Zapraszamy na kolejne wydziałowe seminarium naukowe, które odbędzie się w poniedziałek 13 października o godzinie 10:00 w sali 107, budynek D. Wystąpienie pt. "A Rebellious Generation: Activism over the Life Course of Return Solidarity Refugees" wygłosi prof. Mary Patrice Erdmans z Case Western Reserve University.
A Rebellious Generation: Activism over the Life Course of Return Solidarity Refugees
This talk examines activism over the life course of oppositional activists who became political refugees after martial law and returned to Poland after 1989. The social-historical context of their activism created a political generation, and their activism in the opposition, imprisonment during martial law, and exile as political refugees created, for some, a radical habitus and status identity that impelled activism over time and space. When these political refugees returned to democratic capitalist Poland, this generation split into conservative and liberal activist wings. Based on life story interviews with 40 return Solidarity refugees, this study examines their activist experiences in Poland, abroad, and after they return, finding that roughly half continued to be activists over the life course.
Mary Patrice Erdmans is Professor of Sociology at Case Western Reserve University. Her areas of interest include immigration and ethnicity with a focus on contemporary Polish migration. She was a Fulbright Scholar in Poland in 2019, and a past president of the Polish American Historical Association. She is the author of three award-winning books: Opposite Poles (1998), The Grasinski Girls (2005), and On Becoming a Teen Mom (2015) and her articles have appeared in such journals as Sociological Quarterly, Journal of American Ethnic History, Studia Migracynjne, and Polish American Studies. She is currently working on a manuscript about activism, exile, and return in contemporary Poland.
