Polish Sociological Association - History

History

In its present form, the PTS has had a continuous existence since 1956, but its history can be traced back to 1927, when Florian Znaniecki established the first Polish organization of sociologists under the name of "Polish Sociological Institute" (Polski Instytut Socjologiczny/PIS). Initially, the PIS combined the tasks of a research institute with the representation of sociologists across the country. In 1931, on the first ever national convention of sociologists in Poznań, separate professional organization under the name of Polskie Towarzystwo Socjologiczne (PTS) was created on Znaniecki's initiative. This association, one of the first of its type in Europe, co-existed with the PIS. Relatively little is known about its activities. Its first two presidents were Ludwik Krzywicki (1931-1935) and Stefan Czarnowski (1935-1938). In 1935, PTS and PIS jointly organized the second Polish Sociologocial Convention in Warsaw. Both bodies existed until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Towards the end of the war, in 1944 the PIS was reactivated in the Soviet-controlled part of the country, but not so the PTS; some of its previous tasks were reassigned to the new PIS. In 1951, sociology was declared a "bourgeois" science in Poland. All sociological university departments and institutes, including the PIS, were closed, their employees transferred to neighbouring disciplines such as philosophy or history.

After sociology had been readmitted to academic life in Poland in 1956, a group of sociologists at the universities of Warsaw and Łódź around Stanisław Ossowski set up a Sociological Section within the Polish Philosophical Association (Polskie Towarzystwo Filozoficzne), which became a member of the International Sociological Association (ISA) (of which Ossowski had already been a founding member in 1949). The following year, the section transformed into an independent body, adopting the traditional name Polskie Towarzystwo Socjologiczne. Ossowski was elected its first president, other founding board members included Nina Assorodobraj, Józef Chałasiński, Antonina Kłoskowska, Jan Lutyński, Stefan Nowak, Zygmunt Pióro, Jan Strzelecki and Jan Szczepański.

During the time of communist rule in Poland, while academic life was highly formalized, hierarchically structured, and subject to political pressure, the PTS remained fully autonomous from government intervention, making it an attractive venue for unrestricted scholarly as well as political debate. However, lack of government support also constituted a constant problem for the organizational work of the PTS; e.g., the first post-war national convention did not take place until 1965.