Inequality as a social phenomenon and political topic in Poland. Discourse, reality and political consequences

Already at the twilight of the declaratively socialist and allegedly classless People’s Republic of Poland, in a year 1988, the level of income inequalities in Poland, as measured by the Gini coefficient, equalled or exceeded the inequalities in many capitalist states, for example in the Benelux countries, West Germany or the Nordic states. Since then, it has grown steadily until 2005. The publication of “The Spirit Level” by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in 2009 and the academic blockbuster by Thomas Piketty “Capital in the 21st Century” from 2014, brought the topic of economic inequality back to the academic classrooms and on the political agenda in post-crisis reality of many European countries. This, however, was not the case in Poland, where the growth of income inequality was neglected in public and political debates throughout the period of post-socialist transformation and the discourse was dominated by an anti-egalitarian narratives. This lecture will discuss aforementioned topic, attempting to interpret short- and long-term socio-political consequences of such a state of affairs.

Wojciech Woźniak holds a doctorate in sociology and works at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Łódź. He chairs the Sociology of Sport Committee in Polish Sociological Association. His research interests include social inequality, public/political discourse analysis and sociology of sport. He has authored or co-authored three books and app. 50 peer reviewed papers or book chapters. He is a member of British Sociological Organization, Westermarck Society (Finnish Sociological Association) and ESPANet (European Social Policy Analysis Network). He has lectured at the universities in Germany (Göttingen University, Free University in Berlin and Justus Liebig University of Giessen), Finland (University of Turku and University of Tampere), France (Université de Nice - Sophia Antipolis) and Estonia (University of Tartu).

More information: https://independent.academia.edu/WojciechWozniak

Seminar will be held in English. No registration is needed.