The conference titiled A Centennial of The Polish Peasant in Europe and America: Inspiration of Thomas and Znaniecki’s Work for Sociological Scholarship on the Contemporary Globalization Processes took place on the 24th and 25th of May 2018. The event was organized by the Haverford Institute of Public Sociology and Institute of Sociology, with special contributions from Prof. Suava Zbierska-Salameh. We managed to bring together a promiment group of American and European sociologists in order to sustain the connection between these two cross-Atlantic sociological environments which was inspired by Znaniecki and Thomas’ studies. We hosted e.g. Prof. Mary Waters (Harvard University), Prof. Michael Burawoy (University of California), Prof. Eli Zaretsky (The New School of Social Research), and Prof. Martin Bulmer (University of Surray). The conference has set a series of goals. The most important ones were the following: 1) the “renewal” of issues raised by the authors of the work dedicated to “The Polish Peasant”, especially by Florian Znaniecki, and 2) the attempt to examine the research potential of a Polish-American cooperation, basing on the shared social studies tradition. The first goal turned out to be more difficult to achieve than the second one as it was observed that the tradition of Znaniecki’s culturalism along with the awareness of its origins is relatively poorly cultivated on American universities. Though, there is the openess to approach new issues in an old way. It is exciting that the representatives of the research community in New York (The New School for Social Research) expressed their interest in the project. We could also see some intersting presentations on Polish immigrants/ Polish Americans in New York.
The conference gathered over twenty researchers from America, Poland, and Europe and aroused some interest among Polish sociologists from Warsaw and Lodz. The restoring community interested in the research which began 100 years ago proposed to renew Towarzystwo Floriana Znanieckiego (The Florian Znaniecki Association) whose research aims are focused on sustaining scientific relations between those who acknowledge Znaniecki’s heritage. The spiritus movens of this initiative is dr hab. Andrzej Przestalski (the author of a fascinating lecture on the conference), whom you are invited to contact if you are willing to join us or have some questions (Andrzej Przestalski: przestal@amu.edu.pl).
To present the effects of our conference we enclose video materials:
Sociological Symposium 2018. The Polish Peasant in America and Europe – journalistic material: CLICK HERE
The opening lecure by Michale Burawoy: A Century of Ethnography - CLICK HERE
The presentation by Chad Alan Goldberg: The Polish Peasant as a Study of Civil Incorporation and Nation Building - CLICK HERE
Below are some photos from the event and attractions sponsored by Haverford Institute of Public Sociology. Many thanks to Prof. Suava Zbierska-Salamah whose rich international contacts allowed the Institute of Sociology to organize an unprecedented scientific symposium.
