Sociology In Poland

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.

The Solidarity movement of the early 1980s not only triggered a transformation in Polish society, it forced a fundamental reconsideration of the nature of socialism throughout the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Seen as one of the most important social movements of the century, this pathbreaking study analyses Solidarity's significance in Soviet societies.

The "European Revolution" of 1989 has not only brought about dramatic and far-reaching changes in the social structure of East and West European countries, but also in the social sciences. This volume is an attempt to evaluate how sociology has been affected by this dramatic event and how it has developed in the post-revolutionary period in some selected European countries. Ten eminent representatives of sociology from Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Great Britain, Poland, and Scandinavia were presented with a set of questions which served as a common guideline for their contributions. Their answers can be summarized in the observation of the "interrelated diversity" of sociology in Europe today. The high heterogeneity and fragmentation, typical of contemporary sociological thought in Europe, are interrelated by a high degree of institutionalization and integration of sociology in the European university system. In addition, two prominent scholars from non-European countries, Japan and the US, present their views on sociology in Europe from outside. They declare the end of the period of one-sided flows of reception in sociology and foresee a strengthening of a two-way exchange between European and non-European social scientists in the twenty-first century