The main thesis of this paper is the assertion that, in contrast to the prevailing opinion about the decline or deep crisis of the intelligentsia, it is precisely this social group—and especially its elite—that is the dominant actor in social life. This thesis emerges from an analysis of the role of the intelligentsia, using ‘longue durée’ categories and also the broader international perspective of ‘world system theory’, in which Poland is assigned to the (semi)-periphery. Elements of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory, particularly the idea of cultural capital and the field of power, are an important theoretical poin in the author’s argument. In this view, the structurally privileged position of the intelligentsia in Poland is understood as an aspect of the specific configuration of the Polish field of power, in which—at least since the end of the First World War—cultural capital turns out to be the strongest and most stable dimension in the creation and reproduction of elite social positions.

The article presents one of contemporary forms of Polish migration to other countries enabling migrants to gain new skills and experiences, namely the migration of Polish women taking part in the Au-pair program. The analyzed data were gathered through in-depth interviews with former participants of the Au-pair program in germany – one of the main destinations of this kind of migration from Poland.