The y e a r 1989 e n ta ile d for P o lan d n o t only th e b reak d o w n of th e p r e vious political system , b u t it also m ark ed P o lan d ’s e n te rin g global econom ic (as well as c u ltu ra l a n d social) processes of th e m odern (W estern) c ap ita lism (M. Z i ó ł k o w s k i , 1997).
The world capitalism , th e cen tre of w hich lies in rich W estern countries, h a s b een u n d e rg o in g s u b s ta n tia l tra n s fo rm a tio n s since th e la te 1960s, re la te d to th e ex h au stio n of th e m odel of economic grow th b ased upon m ass in d u s tria l production, energy-consum ing technologies, an d sim ple p hy sical labour.
The energy crisis of th e early 1970s steep en ed economic problem s and raise d discussions over th e lim its and social costs of economic grow th (good exam ples h ere would be th e rep o rts for th e Rome Club by D.H. M e a d o w s , D.L. M e a d o w s d a te d 1973, as w ell as th o se of M. M e s a r o v i c a n d E. P e s t e l d a te d 1977). The d isp u te s an d co n tro versies of t h a t period left a d u rab le tra c e in a lte rn a tiv e concepts of social a n d economic develo p m en t (E. S c h u m a c h e r , 1973).
In th e e a rly 1970s, D an iel Bell w as th e fir s t to use th e te rm “p o s t in d u s tria l society”, w hen describ ing changes in em ploym ent, c h a ra c te ris tic of highly developed W estern societies (the prototype of w hich w as N o rth e rn America of the late 1960s) and th e ir socio-cultural consequences (D. Be l l , 1973). Bell assum ed , correctly to a larg e ex ten t, t h a t in th e n e a r fu tu re th e key role in economic developm ent, of replacing in d u stry as th e driving force of ca p italist economy, would be ta k e n over by widely understood professional a n d tec h n ica l services, re la te d to th e tra n s fe r of know ledge a n d in fo rm a tion. The process of e s ta b lis h in g p o s t-in d u stria l societies w as so m ew hat
slower in W estern Europe th a n in the USA, despite the fact th a t since the 1950s th e re h a s been th e phenom enon of d ecreasing em ploym ent in tra d itio n a l branches of in d u stry — extractive, textile, shipbuilding, steel, or autom otive one. In th e cou ntries of W estern Europe w ith longest in d u s tria l tra d itio n em ploym ent in heavy in d ustry dropped by a few (France, Germany, Italy) or several percentage points (U nited Kingdom) (G. T h e r b o r n , 1998: 114).
The economic tran sfo rm atio n s, defined as p assage from in d u stria lism to p o s t-in d u stria l economy, in w hich big factories, steelw ork s or coal-m ines em ploying large n u m bers of low an d r a th e r narrow ly qualified w orkers give way to sm aller production p lan ts or services, offering jobs for a sm all num ber of people w ith h igh qualifications, e n ta il not only a d rastic reduction of jobs in tra d itio n a l b ranch es of industry, such as extractive industry, m etallurgy, or textile industry, b u t also th e collapse of e n tire regions, tow ns, or districts for w orking class, for whom in d u stry w as th e m ain d riv er for economic and civilisatio n developm ent (D etroit in th e USA, N ew castle in n o rth -w e ste rn E ngland, W allony in Belgium , N ord-Pas-de-C alais in F rance, R uh rg eb iet in G erm any) (H. S i l v e r , 1993: 339; S.D. L a s h , J. U r r y , 1994: 159—160).
The processes of d e -in d u stria lisa tio n a re to a larg e e x te n t a r e s u lt of grow ing globalisation, a lth o u g h it w ould be a n e x a g g eratio n to claim th a t it is th e only d riv in g facto r for s tr u c tu r a l tra n s fo rm a tio n s of c a p ita lis t econom ies (R. R e i c h , 1991; P. K r u g m a n , 1996). I t is a fact, though , th a t th e m ost developed c a p ita list co u n tries have been for se v era l y e a rs u n d e r going s ig n ific a n t ch a n g es in th e s tr u c tu r e of em p lo y m en t a n d incom e, re la te d to th e processes of global economic re s tru c tu rin g : em ploym ent in widely understood services is increasing, th e nu m b er of employees w ith high qualifications is growing, th e labour m a rk e t is becom ing less stable, th e gap betw een developing an d collapsing regions is w idening, unem p loy m en t ra te is in cre asin g (in p a rtic u la r th e long-term unem ploym ent), social in e q u a l itie s become m ore profound, an d th e scale of poverty is w idening (H. S i l v e r , 1993: 339).
The d iffe re n tia tin g effect of global r e s tru c tu rin g is conspicuous in p a r tic u la r in old in d u s tria l regions w here, on th e one hand, we have to do w ith far-reach in g p o larity of u rb a n space, w ith e sta b lish in g highly specialised c en tres for services (financial ones, re la te d to th e use an d p ro cessing of specialised knowledge, scientific research , c u ltu re -re la te d in d u stry ), on th e o th er hand, we face the appearance of degraded areas, in h ab ite d by th e poor from big tow ns: long-term unem ployed people, im m ig ra n ts locked in e th nic ghettos, d eprived of th e possib ility of p a rtic ip a tin g fully in social life, social care users, rejected by th e re s t of th e society and unproductive b a lla st living off th e tax pay er, etc. (P. M a r c u s e , 1993: 355—356; Z. B a u m a n , 1998). In m any countries it is not only th e num b er of long-term unem ployed t h a t is on th e increase, b u t also th e n u m b er of young people h a v in g poor
q u a lific a tio n s, who h av e n e v e r h a d a job a n d do n o t s ta n d a ch ance of finding any sta b le , full em ploym ent.
The unfav o u rab le tre n d s described above m ake m any re s e a rc h e rs come up w ith th e supposition th a t a new category of excluded people h a s em erged, labelled by th e highly co n tro v ersial n otion of “u n d e rc la s s ” (G. M y r d a l , 1962: 10; H .J. G a n s , 1990; 1993; F. F i e l d , 1989). A u niq ue u n d e rs ta n d ing of th e notion of underclass h a s been suggested by th e A m erican rese a rc h e r W.J. W ilson. B ased on h is own re s e a rc h conducted in Black g h etto s of th e N o rth -E a s te rn an d M id -E a ste rn S ta te s, in w hich th e re s tru c tu rin g of tra d itio n a l in d u strie s led to reduced dem and for low-qualified (m ainly m ale) lab o u r force, he described th e m echanism of e sta b lish in g th e com m u nities of u rb a n in h a b ita n ts h av in g th e following c h a ra c te ristic s: a d o m in atio n of lo ng-term unem ployed an d unem ployable perso n s, because of specific r e q u ire m e n ts of th e p o s t-in d u stria l lab o u r m ark e t, e th n ic a n d c u ltu ra l ho mogeneity, re s tric te d access to v alu es a n d in stitu tio n s of global society, a n d relativ e social isolation due to th e effect of co n cen tration (increased n u m b er of people w ith low social s ta tu s due to th e m ig ra tio n of people who joined th e m id d le c la s s ) (W.J. W i l s o n , 1991: 9).
U n d e r c la s s is th u s th e effect of cu m u latin g th e s tru c tu ra l (economic) restrictions, as well as en v iro n m en tal-cu ltu ral restrictio n s an d psycho-social ones, th e la tte r u nderstood firs t of all as dispositions a n d h a b its fixed a n d tra n sfe rre d in th e processes of socialising young generations. The u n d e r c la ss
is a p ro d u ct of jo in t effects of a ll th e above-m entioned elem en ts, y et th e s tru c tu ra l factors, nam ely th e changes in th e labour m a rk e t re la te d to eco nomic re s tru c tu rin g an d recession of all in d u stria l regions, in th e opinion of W ilson play a role of c a ta ly st for th e processes of d eg rad atio n a n d m arg in alisatio n of u rb a n in h a b ita n ts . The supposition of W ilson is deeply rooted in A m erican reality, despite of the fact th a t num erous E uropean sociologists refer to th a t concept in analysing th e processes of m argin alisatio n of w orkers com m u nities in form er in d u stria l regions (W.G. R u n c i m a n , 1990; D. B y r n e , 1999). There are num erous reaso n s th a t ju stify th e opinion th a t th e re s tru c tu rin g of in d u stry in the Silesian Voivodship, situ a te d in th e south of Poland, would e n ta il social phenom ena sim ilar to those described above.