LAUSR

Abstract In this article, the authors reflect on social consequences of the deagrarianization process, based on their study conducted in the Blaszki commune in central Poland. The study shows deagrarianization in the making, as the region is prone to land being concentrated among the largest farms and to the deactivation of the majority of smallholders. Our research indicates how farmers specialize, quit livestock farming, and endure work overload. It also shows attitudes among younger farmers, who in most cases reject farming as their future career. Among the social consequences of deagrarianization, we note the erosion of community life, conflicts between entrepreneurial farmers and smallholders, and growing distrust. We then reflect on the deagrarianization process's roots, which lie in anti-peasant prejudices and the modernization paradigm in Polish social sciences and in the public sphere.