Procesualne

Procesualne is a Polish adjective derived from proces (process) that denotes relation to a process or procedure. It is used across disciplines to mark processual or procedural characteristics. In law, the related term procesualny describes aspects of proceedings and procedural law (prawo procesowe), including phrases such as postępowanie procesowe and środki procesualne.

In the social sciences, procesualne appears in phrases like podejście procesualne or metody procesualne, signaling an emphasis on processes, sequences, and causal relations rather than static states. In archaeology and anthropology, procesualna archeologia (processual archaeology) refers to a school that seeks general laws of cultural change and causal explanations drawn from systems theory; the tradition is associated with mid-20th-century American anthropology, notably Lewis Binford. Polish scholarship also uses archeologia procesualna and procesualny to describe methods and analyses that stress variables, hypotheses, and cross-cultural comparison, contrasted with later postprocesualna (post-processual) critique.

Linguistically, procesualne often serves as the neuter singular or plural form of the adjective when modifying nouns such as podejście procesualne or metody procesualne. The term remains central to discussions of how systems evolve, how procedures unfold, or how data are analyzed in a step-by-step, process-focused manner.

Across fields, procesualne indicates a process-centered orientation, with a common contrast to interpretive or post-processual approaches.