Changes in social awareness on both sides of the border. Poland – the Czech Republic. Sociological reflections
Changes in social awareness on both sides of the border. Poland – the Czech Republic. Sociological reflections

Contributor(s): Urszula Swadźba (Editor), Daniel Topinka (Editor)
Subject(s): Sociology, Social development, Social differentiation, Nationalism Studies, Sociology of Culture, Migration Studies, Ethnic Minorities Studies, Sociology of Politics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Poles and Czechs; Neighbors; Shared History; Modernization; Identity and Globalization;
Summary/Abstract: Poles and Czechs have been neighbours for centuries. We both speak Western Slavic languages and shave similar Slavic origins. Moreover, history often condemned us to a common fate, such as the submission of Bohemia, Moravia, and also a part of Silesia, to the Habsburg Monarchy. e both nation states have much in common as well as differ in many respects. ey underwent modernization, nationalization, experienced the period of socialism, and finally found themselves in a whirlwind of globalization and a new social reality. Common membership in the Communist Bloc, and then the systemic transformation, maintained the analogous fates of the both nations, which are imprinted on the consciousness of their societies. At the same time, historical differences also occurred, such as between the accomplishments of Jan Hus and the Counter-Reformation in Poland. e result is different approaches of Poles and Czechs to religion. e period of systemic transformation, opening to the outside world and the processes of globalization have caused an influx of new trends, styles and the Western values. It concerns the inhabitants of the both countries, especially the younger generation. e period in qestion allowed them to explore their identity, particularly in terms of ethnicity and religion. Such processes occurred in both the Polish and the Czech communities.

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