Women's Movements in Poland

An author attempting to describe women’s movements faces all the problems inherent in the analysis of social movements. Such problems first arise because studies in different disciplines, such as sociology and political science, define social movements in a variety of different ways. The definitional confusion is caused not only by the researchers’ changing approach to social movements, but also by the fact that diversity and variability are the inherent features of a social movement. ¹ D. Dahlerup, in her study of women’s movements in Denmark, suggests that a “social movement is defined as a conscious, collective activity to promote social change, with some degree of organization and with the commitment and active participation of members or activists as its main resource.” ² In accordance with her definition, women’s movements would be only those acting toward change, and all movements for the preservation of the status quo (which often arise in response to the prochange movements) would lie beyond the scope of analysis.