Economic Change and Social Polarization in Poland

Abstract

The transformation of Poland’s political-economic system in the early 1990s fundamentally changed the ownership structure of the means of production in all domains of the economy. It also set in train economic and social processes that have provided a new basis for the Polish economy, and brought about changes in standards of living, and access to goods and services. Social polarization has been one of the basic expressions of these spatial-temporal variations. The author considers the factors responsible for the divergence in living standards, identifies the main tendencies inherent in polarization, and provides a synthesis of the mechanisms of increasing social differences in an economy undergoing transformation.

Exploring spatial autocorrelation of life expectancy in Poland with global and local statistics

“…This in turn may suggest underlying factors with similar patterns. To this end, the results of the spatial autocorrelation analysis suggest an association between the clustering of low life expectancy and the spatial polarization of the socio-economic development in Poland (Weltrowska 2002). It can be argued that the geographical clustering of low life expectancy is related to the distribution of side-effects of economic development during the socialist régime between 1945 and 1989 (see e.g., Malczewski 1990).…”

“…Second, the clusters of high life expectancy were found in the ''winning'' (e.g., Gdańsk) and ''losing'' (e.g., Podkarpacie) regions in terms of the transition to the market economy. These findings suggest that the life expectancy-environmental pollution relationships should be seen as indirect associations, mediated through the physical, social and economic effects of the spatial distribution of industrial activities (and its accompanying urbanization) as well as the geographical differentiation of the economic activities associated with the process of transition to market economy (see e.g., Węcławowicz 1996;Czy_ z 1998;Weltrowska 2002).…”

“…There is evidence to show that the process of transition to market economy has been geographically selective differentiating between the so-called ''winning'' and ''losing'' regions (see e.g., Czy_ z 1998; Weltrowska 2002). Among the old industrial regions such as the coalfield, heavy industry based Upper Silesia, Sudety (Lower Silesia) and the textile industry based Central Poland (Łódź) are among the declining or losing regions.…”

Escape from arbitrariness: Legitimation crisis of real socialism and the imaginary of modernity

“…Second, while these two countries belonged among the richest of the post-socialist bloc, there were also significant differences between them: in Poland, for instance, the lack of basic goods provided for more severe shortages and, consequently, longer queues and more opportunities for informal economy, than in the more industrialized Czech Republic (Hraba, 1985; Knapík & Franc, 2011; Mazurek, 2010). The two countries have also experienced different levels of economic growth and unemployment in the 1990s, related to different levels of inequality and societal polarization (Weltrowska, 2002). Finally, both countries have recently found themselves in the centre of a surge of political change in the region.…”

So near yet so far: blocked networks, global links and multiple exclusion in the German-Polish borderlands

“…On the other hand, there remains an aftertaste when putting all the blame on the mental legacy of actually existing socialism in attempting to explain the blockages in the transformation process. There is a complementary argument that draws attention to the costs of the actual transformation process itself, notably the intrinsic devalu-ation of biographies and social milieux within that very process, characterized by social restratification and increasing polarization (Kostecki 2000;Weltrowska 2002;Wingens 1999). After the unifying and exhilarating experience during the so-called peaceful change of 1989 throughout East-Central Europe, there is now a heightened awareness that the ongoing process of post-socialist transformation implies status insecurity for most as well as a new polarization between 'winners' and 'losers'.…”