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Constructive emotions? Patriotism as a predictor of civic activity in Poland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2019

Radosław Marzęcki Open the ORCID record for Radosław Marzęcki [Opens in a new window]
Radosław Marzęcki*
Affiliation:
Pedagogical University of Cracow, Institute of Political Science, Cracow, Poland
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In many post-communist countries, the concept of patriotism is used instrumentally in populist discourses. It is rarely the subject of a substantive public debate, in which symbolic elites would be able to openly discuss and negotiate the scope of its meaning in front of an interested audience. A long-term plan to shape constructive civil attitudes gives way to the pressure of being effective in current politics. The author proposes to look at the category of patriotism in a socially useful way and to treat it as an important factor in the process of building a civil society. The young generation can play a significant role in this process. Poland seems to be an interesting case for the analysis of this research problem. This paper has two objectives. The descriptive objective is to present the author's research data on a sense and understanding of patriotism among Polish students. Its aim is to describe the prevailing pattern of patriotic attitudes and ideas about patriotism as shared by students. The explanatory objective of this paper is to answer the question about the constructive potential of patriotism: whether and to what extent it is an important determinant of civic activity. The results obtained should lead to practical conclusions that may be useful for various social institutions which are interested in releasing the positive energy of citizens and orienting them to functional goals, that is, the education system, as well as for political institutions that design and implement elements of the so-called youth policy.

Keywords

Civic activitycivil societynationalismpatriotismPolandyouth
Type
Research Article
Information
Italian Political Science Review / Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 33 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © Società Italiana di Scienza Politica 2019

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