KONCEPCJA NARODU W MYŚLI FLORIANA ZNANIECKIEGO: PRÓBA INTERPRETACJI
THE CONCEPT OF THE NATION IN THE THOUGHT OF FLORIAN ZNANIECKI: AN ATTEMPT OF INTERPRETATION

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the paper is reconstruction of Florian Znaniecki’s theory of the nation. The basis ofmy interpretation will be following questions or research problems: (i) Does national membershipresult from the possession of certain features, or is it a question of free will? (ii) Were nation-build-ing processes autonomous with regards to socio-political and socio-economical processes, or werethey reducible to them? (iii) Did one universal path of nation-building exist (at least in Europe)or were there more paths? The answer to these questions allows Znaniecki’s theory to be locatedin a wider comparative perspective, from which his opinions can be compared with those of otherauthors (such as e.g. Zygmunt Balicki, Ernest Gellner, Feliks Koneczny and Andrzej Nowak).According to Znaniecki, a nation is a community based on commonly shared cultural convictions,and it has an objective status. Because of this, nation-building processes are not reducible to mod-ernization or political processes, although the nation-state can be a result of nation-building pro-cesses. This approach allows us to conceptualize the peculiarities of the development of nationalconsciousness in Central and Eastern Europe. In the final part of the paper, Znaniecki’s vision ofthe world society based on national cultures is analysed.

• Details
• Contents