Being Goral: Identity Politics and Globalization in Postsocialist Poland

Chapter 4: Nonelites, Family Networks, and Identity

97 Chapter 4 ‫ﱜ‬ Nonelites, Family Networks, and Identity The restructuring of the Polish political-economic system since the end of the Cold War has had a great impact not only on the largescale factors of the national economy, such as state enterprises, and on the scale of communities and classes, but also on the microeconomic strategizing of individuals and families. In Z • ywiec, as in most of Poland , the ways in which people respond to the effects of these structural changes are mediated largely by family units. There are tensions and tugs in this relationship between the familial self and the individual self: individuals are shaped by families, and families in turn are reshaped by those individuals. Other factors, such as gender, age, and education, are also manifested within the boundaries of family decision making. Through the lens of family, we can understand how class works in the community. Unlike elite classes, the members of nonelite classes in Z • ywiec have little capital—economic, cultural, social, or symbolic—they can mobilize to strategically position themselves in times of change, or even just to “make do” when times are hard. Family networks are thus of major importance for survival for nonelite families, to an even greater degree than for elite families. Family is a key to understanding nonelite class structure in Z • ywiec. This chapter is a counterweight to the previous chapter, in that it focuses primarily on nonelite classes. Through case studies, I show 98 Being Góral how family strategizing works as a response to the economic changes resulting from state restructuring policies, that is, the changes in the job market in Poland and the effects of new economic policies on the different classes in Z • ywiec. I explore the way economic strategies are generally differentially accessible to individuals based on their gender, education, language abilities, and age, but all within the structure of class and family networks. However individualized the strategies themselves , they are never acted on solely by individuals, but are developed and implemented within the context and boundaries of family groups, which can aid or constrain individual efforts. Unlike in other parts of Poland, the ideal of Góralism is a symbolic resource available to families in the Z • ywiec region. When there are disputes or differences within nonelite families in Z • ywiec about appropriate economic responses, Góral ethnic identity can be used to bolster one or more competing claims by couching the proposal in terms of traditionalism. Ideas of proper Góral conduct are closely intertwined in family networks in this region of Poland. I show in a variety of cases how individuals use the idea of Góral ethnic identity to aid them in their attempts to embed new economic strategies with traditional meaning, thus making these strategies more palatable to others in their families. The distinction between a felt, or hegemonic, sense of Góral identity and a folklorized, contested, ideological sense of Góral identity is central to understanding why nonelite classes in Z • ywiec are willing to go along with elite class struggles around the identity. In this chapter, I explore the hegemonic sense of Góral identity as it is expressed by the nonelite classes in Z • ywiec, and I show how this unspoken sense of identity is in the process of change in the postsocialist era. I distinguish it from the ideologically contested “public” face of Góral ethnicity that is the target of elite class conflict. HOUSE HUNTING The importance of networks of family and friends, even (or perhaps especially) in the postsocialist era, is illustrated by my own search for a place to stay in Z • ywiec. I had been warned by other researchers that it was particularly difficult to find accommodations in Poland outside the cities, and it had even been suggested to me that I find an apartment in Kraków, purchase a car, and drive to Z • ywiec several times a week to conduct interviews. I was determined to find a place in Z • ywiec, however, and optimistically hoped that my contacts there would al- Nonelites, Family Networks, and Identity 99 low me access to the information network on housing. I knew that there was no local paper listing apartments for rent and that there were likely to be few available prospects for me. I soon learned just how hard it can be to accomplish tasks in Z • ywiec...