well. Conflict thus produced political awareness on the part of central
government and helped to calm the moods. It may sound ironic, but in fact it is
rather prophetic that the down-sized Praszka factory recently recorded an up
swing in production.
Notes
1.On the private accusation procedure and its role in everyday disputes see Fuszara
( 1987, 1989) where she presented the detailed study in Warsaw and two rural districts
on how this procedure which according to Polish criminal procedure mostly applicable in
case of libel, slander or a minor bodily injury and which accounted for about one fourth
of cases reported to police was used to get compensation out of the court and to defend
one's moral value in social context. In these cases the public prosecution is absent and
the victim of the crime is the private prosecutor before the court that renders the verdict
and may punish the offender with fine or short-time imprisonment. 2.A note on wheel-barrows is necessary. In Poland their use is part of a
well-established ritual of degradation. I first heard of this in 1956 when rebellious workers
put communist factory directors or Party apparatchiki on wheel-barrows and crowds
shouted obscenities as they were carried away. Furthermore, the meaning of the ritual is
intensified as wheel-barrows are symbols of working people. A person ritually degraded
in such a way could not hope to govern any longer, even if the powers-that-be still
supported them.
3.Transition to market economy was marked by sudden appearance of unemployment
that is still on increase. At the end of 1989 the percentage of registered unemployed in
active labor force was 0.3, in 1990 6.1, in 1991 11.1, in 1992 13.6 and at the end of 1993
15.7.
4.In response to questions about why the press was present one of the Self-Defence
leaders humorously said in defense of his cause that "a bit of demagoguery always
helps.".
5.Occupation of government offices was a practice begun by protesting farmers in 1980. Why farmers preferred this strategy is obvious. Workers strike by occupying their
factories. Polish farmers own their farms, so halting or limiting their production would
only harm themselves. Consequently they take over the premises of local or central
authorities to focus attention on their cause.
6.Data for this table was collected by M. Iwanska.
7.Data for this table was collected by I. Krzesak.
8.Data for this table were collected by I. Krzesak.
9.The co-op was a commercial organization that, under Communist rule, held the
monopoly on liquor sales in the countryside and which provided the infrastructure to the
so-called "green nomenklatura."
10.After the 1975 administrative reform the country was divided in several thousand
communes, of rural, urban or even metropolitan character, each with its own local
government After 1989 local government comprised an elected Council that appoints the Board of the Commune with its head whom we translate here as Mayor.
-134-
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: East European Communities:The Struggle for Balance in Turbulent Times.
Contributors: David A. Kideckel - Editor.
Publisher: Westview Press.
Place of publication: Boulder, CO.
Publication year: 1995.
Page number: 134.
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