Sociology in Poland

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Marta Bucholc

   Pages 1-13

3. 1945–1955: Survivors and Supervisors

   • Marta Bucholc

   Pages 15-28

4. 1956–1968: Modest Stabilization and Cleansing

   • Marta Bucholc

   Pages 29-42

5. 1969–1989: Great Expectations

   • Marta Bucholc

   Pages 43-55

6. 1990–2015: Catching Up with Reality

   • Marta Bucholc

   Pages 57-75

7. Conclusion

   • Marta Bucholc

   Pages 77-91

8. Back Matter

   Pages 93-102

   PDF

This ground-breaking book provides a compelling account of the social sciences in post-war Central and Eastern Europe. The first English-language monograph to analyse the history of sociology in Poland up to the present day, it maps transformations in the discipline against political and social change. Related in an accessible and engaging manner, it offers a comprehensive examination of sociology as a part of Polish society and culture after 1945. It can also be used as an introduction to the subject and a guide to further reading. Part of the influential Sociology Transformed series, Sociology in Poland will interest social and political scientists, historians and policymakers.

• Social history
• Political history
• Central and Eastern Europe
• Post-war Europe
• Institutionalization
• Marxism
• Stalinism
• Revisionism
• Higher education reform
• Public engagement
• Marketization

“The author is a fine representative of the drive for ‘supra-local excellence and local consequentiality’ that she finds as an abiding tension and source of creativity in Polish sociology. This is a book for every sociologist who puzzles (as all should!) about the dilemmas arising from the demands for relevance to a national public and the intellectual quest for universality. Poland’s turbulent history since 1945 is the backdrop for Bucholc’s account of the development of its sociology and the result is an outstanding contribution to the sociology of knowledge.” (Martin Albrow, Professor Emeritus, Honorary Vice-President, British Sociological Association)

“Marta Bucholc’s short book on the post-war Polish sociology places this discipline in a broad context of transformations in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe after World War II. Sociology in Poland is analyzed as a part of the academic culture being under the pressure of economic, political and ideological changes within the socialist system, and, on the other hand, as a way of analyzing these changes. The last chapter discusses the “normalization of academic culture” in the sense of catching up with the reality of liberal democracy, market economy and postmodern culture.” (Janusz Mucha,  AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland)

• Kate Hamburger Kolleg, Recht als Kultur, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

  Marta Bucholc

Marta Bucholc is a professor at the 'Law as Culture' Centre, University of Bonn, Germany. She has worked at the University of Warsaw's Institute of Sociology since 2005.

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