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The Polish Intelligentsia: Past and Present

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2011

Jan Szczepański
Jan Szczepański
Affiliation:
University of Łódź and Vice-Chairman of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology
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Extract

The intelligentsia in Poland, as in all rapidly changing societies, is regarded as a leading social force and is observed with interest by sociologists, political scientists, and journalists. However, both in Poland and elsewhere the term “intelligentsia” has several connotations and refers to a variety of social groups and occupations, as does the term “intellectuals,” which is sometimes used as an equivalent. In Webster's International Dictionary we find the following definition: “Intelligentsia.—Informed intellectual people; the educated or professional group, class, or party;—often derisive.” The Oxford Dictionary defines the term as “That part of a nation that aspires to independent thinking.” It seems to me that these two definitions represent the main trends in the use of this word.

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , April 1962 , pp. 406 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1962

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References

1 Almost every author writing about the origin of the term “intelligentsia” refers to Peter Boborykin as having originated it in one of his numerous works, but nobody has been able to give the exact reference. See Billington, James H., “The Intelligentsia and the Religion of Humanity,” American Historical Review, LXV (July 1960), p. 811Google Scholar, note 10.

2 See Seton-Watson, Hugh, “The Russian Intellectuals,” reprinted in Huszar, George B. de, ed., The Intellectuals, Glencoe, Ill., 1960, pp. 41–50Google Scholar; Fischer, George, Russian Liberalism, Cambridge, Mass., 1958CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and his chapter on “The Intelligentsia and Russia,” in Black, Cyril E., ed., The Transformation of Russian Society, Cambridge, Mass., 1960, pp. 253–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Miliukov, P. N., Iz Istorii Russkoi Intelligentsii, St. Petersburg, 1903Google Scholar; Blaha, Arnost, Sociology of the Intelligentsia, Brno, 1937.Google Scholar

3 Smoleński, W., Przewrot umysłowy w Polsce (The transformation of Polish cultural life), Warsaw, 1949Google Scholar; Leśnodorski, B., Dzieło Sejmu czteroletniego (The work of the Sejm, 1788–1792), Warsaw, 1951Google Scholar; Debicki, Z., Kryzyz inteligencji polskiej (The crisis of the Polish intelligentsia), Warsaw, 1918.Google Scholar

4 Chałasiński, Jósef, Przescłość i przyszłość inteligencji polskiej (Past and future of the Polish intelligentsia), Warsaw, 1958.Google Scholar

5 Szczepański, Jan, “Z badań nad inteligencja polska XIX wieku” (An investigation of the Polish intelligentsia of the 19th century), Kultura i Społeczeństwo, IV (1960), pp. 133–39.Google Scholar

6 Szczepański, Jan, “Materiały do charakterystyki ludzi polskiego swiata naukowego w XIX i poczatkach XX wieku” (Materials relating to the characteristics of the Polish men of knowledge in the 19th and early 20th century) (unpublished).Google Scholar

7 Estimate based on the following sources: Mały rocznik statystyczny (Small statistical yearbook), Warsaw, 1939; Statystyka szkolnictwa (School statistics), Warsaw, 1937–1938; Sobociński, M., Podaż ludzi z wyższym wykształceniem (Supply of university graduates), Warsaw, 1934.Google Scholar

8 Bartnicki, T. and Czajkowski, T., Struktura zatrudnienia i zarobki pracowników umysłowych (Structure of employment and salaries of mental workers), Warsaw, 1936.Google Scholar

9 The problems of the social role and responsibility of this kind of intelligentsia were widely discussed in Hołówko, T., “Grzechy i omyłki polskiej inteligencji pracujacej” (Sins and errors of the Polish toiling intelligentsia), Droga (1924), No. 5, pp. 1–14Google Scholar; A. Skwarczyński, “Zadania i przyszłość inteligencji pracujacej” (Tasks and future of the toiling intelligentsia), ibid., Nos. 6–7, pp. 1–5; K. Zakrzewski, “Zagadnienie inteligencji” (The problem of the intelligentsia), ibid. (1929), No. 4, pp. 333–43; A. Hertz, “Spór o inteligencje” (Dispute about the intelligentsia), ibid., No. 10, pp. 846–55; B. Heidekorn, “Proletaryzacja inteligencji zawodowej” (Proletarization of the vocational intelligentsia), ibid. (1930), No. 1, pp. 68–74; A. Hertz, “Sprawa klerka” (The problem of the clerk), ibid. (1933), No. 3, pp. 229–40; Hertz, A., “Inteligencja wobec mas” (The intelligentsia and the masses), in Skwarczyński, A., ed., Pod znakiem odpowiedzialności i pracy, Warsaw, 1933Google Scholar; Łempicki, Z., “Problemat inteligencji” (The problem of the intelligentsia), Marcholt (1935)Google Scholar, No. 2; Zubrzycki, B. and Salzman, S., “Dyskusja o inteligencji” (Discussion of the intelligentsia), Sygnały (1936)Google Scholar, No. 18; A. Próchnik, “Problem inteligencji” (The problem of the intelligentsia), ibid. (1937), No. 27; Jałowiecki, A., “Gospodarujaca inteligencja” (The managing intelligentsia), Przeglad Współczesny (1937), No. 10, pp. 20–35Google Scholar; łempicki, Z., “Kryzys inteligencji a potrzeby życia” (The crisis of the intelligentsia and the needs of life), Drogi Polski (1937)Google Scholar, No. 10.

10 Olszewicz, B., Lista strat Kultury polskiej (The losses of Polish culture), Wrocław, 1947.Google Scholar

11 Szczepański, Jan, “Struktura inteligencji w Polsce” (The structure of the intelligentsia in Poland), Kultura i Sposeczenstwo, IV (1960), pp. 19–48.Google Scholar

12 See Szczepański, Jan, ed., Z badań klasy robotniczej i inteligencji (Research on the working class and the intelligentsia), Łódż, 1958Google Scholar, and Wykształcenie a pozycja społeczna inteligencji (The education and social position of the intelligentsia), Vol. I, Łódż, 1959; Vol. II, Łódż, 1960.