Description
Book SynopsisThis book discusses the viability of «importing» the middle class to Poland. The 1990s were a step forward in the formation of the Polish middle class and, systematically yet barely discernible in daily life, the process was triggered by an increase in consumption and affluence. However, the changes of attitudes, life goals and value systems distinct for the Western middle class are ambiguous and rather slow in Poland. They ensue mainly from the changes in new social structures and the behavioral rationality of consumers. It appears that the middle class in Poland will not emerge as an exact copy of the original middle class – rather, it will be its contextually modified variant, affected by Polish cultural traditions.
Table of ContentsContents: The heartening myth – Consumption, affluence, new style and new structures – 1984-1998: Inclination toward self-reliance – Aspirations and value systems – The old intelligentsia and the new middle class – The upper class – Prospects for the middle class society in Poland.
