O emancypacji ze stanowiska konserwatywnego

Abstract

The author considers the problem of female emancipation from the angle of the contention between two worldviews: religious conservatism and liberal secularism. The article reviews the development of emancipatory ideas in the second half of the 19th century, the emergence of first periodicals for women, and first female organizations in Poland during the Partitions. Then it shows an evolution of the ideas at the turn of the 19th century. It is against the backdrop of this social context that the author presents the reaction of Polish conservative and clerical circles, which exemplifies the core of the contention—the tussle about emancipation is here understood as part of the debate over moral and social consequences of modernization. In fact, the idea of emancipation was part and parcel of the epoch’s mind-set and generated controversies in the context of all the changes brought about by positivism in Poland.