Chłopi – między populizmem i kapitalizmem
Peasants: Between Populism and Capitalism

Summary/Abstract: The prevailing belief in Poland assumes the continued dominance of smallfarms. The fragmented farm structure is supposed to have survived since the mid--19th century. This was changed under real socialism (1945–1989), despite attemptsat collectivization (1948–1956). However, after 1989, and especially after Poland’saccession to the European Union (2004), rapid transformation of the Polish coun-tryside began. Small and medium-sized farms have been collapsing en masse, therehas been a concentration of the ownership of land and livestock production, thenumber of people employed in agriculture is falling, and the social composition ofthe countryside is changing. Thus, populist peasant movements are losing theirsocial base and the political support of rural residents. They are increasingly speakingout against agribusiness, especially industrial farms that pose a threat to the socialand natural environment. However, this protest movement can hardly be calledpopular, although it certainly retains a class character. It targets national and trans-national corporations that impose neoliberal rules on agricultural production (oftendominated by exports), and addresses the size and forms of consumption and livingconditions in the Polish countryside.

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