- Tytuł:
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The Nation’s Longue Durée. Social Dimensions of Polishness (1988-2021)
Długie trwanie narodu. Społeczne wymiary polskości (1988-2021) - Autorzy:
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Nowicka, Ewa
Łodziński, Sławomir
Orla-Bukowska, Annamaria
Kowalski, Michał W.
Kwiatkowski, Piotr Tadeusz - Powiązania:
- https://bibliotekanauki.pl/books/2041161.pdf
- Data publikacji:
- 2022-04
- Wydawca:
- Collegium Civitas
- Opis:
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W książce analizujemy funkcjonującą w społeczeństwie polskim autodefinicję członka narodu polskiego. Oparliśmy się na sondażu z 2018 r. (i porównaniu z wynikami sondaży z 1988 r. i 1998 r.) oraz na badaniach jakościowych z lat 2020-2021. Wyniki wskazują, że polska tożsamość narodowa opiera się na samoidentyfikacji i cechach kulturowych (znajomości języka i kultury polskiej). Taki typ samookreślenia decyduje o inkluzywizmie narodowym - akceptacji cudzoziemców jako Polaków pod warunkiem ich identyfikowania się z polską kulturą i wspólnotą narodową.
Conclusion The principal objective of the book at hand was to disentangle the threads of the fabric comprising the way Poles think about their national identity. Within the framework of that identity’s structure, we endeavored to distinguish key elements which logically organize their reasoning; we delved deeper in order to reach other elements which are merely derivative or only incidentally linked to the way Polishness is envisioned. The sense of Polish national belonging is characterized by stability; this was demonstrated by the data drawn from both our quantitative survey research and qualitative in-depth interviews. The structural constellation of its determinants remains largely impervious to fundamental systemic transformations, international political networks, and economic changes (in other words, civilizational shifts). Since the beginning of our longitudinal research project in 1988 (the last year of centralized, soviet socialism), the most vital criteria for establishing the Polishness of an individual remain: 1) a feeling of being Polish, and 2) fluency in the Polish language. Certainly, the emphasis placed on each criterion in the thinking about Polishness has shifted on a societal scale, but these have not been radical changes. The criteria assessed as important and very important by the vast majority of Polish society three decades ago continue to be at the top of the list of conditions to be met for national identity. Seeking the causes for this clarity and sharpness in the model of Polishness functioning in the social consciousness of Poles, we can look precisely at the changing environs which constantly impinge upon the solidity of the Polish national identity. Underpinning this are the contemporary core values, as Jerzy Smolicz understood them (1981). Apart 195 Ewa Nowicka, Sławomir Łodziński from the exceptionally deeply incised contents encompassed by and effectively upholding the concept of Polishness, certain tendencies towards change can be observed. These include the decreased importance 1) of the criterion of confessing Roman Catholicism, and 2) of exceptional service, bravery, and sacrifice on behalf of Poland (which always occupied last place in rankings). The findings of our research project – based on both the quantitative as well as qualitative data – point to key constitutive criteria on which the collective contemporary vision of Polishness is built. Communality is constructed around individually harbored beliefs; these do differ in many ways, but they share in common a spectrum of the intellectual code which coalesces those beliefs to a crucial degree. The main content of that intellectual code is something universally underlined by our respondents: knowledge of the history and culture of Poland. A key issue when investigating both variety and similarity in individually-constructed images of Polishness is how these form the ties that bind Poles together. Very important is what connects Poles in a single cultural community despite its internal diversity. The results of our research project show that this is not only a cultural community, but something that can be described as an imagined political community. Furthermore, it turns out that colloquially expressed ideas that Poles build their national community on the basis of common biological ancestry (ius sanguinis) are false. The cornerstones of the dominant pattern of Polishness are a rooted inclusivism on the part of the Polish national community. The continuity and durability of specific convictions associated with a sense of Polishness can be explained by two things. Firstly, there is the power of cultural transmission taking place on all levels – from the familial, through the educations, and finishing with the mass media. Secondly, there is the unequivocal comprehension of the concept of national community which is universal across all nations. The potency of the Polish national community does not stand in contradiction with a strongly European identification and Poles seeing 196 Chapter VIII. Conclusion themselves as inhabitants of this continent. The boundaries of belonging to Polish society are demarcated on a similar basis as other European societies: Polish boundaries are also defined by criteria associated with consciousness and with culture. It can be assumed that the increased intensity of intercultural contacts over the last 30 years – both due to the arrival of culturally diverse foreigners to Poland and to short- or long-term emigration by Poles – is related to a change in attitudes towards a multicultural society and the national identity. Those persons who have experienced emigration in different roles and historical periods – individually or as members of groups treated as clearly distinct – have different personal experiences and thus assess not only relations between various national groups differently, but also describe and comprehend their Polishness differently. Due to the massive increase in the number of Polish temporary or permanent emigrations over recent decades, the impact of intercultural and interethnic contact is gaining in importance. Another matter is the recently enhanced contact with persons of other nationalities (most often economic migrants) within Poland. It appears that contact with others and especially “strangers” not only does not liquify Polishness, but, in fact, can provide it with new sense and meaning. Being a Pole can mean simply belonging to the collective group of Poles. Worth adding here is that the research experience we have gained facilitated perception of the problems our respondents had with some of the issues touched in this study. Both in the quantitative surveys and in the course of the qualitative in-depth interviews it was clear that certain questions posed great challenges for the participants in this project. A few difficulties arose especially in respondent interpretations of specific concepts we proposed. One of these was the category of extraordinary, meritorious service to the country which respondents tended to understand as meaning rather ordinary things such as obeying the law, working honestly, paying taxes, etc. Should this research project be continued into the future, it would be worth paying special attention to the 197 Ewa Nowicka, Sławomir Łodziński list of criteria of Polishness. Added to the list of conditions to be met by a foreigner who seeks recognition as a Pole should be “obeying Polish law” or something similar. Furthermore, worth undertaking in the future would be a more detailed, thorough inquiry into a few issues. Above all it would be good to concentrate (especially comparatively) on the circumstances which lead to a fading or to a fortifying of various national identities. Yet another matter which we would like to examine up close is the nuances secreted in the links between Polishness and Roman Catholicism – that is, the changing forms of religiosity vis-à-vis convictions held about the national community. - Dostawca treści:
- Biblioteka Nauki
Książka