POKREWIEŃSTWO A WSPÓŁCZESNA WŁADZA
KINSHIP AND MODERN AUTHORITY

Summary/Abstract: The article is an attempt for general reflection on the sources of place in the contemporary social structure and of access to power. Do both categories result primarily from individual choices and predispositions, or are they related to kinship relationships, which seem to have long since expired? The importance of the latter is indirectly indicated by Pierre Bourdieu’s research, especially his concept of habitus. Bourdieu sees the main source of habitus in the category of cultural capital and the psychology of depth (the level of the unconscious), without going into their biological and genetic basis. According to Bourdieu, habitus is related to the class position, hence the term class habitus, a „common denominator” unifying the practices of members of the same class or faction. This mechanism leads to the reproduction of classes and thus of the entire social structure [Matuchniak-Krasuska 2015, s.93]Contrary to Bourdieu’s theory, sociologists Ulrich Beck and Anthonny Giddens [Giddens 2001] argue that in the late modernity, the place in the social structure no longer depends on the ancestry as much as it once did. They argue that the individualization of responsibility and scope of opportunities, regardless of place of birth in the social structure, has gone so far that one can make groundbreaking choices, having an opportunity for a promotion or, in general, for a change from the starting point, which is considered to be a place on the social ladder at birth and the first years of life. Ulrich Beck in „Risk Society” [Beck 2002] claims that the main burden of promotion is not on the origin, but on the individual characteristics and individual choices (homo eligens). Zygmunt Bauman also came to similar conclusionswhen he wrote about „liquid modernity” [Bauman 2006] and „liquid life” [Bauman 2007]. However, these theories are not fully confirmed by empirical research showing the still existing tightness and control of various categories of power and high places in the social structure. After analyzing some studies on the subject, it seems that kinship remains a key factor in accessing them.

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