Wieś jako przedmiot zainteresowania socjologii
The Countryside as a Field of Interest of Sociology

Summary/Abstract: In consequence of modernization changes, the object of rural sociology gradually becomes no longer up-to-date and urgently needs to be redefined by way of intensifying − as postulated in this paper − two principal research trajectories. The first one forces searching for contemporary differences between rural and urban type of dwelling, which are to be studied based on dismantling the hitherto perception of the countryside; many traditional analytical categories should be left to historians of the social thought and new categories should be found which are better suited to contemporary realities. In the first instance, this seems to require a new, precise definition of the term ‘countryside’ as a cultural phenomenon which integrates the experience of natural and social environment with mental needs of humans. The other direction of the postulated, re-defining actions needs to take into consideration a quite natural interest taken in rural areas by other scientific disciplines, inter alia: biology, ecology, demography, philosophy and psychology. The approaches and research perspectives used in these fields as well as formulated judgements have always exerted a significant influence on the findings of sociology relating to rural matters and problems. Furthermore, only by joining even more cognitive efforts of many scientific disciplines and sub-disciplines can we be in a position to contribute to a more satisfying explanation of the nature of complex social facts which make up the present-day idea of the countryside and the phenomenon of living in the countryside.

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