{"product_id":"hunters-gatherers-and-practitioners-of-powerlessness-an-ethnography-of-the-degraded-in-postsocialist-poland-9781785332401","title":"Hunters, Gatherers, and Practitioners of","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \tThe socio-economic transformations of the 1990s have forced many people in Poland into impoverishment. \u003cem\u003eHunters, Gatherers, and Practitioners of Powerlessness\u003c\/em\u003e gives a dramatic account of life after this degradation, tracking the experiences of unemployed miners, scrap collectors, and poverty-stricken village residents. Contrary to the images of passivity, resignation, and helplessness that have become powerful tropes in Polish journalism and academic writing, Tomasz Rakowski traces the ways in which people actively reconfigure their lives. As it turns out, the initial sense of degradation and helplessness often gives way to images of resourcefulness that reveal unusual hunting-and-gathering skills.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“[T]his book is a treasure that will be mined by anyone interested in the human costs of Poland’s market economy, in comparative studies of postsocialist societies, and in experiences of marginalization, de-industrialization, and de-modernization around the world… As an example of anthropology at home, this book raises many important issues of theory and method.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“The virtue of Rakowski’s book lies in his exact observation and the way the author pays attention to the way change is experienced – bodily, metaphorically, in everyday practices and yearning – and he links them to symbolic meaning and patterns of thought and behaviour, both synchronically and diachronically.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Anthropological Journal of European Cultures\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“\u003c\/em\u003eIn Hunters, Gatherers, and Practitioners of Powerlessness\u003cem\u003e, Rakowski has produced a haunting and beautiful book. The ethnographic writing is extraordinary. It is an unusual skill, to be able to write about degradation but also to convey the dignity of individual lives. Anyone interested in postsocialism, poverty, or economic anthropology more generally should read this book.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Journal of Anthropological Research\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“Tomasz Rakowski presents a theoretically reflective and empirically rich ethnographic study of ‘the degraded’ in three geographical locales in Poland which were ravaged by change… [His] study does these people justice and represents a significant intellectual achievement.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Slavonic and East European Review\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“With a very unique voice and perspective, the ethnographer examines the phenomenology and ontology of postsocialist Poland, where people have been driven to an almost pre-modern (the author even says pre-Neolithic) mode of existence, reformulating their experience of the environment and their relationship to objects created and abandoned by the retreating industrial system.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Anthropology Review Database\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“This is an important book that is both theoretically insightful and ethnographically rich. It provides a look into the “other side” of the postcommunist, neoliberal transformation in Poland, focusing on those who experienced social degradation—they lost social status as the country has gained position in the global economy.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Marysia Galbraith\u003c\/strong\u003e, University of Alabama\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“Rakowski is consistent in following his outlined path, trying to return the culture of poverty its human, inner face. Hermeneutical evidence, backed by extraordinary field work experience and thick description, give desired results. Polish ethnological tradition combined with inspirations drawn from world-class anthropologists, the achievements of Polish researchers of poverty and the classics of sociology and philosophy, result in a work of unquestionable research and intellectual value. A real breakthrough in studies on marginalised people, victims of progress.”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e• Michał Buchowski\u003c\/strong\u003e, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, European University Viadrina\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cem\u003e“In his book Rakowski studies the most tragic dimension of the postcommunist condition, by immersing himself in the lives of those who experienced the total, if temporary, collapse of the economic and social foundations of their existence. He produces three nuanced ethnographies of social and economic resilience in the face of not just an economic collapse but also a cultural catastrophe. [...]Rakowski, an heir to the tradition of Bronisław Malinowski and Florian Znaniecki, takes it to a new level, enriching it not only with the results of his own trail-blazing ethnographic work, but also with novel interpretive threads, taken for example from Marleau-Ponty’s phenomenology. It is hard to find a better ethnographic example of the work that is 'ontological' in its spirit.”\u003c\/em\u003e From the foreword, \u003cstrong\u003eJan Kubik\u003c\/strong\u003e, University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \tForeword\u003cbr\u003e \t\u003cem\u003eJan Kubik\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \tAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e \tPreface\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eIntroduction: The Anthropologist as a Poverty Inspector\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eAn Anthropological Shift in Perspective\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe ‘Culture of Poverty’: Getting Beyond the Concept\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tSocial Trauma and Dependency: Shift in Perspective        \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tHermeneutics and Anthropology\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eTowards a Method\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tMaurice Merleau-Ponty – the ‘Patron Saint’ of the Present Ethnography\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tMethod: (Lack of) Ethnographic Knowledge\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tPre-textual Ethnography\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eThe Most Bitter Side of the Polish Transformation: Fields of Research\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe “New Poverty”\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tPost-socialism: History and Experience\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe Studied Phenomena\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe Field Research\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 1. The Szydlowiec and Przysucha Environs (The Świętokrzyskie and Radom Foothills)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eA World Full of Adversities\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tUnemployment and the Farming Recession\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tCommunity of the Unemployed: Immobility, Odd Jobs and ‘Tragic Scarring’\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eMotionless Orchards, Motionless Fields: Failure\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tDependency and Irreversibility: A Reproof at the World\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tSecond-string Ecology\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eThe New Face of the Jobless Village\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tGatherers of Wild Herbs and Undergrowth, Gatherers of Fir Wood\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe ‘New Ecology’: The Convertibility of the Environment\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tCollection, Conversion, Transition\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe ‘Culture of Survival’\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 2. Wałbrzych – Boguszów-Gorce\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eFrom Destruction to ‘Empty’ Communication: The Liquidation of the Coal Basin\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe City and the Mine\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe Highly Ambivalent Story of the Wałbrzych Basin\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tExperience and Liquidation: Destruction – The City – The Body\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tHow to Speak of Liquidation? (Auto)aggression – Dialogue – Social Muteness\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tExternalized Shame: Empty Communication and Internal Spectacles\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tFacing Reality after the Mines (1)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tComplaints – Accusations – Triumphs\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eA World Affected from the Outside\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tBootleg Mines, Diggers, Skills: The Body’s Active Knowledge\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tRhythm, Jokes, Anecdotes: ‘Scoffing at the World’\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tLaw and Lawlessness: Interior Spectacles\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe Grey Market: Deal-making and Resourcefulness\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe ‘Internal Circulation’ and the Fragmentationof Transactions\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cem\u003eHome-Oikos\u003c\/em\u003e: The Internal Circulation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eFreedom in the Mines\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t‘Do It Yourself’ Equipment\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tWorking and Efficiency in Manual Labor: Resources and Deposits\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tDemolition – Collecting – Objects\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThings\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tMemory\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tFacing Reality after the Mines (2)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 3. The Bełchatów Brown Coal Mine -- The Shadowlands of the Exposed Mine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eThe Mine\/ Power Station. The Perfect Balance, an Abrupt Modernization\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tCausative Alienation and Control over the Environment\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tAt the Margins of the Great Industry – Marginalization and Exclusion\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe Mine: \u003cem\u003eOrbis Exterior\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tViolence, Guilt, and the Building Sacrifice\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe Consequences of ‘Excess’: Metaphors of Exploitation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t\u003cstrong\u003eThe Mine: \u003cem\u003eOrbis Interior\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe Players, Their Families, and Their Means of Sustenance\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tSelf-sufficiency, Subsistence: Gathering and Processing Goods\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tHunting and Gathering\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tWacław Okoński – The Stalker, \u003cem\u003eOrbis Interior\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tGoods and Trophies: The Hunting\/Gathering Existence on the Edge of the Mine\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tRecords\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tCabinets of Curiosities, Collectors’ Museums\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe Work of Memory: Reconstructions, Objects, Collections\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\t‘The Science of the Concrete’: Inscriptions, Journals, Enumeration\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tHunters and Gatherers – Practitioners of Powerlessness\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003e \t\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tThe \u003cem\u003e‘Reality Testing’\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tOutcome\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e \t\tBeyond Anthropology\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003e \tBibliography\u003cbr\u003e \tMaterials\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Berghahn Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51042383757655,"sku":"9781785332401","price":96.3,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781785332401.jpg?v=1750953996","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/hunters-gatherers-and-practitioners-of-powerlessness-an-ethnography-of-the-degraded-in-postsocialist-poland-9781785332401","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}