Organizing without organizations: on informal social activism in Poland (original) (raw)
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Going against institutionalization: New forms of urban activism in Poland
Journal of Urban Affairs, 2018
The first decade after the fall of state socialism in Poland was characterized by moderate aspirations to reform or oppose the dominant (neoliberal) rhetoric by social movements in the country. In the last decade, a turn toward more informal grassroots activity has been observed by scholars, above all in the field of urban activism. This article looks into this recent development in urban activism and focuses especially on the hitherto neglected grassroots, noninstitutionalized, and nonformalized forms of activism that take place in Polish cities aimed at urban change. It will be argued that this form of urban activism developed as a reaction to professionalization and NGO-ization of social movements, defying the (until now) established forms of organizing collectively. The analysis is built on qualitative data gathered in 2014–2015, including 36 in-depth interviews with urban activists in informal initiatives and groups in different Polish cities.
This article is dedicated to the memory of its co-author Tomasz Borewicz, who died just after its completion. Tomasz Borewicz (formerly Burek), born 8 December 1963 in Gdansk, died 7 November 2015, was an activist, journalist, traveler and ethnographer of indigenous cultures. He studied history in the 1980s, first in Słupsk and later at the Gdansk University, but was relegated from the university twice for dissident activities. Tomek later received a master's degree in anthropology from the University of Wroclaw where he was also working on a dissertation on his passion-anthropology of medicine and shamanism.
Solidarity despite and because of diversity. Activists of the Polish Women’s Strike
Praktyka Teoretyczna, 2018
In one of the largest studies on coordinators of the Polish Women's Strike (OSK) conducted in Poland so far, we carried out almost 100 CAWI and PAPI interviews with local coordinators of OSK groups from the entire country. Our aim was to get to know the people behind a countrywide network that organized the successful 2016 protests against attempts to tighten the already restrictive abortion law. We also wanted to find out what drove them to activism and how they understood the ambivalent concept of an "ordinary woman." Although almost all of our respondents agree that the participants of the Women's Strike in 2016 were "ordinary women", the way they use the term "ordinary" does not align with the right-wing operationalisations of that term; on the contrary, it is associated with the diversity of the protesters. Based on the findings about the kinds of social positionings and intersections that OSK coordinators pay attention to, we discuss the issue of agency and possible reasons constraining participation in public (socio-political) life. Ramme, Jennifer,and Claudia Snochowska-Gonzalez. 2018. “Solidarity Despite and Because of Diversity.Activists of the Polish Women’s Strike.” Praktyka Teoretyczna4(30): 75–100.DOI:10.14746/prt.2018.4.3
Humane Resources? The People Behind Polish Civil Society Organizations.
Kravchenko, Z., Kings, L., Jezierska, K. (eds) Resourceful Civil Society. Palgrave Studies in Third Sector Research. , 2022
Te objective of this chapter is to discuss the evolution of the human resources of civil society organizations in Poland against the background of the changes that have been taking place in the country and its civil society since the 1980s. It was in 1980 that the Solidarity movement emerged in then-socialist Poland, and liberal Western scholars enthused over the “rebirth” or “revival” of its civil society (Pełczyński, 1988). This chapter focuses on three broad changes in human resources in Polish civil society that have taken place since that time. First, it casts light on the dynamic development and gradual internationalization, aided by foreign donors, of Polish civil society after 1989. Te second trend is a donor-induced change in norms and practices that contributed to the ousting of communitarian values by individualist ones. Finally, the adverse effect of civil society organizations’ recent practices on their human resources is discussed.
VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, August 2014, vol 25 (4), pp 949-967.
This paper is a contribution to the ongoing discussion concerning factors determining the development of civil society in a post-state socialist context. It examines the financial mechanisms designed to promote civic engagement in Poland, including EU grants and the so called 'percentage law' that allows citizens to support NGOs of their choice with 1 percent of their taxes. A detailed analysis of these mechanisms demonstrates that they are advantageous for some types of nongovernmental organizations and not for others. Instead of enhancing the situation of the whole sector, they tend to support NGOs that already have substantial resources and hold a strong position vis-à-vis the state. Moreover, organizations and groups fighting for issues considered to be controversial -such as women's NGOs advocating for the right to abortion or criticizing authorities for their lack of concern when it comes to violence against women -have limited chances to gain financial support from both the state and those sources that are independent from the state.
The existence of social self-organization – assuming various forms and adopting versatile objectives – within a culturally, economically and politically organized multidimensional coexistence seems to be an unassailable fact. However, a careful analysis of political doctrines as well as the data pertaining to history proves it to be not so readily acknowledged. In fact, not every form of organized civilization, a state being one of its manifestations, accepts the existence of this substance of social life. Hence it is requisite to delineate more precisely the semantics of a wider context for our reflections. This includes the models of organized civilization relevant to our discourse as well as a potential social substance of a broadly defined non-governmental circles, featuring actors of the so-called third sector. Considering the complexity of the issues under consideration we will adopt an interdisciplinary approach, referring to philosophical schools of political thought, analysing source materials of multifarious research on the non-governmental sphere in Poland, as well as undertake a sociological method of participatory action research. Many persons would subscribe to the statement that the construction of social and state structures is among the most fundamental effects of deliberate civilization-shaping endeavours of humans intending to shape their life environment. A wide spectrum of possible solutions in this respect is embodied by theoretical reflection on the forms of social organization as well as by practice documented in history. On the one hand one may discern the forms that constrain or even rule out the existence of autonomous subjects in social, political, economic or cultural life, or in just one of them. Varying in their nomenclature and the message they carry, these systems’ common denominator rests in curtailing or refusing citizens their civic entitlements, be it relating to liberty, social life, solidarity, or – as it commonly occurs – a combination thereof. Diametrically opposed to these state solutions are models that recognize – in one way or another, depending on the tradition of the underpinning political thought – the citizen presence and citizen activity as the centre of the broadly defined public life. The civil society is one of the indicators of these forms of social and state organization. It is sine qua non prerequisite of the actual – not merely declarative – materialization of initiatives and operation of non-governmental organizations and of their contribution to creating a structured space for human coexistence. In pondering the place and role of the non-governmental organizations [NGOs] and initiatives within organized civilization, we will focus on such forms thereof which endorse civil society. We use the term not to denote a single political thought or its historical articulation, but rather – generally speaking – a certain area defined by certain political theories as well as their practical applications containing the said distinctive feature.
Handbook of Social Movements Across Disciplines
Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research, 2010
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