Change in Social Structure and the Increased Significance of the Working Class

Abstract

In contemporary sociology, the term social structure is one of the most important analytical tools, indispensable both in theoretical deliberations and empirical studies. The fact that the socialist Polish state has been freed of the burden of coexistence with members of other nationalities, which accounted for a third of the country's population, is satisfying, but only moderately so. The changes in social structure and international position caused directly by the different shape and geopolitical location of Poland were accompanied by equally profound changes in the structure of social classes and strata. The peasant class was much slower than the workers to realize the significance of the change in social relations. The consumer aspirations of predominantly young workers are disproportionate to their skill potential and unmindful of the necessity of improved working conditions in the approaching age of microelectronics and robotization.