Poland’s eastern borderlands: Political transition and the ‘ethnic question’

Article is part of a special issue, 'Region, State and Identity in Central and Eastern Europe'.

Journal abstract:

This essay addresses two main questions: the extent to which Poland's transformation processes since 1989 have been accommodated 'below' in its ethnically diverse eastern borderlands; and the way in which these processes have affected inter-ethnic relations in the region. The author looks through the prism of three major processes: democratization, decentralization and NATO/EU enlargement, and comes to the conclusion that these processes are echoed in the eastern borderlands and, with various degrees of resonance, have impacted on the reshaping of inter-ethnic relationships in the region.