Sociology in Central and Eastern Europe or East European Sociology: Historical and Present 1

Sociology in Eastern Europe or East European Sociology: Historical and Present. Sociology as an institution emerged in Western Europe in the mid-19th century, aiming at the analysis of societies in the process of industrialization. With the expansion of capitalism and industrialism, it also expanded into other regions of the world. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Poland being an example, was a region of delayed industrialization. It was an area in which rather ethnology than sociology was initially interested. Intellectual milieus of the region were very well educated and cosmopolitan. Many Western European ideas were studied here and attempts to implement them were strong. At the same time, many CEE intellectuals underlined the specific character of the region. As a consequence, within the spectrum of attitudes toward the scholarly analysis of CEE societies, we could distinguish two “ideal-type” options. One of them stressed that it was possible to build academic sociology in and of CEE, based on the rules of universal sociology, developed in the West. Other ideas opted for the building of the CEE sociology, which would be based on the specific historical experiences of the region. For the second option, CEE sociology was to be an alternative to the Western sociology or social sciences in general. The paper concentrates on the Polish case without neglecting other cases. It will discuss both historical and present situation, that emerging since 1989. CEE became much more open as a study area for Western scholars who have done a lot of their own research here in collaboration with their colleagues coming from the region itself. The ways in which this collaboration has been perceived by the “native” scholars is be also a topic of analysis. Sociologia 2009, Vol. 41 (No. 6: 507-525)