Upadek idei spółdzielczości mieszkaniowej w Polsce w okresie 1945–1989
The Decline of the Idea of Housing Cooperatives in Poland in the Period 1945–1989

Summary/Abstract: Currently, in Poland, cooperatives, including housing cooperatives, remain an underappreciated form of social governance and the social economy. This is primarily due to the widespread use of this organizational form by the communist authorities of the previous regime. This is primarily the result of the widespread use of this organizational form by the communist authorities of the former political system. Due to the changes that have taken place within the Polish cooperative movement, the background for these considerations is the general history of this social movement, with particular emphasis on Poland, as well as the relevant Polish legal regulations. Additionally, the article presents the fundamental principles that have guided cooperativism unchanged since its inception, and the four pillars of cooperative governance, which although only identified and described in 2014—have been inseparably linked with the effective management of cooperatives from the very beginning. The reference to Polish legal solutions from the communist period, along with the actual practices of the communist authorities, in relation to the principles and pillars of cooperative governance, made it possible to justify the thesis posed in the title of this study. The distortion and, as a result, the decline of the idea of cooperativism in Poland stemmed from the widespread application of this organizational form by the communist authorities between 1945 and 1989 based on principles that significantly diverged from those applied in genuine cooperative organizations. The research method used in this study involves a review of the literature in the fields of legal studies, organizational and management sciences, economics and history, as only an interdis-ciplinary approach enables a comprehensive explanation of the topic. Furthermore, the article is based on legal analysis and participant observation a method used in organizational and management sciences which was conducted in relation to one of the housing cooperatives in Wroclaw.

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