Józef Chałasiński’s sociological theory of the Polish intelligentsia

Abstract

This article aims to discuss Józef Chałasiński’s theory on the Polish intelligentsia. The author of the text argues that it should be considered in relation to other topics which Chałasiński tackled: the democratization of culture, social mobility, the problems of the nation, and relations between the culture of the nobility and the culture of peasants (displaced from the Polish imaginary). In the first section of the article, the author traces the most important inspirations that shaped his concept of the intelligentsia. In the second section, he argues that although Józef Chałasiński did not deliver a final work on this subject, a relatively consistent theoretical position can be derived from his writings. The author also puts forward the thesis that according to Chałasiński the most important role in sustaining the intelligentsia’s highest position was played by culture. Therefore, his criticism of the intelligentsia was directed at the democratization of national culture. In the concluding section, the author emphasizes the persistence of several motives on the intelligentsia in Chałasiński’s work and synthesizes his findings on this subject. The author also describes the critical perspective that accompanied Chałasiński throughout his intellectual biography. Chałasiński hoped that the model of personality represented by the intelligentsia should be replaced by a democratic model of a cultural man who could actively participate in the cultural life of the nation, regardless of profession or education.