Powroty do Juliana Hochfelda

The aim of the article is to recall and present the political and intellectual figure of J. Hochfeld (1911–1966) against the background of the contemporary – often ahistorical – attempts to reconstruct historical memory in Poland, totally condemning the period of the Polish People’s Republic. My objective is to use the example of J. Hochfeld to demonstrate the complexity of lives and choices of those who as the members of the non-communist left were active in the interwar period, during World War II and the Polish People’s Republic. This article also presents Hochfeld’s theoretical organizational contribution to the development of the Polish post-war sociology, as well as topicality of the issues he tackled, e.g. political sociology, the contemporaneity of the idea of historical materialism and social-democratic socialism.

Logika władzy absolutnej. Recenzja książki Wolfganga Sofsky’ego, Ustrój terroru: Obóz koncentracyjny, przeł. Małgorzata Łukasiewicz (Warszawa: Żydowski Instytut Historyczny, 2016)

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Wolność i bezpieczeństwo w płynnej nowoczesności

In many publications Zygmunt Bauman used a metaphor of a pendulum extending between freedom and security. He claimed that the shape of the relationship between these two values, which he considered both as opposite and complementary, was a good indicator of social and cultural changes. In this regard he devoted much attention to transformations of modernity. Bauman argued that the characteristic feature of the transition process from solid to liquid modernity was a definite appreciation of freedom in relation to security. However, the consequence of this situation was development of the sense of insecurity, which was fuelled, according to Bauman, by the ruling authorities perceiving these actions as one of the sources legitimizing their power. Such a situation caused that the pendulum has recently begun to swing over to the opposite side. In his opinion, in the era of growing social distances, terrorist threats and migration crisis, security is gaining more and more supporters. In the article I focus on the critical analysis of Bauman’s findings regarding both concepts mentioned. In addition, I will indicate the way of establishing balance between them which he presented in his engaged sociology.

Otwarty marksizm i odrodzenie socjologii: rola Juliana Hochfelda i Zygmunta Baumana

In 1956, political liberalization in Poland resulted in the revival of sociology, previously banned from Polish universities. Julian Hochfeld (1911–1966), previously a leading Socialist politician and currently professor of the University of Warsaw, played an important role in this process by (a) initiating the debate on the revision of Marxist social theory in the spirit of „Open Marxism”, and (b) establishing the chair of political sociology at the University of Warsaw. His closest associate and successor was Zygmunt Bauman (1925–2107) until his politically motivated dismissal from the University of Warsaw and emigration in 1968. Academic interests of Hochfeld’s school focused on (a) reinterpretation of Marxist social theory and its confrontation with main trends in contemporary sociology, (b) empirical research on political life in Poland, and (c) comparative cross-national study of politics. This tradition is now continued by the new generation of Polish political sociologists.

Partycypacja w wyborach parlamentarnych w latach 1989–2047 w kontekście zmiany społeczno-demograficznej w Polsce

As a result of the social and demographic changes, including the ageing population, expansion of higher education and growing wealth, the higher voter turnout in the parliamentary elections may be expected in the future. Although since 1989 the core variables determining the electoral participation, which are sex, educational level, income, professional status, place of residence, frequency of religious practices have still been the same, the voters’ profiles reveal that the relationships between them are changing. Compared to the previous years, different variables are gaining significance. Education is becoming less important, whereas the role of the financial situation as a factor contributing to the voter turnout is increasing. However, the change of the voters’ profile does not lead to marginalization of groups who usually take part in elections less frequently. The differentiation in the impact on the choice of parliamentary representatives, measured by the concentration ratios, is weakening. The reasons can be sought not only in the voting habit being established, but also in the social and demographic changes.