Projects
Drawing inspiration from cultural theory of modernity by Charles Taylor, according to whom different local forms of self-understanding determine different outcomes of modernizing processes, the project focuses on a common ground between the concept of general equality, espoused by proponents of radical Enlightenment, and the idea of liberty cultivated by Polish noble republicanism. Convergence of these seemingly irreconcilable perspectives in political treaties of half-forgotten political writers of the eighteenth century like Michal Wielhorski, Adam Wawrzyniec Rzewuski and Wojciech Turski resulted in a vision of alternative modernity that differed in some important respects from programmes of contemporary Polish mainstream reformers. It rested on the assumption that civic capacities do not depend on wealth and therefore civic and political rights should be extended beyond nobility. It brought also a stark defence of decentralised state and decisive condemnation of Western colonial practices of the period. By discussing such an alternative modernity the project aims to challenge persistent image - forged in the epoch of Enlightenment by Western philosophers along with travel writers and recurring to this day in many historical accounts of the region - of static eighteenth-century Eastern Europe, where servitude remained unquestioned and unreflected upon by ruling elites.
Presentation of the project will start with a discussion of its theoretical background, mainly basic premises of Taylor's cultural theory of modernity and the concept of hybridity borrowed from postcolonial theories. Theoretical introduction will be followed by outlining key problems covered by the project and a more detailed analysis of the idea of general equality in Polish reception of radical Enlightenment.