November 28, 2024, 5 pm
Prague, FF UK, Jana Palacha 2,
room 104

The lecture will present a synthetic yet subjective overview of contemporary Polish society’s main structures and political cleavages, focusing on elite divisions. It will trace the evolution of these structures from the late 19th century to today, emphasizing deep-seated hierarchies rather than current conflicts. The analysis will draw on Bourdieu’s field theory, Wallerstein’s world-system theory, and Rokkan’s theory of political cleavages, highlighting both continuity (e.g., multi-generational reproduction of the Polish intelligentsia) and discontinuity (e.g., failures of the Polish bourgeoisie or nomenklatura). The lecture will distinguish between the material and cultural dimensions of social structure and critique popular historical visions of Polish society which can be seen as overly culturalist.

Tomasz Zarycki is sociologist and social geographer, professor at the University of Warsaw and deputy director of the Robert Zajonc Institute for Social Studies (ISS UW). His main fields are sociology of knowledge, politics, culture and the historical sociology of elites. His publications include the following books in English: Ideologies of Eastness in Central and Eastern Europe (Routledge, 2014), and The Polish Elite and Language Sciences: A Perspective of Global Historical Sociology (Palgrave, 2022). More at www.zarycki.pl