Migrations of Rural Population in the Course of a Century. The Study of the Case of Radgoszcz Commune

Abstract

The article presents the results of an analysis of migration traditions of the population of the Radgoszcz commune at the start of the 20th century and in the period following Poland's accession to the European Union within the concept of trans-nationality. The analysis has been conducted by the article's author with the purpose of establishing whether trans-national migrations, which are characterised by a large number of departures and returns, are actually a new social phenomenon. The author has chosen as the field for his exploration the Radgoszcz commune which forms a part of the Dąbrowski district in the region of Małopolska. At present the Dąbrowski district is an area characterised by a high index of international mobility (chiefly in the direction of Austria and Germany). At the start of the 20th century this district constituted the migration centre of Galicia. It should be noted, however, that a high proportion of migrants tended to return to their local communities and to repeat many times the same migration strategies. One of the proofs of strong migration traditions is the existence of two Polish community clubs in the United States, which group migrants (or the descendants of migrants) from the Radgoszcz commune. Basing on the results of field research, which covered, among other things, the examination of archival materials and the evaluation of their content, as well as a questionnaire, the author has analysed the region's migration traditions and their influence on the present international mobility of the inhabitants of the Radgoszcz commune.