The bourgeoisie of the lands of Poland and its remembrance: a seminar in historical sociology

general courses

The seminar will be devoted to the role of the bourgeoisie in Polish history from the second half of the 19th century to the present day. It will focus on the one hand on sociological theory, on the other hand on the histories of specific bourgeois families (in particular industrialists, financiers and traders) and finally on the contemporary memory of them.

The seminar will analyze the role of the bourgeoisie in Polish history from the second half of the 19th century to the present. On the one hand it will take a sociological theory perspective on historical as well as more contemporary economic elites. On the other hand, the history of specific bourgeois families (especially industrialists, financiers and traders), and finally the contemporary memory of these families, especially among the Polish intelligentsia.

On the theoretical side, the course will take as its main point of reference the sociological theory and practice of elite studies inspired by the work of Pierre Bourdieu. This will be the main frame of reference for the interpretation of both the historical processes of elite transformations, the mutual interaction of different elite factions, and their historical specificity and evolution (e.g. using the concept of power field).

An important assumption of the seminar's program is the observation that in the second half of the 19th century a socially significant group of very wealthy emerged in Poland, especially in the Russian partition. Until the end of World War I it played an important role in the history of Poland, both in its economic and political development as well as in the development of culture, science and many other spheres. This role was significantly reduced after 1918, in particular due to the economic degradation of the elite mentioned above, which finally ceased to exist in its role in 1945. As it seems, this part of the history of the Polish elite has been overshadowed since the first Polish uprisings by the intelligentsia and partly by the landed gentry. The proposed seminar will examine, among other things, the conditions of this disappearance of the memory of the Polish bourgeoisie and its implications. The seminar will focus on the possible forms of this memory and the attempts to reactivate it, both on a social and on a private level (especially of individual families). Among the forms of memory analyzed in the seminar will be the cultivation of genealogical knowledge as a phenomenon, as well as the practice of publishing obituaries. Cemeteries will be given special attention, especially historical cemeteries in Polish cities with large bourgeois populations, such as Warsaw and Lodz.

Special attention at the seminar will be given to the Jewish bourgeoisie; bourgeois families of other national origins will also be mentioned. This will allow us to consider the role of the economic elite in the formation of a modern Polish national identity and its relationship to other national projects. The seminar will discuss the history of individual families (clans) which, at least at certain stages of their development, can be considered Polish bourgeois families. Their transformations and changing fortunes will be traced, as well as the sources of their dynamics. A comparison of the history of bourgeois families in Poland and other countries of the region will be discussed. Another proposed topic will be a broader reflection on the role of the multigenerational family in the reproduction of the elite of particular societies. In such a context, the question of reproduction and breaks in its continuity will be posed. In particular, we will reflect on the implications of discontinuity in the reproduction of Polish economic elites for various spheres of social life and social identities in Poland. An interesting question for the seminar may be whether there is any connection between the historical bourgeoisie and the contemporary Polish elites, either economic or cultural (especially the intelligentsia)

Upon completion of the course the student:

- has a good knowledge of the concepts of Pierre Bourdieu's theory and the ability to apply them to the analysis of elites

- Analyses in terms of field theory and other methods of sociology the history and Polish economic elites

- Critically analyzes the history of the Polish bourgeoisie, both as an empirically accessible analysis of the past of a particular elite faction and as a narrative about the past

- Knows how to apply other sociological tools to the study of elite history, elite memory, and elite interpretation

- Knows how to combine different dimensions of elite analysis within the perspective of studying elite reproduction

The main basis for the evaluation of students will be a credit work written by them independently, the volume of which is several pages on a topic related to the issues of the classes independently proposed and approved by the lecturer. The work will be evaluated mainly in terms of originality and ability to use the theory and scientific literature, and analysis of texts or other research material. Not without importance is also a good composition of the work and appropriate style. Detailed guidelines in this regard will be provided to students in a separate instruction manual.

The evaluation will also take into account class attendance and active participation in discussions.