Feminist Anthropology Seminar

The Feminist Anthropology Seminar is a series of monthly meetings organized by Dr Renata Hryciuk (Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw), Dr hab. Inga Kuźma, Prof. UŁ, and Dr Ruxandra Ana (Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Łódź), in cooperation with sociologist Dr Iza Desperak (Institute of Sociology, University of Łódź) from the Interdisciplinary Gender Seminar.

Meetings within the Seminar will take place on selected Mondays each month at 5:00 PM on the Google Meet platform.

The inaugural event of the Seminar will be held on 26 January 2026 at 5:00 PM. The organizers will host Antonina Stasińska-Syska (Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw), whose presentation will be entitled Ethnography of Non-Monogamous Relationships: Strategies and Practices of Women in Poland.

Those interested in participating are kindly asked to send their registrations to: semantropfem2026@gmail.com

Event description:

The aim of the presentation is to analyze the experiences, strategies, and everyday practices of women in Poland who engage in relationships that go beyond the dominant norm of mononormativity. Although in recent years consensual non-monogamy—including forms such as polyamory or open relationships—has been gaining visibility in popular culture and the media, within the Polish context of the social sciences, and anthropology in particular, it remains a largely underexplored phenomenon. The research presented, conducted between 2019 and 2025, seeks to address this gap by situating non-monogamy within the specific cultural framework of contemporary Poland, where conservative Catholic discourse coexists with neoliberal values and a dynamically developing therapeutic culture.

The empirical material on which the presentation is based was collected using multi-sited ethnographic research, including in-depth interviews with women aged 27 to 63, as well as conversations with experts in psychology and sexology. The application of feminist and reflexive anthropological perspectives made it possible to illuminate relations of power, cultivate sensitivity to them, and understand the intersectional positioning of the women studied. Long-term participant observation enabled the extraction of grassroots knowledge that allows for the redefinition of fundamental concepts such as family, love, jealousy, and infidelity.

During the presentation, key findings emerging from the fieldwork will be discussed. One of the central conclusions concerns the lack of language to describe non-monogamous relationships and the consequences of this deficit for women’s identities. Another important aspect involves strategies of managing visibility and invisibility, which function simultaneously as tactics of micro-resistance protecting against social stigmatization. The analysis also addresses the influence of individualism and therapeutic culture tools on the construction of relational autonomy. An additional significant element of the research highlights the relationship between neurodiversity and a propensity to challenge rigid social norms in the sphere of intimacy.

The findings demonstrate that despite the hegemony of conservative discourse, Polish social reality is undergoing processes of transformation. Progressive secularization and a selective approach to religion create space for alternative life models. Although women living in non-monogamous relationships face a lack of systemic support, their everyday practices constitute a grassroots challenge to the traditional model of the nuclear family. Consensual non-monogamy in the Polish context appears as an ambivalent phenomenon: on the one hand, it poses significant emotional challenges; on the other, it functions as an empowering form of micro-emancipation and a sign of an ongoing redefinition of relationality.

Recommended reading:
Antonina Stasińska (2024), “Doing Mothering in Non-Monogamous Relationships: Strategies and Practices of Women in Poland,” Slovak Ethnology, 72(3): 307–328.

Speaker biography:
Antonina Stasińska-Syska, MA
Anthropologist; graduate of BA and MA programs at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology and doctoral studies at the Doctoral School of Humanities, University of Warsaw. Her academic path began with research in urban anthropology, focusing on perceptions of revitalization processes at Szembeka Square in Warsaw’s Grochów district and the political dimensions of urban aesthetics. During her MA studies, completed with distinction, she explored issues in the anthropology of migration and emotions, concentrating on strategies and practices of transnational long-distance relationships. She has recently submitted her doctoral dissertation based on research conducted as part of the project “Ethnography of Intimate Non-Monogamous Relationships – Experience, Strategies, Practices. A Women’s Perspective,” devoted to the analysis of non-monogamous relationships in Poland.