(NIE)PEWNY STATUS BLISKICH ZWIĄZKÓW W KONTEKŚCIE EKSPRESYJNEGO INDYWIDUALIZMU
THE (UN)CERTAIN STATUS OF CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS IN THE CONTEXT OF EXPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALISM

Summary/Abstract: This article presents a socio-cultural analysis of love and intimacy as well as pairing strategies in a competitive, self-actualising, and self-fulfilling culture. A recognisable sign of social change under late modernity is individualisation and the associated pluralisation of lifestyles. Compared to relationships that used to be based on considerations of prestige, genealogy, and economics, today’s realm of accepted codes of “being together” seems chaotic. As a result of individuals’ attempts to emancipate themselves from the rule of morality and social context, the category of “we” becomes increasingly abstract, with partners negotiating “intimate identity packages” according to individual preferences. Rooted in culture, traditional patterns of intimate life become an individual “project” subject to optimisation, and at the same time a cultural practice governed by market mechanisms, scientific and media discourses, and the latest communication technologies. This paper presents a research project that sought to identify areas determining the progression of closeness in the functioning of relationships. Being of an exploratory nature, the research was qualitative. The empirical material analysed for the study comprised 42 individual semi-structured interviews. As the interviews have shown, closeness is a processual, reflective, individualised, and ritualised phenomenon.

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