标题：Book Review: Alber, Ina. 2016. Zivilgesellschaftliches Engagement in Polen. Ein biographietheoretischer und diskursanalytischer Zugang. Wiesbaden: Springer VS
摘要：On the one hand, watching a particular societythrough the lens of a “curious” outsidermay result in developing a more critical and emotionallydistanced perspective than the one of nativeresearchers. On the other hand, the authornot ingrained in the local reality may overlooka specific context of internal conflicts and ideologicaltensions in a given society. This is the case ofIna Alber’s interesting book, ZivilgesellschaftlichesEngagement in Polen. Ein biographietheoretischer unddiskursanalytischer Zugang [Civil Engagement in Poland.Biographical Method and Discourse Analytic Approach],published in 2016 in the series Theorie undPraxis der Diskursforschung [Theory and Praxis ofDiscourse Studies] edited by Reiner Keller. Alber,who currently works at the Institute of Sociologyat Georg-August University in Göttingen, has beeninvestigating into Polish civil society for a decade,and the discussed book is based on her PhD dissertation.The main objective of her research is to studyhow the concept of civil society is being constantlyconstructed through interpretation and negotiationof meaning in the public discourse, and especiallyin the individual biographical narratives in the contextof post-socialist Poland. The crucial researchquestion reads as follows: “How do the activists succeedin updating, adapting, and transforming theirinterpretative schemes and action patterns learnedin the process of socialization in order to create theirengagement in civil society?” (p. 21).
