Recent Developments in Polish Sociology

Abstract

1956-1957 marked the reestablishment of sociology in academic institutions in Poland.' Since then there has been a continuing development of sociological centers. The aim of this chapter is to present some of the aspects of sociology in Poland, focusing in particular on the last decade. In my analysis I would like to distinguish two different sets of issues. The first set of issues is the institutional structure of sociology that has developed since 1956. The second is of the substantive develop­ ments in sociology itself, both theoretical and empirical, that have occurred in the last decade. In general, there are three types of institutions in Poland within which we find departments of sociology. First are the institutions of higher education, including universities, polytechnics, medical schools, and others, such as schools of econom­ ics. Second is the Polish Academy of Sciences, within which the Institute of Philo so­ phy and Sociology, as well as other distinct sociological centers, are located. Finally, there are local institutes of applied sociology within the administrative structure of Poland, e. g. ministries. The above institutions employ more than 500 sociologists. The distribution ac­ cording to the types of institutions can be described as follows. Within the institu­ tions of higher education, 274 sociologists (48%) of the total are employed; in the Polish Academy of Sciences there are 147 (29%) sociologists, and in the local institutes of applied sociology there are 135 (23%) sociologists (Kwilecki 1973) (See Table I). In order to get a better understanding of how sociologists in Poland are employed, it is necessary to describe the activities of sociologists in each type of institution. The institutions of higher education are basically oriented toward teaching. Therefore