Suburb of Europe: Nineteenth-Century Polish Approaches to Western Civilization Book

"In this superbly written book, Jerzy Jedlicki presents the reader with a contribution to the increasingly rich literature devoted to the "intelligentsia". A Suburb of Europe, however, does not so much deal with the now all-too-familiar issues of social origin and political influence as it does with intellectual history. The author chooses as his theme the manner in which Polish intellectuals of all political stripes reacted to the twin issues of west-European style liberal progress and industrial civilization. In their attempts at understanding the changes being brought about across all of Europe by the rapidly advancing western economic systems of the post-Enlightenment period, and at finding a place for Poland in this emerging new world, these intellectuals often developed a critique of the west and constructed variegated images of a future world. Jedlicki attempts to put these thinkers and their ideas into the proper historical context and to map out for the reader an axiological grid, locating each thinker according to the manner of his critique of the west and attitude toward what we must call "modernization". This book is the English language version of a longer Polish edition first published in 1988. Jedlicki's preface is a model of what a preface ought to be: a clear, concise introduction to the subject and outline of the structure of the book. The prose is to the point and is as eminently understandable for the educated reader not conversant with Polish history as it is illuminating to the specialist...As a contribution to Polish intellectual and social history, this work may well be the single best published in English in the past decade. It is thoughtful, erudite, andconvincing. The writing is lively and clear. All serious students of Poland, of modernization, and of the nature of capitalism and how it interacts with poor, peripheral, agricultural societies must read this book." Peter Wozniak, H-NET Book Review


"This is a brilliant example of intellectual history, but it is one whose importance far transcends the period on which it focuses. In important ways, in the post-communist 'transition' of the 1990s, the issues of the 19th century are profoundly relevant to the beginnings of the 21st. Moreover, Jedlicki's book raises issues and examines positions that were and are not unique to Poland, but that every society faces as it confronts social change." Choice

"A Suburb of Europe is an excellent volume about philosophy, political economy, the creation of nationalism, and a host of other subjects. It is an enlightening and engrossing read. Anyone with an interest in Poland and East Central Europe will find this an invaluable and enjoyable book." Daniel Pinkerton, Austrian Studies Newsletter

"Jedlicki's study is important because of its topic and the author's
original approach to it. It offers a mine of information on how educated
Poles approached the industrial reality at home and abroad, the solutions
they advocated, and the options they proposed. This study is very
enriching." Adam A. Hetnal, Polin (reviewing the Polish edition)

In this lively and original book, the distinguished Polish historian Jerzy Jedlicki tells the story of a century-long Polish dispute over the merits and demerits of the Western model of liberal progress and industrial civilization. As in all peripheral countries of Europe, Polish intellectuals - conservatives, liberal, and (later) socialists - quarrelled about whether such a model would suit and benefit their nation, or whether it would spell the ruin of its distinctive cultural features.

This heated debate revolved around several pairs of opposing ideas: native cultures vs. cosmopolitan civilization; natural vs. artificial ways of economic development; Christian morals vs. capitalist laissez-faire; traditional customs vs. mobile society; romanticism vs. scientism, and so on. It is these various aspects of the main issue which the author analyzes and links together here.

The book has been abridged and fully revised for this English edition. Explanatory notes, a chronology, and maps have been added, together with a new Introduction highlighting the striking analogies with the present when, after a long period of isolation under communism, Poland is again assessing its place in the world.

Contents
Preface. Chronology. Part 1: Images of the Future (from the 1780s to 1863): Chapter 1: National identity and cosmopolitan civilization: Chapter 2: 'Natural' or 'artificial' development: Chapter 3: The gospel and economy: Part 2: Ambiguities of Progress (from 1864 through 1880s): Chapter 4: Vicious circles: Chapter 5: Affirmation and negation: Chapter 6: Growth and distribution Bibliography

WINNER OF THE HUNGARIAN AWARD "BEAUTIFUL BOOK 1999"

1998
308 pages

Booknews

Jedlicki (history, Polish Academy of Sciences) explores the century- long Polish debate over the merits and drawbacks of the Western model of liberal progress and industrial civilization. First published in Polish by Pa<`n>stwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw, 1988. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)