A glimpse over the rising walls: The reflection of post-communist transformation in the polish discourse of gated communities

East European Politics and Societies

Volumn 23, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 244-265

  Gasior Niemiec, Anna ^a   Glasze, Georg ^b   Pütz, Robert ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF RZESZÓW   (Poland)

^b JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

^c GOETHE UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

Author keywords

Discourse; Gated communities; Laclau; Mouffe; Poland; Post communist transformation

Indexed keywords

EID: 65149101637     PISSN: 08883254     EISSN: 15338371     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0888325408328749     Document Type: Article

References (67)

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10. Jurgen Habermas, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1989). It might be surmised that the public opinion represented by the Polish Internet users is roughly equivalent to the new middle class because of relatively high prices for the Internet provision and its concentration in big cities-cf. Jonak Åukasz et. al., Re: internet - spoÅeczne aspekty medium. Polskie konteksty i interpretacje (Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Akademickie i Profesjonalne, 2006). Notably, the amount and "quality" of vulgarities appearing in the utterances are rather striking and should become an object of a separate analysis.
11. Dariusz Bartoszewicz, "AlterglobaliÅ ci zamykaj... grodzone osiedla," Gazeta Wyborcza, 2006, retrieved 8 January 2007, from http://miasta.gazeta.pl/warszawa/1,34862,3614453.html; "Warszawa: AnarchiÅ ci przeciw strzeÅ1/4onym osiedlom," retrieved 8 January 2007, from http://pl.indymedia.org/pl/ 2006/09/23055.shtml.
12. Although the categories of social/public/private space are not discussed in detail in the article, it needs to be noticed that they loom at the background of the discursive battles over gated communities in Poland just as elsewhere (cf. Glasze et al., Private Cities). In the Polish case there is, however, some additional ambiguity and tension inscribed in the issue that stem from the still collectively remembered quasi-communitarian use of the term "social" as opposed to both "public" (meaning state) and "private" during the state socialist period.
13. Zygmunt Bauman, Globalizacja i co z tego dla ludzi wynika (Warszawa: PIW, 2000); David Newman, "Borders and Bordering: Towards an Interdisciplinary Dialogue," European Journal of Social Theory 9, no. 2, (May 2006): 171-186.
14. Manuel Castells, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture: Vol. I The Rise of the Network Society; Vol. II The Power of Identity; Vol. III The End of Millennium (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2000); John Urry, "Sociology of Time and Space," in The Blackwell Companion to Social Theory. Second Edition, ed. Bryan S. Turner (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2000).
15. Derek Gregory, Geographical Imaginations (Cambridge: Blackwell, 1994); Carraig O'Thuathail, Critical Geopolitics. The Politics of Writing Global Space (Minneapolis: Borderlines 6, 1996); Sebastian Lentz, "More Gates, Less Community," in Private Cities. Global and Local Perspectives, eds. Georg Glasze et al. (London, New York: Routledge& Francis Taylor, 2006): 209.
16. James Q. Wilson et al., "Broken Windows. The Police and Neighbourhood Safety," The Atlantic Monthly 249, no. 3 (1982): 29-38; Krzysztof Nawratek, Ideologie w przestrzeni. Próby demistyfikacji (Kraków: Universitas, 2005).
17. Ernesto Laclau et al., Hegemony and the Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics ( London: Verso, 1985 ).
18. Georg Glasze et al. Diskurs-Stadt-Kriminalitat. Stadtische (Un-)Sicherheiten aus der Perspektive von Stadtforschung und Kriminalgeographie (Bielefeld:[transcript] Verlag, 2005), 44; cf. also Anna G...sior-Niemiec, (New) Regionalism in Poland: Europeanization and Myth-making (unpublished PhD dissertation, submitted at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, 2003: ch. IV and V).
19. David Howarth, Discourse (Buckingham, Philadelphia: Open University Press, 2000); Laclau et al., Hegemony; Philips et al., Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method (London, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2002); Jacob Torfing, "Discourse Theory: Achievements, Arguments, and Challenges," in Discourse Theory in European Politics. Identity, Policy and Governance, eds. David Howarth et al. (London: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2004): 1-31.
20. Glasze et al. Diskurs, 41.
21. Torfing, "Discourse Theory," 9.
22. Glasze et al. Diskurs, 44.
23. Ernesto Laclau, " Dyskurs," in Przewodnik po wspóÅczesnej filozofii politycznej, eds. Robert E. Goodin et al. (Warszawa: Ksi...zka i Wiedza, 2002). 555.
24. Torfing, "Discourse Theory," 14; cf. Laclau, "Discourse," 555; Laclau et al. Hegemony, ch. 3.
25. Howarth, Discourse, 106-107; Annika Mattissek, "Diskursive Konstitution von Sicherheit im öffentlichen Raum am Beispiel Frankfurt am Main," in Glasze et. al, Diskurs, 105-136; Philips et al., Discourse Analysis, 42-43.
26. Georg Glasze, " Die Diskurstheorie nach Laclau und Mouffe, " (a chapter from a habilitation dissertation submitted at the Department of Geography, University of Mainz, 2008 ).
27. Georg Glasze et al., " Sprachorientierte ForschungsansCurrency signtze in der Humangeographie nach dem linguistic turn, " Geographische Zeitschrift ( 2008, forthcoming).
28. Howarth, Discourse, 105-109; Laclau et al., Hegemony, 115; Mattissek, "Diskursive Konstitution," 117-130; Philips et al., Discourse Analysis, 40-43.
29. Newman, "Borders;" Mattissek, "Diskursive Konstitution."
30. Torfing, "Discourse Theory," 16; David Howarth, "Applying Discourse Theory: The Method of Articulation," in Howarth et al., Discourse Theory, 316-349.
31. Torfing, "Discourse Theory," 15; Philips et al., Discourse Analysis, 38-40.
32. Philips et al., Discourse Analysis, 46; cf. also Newman, "Borders," 176-177.
33. Czubaj, "Polska pÅotem," Bohdan JaÅowiecki, "Czy Warszawa staje si™ miastem Trzeciego Å wiata?" Studia Regionalne i Lokalne 4, 26 (2006): 48-60; Bohdan JaÅowiecki et al., "Klasa metropolitalna w przestrzeni Warszawy," in SpoÅeczna mapa Warszawy. Interdyscyplinarne studium metropolii warszawskiej, eds. Janusz Grzelak et al. (Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, 2004): 132-146; Henrik Werth, "Transformation zur geschlossenen Stadt? Geschlossene Wohnkomplexe in Polens Hauptstadt Warschau," Europa Regional 13, no. 4 (2005): 155-161. A paper by Anna G...sior-Niemiec et al., "Grodzenie miasta - casus Warszawy," Studia Regionalne i Lokalne 4, no. 30 (2007): 5-30 contains a thorough presentation and discussion of the types of gated communities found in Warsaw, while for instance Marta Dymnicka, "Osiedla za bram... a ci...gÅoÅ ‡ kulturowa i spoÅeczna w ksztaÅtowaniu przestrzeni miejskiej," in Gettoizacja polskiej przestrzeni miejskiej, eds. Bohdan JaÅowiecki et al. (Warszawa: Academica Wydawnictwo SWPS, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, 2007): 53-72; and Maria Lewicka et al. "Osiedla zamkni™te-czy istnieje alternatywa?" Kolokwia Psychologiczne, 16 (2007): 135-152 offer succinct overviews of typologies found in scientific literature on the subject.
34. Lewicka et al., "Osiedla zamkni™te."
35. JaÅowiecki et al., "Klasa metropolitalna," 133-138; Lewicka et al., "Osiedla zamkni™te"; cf. a Russian case study in Lentz, "More Gates," 206-209.
36. Krystyna Iglicka et al., "Cudzoziemscy specjaliÅ ci w aglomeracji warszawskiej," In SpoÅeczna mapa Warszawy, eds. J. Grzelak et al., 368-388; cf. also Lentz, "More Gates," 209-210, 215.
37. A topographic map of Warsaw by Werth, showing the spatial distribution of gated communities as of 2004 is available at http://eela1.blox.pl/html/1310721, 262146,14,15.html?10,2004; see also a topographic map of Warsaw's district of Ursynów in G...sior-Niemiec et al., "Grodzenie miasta," 23.
38. The Varsovian "Marina Mokotów" housing estate is the most known/infamous of such large gated housing estates, stretching over thirty-four hectares in the middle of the centrally located district of Mokotów.
39. Bohdan JaÅowiecki, "Fragmentacja i prywatyzacja przestrzeni," in JaÅowiecki et al. Gettoizacja, 22; cf. also Bartoszewicz, "BerliÅ.,czyk bada"; Georg Glasze et al., "Varsovie - Logement sécurisé: un marché en hausse," Urbanisme 337 (2004): 61-63; Czubaj, "Polska pÅotem"; G...sior-Niemiec et al., "Grodzenie miasta"; Bohdan JaÅowiecki, "Czy Warszawa staje si™"; Tatiana Klonowicz et al., "Warszawiaków powody do szcz™Å cia," in Grzelak et al., SpoÅeczna mapa Warszawy, 63-82.
40. The use of the term "class" is in the article divorced from the classical Marxist connotations. Rather, it follows Laclau and Mouffe's reinterpretation of the concept as discussed in Mattissek, "Diskursive Konstitution," 115-116. Moreover, our use of the term "housing classes" is only vaguely related to the original concept by John Rex as discussed for example in John Rex et al., Race, Community and Conflict ( London: Oxford University Press, 1967 ).
41. Cichomski, " ZróÅ1/4nicowania spoÅeczne mieszkaÅ.,ców Warszawy w perspektywie porównawczej, " in Grzelak et al., SpoÅeczna mapa Warszawy, 11-27.
42. Jacek Fenderson quoted in Bartoszewicz, "AlterglobaliÅ ci zamykaj...."
43. In the parentheses following quotations, nicknames used by an Internet forum discussants are provided. The quotations are taken from exchanges registered at an Internet forum affiliated at Gazeta Wyborcza that were retrieved 10 April 2007, from http://szukaj.gazeta.pl/szukaj/0,52000.html?slowo= grodzenie. The following exchanges were analysed in detail: "Rajskie Å1/4ycie w tzw. apartamentowcach"; "A oto efekty mieszkania w aparatmentowcu"; "Totalny bezsens"; "Å1/4ycie w tzw. apartamentowcach"; "Ja jestem przeciw grodzonym osiedlom, ale..."; "A dlaczego miasto wygl...da jak koÅchoz"; "AlterglobaliÅ ci zamykaj... grodzone osiedla"; "Typowa wiejska mentalnoÅ ‡... "; "Zawsze dozorcy zamykali na noc bram™!"; "Lewacy! Tacy jesteÅ cie << tolerancyjni>>?"; "Grodzone osiedla - policzek dla etosu SolidarnoÅ ci"; "Grodzone osiedla - getta klasy Å redniej"; "Kontrola na bramce"; "Ja jestem uczulony na zapach moczu"; "MotÅoch zazdroÅ ci." A full database of the analyzed exchanges is available from the authors of this article.
44. Terms in italics, put in parentheses within the quotations, are those Polish vernacular (usually extremely derogative) expressions that have no exact equivalent in English.
45. Notably, such collective images are further reinforced in social science literature: cf. JaÅowiecki, "Fragmentacja"; JaÅowiecki et al. "Klasa metropolitalna."
46. G...sior-Niemiec et al., "Grodzenie miasta."
47. Davis, City of Quartz.
48. "Warszawa: AnarchiÅ ci"; cf. Klonowicz et al., "Warszawiaków powody," 74-77; Nawratek, Ideologie w przestrzeni, 155-167.
49. Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action ( New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990 ).
50. " Stare bloki kontra nowe grodzone osiedle, " retrieved 10 December 2006 from www.neww.org.pl/pl.php/news/news/1.html?&nw=2719&re= 1.
51. Ibid. Italics added by authors.
52. Ibid. Italics added by authors.
53. A Russian case study by Lentz, "More Gates."
54. Harvey, A Brief History.
55. "Andrzej Walicki w rozmowie z Krytyk... Polityczn...: SpoÅeczeÅ.,stwo bez mózgu i sumienia?" Krytyka Polityczna, no. 1 (Summer 2002): 57-83.
56. Ewa Thompson, "W kolejce po aprobat™. Kolonialna mentalnoÅ ‡ polskich elit," Europa Tygodnik Idei (Dziennik) 180, no. 37 (16 September 2007): 8-9.
57. Artur DomosÅawski, " Globalizacja i kontestacja," in Globalizacja i co dalej?, ed. Stefan Amsterdamski (Warszawa: Wydawnictwo IFiS PAN, 2004). 71-84.
58. Italics added by authors.
59. Italics added by authors.
60. Italics added by authors.
61. Newman, "Borders," 176.
62. Italics added by authors.
63. The term block hooligans is used as a rough English equivalent of the Polish vernacular blokersi referring to dislodged youth from pathological families typically inhabiting some of the poorer, working class post-state-socialist neighborhoods.
64. Italics added by authors.
65. Italics added by authors.
66. Torfing, "Discourse Theory," 15.
67. That is, they gathered to build a wall around their housing estate.