"Youth for progress". ZMS activity in the context of polish modernization projects of the communist era

Abstract

The Union of Socialist Youth (ZMS) was a political and educational organization operating in Poland from 1957 to 1976. It undertook a number of activities to modernize the economy and society, especially to support industrialization and urbanization. Among other things, the ZMS organized campaigns to raise labor productivity and innovation in the economy, and supported large industrial investments by recruiting young workers. The effectiveness of these activities was small, some of them even perpetuated the defects of the socialist economy. Of greater modernization significance was the promotion of education and, above all, the support given to young people migrating from the countryside to the cities and helping them adapt to the urban environment. The direction of the ZMS's activities testified to the gradual shift away from the communist model of modernization toward a Western model focused on individual success and consumption. It is important that ZMS members were expected to be active and flexible, which, after the overthrow of communism, helped them adapt to new conditions in a rapidly modernizing country.