The monograph examines the sources of Polish social divisions. It explains their emergence and discusses the mechanisms behind their evolution from 1945-2022. The findings corroborate the idea that divisions were formed irrespective of the current state of social hierarchy, or the accepted interpretation of justice, and that they existed both in totalitarian and democratic systems alike. The book distinguishes the category of divisions from the practices of repartition, and demonstrates that the repartitions discussed in a political discourse do not generate divisions, but constitute the politicization of the latter. Repartitions are understood as discursive, dichotomic juxtapositions that result from the existence of divisions and can be used as political tools. It has been demonstrated that they can also function as analytical categories used with a view to determining the state of social inequalities. The notions of divisions and repartitions discussed in this volume confirm the existence of the continuity of changes and describe the evolution of Polish society has a consequence.
Author(s): Piotr Borowiec
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 260
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
References
2 The First Structural Experiment: Communist-Era Homogenisation
Ideological and Political Reasons for Interfering with the Structure, and the Patterns of That Interference
National Unity as an Instrument for Integration and Exclusion
A Revolutionary Attack on Existing Social Divisions
The Promise of Non-antagonistic Relationships Between Structural Segments
References
3 Consequences of the Experiment: The Division Between Society and the nomenklatura
Mechanisms of the Formation and Removal of Social Distances
Experience of Discrimination in Workplaces
Inequalities in Advanced Socialist Society
The Main Division of the Communist Era: “Us”–“Them”
References
4 The Second Experiment: The Differentiation of the Social Structure
Ideological and Economic Reasons for Interfering with the Structure, and the Patterns of That Interference
Problems with Structure, Waiting for the Formation of the Middle Class
Continuation of Communist-Era Social Division
Transformation and Further Politicization of the “Us”—“Them” Division
References
5 Consequences of the Second Experiment: The “Winners”–“Losers” Division
A New Register of Wrongs and Transformation of the Social Structure
Division of the Time of Economic Differentiation: “Winners”–“Losers”
The “Solidary”–“Liberal” Practice as a Confirmation of the Continuity of Divisions
The Practices of Repartition—Consequences of a Homogeneous Society
References
6 The Formation of Social Divisions and the Theory of Practices of Repartition
Ideological and Structural Context and Social Divisions
Mechanism of Dichotomous Practices of Repartition
Conditions for Applying and Redefining Repartition
Practices of Repartition—Homogeneity Destruction Instruments
References
7 Conclusion
Index
