Tomasz Zarycki

Uses of Russia: The Role of Russia in the Modern Polish National Identity

The article deals with negative aspects of Russia’s representations in Polish public discourse and the mechanisms of their reproduction. It is not as much focused on the historical roots of Polish images of Russia as on the functions they play in the logic of Polish national identity. Additionally, the article attempts to theorize certain aspects of the production of Russia’s image in Poland. A particular reference is made to the center-periphery paradigm and the psychological notion of the inferiority complex. In the conclusion, functions of the image of Russia in Polish discourse are interpreted in the framework of the theory of capitals of Pierre Bourdieu.

Hidden dimensions: the stability and structure of regional political cleavages in Poland

Abstract The main aim of this paper is to show that behind the complex and fluid surface dimension of the Polish political scene it is possible to reveal a relatively stable two-dimensional structure of deep political identities. The study is based on the analysis of ecological data — the results of elections from 1990 to 1997. The results prove the exceptional stability of the Polish electoral geography and appear to be consistent with other studies based mainly on the survey data. The use of the spatial data allowed us to reveal the historical and spatial determinants of electoral behavior in Poland.

Simulating the coordination of individual economic decisions

The model of dynamic social influence is used to describe the coordination of individual economic decisions. Computer simulations of the model show that the social and economic transitions occur as growing clusters of “new” in the sea of old. The model formulated at the individual level may be used to derive another one concerning the aggregate level. The aggregate level model was used to simulate spatio-temporal dynamics of the number of privately owned enterprises in Poland during the transition from centrally governed to the market economy. Analysis revealed the similarity between the model predictions and economic data.

Bourdieu recontextualized: Redefinitions of western critical thought in the periphery

This article analyses the redefinition of global discourse in semi-peripheral settings; it proposes a model for the semi-peripheral recontextualization of critical discourses originating from the western core of the global intellectual system. The process of redefinition of global discourses in semi-peripheral settings appears to involve their parallel appropriation by actors whose positions can be reconstructed through Bourdieu’s field concept, in particular through the usage of his theory of cultural capital in the field of contemporary Polish sociology. The model presented in the article emphasizes a strong homology between the political field and the broader field of social sciences in peripheral countries. It appears that they are usually structured according to specific peripheral pro- vs anti-centre cleavages. Peripheral fields of power, which are organized around this binary logic, tend to produce specific, often contradictory, parallel redefinitions of western critical theory. Meanings become politically defined and distant from their original context. One of the paradoxical effects of these mechanisms is that the concepts which originally emerge as critical theory, in a semi-peripheral context, are often used in legitimization of and as apology for a neoliberal social order.

Cultural capital and the political role of the intelligentsia in Poland

The Polish political scene can be analysed by reference to the role of cultural capital, as well as economic and social capitals, defined as the main resources of competing political camps. While the role of cultural capital is undergoing a significant redefinition in contemporary Poland, it remains a basis of the crucial cleavage of the Polish political scene. In particular, the recent split between the old Freedom Union Party and the new Civic Platform is defined as a manifestation of the division inside the Polish intelligentsia between those relying mainly on their resources of cultural capital and those favouring investment in economic capital.

Cultural Capital and the Accessibility of Higher Education: (Based on the Results of a Comparative Study of Surveys of College and University Students in Moscow and Warsaw)

The present study was conducted in the framework of the study “Cultural Capital and the Reproduction of the Intelligentsia in Poland and Russia.” One of the chief factors that prompted the project’s formulation was a debate about the future of the intelligentsia, which has been going on for a number of years in Poland and Russia. Making certain allowances, this dispute can be linked to debates about the future of cultural capital in the societies of Poland and Russia. In theoretical terms the intelligentsia is seen as a stratum that controls the field of cultural capital, and, as a result of this capital, maintains its special social position; in that case the status of cultural capital determines, to a considerable extent, the intelligentsia’s prestige and strength.

Fields as dimensions of context: an application of Bourdieu's sociological theory to modelling of context of social action

The present paper is an attempt to construct a theoretical model of the context of social action based on a reinterpretation of the sociological theory of social fields as developed by Pierre Bourdieu. Using his notions of different types of capital and other tools, a multidimensional model of context is presented in which dimensions are defined as fields affected by (and affecting) a given social action. Focus in the paper is on discursive behaviour, but following the assumptions of linguistic pragmatics, discourse is considered here just as a specific form of broadly defined social action. Thus an attempt is made at linking studies on context from linguistics with those from sociology. Social action is theorized, as in Bourdieus models, as a process of conversion of different types of capital. The strategic use of particular types of capital is considered as another dimension of contextualization of social action.

Class Analysis in Conditions of a Dual-Stratification Order

This article presents a critique of classic applications of class analysis to Polish society. It argues from a Bourdieusian standpoint that class is subordinate to culture in shaping social relations in Poland. More specifically, Poland can be seen as a dual-stratification order, with the economic logic of class clashing continually with the logic of rank, which is defined in terms of cultural capital. These two models of logics appear to be in constant competition, which may also be related to the tension between economic and cultural elites. The latter is most clearly represented by the old intelligentsia, which is the only faction of the elite able to reproduce itself successfully and impose its logic of stratification and ideology on the entire society. The article also argues that class and rank logic can be seen as two dimensions of a social structure that are much more autonomous than in a typical western society. Within these two dimensions, there is a constant competition between different modes of framing and regulating respective hierarchies. In this internal competition of hierarchies, rank and class use each other to reinforce particular arguments. A sound class analysis must recognize these tensions and seek to reconstruct the process of confrontation between particular modes of logic and their internal visions, rather than arbitrarily embracing one form of logic as the privileged one.

Polskie nauki polityczne w perspektywie globalnej: paradoksy ewoluującej peryferyjności

Niniejszy artykul stanowi wprowadzenie do dyskusji nad polperyferyjnym charakterem systemow produkcji naukowej, dla ktorej pretekstem byla publikacja ksiązki Gra peryferyjna Tomasza Warczoka i Tomasza Zaryckiego. Autorzy streszczają w nim jednocześnie najwazniejsze kwestie poruszane w ksiązce: relacyjne podejście do badan nauki inspirowane pracami Pierra Bourdieu i Immanuela Wallersteina, jak rowniez dualny charakter polskich nauk politycznych.

The Roots of Polish Culture-Centered Politics: Toward a Non–Purely Cultural Model of Cultural Domination in Central and Eastern Europe:

This article’s main aim is to propose a novel model explaining the continuous domination of identity issues in modern Polish political discourse. The model proposed here may also appear useful as an explanation of similar tendencies in some other Central European countries. It is based on a specific reading of the modern history of the region—one relying on a structural perspective and specifically using Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of a “field of power.” In conclusion, the article suggests that the perspective it proposes may challenge what it calls simplistic accounts of processes of long duration.