HISTORY OF POLISH AMERICANS BUKOWCZYK J. Księgarnia

In the last, rootless decade families, neighborhoods, and communities have disintegrated in the face of gripping social, economic, and technological changes. This process has had mixed results. On the positive side, it has produced a mobile, volatile, and dynamic society in the United States that is perhaps more open, just, and creative than ever before. On the negative side, it has dissolved the glue that bound our society together and has destroyed many of the myths, symbols, values, and beliefs that provided social direction and purpose. In A History of the Polish Americans, John J. Bukowczyk provides a thorough account of the Polish experience in America and how some cultural bonds loosened, as well as the ways in which others persisted.

Following a chronological format, Bukowczyk explains the historical reasons that led Polish people to come to America, the experience of the first wave of immigrants, the identity problem of second-generation Poles, and the kind of organizations and institutions that Polonia established in America. Throughout the author wrestles with the question faced by all immigrant groups: What does it mean to be a hyphenated American? And more specifically: What does it mean to be a Polish-American?

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Transaction Edition     xi
Preface     xxxvii
Pronunciation of Polish Names     xli
From Hunger, "for Bread": Rural Poland in the Throes of Change     1
To Field, Mine, and Factory: Work and Family in Polish America     16
Hands Clasped, Fists Clenched: Unity and Strife in the Immigrant Community     34
Continuity and Change in the 19205 and 19308: From Polish to Polish-American     65
The Decline of the Urban Ethnic Enclave: Polish America Transformed, WW Il-Present     85
What Is a Polish-American? The Revival of Ethnic Identity     105
Vanguard or Rearguard? Ethnic Politics in Mass Society     125
Epilogue: Polish-American Ethnicity-Its Meaning and Its Future     143
Bibliographical Essay     147
Notes     173
Index     181

236 pages, Paperback

Po otrzymaniu zamówienia poinformujemy,
czy wybrany tytuł polskojęzyczny lub anglojęzyczny jest aktualnie na półce księgarni.