellectual and cultural inequality are part and parcel of socioeconomic inequality. How can we create a better world if we are not clear about the premises behind the knowledge that we have about that world and how it is produced? We need to look carefully at what is silenced and what is said out loud; at what is obscured, hiding in plain sight, or given centre stage. Not only is the task at hand to see clearly what comes into view when these embedded assumptions are excavated. It is also to create new words, new methods, and new institutions that do not repeat the same mistakes. It is a plea to train the next generation differently, so they are prepared to chart a new path toward producing, classifying, and using knowledge in more constructive and inclusive ways

« Chacun laboure comme il peut ». Un village de Grande Pologne face à la transition

« Everyone Tills the Land as He Can » : A Village in Great Poland Faces Transition Since 1989, in Dziekanowice, part of the land belonging to the old state farm has been rented out to farmers, and the rest to a private agricultural company. The village's population comprises four social categories : intellectual workers (employees of the local museum), the farming proletariat (former state farm employees), the rural proletariat (landless families) and farmers (who both own and work land). The market economy has caused traditional conflicts to flare up again between groups of villagers while at the same time creating new ones.À Dziekanowice, depuis 1989, une partie des terres de l'ancienne ferme d'État est louée à des agriculteurs et l'autre à une entreprise agricole privée. La population du village comprend quatre catégories sociales : les travailleurs intellectuels (salariés du musée local), le prolétariat agricole (anciens salariés de la ferme d'État), le prolétariat rural (familles sans terres) et les agriculteurs (à la fois propriétaires et exploitants). L'entrée dans l'économie de marché ravive les conflits traditionnels entre ces groupes de villageois et en crée de nouveaux.Buchowski Michal. « Chacun laboure comme il peut ». Un village de Grande Pologne face à la transition. In: Études rurales, n°138-140, 1995. Paysan au-delà du mur, sous la direction de Edouard Conte et Christian Giordano. pp. 173-183

Teaching Anthropology in Poland

In Poland, anthropology has never been taught as a mandatory or optional course outside university education. Some attempts to introduce anthropology at a level of secondary school were made at the beginning of the 1990s by the late Krzysztof J. Brozi, university professor of philosophy and cultural anthropology. In his arguments in favor of anthropology Brozi insisted on the general humanistic value of anthropology as a discipline studying cultural diversity, and its popularity in the West, particularly in the United States. He trusted that in the period of enthusiasm for sweeping revolutionary changes in all domains of social life this move would bring expected results, however it was an illusory hope. As far as we know, these attempts did not reach beyond discussions in small academic circles and did not reach the governmental level essential for anthropology to be introduced in the country. Furthermore, most policy makers and representatives of educational institutions in the central administration, independently of their political orientation, probably saw philosophy as the humanistic subject that should be taught in secondary schools rather than anthropology. Instead, it is religion and not anthropology that is offered as an elective subject in schools (Buchowski, Chlewińska 2011)

Panel discussion: the challenges of European integration: views from "old" and "new" Europe

This is the archive of a panel discussion given by Gesine Schwan, President, Europa-Universität Viadrina; Michal Buchowski, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Poznan in Poland and of Comparative Central European Studies at Europe-University Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder. This lecture originally aired on WBUR's World of Ideas.Institute for Human Sciences at Boston University; American Council on Germany; Consul General of the Federal Republic of German