Revival of Nationalists Politics in Post-Communist Poland

This study is a case study of ethnic mobilization of indigenous population of Silesia, Warmia and Mazuria as a German minority in Poland. It follows the general analytical structure elaborated by Rogers Brubaker and addresses a broader area of domestic politics with emphasis on contingency and variability of the relationship between nationalizing states, national minorities, and their external homelands; examines the forces that have contributed to ethnic mobilization in the aftermath of the dissolution of communism, and the evolution and trajectory of nationalist demands in the reconfigured political space. It contributes to the growing body of knowledge about the different dynamics of ethnic mobilization processes taking place in Central and Eastern Europe. The case of the German minority in Poland belongs to a sub-group of ethnic mobilization that takes place in cultural borderlands where national identities are fluid. The example of the German minority in Poland presents a compelling case of how a predominantly regional ethnic identity becomes transformed into a movement for national recognition.

Autorentext
Lubov Fajfer holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a co-editor of the quarterly Communist and Post-Communist Studies. In 2002, she joined the United States Agency for International Development where she is the Education Advisor in the Europe and Eurasia Bureau.