Re-placing work: economic transformations and the shape of a community in post-socialist Poland

Stenning, AC

doi:10.1177/0950017005053169

Re-placing work: economic transformations and the shape of a community in post-socialist Poland

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Alison Stenning

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Abstract

This article reports on an ongoing research project which explores the remaking of life and work in Nowa Huta, a steel town built as Poland's first socialist city It focuses on the changing relationship between work and community in Nowa Huta using both qualitative research material and secondary data sources. It locates the study in the context of both recent debates over the 'end of work' and previous accounts of work-community relationships in old industrial regions, but argues that the specific experiences of socialism shaped a particular relationship between work and community. In such contexts, the 'end of work' is coupled with the 'end of socialism' to figure a double ending for some communities. The article documents the changing place of work in Nowa Huta, recognizing the impacts of the loss and restructuring of employment but also drawing attention to the continuing importance of work in shaping lives in Nowa Huta.