The Polish political scene as seen from a small town market

Abstract

This article presents the results of field research carried out in the spring of 2004 in the town of Nowy Targ (Podhale region, Poland), by the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Warsaw. The research was based on open-ended interviews-or rather long conversations-with the vendors in the market square, enabling us to observe the political scene from a particular point of view. They interviews brought out the perception of the authorities 'from below'. This perspective uncovered many aspects of politics that are normally hidden behind the legislative language of the Constitution or even behind the informative language of the mass media.