Quote: The process of economic transition initiated after the Round Table agreement has profoundly affected living

conditions in Poland. In September 1991, when I arrived in Poland, the national unemployment rate was 9.3%, over 1,740,000 people. By January this had risen to 12%. Of the unemployed, 52% were women and 66.5% were bluecollar workers. In November, the evening news reported that the economy was continuing to falter. Unemployment had reached a total of 2,400,000 the government's deficit was twice the amount that had been predicted Women, who earn less and are more likely to lose their jobs, were particularly hard hit by the economic difficulties. Historical Consciousness: Taking events and patterns of history and attributing them significance while organizing those same events into patterns or groupings that help one more accurately relate to them within a historical context. Historical Consciousness can be summarized by: a sense of causality, Connection through time, and potential for completion. (Long 1996) In essence, HC takes those elements and organizes them succinctly. We are studying how people look at the past. The short Definition: Individual and societal views of the past, the factors that shape those points of view and the connections of those historical understandings to the future. Several Paragraphs: Format: Introduction, Economic Crises, Women in the economic crises (30% lower pay and 60% unemployment! [Penn 2005[), Social Effects in regard to women Crime, Solidarity Movement, Fertility and Family Structure, all inclusive of female rights. This is a problem that needs to be examined in two ways: the economic difficulties that hit all poles, but were especially harsh upon women; and, the roles of women within the solidarity movement itself. As a third stipulation the events must be viewed through the lenses of historical consciousness. In greater specifics the paper will be organized as a general view, and then a specialized view of the effects upon women. What is unique about the distinct role of Women in Polands solidarity movement is the fact that they never formed any particular affection for feminism and failed to advocate their own cause. This is contrast to their distinct influence on the success of the solidarity movement. Due to the fact that this was largely an untraditional telerevolution, men were glorified as the saviors of Poland while the role of women was largely ignored. (Macoch 2006) Thesis: Women made significant contributions to the development of History in Poland in the late 20th centurys Solidarity Movement, but, their accomplishments were largely ignored and they were not rewarded in any way. Like men they still suffered the economic effects on the transition period but to a greater degree. As exemplified in the quote, the people of Poland experienced harsh economic difficulties during the transitional time period. These difficulties were largely due to the inefficient measures enacted by Polands leadership. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) contributed to an approach that sought to change the economy quickly. This lead to a lag in the implementation of privatization. Privatization in Poland was destroyed due to Administrative Problems. The administration was far too dynamic as public dissatisfaction lead to frequent changes between 1989 and 1994. (Rondinelli and Yurkiewicz 1996) The first of these was the rise of unemployment. As described in the

original Text from September 1991 to January 1992 the unemployment rate rose 2.7%! Most of the unemployed were women even though they were half of the representation in the Solidarity party. Women were relatively powerless to halt the economic disparity that afflicted them. This is illustrated in the article with the Woman Zofia. As she says: We are happy to just have work. Women in Polands transitional period clearly felt the effects of discrimination within the labor market. Another economic difficulty is illustrated on page 21. That is the scarcity of basic goods in Poland. This leads to inflation and has a ripple effect. Women are forced to deal with the managing of money in regards to the increased price of goods while retaining their low salaries. This is a travesty for the women of Poland. As described by Long: zrobi zakupy is an activity of frustration when women are constantly faced with the expectation of providing and funds are limited (23). (zrobic zakupy is make shopping) The main issue was the hyperinflation in the 1990s. With the skyrocketing price of goods in the midst of stagnant salaries, women, the managers of household finance, were unable to make ends meet in many cases. As said in the quote on top: Women, who earn less and are more likely to lose their jobs, were particularly hard hit by the economic difficulties. (Long 1996) The next aspect to examine is the social changes that struck Poland, particularly women. These various changes can be grouped via the Historical Consciousness. The first aspect to examine is crime. A symptom of the transitional period was a notable increase and change in the structure of crime: an increases in total number of crimes, crimes committed by juveniles, new kinds of crime, and, most strikingly, a dramatic increase in the crimes committed by females. That change can be documented by the reported statistic of 46 percent more female suspects in 1999 than in 1989. (Kirwil 2004) One mark of this alarming change in crime within Polish society was the rapid increase in violent crimes felonies: homicide, robbery, assault etc. In the mid 1990s, females were most frequently suspected of violent crimes for homicide, traffic offenses, and robbery. (Kirwil 2004) Through Historical Consciousness we can interpret these crimes as being caused by opportunities created by changes in the economic system. Womens crime in particular streams from these changes. Due to the inability of women to support their families they were forced to turn to crime. Lack of real freedom of choice and the need to struggle for this freedom, as well as increasing life stresses, are psychological factors used to explain increased crime in general and female violent crime in particular. (Kirwil 2004) This is representative of a vicariousness that infected the people of Poland and may stem from the lack of violence in the original negotiation of 1989. Womens rights also took a hit during the transitional period. Due to the lack of influence in government women were not able to play a part in the development of Polish politics on Family and Fertility. The Polish family model had been a traditional one, based on history. Consensual Unions were scarce. The transition period lead to several changes in Family formation: diminished tendency to marry, diminishing intensity of first marriages, and increase in marriage age. These changes stem partially from the AntiAbortion law that was enacted during that time period. Other contributing factors may have been the increase in cost for having a child due to the inflation characteristic of the time period, increased demand for education, changes in values and attitudes toward the traditional family structure, and the undesirable changes which discourage having children such as uncertainty and lack of confidence (which Polish women certainly had

in vast quantities indeed). (See: Becker 1991, Becker 1993, Coleman 1990, Kohler 2001) The list of authors contributed to various theories concerning Polish womens fertility: Risk aversion theory stipulates that costs and benefits will come in the future; therefore our understanding and ability to assess future effects of our decision is low (Fratczak 2004); Gender equity theory, which is self-explanatory, and post-materialist value theory, which is based on an assumption that traditional values are changed by increasing attachment to the ideals of self-realization and/or liberalism and freedom from traditional powers. The changes in social status of women during this period is indicative of a loss of female rights, which is tragic in lieu of the influence that women had to the Solidarity movement which lead to Poland escaping from the grasp of Communism. Women were highly involved in Polands Solidarity movement. In communist Poland women made up 50 percent of the labor force and 50 percent of the membership in the Solidarity free trade union (Ness 2009). The irony of womens involvement is also characterized by Ness, as he cites that women made up less than 8 percent of the leadership of the Solidarity movement. During the Solidarity movement, women were underrepresented in the trade unions governance and political platform so they settled for trying to impact Polish society in various other ways. Those include activism, encouraging education, union organizing and the opposition press (which was a large part of the Telerevolution that lead to the regime change!) The impact of women on Telerevolution can not be understated. News of a strike in one part of the country spread through the telephone lines like wildfire into other regions of Poland. (Macoch 2006) As formerly stated, however, this had a reverse effect to what Polish women no doubt hoped as it promoted and solidified the mindset that this was a primarily male revolution. (Penn 2005) Penn illustrates the importance of women to the Solidarity movement by accentuating the grassroots activism that propped up the movement once the initial enthusiasm began to fade. According to Penn, It was women who, in the absence of male leadership, organized themselves and carried on the clandestine daily work of the movement. To the end of the Telerevolution they produced Tygodnik Mazowsze, one of the most influential underground papers of the movement. This sort of publication was a catalyst to the fall of Communism. Despite their condition of activism in the Solidarity movement Polish women did not pursue other routes that are traditionally opened by womens activism. They did not confront men or develop a Historical Consciousness of feminism. Historical Consciousness tends to forget their role due to the concentration on the top tiers of action where women involvement was minimal. This ignored the civic and community leaders. Historical Consciousness also plays a part in the opposite point of view, in which the Communist leaders of Poland did not suspect women of Solidarity Movement Activities. The price women paid for their involvement in the solidarity movement was the later violations of human rights. This continues on in the Historical Consciousness even today. The ban on abortion in Poland has remained largely unchallenged for twenty years. The lower pay and higher unemployment rates also remained largely unchanged for women in Poland. This begs Nietzsched traditional question: For What?

Works Cited Fratczak, Ewa. Family and Fertility in Poland - Changes During the Transition Period. Warsaw, Poland: Warsaw School of Economics, 2004. Print. Kirwil, Lucyna. "Changes in the Structure of Crime During the Transition Period in Poland." International Journal of Sociology 34.3 (2004): 48-82. Print. Long, Kristi S.. "Introduction through Women in Economic Transition." We all fought for freedom: women in Poland's solidarity movement. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1996. 1-26. Print. Macoch, Agnieszka. "Solidarity's Secret: The Women Who Defeated Communism in Poland." The Cosmopolitan Review [Pittsburg] 3 Oct. 2010: n. pag. the cosmopolitan review. Web. 29 June 2012. Ness, Immanuel. The international encyclopedia of revolution and protest: 1500 to the present. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print. Penn, Shana. Solidarity's secret: the women who defeated Communism in Poland. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005. Print. Word Count: 1854