Poland is country where the total number of population with the number of national and ethnic minorities, the figure seems quite small. Today it is 1,44% of the state’s population. In present Poland there live representatives of 4 minorities: Crimean Karaites, Lemkos, Romani people and Tatars. There are 9 national minorities in Poland, with the most numerous German minority, Belarusians, Ukrainian, Czechs, Armenians, Russians, Slovaks and Jewish. In some references there are also Silesian people included, though they have not been officially recognized by Polish authorities yet. In present Poland live many new immigrants too. They live in Polish cities. For example, Warsaw is a city which attracted new immigrants — employees of multinational corporations, students, lecturers, doctors, artists or workers from outside the Eastern border. Relations and interference of different traditions, patterns, ways of thinking and relation to the word, God and other people have become something inevitable. Inevitability of multicultural world included Poland as well.

The purpose of this article is to present the origin of the formation and transformation of Silesian values since the mid‑nineteenth century to the present day. Based on historical and sociological studies and the Author’s own research, an attempt will be made to trace the process of shaping, strengthening, and changes in the Silesian values: work, family and religion. As the experience of other western communities have shown, in time of strong industrialization and urbanization there is a secularization and laicite of society and the breakdown of family relationships, however a different phenomenon occurred in Silesia.
Firstly, the period of the First World War, when Silesia belonged to the German state will be analyzed. German Protestant work ethic and actions of Kulturkampf contributed in this period of time to the formation of Silesian work ethos and values of the family and religion. Secondly, the interwar period will be discussed, when the three values were subject to change under the influence of both external and internal factors, taking place in the communities of Silesia. With the passage of time those values either strengthened or changed their character. Thirdly, in the period of real socialism, a destruction of the ethos of work and its “duality” is described in detail, in relation to the persistence of family values and religion. In conclusion, the changes which have occurred in the 20 years of systemic transformation are shown, when there was a weakening of the value of religion, a redefining of the value of family and a strengthening of the value of work in the same time.

One of the distinctive features of the Silesian Voivodeship — a region created by an administrative decision — is its multifaceted diversity, described in different contexts and recalled for different reasons, not only cognitive but also political ones. The voivodeship is a multicultural area characterized by a mosaic of cultural, religious and ethnic diversity. In everyday perception, as well as in the media, the Silesian Voivodeship is usually associated with the industrial agglomeration of softly defined borders, and rarely with its integral parts of Zagłębie, the Częstochowa region, the hilly Podbeskidzie and Cieszyn Silesia. The latter, historically belonging to Upper Silesia, forms the southern flanks of the region, the “other Silesia” — green and totally different in its geographical, social, cultural and partly also economic image than the other sub‑regions that form Silesia. The region has the characteristics of an administrative, ethnic and cultural borderland. Situated on the Polish‑Czech national border, it is also a cross‑frontier area of major economic and political importance. It is also the fatherland for about 40 thousand Poles living in the Czech part of Cieszyn Silesia — known in Polish as Zaolzie. Therefore, when we think “Silesia”, we should also think of its southern lands as one of the varieties of “Silesianhood” which build, just like Upper Silesia, the identity of the region.

In this article the author analyses the importance of the concept of “fatherland” among leaders of the German minority in the area of Gdańsk Pomerania — as one of the values that forms their national (and ethnic) identity. All conclusions are derived from sociological research made by the author, conducted among the group of members of German minority since 2006. The most important issue, from the point of view of German minority, is the existence of the term “fatherland” as a correlate of the area that confirms maintaining the continuation of the group in Gdańsk Pomerania. The significance of the intragroup value of the term “fatherland” should be considered in this particular context — as a symbolic, mythical and usable value, that is necessary for the sustenance of the group and emergence of group boundaries.

The paper presents the changes which appeared in the Maghreb countries (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) in the sphere of values, beginning from the second half of the 50s of the 20th century, i.e., from the times of gaining independence from the French and Spanish colonization. Although each of these countries took a different route of development, the Mediterranean tradition and Muslim religion have been a common element. The values of honour, obedience, family and religion have been stressed in the text. They all are well placed in patriarchal culture, but have evolved to adapt to new social and cultural demands under the influence of internal and external forces. Among many factors that have modified them, there are education, granting rights for women, paid jobs, migration from the country to towns. Within the family relationships between spouses, parents and their children have also been changing. Fathers have been losing their right to dominate for the sake of mothers. The pattern of decision making through negotiation instead of commands have become a specific phenomenon. The changes of the value system are also, and perhaps foremost, prompted by institutional regulations or widely understood globalization.

In this article we draw attention to some expressions of prosocial behaviors in Poland. Changes in morality, described by sociologists are in statu fieri and there are a myriad of possibilities for their development in different directions. Discussion will focus on a few selected issues related to prosocial values, and there are: the conflict between self‑interest and the interests of others, trust in people, declared help of one’s neighbor, religiosity and prosocial attitudes. The collected empirical data speak in favor of a hypothesis about changes taking place in Polish society: from communitarianism (prosocial attitude) to individualism (selfish attitude), and from the declared prosocial values to practical individualism. It seems that from an axiological perspective, prosocial values are more widely disseminated than are the selfish behaviors, especially when we consider the question of helping others.

The article constitutes a reflection on the issue of the relations between generations as one of the important factors of the dynamics of social development. It seeks to create a basis for research on intergenerational relations providing the characteristics of the youth, the process of individualization, loss of traditional certainties, “tribalism and nomadism” by Maffesoli, uncertainty and violence.

The article discusses the important aspects of the Sorbian minority’s existence in Lusatia, in two German eastern states (Saxony and Brandenburg), in the context of the risk for the population of the region stemming from the activities pertaining to brown coal mining, which entail the need for resettlement of the population and the subsequent liquidation of their villages. Regarding this background, the author presents the dilemmas of the inhabitants of the region, who are, on the one hand, filled with concern for the protection of natural environment and the desire to save the homeland from destruction, but, on the other hand, are aware of the need to invest in energy. The strong commitment to cultural continuity of the Sorbs goes hand in hand with developed plans for the creation of the modern conditions of life. The text refers to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the legal status of the Sorbs. It also includes analysis of the attitudes of residents threatened by the need of resettlement. This analysis is based on qualitative and quantitative research carried out by the author in 2010 in the village of Rohne. It identifies five types of different approaches, behind which the various motives are to be considered. Particularly noteworthy is the treatment of space (territory, home), the value of which cannot simply be moved to another location.

Autonomous operations for Upper Silesia and Silesian nationality are controversy and lead to discussion. They give some questions: It is possible to talk about building a Silesian nation? What that does it mean for Silesians? How would a Silesian nation look like? Starting point in this considerations is Anthony D. Smith’s ethno‑symbolism, which is often referred to by Silesians, but they don’t realize that. The symbolic character of a group has an influence on the cultural identity, and that has an influence on creating new nations and nationalism. Silesians connect many common factors but this group is not considered as ethnie (a community with different culture features) or as an ethnic minority. The research carried out by members of Silesian Autonomy Movement and people, who are not related with this organization was supposed to function as a response to many ferment questions. Autonomous activists’ opinions often have fanatic, anti‑Polish and nationalistic implication. No wonder that people, who are not related with this Movement, fear that Silesia could be isolated from Poland. These people are mostly related with Silesia, but autonomous and national ideas seem like abstractions for them. However, some of autonomists have certain vision of the Silesian nation. Research and sociological theories show that it is difficult to denominate Silesians as a nation.