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In much social scientific literature, Polish civil society has been portrayed as weak and passive. This volume offers a much-needed corrective, challenging this characterization on both theoretical and empirical grounds and suggesting new ways of conceptualizing civil society to better account for events on the ground as well as global trends such as neoliberalism, migration, and the renewal of nationalist ideologies. Focusing on forms of collective action that researchers have tended to overlook, the studies gathered here show how public discourse legitimizes certain claims and political actions as "true" civil society, while others are too often dismissed. Taken together, they critique a model of civil society that is 'made from above'.
List of contents
List of Tables and Figures
Preface
Introduction: Rethinking Polish Civil Society
Kerstin Jacobsson and Elzbieta Korolczuk PART I: CIVIL SOCIETY IN CONTEMPORARY POLAND: MYTHS AND REALITIES Chapter 1. Civil Society in Post-communist Europe - Poland in a Comparative Perspective
Grzegorz Ekiert and Jan Kubik Chapter 2. (Mis)understanding Social Activism in Poland
Anna Giza-Poleszczuk Chapter 3. Rethinking Civic Privatism in a Postsocialist Context: Individualism and Personalization in Polish Civil Society Organizations
Kerstin Jacobsson Chapter 4. Defining In/Defining Out. Civil Society through the Lens of Elite NGOs
Katarzyna Jezierska PART II: (DE)LEGITIMIZATION OF CIVIC ACTIVISM: NEW ACTORS AND MARGINALIZED GROUPS Chapter 5. When Parents Become Activists. Exploring the Intersection of Civil Society and Family
Elzbieta Korolczuk Chapter 6. On the Disappearing Mother. Political Motherhood, Citizenship and Neoliberalism in Poland
Renata Ewa Hryciuk Chapter 7. Marginalizing Discourses and Activists' Strategies in Collective Identity Formation: The Case of the Polish Tenants' Movement
Dominika V. Polanska Chapter 8. Voice and Insecurity. Political Participation Among Members of the Precariat
Anna Kiersztyn PART III: CIVIL SOCIETY MAKING: BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT Chapter 9. Between Tradition and Modernity: The Case of Rural Women's Organizations in Poland
Ilona Matysiak Chapter 10. Ethnic Bonding and Homing Desires: The Polish Diaspora and Civil Society Making
Gabriella Elgenius Chapter 11. Mobilizing on the Extreme Right in Poland: Marginalization, Institutionalization and Radicalization
Daniel Platek and Piotr Plucienniczak Conclusion: Empirical and Theoretical Lessons from the Volume
Kerstin Jacobsson and Elzbieta Korolczuk Index
About the author
Kerstin Jacobsson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Gothenburg. Recent publications include Animal Rights Activism: A Moral-Sociological Perspective on Social Movements (co-authored with Jonas Lindblom, 2016) and the edited volume Urban Grassroots Movements in Central and Eastern Europe (2015).
Elżbieta Korolczuk is a senior researcher in sociology at Södertörn University, Sweden, and a lecturer in gender studies at the University of Warsaw. Recent publications include the volumes Dangerous Liaisons: Motherhood, Fatherhood and Politics (co-edited with Renata E. Hryciuk, 2015) and Rebellious Parents: Parental Movements in Central-Eastern Europe and Russia (co-edited with Katalin Fábián, 2017).
Summary
In much social scientific literature, Polish civil society has been portrayed as weak and passive. This volume offers a much-needed corrective, challenging this characterization on both theoretical and empirical grounds and suggesting new ways of conceptualizing civil society to better account for events on the ground as well as global trends such as neoliberalism, migration, and the renewal of nationalist ideologies. Focusing on forms of collective action that researchers have tended to overlook, the studies gathered here show how public discourse legitimizes certain claims and political actions as “true” civil society, while others are too often dismissed. Taken together, they critique a model of civil society that is ‘made from above’.
