ECONOMIC KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIAL SKILLS OF RURAL YOUTH

Abstract

The paper’s aim is to draw attention to the fact that constructing a society in a knowledge-based economy is a multidimensional process which also concerns phenomena of economic culture and civilizational competences, characteristic of individual social groups. The paper focuses on economic culture of contemporary rural youth with reference to two aspects of the culture: economic knowledge and social skills. It analyses them in the context of civilizational competences, assuming that they are crucial in the development of knowledge-based economy. It is grounded on the conviction that economic culture is the determinant factor in the community’s readiness to gain knowledge, put it into practice, be open to innovation etc. The relation between economic culture and the quality of civilizational competences determines whether given communities will participate in and support development on equal terms, or whether they will be marginalized. The analysis is based on fi eld research carried out in January 2009 among 1489 16 years old studying in 13 districts in Poland. The outcome indicates explicitly that economic knowledge and some skills useful in market economy and democratic society have not been internalized and reinforced by rural youth.