WEAPONS OF THE WEAK OR WEAK WEAPONS? WOMEN, PRIESTS, AND POWER NEGOTIATIONS IN ROMAN CATHOLIC PARISHES IN RURAL POLAND

• Authors: Agnieszka Pasieka
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Drawing on James Scott’s works on “everyday resistance” and “weapons of the weak”, this article inquires whether Roman Catholic women’s gossip and jokes about priests may lead to a redefinition of priest-parishioners’ relations. Using ethnographic material collected during field research in rural Poland, the article demonstrates the ambivalent nature of anticlerical jokes and rumours, which, rather than constituting a tool of change, reaf- firm the existing order. In putting forward this argument, the article critically engages with Scott’s theory and reflects on the problematic role of researchers in presenting the issue of agency and resistance. The analyzed case-study from the Polish countryside constitutes a point of departure for addressing a broader context of church-state relations and the situation of women in the Catholic Church in Poland. 

Keywords

EN

women, Catholicism, priests, gossip, jokes, resistance and domination

• Publisher: AGH University of Science and Technology
• Journal: Studia Humanistyczne AGH
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 3

Dates

published

2016

online

2017-01-15

Contributors

author

Agnieszka Pasieka

Identifiers

DOI

10.7494/human.2016.15.3.35-49