The feminization of governance in rural communities in Poland: the case of village representatives (sołtys)

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to analyze the drivers behind the feminization of the position of village representative in Poland and to discuss the possible consequences of this process. This article is based on a qualitative empirical study conducted in 10 communes located in different regions of Poland and varied in terms of women's participation in local public life. The results of my research show that the most significant factors of the feminization of the function of village representatives are social and cultural changes, as well as weakening of this position in the current system of local administrative institutions. Research has shown no striking differences in terms of types of initiatives or modes of functioning by women and men. Of significance, on the other hand, is the diversity of views on gender equality and, in particular, the activities of women in local public life. In the communes characterized by a significant presence of female village representatives and commune councilors, the women's public activities are more accepted and appreciated than in the communes, where women in such positions were in a minority.

La feminización de la gobernanza en las comunidades rurales en Polonia: el caso de los y las representantes del pueblo (soltys)

El objetivo principal de este artículo es analizar los motores de la feminización del cargo de representante del pueblo en Polonia y discutir las posibles consecuencias de este proceso. Este artículo está basado en un estudio empírico cualitativo llevado a cabo en 10 comunidades ubicadas en distintas regiones de Polonia y diferentes en términos de la participación de las mujeres en la vida pública local. Los resultados de mi investigación muestran que los factores más importantes de la feminización de la función de representante del pueblo son los cambios sociales y culturales, así como el debilitamiento de este cargo en el sistema actual de instituciones administrativas locales. La investigación muestra que no existen diferencias importantes en términos de tipos de iniciativas o modos de funcionamiento entre mujeres y hombres. De significancia, por otro lado, es la diversidad de miradas sobre la igualdad de género y, en particular, las actividades de las mujeres en la vida pública local. En las comunas caracterizadas por una presencia significativa de mujeres representantes del pueblo y mujeres consejeras de la comuna, las actividades públicas de las mujeres son más aceptadas y valoradas que en las comunas donde las mujeres en esos cargos son una minoría.

波兰农村社区中的治理女性化：村代表（sołtys）的案例

本文旨在分析波兰村代表职位的女性化背后的驱动力，并探讨此一进程的可能后果。本文根据在波兰不同区域中的十座社区所进行的质化经验研究，其中妇女参与至地方公共生活的方式各自不同。我的研究结果显示，村代表功能的女性化，最主要的因素是社会与文化的变迁，以及这些职位在当前的地方行政制度系统中的弱化。研究结果在女性与男性的动机种类或运作模式方面，并无发现显着的差异。但另一方面而言，对于性别平等的多样观点，特别是女性在地方公共生活中的活动，却有明显的差异。女性的公共活动，在一个以有着女性村代表和社区咨询委员着称的社区中，相较于在一个女性鲜少担任这些职位的社区中，更能被接受并受到赏识。

Keywords::

• gender
• feminization
• village representative (sołtys)
• self-government

Palabras claves::

• género
• feminización
• representante del pueblo (soltys)
• autogobierno

关键词::

• 性别
• 女性化
• 村代表（sołtys），自我治理

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the Gender, Place and Culture reviewers for their critique and suggestions. I am, however, ultimately responsible for the contents of this article.

Notes

^1. It should be noted that some communes implement mechanisms for providing financial support for rural subcommunes. Since 2009, the commune councils have been able to create a particular rural subcommunal fund.

^2. All persons who are Polish citizens, aged 18 years or older, permanent residents of the rural subcommune, and having all public rights.

^3. Unfortunately, the statistics on village representatives broken down by gender have only been regularly gathered since 2009. The presented data from the times before 1989 are derived from the report issued by the Central Statistical Office in 1968.

^4. Rural women sometimes combined farmwork with paid employment in nearby towns, as well. Also, today, they often work in agriculture as unpaid and unregistered family helpers.

^5. Nevertheless, if a man was unable to work or left the village due to migration, it was accepted that a woman would take over the role of the head of the household.

^6. However, scholars noted that during the period before the EU accession (1997–2004), the Polish government implemented several family- and gender-related policies, which resulted in the re-traditionalization of gender relations (Gerber 2011).

^7. In 2011, the 35% quota for the national and local election lists with the recommendation of placing at least one woman among the top three candidates was introduced. However, it does not apply to the rural subcommunes.

^8. Marking of interviews: the first letter means the voyvodship (Z =  zachodniopomorskie, M =  mazowieckie, L =  lubelskie, W =  wielkopolskie, P =  podkarpackie), the second letter refers to the first letter(s) in the name of the commune, letters ‘f’ or ‘m’ refer to the respondent being female or male, the last letters indicate the category of the respondent – ‘v’ means villagerepresentative, ‘l’ means local leader, ‘c’ means commune councilor and ‘o’ means public official or a representative of another local institution.

^9. It should be noted, however, that regarding the feminized communes, we are dealing mainly with the opinions expressed by women, who were dominant among the respondents.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ilona Matysiak

Ilona Matysiak, PhD, graduated in sociology from the University of Warsaw, currently works as assistant professor in the Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education (Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Chair of Sociology of Social Change) and cooperates with the Robert B. Zajonc Institute for Social Studies, University of Warsaw. She specializes in such areas as civil society, social capital, grassroots organizations in the local community development and gender. She is especially interested in the influence of gender factor on the activity of local community leaders. Ilona Matysiak cooperates voluntarily or professionally with Polish and foreign NGOs which work on community development, gender and local democracy.