Spencer Wells - the paths to unity. Spencer WeIls, a discipIe of Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, carries on his mentor's works on the reconstruction of the pre-historical global human migration. He argues that aIl currently Iiving people are descendants of a smali African tri be of hunters-gatherers, who Iived in Africa about sixty thousand years ago. Homo sapiens left the African plains only 50-80 thousand years ago. and began their slow expansion to aIl continents, to diversify, generation after generation, into Eskimos, Aborigines, Europeans, Indians and Africans. The aim of his research is creating a map of human migration throughout miłłenniums. Can all aspects of this line of research be unequivocally determined? lt seems that it is too early to claim so. But it may be argued that the crucial cultural dimension, which reaches the core message carried by modern anthropology and sociology, is ridding entirely of the centric attitude and the - promoted to the rank of an eval uative judgment - estimation of the importance of the ethnic-cultural element. Whatever may be of interest here is included in the value created by the community, regardless of its origin, language, or colour of skin.

On the meaning of the adjective “social” in masters of sociological thought and in several major European languages. Part I: Theoretical sociology after the linguistic turn. This article is the first part of an extensive sociological-linguistic study which has grown out of a paper the author presented at the 13th All-Polish Congress of Sociology (2007) in a working group on discourse analysis. Part II (its first draft is available on the author’s website www.cyf-kr.edu/~ussozans/) compares the use of the concepts of the social and of the common in several major European languages. The initial sections of Part I analyze the impact of some linguistic paradigms and philosophies of language (Austin, Wittgenstein, Searle) on sociological theorizing. The final sections (18–23) deal with the understanding of the social in the writings of Comte, Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Znaniecki.

Culture as the topos of the sociological category of consciousness.The article presents alternative methods of expressing the category of consciousness in the context of its more general placement and relation to other sociological categories. The three categories that serve to describe the topos of consciousness form a kind of continuum. It appears in the following form: society–culture–network. The notion of culture is treated here as one of referents determining the consciousness phenomena in the social world. Generally speaking, this continuum illustrates the transition from nature to culture, for the latter has become a significant category, which enables describing man through what he creates, not only as an element of the naturalistically perceived society. On the other hand, in the most recent concepts of the shape of all-society relations, it is worth noticing that the relations do not only develop within a given society or a given culture, but take on the form of hyper-social relations, that is relations that, to a large extent, escape the natural and cultural affiliation. Consciousness phenomena are thus situated in purely social relations and interpersonal relations networks.

Labelling theory and the possibilities of its application in the context of modern juvenile delinquency in Poland.This article deals with the issues concerning juvenile delinquency in modern Poland; its main goal is presenting the reflections of the representatives of the labelling theory One of the negative results of the social-economic transformations in Poland is the increase in the number of offences by juvenile delinquents, and significant qualitative changes in this phenomenon. The labelling theorists (E. Lemert, H. Becker, K. Erikson, J. Kitsuse, E. Schur, as well as A. Cicourel and E. Goffman), basing on the assumptions of symbolic interactionism (G. Mead), perceive deviation as a phenomenon originating in the process of social interactions. In the article, as the theoretical background, the author presents the views of two classic representatives of the theory: H. Becker and E. Lemert, and outlines the approach of a modern researcher in the labelling theory, J. Braithwaite. In sum, the social reaction theory can be applied in explaining the influence that social changes – especially economic ones – may have on the structure of crime and the functioning of the law enforcement and judicial systems. Despite its considerable achievements, a critical analysis of the labelling theory enables identifying certain limitations and drawbacks of the concept. However, regardless of the formulated doubts, it is worth noticing that the theory has contributed to the creation of a new paradigm in criminology and, following the suggestions of the labelling theorists, more emphasis has been put on the significance of the – often negative – influence of the social control institutions on the life of a juvenile delinquent.

Between the old and the new country: life out of a suitcase at the turn of the 21st century. The article begins with the revision of various forms and types of emigration. Further, the demographic situation in the united Europe is outlined, as a background for the presentation of human migration. The last part of the article is a discussion of migration out of Poland; it is shown how over many years the targets (countries and continents) for Polish emigration have changed, and how the social-demographic profile of the emigrant has altered.

Internal conflicts in the world’s periphery countries. Uganda – a case study.Many authors point out enormous socio-economic and cultural divisions in the new global order. The world is said to be divided into the rich and prosperous centre, the semi-periphery, and the periphery inhabited by 2/3 of the global population. Ulf Hannerz discusses four scenarios of ‘global ecumena’, the cultural analogy to new global economic order, one of them being ‘global homogenization’. The analysis of the recent political history of Uganda – a model periphery country – provides some arguments against this scenario. The elements of culture, such as the political system or conflict regulation, are not fully transferred from the centre to the periphery. What is actually transferred to countries like Uganda are only some democratic procedures that lead to quasi-democracy. In reference to conflict regulation, one can observe the clash of the traditional meaning of justice represented by the ethnic group with the one represented by the International Criminal Court. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the only possible scenario of ‘global ecumena’ is deformation of Western elements of culture implemented into periphery countries.

Target: Israel. War as a sense of existence?The article presents the reasons for and the course of Israeli-Arabian conflicts. Terrorism is inseparably connected with the political situation in that region, thus the article describes the sources and the history of terrorism in the Middle East. Considerations of the situation in that region must also inherently include the struggle of the Palestinian organizations to liberate the nation and to create an independent state.

Social and professional activity of women in the Polish countryside.The present article discusses the issue of contemporary women’s life in rural regions, in the context of their roles in the society: familiar, professional and social ones. On the basis of the results of her own research, the author sketches the portrait of a country woman against the background of social and economic transformations. A quantitative survey was conducted on a sample of women population from the ten subdivisions (sołectwa) of the commune of Trzebinia. A supplementary qualitative research, in the form of in-depth interviews, was conducted among the experts of the powiat district of Chrzanów. Over the last decades, the changes taking place in the model of life of a local rural community have been influenced by the popular culture. These changes are observed with varied intensity, depending on the area of life. Although the priorities in the life of contemporary country women have been changing, the research confirms that the most important ones are still home and family. It is possible to observe blurring of the differences between the images of “a city woman” and “a country woman”. The examined local community still remains an enclave of certain values, which in a lesser degree adopts the urban behavioural patterns.

Playing with the past – playing past: ludicized history.The contemporary consumptive society is a society of playing, which means that fun and entertainment play a gradually greater role in its culture. The social range and accessibility of playing are growing, there are more and more forms of and places for play, and more time is devoted to it, especially in urban communities. The article deals with one of the forms of play: playing with the past, and playing the past. These are two sides of a coin. Playing with the past is using props, characters and events for the purpose of playing, while playing the past is a different kind of human activity (participating, active play), which is more lasting and more profound. We can include here, first of all, membership of chivalric brotherhoods. Playing the past is recreating the past and existing – even partly – in this reconstructed world. Playing with the past and playing the past are socially significant. People playing with the past and those playing the past are groups that realize a peculiar kind of community-forming. Members of the groups perceive playing as a hobby, a passion, and a walk of life. It is valuable that people of different age, of different generations, integrate, that they build up the sense of belonging, and that they spend their leisure in a useful and creditable way, while – last but not least – having real fun.

Gothic narration and convention in advertising.The present article concerns the relations between the classically understood Gothicism and the modern advertising messages. Gothicism, which used to be an alternative, unpopular and non-commercial niche convention, has been adapted and employed by the mass market. After analysing briefly the basic assumptions of Gothicism, determining its scope of meaning, and showing the transformations it constantly undergoes, the author of the article presents the methods and goals of using the Gothic convention and narration in advertising. Gothicism perfectly fits the post-modern landscape of the contemporary media. Its appearance on the commercial plane, the change of context, or the transmutation it undergoes becomes a manifestation of the post-Gothic convention. However, advertising uses not only the characteristic visual aspect of Gothic, but also the accompanying enormous emotional load. Popularity and widespread application of Gothic elements in advertising is also associated with the evolution in advertising itself, and the emergence of its new types, such as shockvertising or oddvertising.

Was socialism cool?The problem discussed in this article is “the praise of socialism”, typical of the contemporary culture, combined with the progressing banalization of the problem in the media. Beside the research trend (necessarily adjudicative) of investigating the past, there exists another, which, consciously or not, makes the cruel and complex reality of PRL seem to be “the good times”, a period characterized by adventure and absurd. The author of the article points to some sources of such a situation, identifying them e.g. in the process of folklorization that affects individual biographies of those who advanced socially in the socialist period. Another source of positive judgments of the system is the film production of the era, which is now interpreted differently from the directors’ intentions, and the specificity of the modern popular culture, which focuses on entertainment and sensation.

The unholy sacred or the sanctified profane? The nature and symbolism of shopping malls in the consumptive civilization.The aim of this article is to show, on the example of shopping centres, the symbolic sphere of consumption, which is characterized by the more and more blurred borderline between the sacred and the profane. The article presents an analysis of shopping malls in a modern city space, in the context of consumptive civilization, in which large-surface shopping centres become one of the most significant venues of the public space. They not only attract people for practical reasons, but also, through shaping the taste of the customers and creating new behavioural patterns, they transform the symbolism and valuation of the city space and time. It is even argued that such places acquire sacred meaning, as the symbolism of gift, sacrifice and feast can be traced in them; the quasi-religious symbols and associations also function as elements of marketing. Regardless of the associated controversy, it may be claimed that modern shopping centres contribute to the creation of a new order.

An elite in transition: recruitment patterns and policies of the regional administration of Upper Silesia, Poland, in 1990–1997.This article traces the administrative elite of the Upper Silesian region of Poland in the transition period of 1990–1997. In 1990, despite its perceived ineffectiveness, the administrative reform was introduced at the local level, while the two higher levels of district and region were left untouched, on the grounds that simultaneous reform on all three levels might destabilise the state. The article examines the administrative actors of the region, their attitudes, and the shifts in their policies over time, in two types of institutions: the reformed local government, and the regional-level voivodship office headed by the voivode – which remains unreformed, despite the wish for reform of the voivode himself and other members of the regional elite. The local-level reform established communes as elected self-governing units, bringing to an end their subordination to higher levels and leading to an increase in their administrative capacity and efficiency. At the regional level, the article focuses on the impact of two voivodes. The first is the ‘revolutionary’ Wojciech Czech, who proposed radical administrative reforms and wished to renew the Silesian ‘lost values’. The second is his ‘Bourbon’ successor, Ciszak, who wished to continue the socialist status quo in order to maintain the prominent position of the regional elite and the special status of the region built on its heavy industry. The paper also examines various attempts to reform the regional administration, most notably the so-called ‘regional contract’ between Katowice and Warsaw, signed in October 1995. The analysis ends at the time of the national election of 1997. This marked a watershed of the transition period, as the decision to conclude administrative reform at both district and regional levels was taken. The analysis of attitudes is supplemented by an investigation of recruitment patterns, the striking feature of which is the mobilisation of the native Silesian population, resulting in their predominance in the regional elite. This is in striking contrast to the inter-war and socialist periods, when ‘newcomers’ – Poles from other regions – accounted for the majority of the regional elite. Moreover, a radical change of personnel in senior administrative positions took place in the early nineties during the revolutionary period, which probably also had an impact on the radicalism of policies formulated at the time. In contrast, during the next period – restoration – the exchange of personnel was minor. However, people from the old communist regime returned to inner elite positions.