The Polish Peasant in Europe and America: A Classic Work in Immigration History - Hardcover

Znaniecki, Florian; Thomas, William I

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0252010906 ISBN 13: 9780252010903

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 1984

Synopsis

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1920. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IV STRUGGLE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE OLD SOCIAL SYSTEM When the disorganization of a social group becomes the object-matter of reflective attention on the part of its members, the spontaneous tendency immediately arising is that of strengthening the existing social system against the process of decadence. The phenomena of disorganization appear at first as a mere negation of the traditional order, and the problem which faces the group seems to be a simple alternative--either the old order or complete chaos. It is only later, when, as a consequence of a closer contact with other social milieux or of the growing realization of new forms of social life, a different social order appears as possible, that the problem loses its seeming simplicity and discloses itself as a very complex and very difficult problem of social evolution, offering an indefinite variety of more or less satisfactory solutions. From this broader standpoint, disorganization itself is a secondary matter, a social symptom rather than a social factor. But as long as viewed exclusively with reference to the existing system which is being disorganized, phenomena of disorganization are judged to be the real and important matter, the social evil which the chief task of society is to overcome. Such judgments are found not only in primary peasant groups; they constitute still the main content of social reflection in the most complex and most civilized societies, they are the backbone of all coercive and repressive legislation and of almost all "social reform" activities. The difference between a peasant primary group and a modern complex and fully civilized society is in this respect mainly a difference in the degree of sophistication. The attitude of the peasant community is more nai...

About this title

Review:

"Of great interest to students and teachers of immigrant history as well as to those of Polish descent." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Deserves the attention of social scientists and others who are more familiar with the study's general theses than with its documentary eveidence."-Eugene Obidinsky, Polish American Studies

From the Back Cover:

This new, abridged edition of the classic five-volume work The Polish Peasant in Europe and America brings together documents and commentary that illuminate the lives of the nearly two million Poles who emigrated to America between 1880 and 1910. The new introduction and epilogue make the book especially valuable in teaching United States history survey courses as well as immigration history and introductory sociology courses.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0252010906
• ISBN 13: 9780252010903
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 310
• Editor: Zaretsky Eli