Maciej Roman Gdula (born 20 May 1977) is a Polish sociologist specializing in

social theory Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena.Seidman, S., 2016. Contested knowledge: Social theory today. John Wiley & Sons. A tool used by social scientists, social theories re ...

and

political theory Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from d ...

, as well as opinion journalist and politician.

Biography

He is the son of Andrzej Gdula, deputy interior minister of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

in the 1980s, and later adviser to President

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served the maximum two terms as the president of Poland from 1995 to 2005. His tenure as President was marked by modernization of Poland, rapid economi ...

. Gdula obtained a PhD in sociology in 2006 at the Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. There, in 2016 he received the postdoctoral degree in social sciences in the field of sociology and became an adjunct at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Warsaw. For several years, he has been a member of the Stanisław Brzozowski Association, a non-profit organization coordinating the actions of ''

Krytyka Polityczna ''Krytyka Polityczna'' (; "The Political Critique") is a network of Polish left-wing intellectuals. The network is based around a journal of the same name founded by Sławomir Sierakowski in 2002, but is open to voices from across the political s ...

''. He was a member of the Association's Board (2005–2010), and a member of its Audit Committee (2010–2015). As an opinion journalist, he contributed to ''Krytyka Polityczna'', as well as to Tok FM Radio morning broadcasts, of which he was a frequent guest. In 2017, he was the coordinator of a field study in Miastko, one of the poviat towns in

Mazovia Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...

. The report of this study was considered by several sociologists the first authoritative diagnosis of the reasons for the victory of

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...

in the

2015 Polish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 25 October 2015. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate of Poland, Senate were elected. The election was won by the largest opposition party, the right-wing Law and Justice (Pola ...

. In May 2019, Gdula became an expert of the Spring party and the leader of its list in the

European Parliament election Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until 2019, 751 ...

, in the district covering the

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

and Świętokrzyskie voivodships, but did not win a seat. In October 2019, he became member of the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

of the Republic of Poland.

Books

* ''Trzy dyskursy miłosne'' (2009) * ''Style życia i porządek klasowy w Polsce'' (2012, with Przemysław Sadura) * ''Oprogramowanie rzeczywistości społecznej'' (2014, with Lech Nijakowski) * ''Uspołecznienie i kompozycja. Dwie tradycje myśli społecznej a współczesne teorie krytyczne'' (2015) * ''Dobra zmiana w Miastku. Neoautorytaryzm w polskiej polityce z perspektywy małego miasta'' (2017, with Katarzyna Dębska and Kamil Trepka)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gdula, Maciej Polish sociologists Polish opinion journalists Members of the Polish Sejm 2019–2023 Members of the Polish Sejm 2023–2027 Spring (political party) politicians New Left (Poland) politicians University of Warsaw alumni Academic staff of the University of Warsaw People from Żywiec 1977 births Living people