Struktura społeczna i postawy a grupy ethosowe (O możliwościach ewolucji społecznej)

The article is a critique of the approaches in Polish sociology at the turn of 1980s that attempt to study social consciousness through social structure. These approaches are coined 'social structure and attitudes' by the author. He claims that these approaches do not allow reconciling the research on the role of social actor with the analysis of wider trends of society writ large. This results in the inability to account for the mechanisms of social change. The existing approaches describe social structure in Poland as passive and incapable of shaping culture. They do not explain what are the mechanisms linking attitudes and social structure. Referring to Weber's sociology, the author suggests that the crystallization of ethos groups in Polish society can be recognized as one of the structuring processes. Taking several exemplary ethos groups (Catholics, counter-culture movements and democratic opposition) as an example, the author considers their potential role in the process of social change.