History of Poland 3104-11A3HP
The lecture series will be devoted to themes in 19th century Polish history, focusing on the question of equality. Issues will be considered in a broad context reflecting both social ideas and real processes, reflected e.g. in legislation.
19th century Europe witnessed the redefinition of the concept and limits of equality. Enlightenment progress and the experience of the French Revolution led to the questioning of fixed social stratification. For the first time, alongside increased recognition of the humanity of people outside the elite, many social groups were demanding equality. However, this demand took different shape depending on who was claiming equality and for whom. Calls for absolute equality were rare – many liberal thinkers were against equal rights for all categories of society. The belief that societies consist of people of different value was widespread.
This feature may also be seen in the Polish partitions. The abolition of feudal social stratification – accompanied by social and political democratization, and enforced by modern, uniform bureaucratic procedures – led to real egalitarian changes in the status of individuals. Previous divisions weakened and new social groups emerged (the intelligentsia, factory workers, the bourgeoisie). Nevertheless, belonging to a particular group still brought “stigma”; a move outside one’s own circle and social advancement required intense efforts to break the “glass ceiling”.
Significantly, the long-established conviction that people were divided into categories of better and worse, fit and unfit to rule, elite and mob, was not disappearing. Even the architects of improvement projects for certain groups – e.g. the klemensowczycy who wished to reform the situation of peasants, or socialists who sympathized with the working class – were not free from the belief that the groups they were supporting were somehow worse and backward in terms of civilization. Admittedly, such paternalistic attitudes were replacing the former open contempt held towards unprivileged groups, nonetheless the question remains to what extent this was a qualitative change.
The lectures will cover various proposals for reform by Polish politicians and activists at a time that the previous social order was disintegrating. The issue of the ambivalence of those projects will be raised: although they contained some demands for the emancipation of unprivileged groups (peasants, women, Jews, workers), they also claimed the necessity to bring pressure on those groups and eradicate their bad habits by force. It was believed that – for their own good and to achieve social harmony – it was necessary to apply obligatory measures to discipline, civilize and mould them into an intended form.
During the lectures, we will pay special attention to certain groups considered worse and not deserving of emancipation. Additionally, the social perception of other groups outside a normative model will be discussed – children, as well as the sick and the elderly.
Type of course
Mode
Assessment criteria
To complete the course a student should pass a written exam at the end of semester.
Bibliography
I. 19th-century history: General issues
- T. Kizwalter, W stronę równości, Kraków 2014
- A. Chwalba, Historia Polski 1795-1918, Kraków 2000
- T. Kizwalter, Historia powszechna. Wiek XIX, Warszawa 2003
- J. Osterhammel, Historia XIX wieku. Przeobrażenie świata, Poznań 2016
- Przemiany społeczne w Królestwie Polskim 1815-1864, red. W. Kula, J. Leskiewiczowa, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków-Gdańsk 1979
II. 19th-century Polish history: Selected social issues
1. Peasantry:
- Chłopi – naród – kultura, t. 1-5, Rzeszów 1996-1997
- W. Mędrzecki, Młodzież wiejska na ziemiach Polski centralnej 1864-1939: procesy socjalizacji, Warszawa 2002
- A.K. Banach, Kariery zawodowe studentów Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego pochodzenia chłopskiego z lat 1860/1861-1917/1918, Kraków 2009
- R. Czepulis, Myśl społeczna twórców Towarzystwa Rolniczego (1842-1861), Wrocław 1964
2. Jewish question:
- A. Eisenbach, Emancypacja Żydów na ziemiach polskich 1785-1870 na tle europejskim, Warszawa 1988
- A. Polonsky, The Jews in Poland and Russia, t. 1, Oxford-Portland 2010
- M. Wodziński, Władze Królestwa Polskiego wobec chasydyzmu. Z dziejów stosunków politycznych, Wrocław 2008
- M. Wodziński, „Cywilni chrześcijanie”: Spory o reformę Żydów w Polsce, 1789-1830, w: Kwestia żydowska w XIX wieku. Spory o tożsamość Polaków, Warszawa 2004, s. 9-42
- A. Jagodzińska, Pomiędzy. Akulturacja Żydów Warszawy w drugiej połowie XIX wieku, Wrocław 2008
- A. Cała, Wizerunek Żyda w polskiej kulturze ludowej, Warszawa 2005
3. Women:
- Kobieta i edukacja na ziemiach polskich w XIX i XX wieku: zbiór studiów, red. A. Żarnowska, A. Szwarc, Warszawa 1995
- Kobieta i praca: wiek XIX i XX: zbiór studiów, red. A. Żarnowska, Warszawa 2000
- Kobieta i świat polityki: Polska na tle porównawczym w XIX i w początkach XX wieku: zbiór studiów, red. A. Żarnowska, A. Szwarc, Warszawa 1994
- A. Dauksza, Kobiety na drodze. Doświadczenie przestrzeni publicznej w literaturze przełomu XIX i XX wieku, Kraków 2013
- Aktywność kobiet w organizacjach zawodowych i gospodarczych w XIX i XX wieku, red. K. Makowski, Poznań 2007
4. Working class:
- A. Żarnowska, Klasa robotnicza Królestwa Polskiego 1870-1914, Warszawa 1974
- A. Żarnowska, Robotnicy i procesy modernizacji społecznej w dobie intensywnej industrializacji na ziemiach polskich na przełomie wieków XIX i XX, Warszawa 1998
- M. Nietyksza, Rozwój miast i aglomeracji miejsko-przemysłowych w Królestwie Polskim 1865-1914, Warszawa 1986
5. Childhood:
- P. Ariès, Historia dzieciństwa, przeł. M. Ochab, Warszawa 2010
- S. Pinker, Zmierzch przemocy, tłum. T. Bieroń, Poznań 2015
- E. Key, Stulecie dziecka, tłum. I. Moszczeńska, Warszawa 1995
6. Physical disabilities and problems of the old age:
- J. P. Bois, Historia starości. Od Montaigne’a do pierwszych emerytur, Warszawa 1996
- B. Gapiński, Ludzie starzy na wsi polskiej od schyłku XIX wieku po rok 1939, Poznań 2014
- E. Leś, Zarys historii dobroczynności i filantropii w Polsce, Warszawa 2001
- A. Woźniak, Szpitale wiejskie na Mazowszu w końcu XVII i w początkach XIX w., w: Szpitalnictwo w dawnej Polsce, red. M. Dąbrowska, J. Kruppé, Warszawa 1998, s. 75-86
- B. Geremek, Litość i szubienica, Warszawa 1989
Additional information
Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: