Między nauką a propagandą. Śląski Instytut Naukowy im. Jacka Koraszewskiego w Katowicach (1957–1992)
Between Science and Propaganda. Jacek Koraszewski Silesian Research Institute in Katowice (1957−1992)

Author(s): Maciej Fic
Subject(s): History, Cultural history, Political history, Social history
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: science; propaganda; humanities; Upper Silesia; Silesian studies
Summary/Abstract: The book is devoted to the history of the Silesian Research Institute in its 35th anniversary.The history of the scientific research center goes back to the regional pre-war traditionscommon to a number of research facilities which were erected in the socialist realism,and supervised by the regional party-state authorities. The research policy in UpperSilesia and ways of perceiving the role of the research (especially the humanities) by theleading figures in PZPR (Polish United Workers’ Party) was a measure of the Institute’sefficient functioning.The structure of the monograph is built according to chronological and problematiccriteria. On the one hand, it depicts the formation of the Institute in the context of academiclife in Upper Silesia in the 20th century, and the process of ideologization of thecenter with its various stages and levels on the other. The temporal frames of the researchare determined by the period of existence of subsequent „incarnations” of the Institute.The two opening chapters stand for a certain introduction to the crux of the book.Chapter one depicts the formation of the academic life of the humanities in the Silesianvoivodeship in the interwar period. Moreover, the role of the „academic policy” of thestate authorities of the time (the most extensive part is about the first „incarnation”of the Silesian Institute) has been presented. Chapter two is an attempt to outline theparty-state policy in Poland (particularly the local authorities) after the year 1945 towardsresearch institutions/centers. It is predominantly the ideological meaning of activitiestaken by the leaders that has been taken into consideration.(excerpt from the Executive Summary)

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