The Moral Community and Peasant Nationalism in Nineteenth-century Poland

Abstract

Historians of peasants and of the ‘labouring poor’ in general have frequently made use of the concept of moral economy to explain patterns of defiance in lower-class relations with their social superiors.² Recently, social historians have also begun to experiment with the notion of moral communities constructed by workers and peasants as a means of legitimising demands laid before those in positions of power.³ The articulation of moral standards as a justification for public behaviour and community goals is also a common component in the formation of national identity. The purpose of this chapter is to assess the ways in which Polish peasants in the nineteenth century relied upon moral arguments to help fashion a national community of which they themselves were potential members.