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ONTOLOGY: TWO ORDERS OF ‘THE SOCIAL’

A departure point for ontological considerations of this thesis is the structure- agency relationship between the Polish state and a professional class of nation branders. The ontological positions of this thesis stem from modernist views of nationalism, Bourdieu’s praxeology, and cultural theory. As aforementioned, the agency in the setting of nation-building studies takes place on either macro, mezzo, or

micro-levels. While Delanty and O’Mahony (2002, p. 101) explain structural-agentic

ontology in nationalism studies, the links between those levels of analysis require specific insights. This thesis follows Bourdieu’s (1989a) ‘structuralist constructivism’ ontological position. His understanding of social reality is embedded in the notion of double structuring: social structures exist in the objectivity constituted by the material and non-material resources. However, structures also operate as subjective patterns driving the actions of social agents (Bourdieu and Waquant 1992). This notion of double structuring has been explained by Bourdieu (1989, p. 20) as:

The perception of the social world is the product of a double

structuring: on the objective side, it is socially structured because the properties attributed to agents or institutions present themselves in combinations that have very unequal probabilities: just as feathered animals are more likely to have wings than furry animals, so the possessors of a sophisticated mastery of language are more likely to be found in a museum than those who do not have this mastery. On the subjective side, it is structured because the schemes of perception and appreciation, especially those inscribed in language itself, express the state of relations of symbolic power.

In research terms, this approach is referred to as praxeology: it starts off with mapping out objective structures, followed by analysis of lived experiences and understandings of the field actors (Everett 2002). Bourdieu (1989, p. 14) explains that structuralism and constructivism are complementary stances of the social world whereby:

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By structuralism or structuralist, I mean that there exists, within the social world itself and not only within symbolic systems (language, myths, etc.) objective structures independent of the consciousness and will of agents, which are capable of guiding and constraining their practices and representations. By constructivism, I mean that there is a twofold social genesis, on the one hand of the schemes of

perception, thought, and action, which are constitutive of what I call habitus, and on the other hand of social structures, and particularly of what I call fields and of groups, notably those we ordinarily call social classes.

There are, however, inconsistencies to those positions. The ontological problem that this thesis faces is a concern about dispositions of the field actors. Jenkins (2002, p. 94) notes that Bourdieu’s field often refers to institutions and individuals. This poses difficulties in establishing features of habitus characteristic to a particular social space. How do I attempt to overcome this inadequacy? With regards to this ontological

matter, this thesis turns to Lin’s (2001, p. 38) theory of social action which has adopted the notion of networks. The social networks are in flux and the positions of occupants and resources are defined by rules and procedures. Lin says that it is an agreement, through persuasion rather than coercion which dictate actors’ relationships. This view enables merging of institutional field settings with establishing the habitus of

individuals driving directions of the field practices. Lin (ibid., p. 38) asserts that “a particular network may evolve naturally or may be socially constructed for a particular shared focus or interest regarding a resource. However, in general, a social network might be constructed for multiple interests in its different segments – different interests link nodes in different parts of the network”.

Importantly for this study, in his ontology, Bourdieu attempts to distance himself from functionalist settings focused on consensus. In his view, double structuring

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allows revealing connections and struggles between institutions, not only their internal structures (Swartz 1997). While this study considers the stable structural actors in the analysis of nationalism (Rokkan 1975), that is the Polish state, it aims at exploring social changes performed at the crossovers between its institutional structures, the field of mass media, and cultural intermediaries of nation branding. This ties with

Bourdieu’s (1989a, p. 19) recognition that the world

...does not present itself as totally structured either, or as capable of

imposing upon every perceiving subject the principles of its own construction. The social world may be uttered and constructed in different ways according to different principles of vision and division- for example, economic divisions and ethnic divisions. If it is true that, in advanced societies, economic and cultural factors have the greatest power of differentiation, the fact remains that the potency of economic and social differences is never so great that one cannot organize agents on the basis of other principles of division - ethnic, religious, or national ones.

The third strand that philosophically underpins this thesis is that of Critical Theory. The Institute of Social Research in Frankfurt inaugurated critical

communications studies, cultural studies, and discussed ideological effects of popular culture. The Institute’s contribution to social theory is thought of as the “interpretative approach with pronounced interests in disputing social realities” (Alvesson and

Sköldberg 2009, p. 144). Their modernist sensibility on Western societies has advanced from a critique of capitalism and the rise of totalitarian regimes in Europe. The legacy of the Frankfurt School offers a philosophical and political project which reveals the structural relationship between political economy and culture. For Adorno (1997), the bridging mechanism between structure and agency is that of ideology. In his interpretation, identity is the primal form of all ideologies. In Eagleton’s words (2007, p. 126) “ideology for Adorno is thus a form of ‘identity thinking’”.

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Although the Frankfurt School scholars are considered as overtly theoretical, their ontology leads to several implications regarding interpretations of the social world. Its principles are based on critical hermeneutics and emancipatory interest in knowledge. According to Morrow (1994, p. 267), the work of critical theory “is open- ended and fallibilistic in ways quite distinct from the totalizing theoretical ‘system’” of Western philosophy. The Frankfurt School maintains a dialectical view of society, arguing for consideration of historical context for analysis. For that reason, Alvesson and Sköldberg (2009) suggest that research based in a critical tradition reveals patterns of action in terms of negation of historically-grounded relationships. The Frankfurt School offers a cultural theory that transcends related disciplines, including studies on promotional culture (Wernick 1991). Kellner (1995, p. 30) comments on the Frankfurt School’s contribution to communication and cultural studies:

Their studies dissected the interconnection of culture in artefacts that reproduce the existing society, positively presenting social norms and practices, and legitimating the state capitalist organisation of society.

Summing up, this thesis shares the ontological position with the nationalism modernist paradigm in nationalism studies, Bourdieu’s praxeology, and The Frankfurt School’s cultural theory. It recognises that social structures are subject to changes (Sztompka 1993). Therefore, I do not take the view that there exists ‘a field of nation branding in Poland’ as a ‘crystallised structure’ of material and symbolic relations. Because nationalism scholars argue for finding interconnections between different levels of analysis, by following a constructivist objectivist worldview, this study explores culturally grounded, structural and agentic relationships at the crossover of mezzo and macro-levels of the Polish society.

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