„Martwym jest członkiem każdego społeczeństwa człowiek, który nie pracuje”. Walka z czasem wolnym jako forma akumulacji pierwotnej w okresie modernizacji stanisławowskiej

The aim of this article is to investigate the techniques used by the authorities in late eighteenth-century Poland to regulate and suppress leisure time, and to determine to what extent these efforts can be considered a form of primitive accumulation. To this end, the study examines two institutions: the Warsaw House of Correction and the 1790 passportisation project. Research for the article involved an examination of official government documents and the reports of 140 interrogations of individuals detained by the Marshal’s Guard between 1787 and 1794. The author employs Michel Foucault’s theory of power and focuses on the concepts of sovereign, disciplinary, and biopolitical regimes. The findings show that attempts to regulate leisure time were ineffective due to institutional weaknesses. Despite the use of numerous innovative techniques, the authorities were unable to achieve long-term changes in social relations. The author argues that the struggle against leisure time can be interpreted as a form of “substitute” primitive accumulation – an imitation of Western ideas with no tangible impact on capitalist development.