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Difference between revisions of "Zalatwianie (Poland)"
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''Załatwianie'', like Russian blat, is therefore a kind of a social system based on certain relationships among people<ref>Ledeneva A. 1998. Russia's economy of favours: blat, networking, and informal exchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press</ref>. A person with a wide social network and large number of friends has greater scope to ''załatwić'' than someone with a smaller number of connections. Consequently, more people want to establish relations with such a person as they are perceived as a valuable friend who can ''załatwić'' a lot <ref>Wedel J. 2001. 'Corruption and Organised Crime in Post-Communist States: New Ways of Manifesting New Patters', Trends in Organized Crime, 7(1): 3-61.</ref>. However, unlike blat, ''załatwianie'' does not rely solely on the social networks and position within a group of people, but also on an individual’s tacit knowledge of how to get things done: how to approach certain institutions and/or people, and generally how to act in different situations in order to ''załatwić'' things. Sometimes a person does not even need a specific social network to achieve his/her goals – less than knowing people, it is important to be aware where and how things can be done, and then undertake specific actions (e.g. bribery, blackmailing) in order to obtain goods <ref>Wedel J. 1986. Private Poland. New York: Facts on File Inc.</ref>. | ''Załatwianie'', like Russian blat, is therefore a kind of a social system based on certain relationships among people<ref>Ledeneva A. 1998. Russia's economy of favours: blat, networking, and informal exchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press</ref>. A person with a wide social network and large number of friends has greater scope to ''załatwić'' than someone with a smaller number of connections. Consequently, more people want to establish relations with such a person as they are perceived as a valuable friend who can ''załatwić'' a lot <ref>Wedel J. 2001. 'Corruption and Organised Crime in Post-Communist States: New Ways of Manifesting New Patters', Trends in Organized Crime, 7(1): 3-61.</ref>. However, unlike blat, ''załatwianie'' does not rely solely on the social networks and position within a group of people, but also on an individual’s tacit knowledge of how to get things done: how to approach certain institutions and/or people, and generally how to act in different situations in order to ''załatwić'' things. Sometimes a person does not even need a specific social network to achieve his/her goals – less than knowing people, it is important to be aware where and how things can be done, and then undertake specific actions (e.g. bribery, blackmailing) in order to obtain goods <ref>Wedel J. 1986. Private Poland. New York: Facts on File Inc.</ref>. | ||
The word ''załatwianie'' became particularly popular in Poland during the Communist period, where there was no easy access to goods and society relied on informal practices and networks<ref>Morris J. and Polese, A. 2013. The Informal Post-Socialist Economy: Embedded Practices and Livehoods. Oxford: Taylor and Francis.</ref>. Some argue that the exclusive nature of ''załatwianie'' comes from the era of Partitions (1795 – 1918), during which Poles could only rely on other Poles as they had been surrounded by ‘enemies’ (the authorities of the invading states) <ref>Pacan J. 2009. 'Tutaj wszystko da się załatwić', Newsweek Polska, 1 December, http://blogi.newsweek.pl/Tekst/polityka-polska/533612,Tutaj-wszystko-sie-da-zalatwic.html></ref>. It was better therefore to ‘get something done’ within the inner circle than to ask for help from external sources such as the Russian authorities, who would most probably be unhelpful or even worsen the situation. | The word ''załatwianie'' became particularly popular in Poland during the Communist period, where there was no easy access to goods and society relied on informal practices and networks<ref>Morris J. and Polese, A. 2013. The Informal Post-Socialist Economy: Embedded Practices and Livehoods. Oxford: Taylor and Francis.</ref>. Some argue that the exclusive nature of ''załatwianie'' comes from the era of Partitions (1795 – 1918), during which Poles could only rely on other Poles as they had been surrounded by ‘enemies’ (the authorities of the invading states) <ref>Pacan J. 2009. 'Tutaj wszystko da się załatwić', Newsweek Polska, 1 December, http://blogi.newsweek.pl/Tekst/polityka-polska/533612,Tutaj-wszystko-sie-da-zalatwic.html></ref>. It was better therefore to ‘get something done’ within the inner circle than to ask for help from external sources such as the Russian authorities, who would most probably be unhelpful or even worsen the situation. | ||
According to an official report on Poland’s social situation<ref>Czapiński J. and Panek T. 2009. Diagnoza Społeczna 2009. Warunki i jakość życia Polaków. Warsaw: Rada Monitoringu Społecznego.</ref>, the practice of ''załatwianie'' is still used by the majority of Polish society. It has a negative impact on general societal trust, which contributes to the lack of social integration and difficulty of creating civil society among the Polish population. Czapiński suggests that when an individual wants to ''załatwić'' something with another person or a group of people, they are all connected by a common secrecy and benefits, but also by a common guilt. In consequence, the trust can only exist within the group, and those outside the circle come to be considered as untrustworthy. The circles that try to ''załatwić'' things are everywhere and have very much the same objectives and desires. However, such groups will never interact in order to obtain goods together, but rather stick to their own social groups because of the lack of trust in outsiders (the thinking goes: why would we ''załatwić'' it somewhere else when we can do it with ‘our’ people?). To a large degree, therefore, Polish society consists of multitudes of these exclusive informal self-help groups, which does not allow for mutual integration and the increase of general societal trust<ref>Kamiński A. 1997. 'Corruption Under the Post-Communist Transformation: The Case of Poland', Polish Sociological Review, 118: 91-117.</ref>. | |||
''Załatwianie'' on an individual level is almost always profitable; however, in a wider social context ''załatwianie'', like many other informal practice, sacrifices long term societal benefits for short term private returns. ''Załatwić''-ing a job for a friend always implies the rejection of a more suitable candidate; ''załatwić''-ing a deal with a company impedes free-market competition. Another negative impact of ''załatwianie'' is in reinforcing the conviction within society that the most effective way to get things done is by informal means, while official procedures will probably be a waste of time and inefficient. People therefore often opt to do something through ''załatwianie'' in the first instance and, if that fails, fall back on formal methods (although sometimes the order is reversed: when the formal methods fail, people turn to informality). In many cases, people perceive those who try to obtain goods through the formal channels as fools: if they do not know how to ''załatwić'' it, they must be either lazy, or not well-connected enough to know someone who can ''załatwić'' it for them (or both). There is a phrase in Polish: ‘''on nie potrafi niczego załatwić''’, ‘''on niczego nie załatwi.''’ This literally translates as ‘he cannot get anything done’, relating to a person who is not effective in his aims; does not know how to approach certain people (or does not know them at all); and/or is too righteous or clumsy to reach his goal using informal methods<ref>Wedel J. 1991. The Unplanned society: Poland during and after communism. New York: Columbia University Press.</ref>. | ''Załatwianie'' on an individual level is almost always profitable; however, in a wider social context ''załatwianie'', like many other informal practice, sacrifices long term societal benefits for short term private returns. ''Załatwić''-ing a job for a friend always implies the rejection of a more suitable candidate; ''załatwić''-ing a deal with a company impedes free-market competition. Another negative impact of ''załatwianie'' is in reinforcing the conviction within society that the most effective way to get things done is by informal means, while official procedures will probably be a waste of time and inefficient. People therefore often opt to do something through ''załatwianie'' in the first instance and, if that fails, fall back on formal methods (although sometimes the order is reversed: when the formal methods fail, people turn to informality). In many cases, people perceive those who try to obtain goods through the formal channels as fools: if they do not know how to ''załatwić'' it, they must be either lazy, or not well-connected enough to know someone who can ''załatwić'' it for them (or both). There is a phrase in Polish: ‘''on nie potrafi niczego załatwić''’, ‘''on niczego nie załatwi.''’ This literally translates as ‘he cannot get anything done’, relating to a person who is not effective in his aims; does not know how to approach certain people (or does not know them at all); and/or is too righteous or clumsy to reach his goal using informal methods<ref>Wedel J. 1991. The Unplanned society: Poland during and after communism. New York: Columbia University Press.</ref>. | ||