Solidarity Starts at Home: an Analysis of the Polish Perception of Social Inclusion and Exclusion of Migrants Dagmara K
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Macalester College DigitalCommons@Macalester College International Studies Honors Projects International Studies Department Spring 4-19-2017 Solidarity Starts at Home: An Analysis of the Polish Perception of Social Inclusion and Exclusion of Migrants Dagmara K. Franczak Macalester College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/intlstudies_honors Part of the International and Area Studies Commons Recommended Citation Franczak, Dagmara K., "Solidarity Starts at Home: An Analysis of the Polish Perception of Social Inclusion and Exclusion of Migrants" (2017). International Studies Honors Projects. 25. http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/intlstudies_honors/25 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by the International Studies Department at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Studies Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Solidarity Starts at Home: An Analysis of the Polish Perception of Social Inclusion and Exclusion of Migrants Dagmara Karolina Franczak Honors Thesis Presented to the Department of International Studies Macalester College St. Paul, MN, USA Faculty Advisor: Professor Nadya Nedelsky April 19, 2017 Franczak 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. 4 Abstract .............................................................................................................................. 5 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1. Defining nationalism and European identity: Literature review ............ 15 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 15 Defining nations and nationalism: the debate between modernists and ethnosymbolists in the Polish context .............................................................................................................. 16 Background on the European Union ................................................................................. 23 Defining a collective identity in the context of migration ................................................ 27 European identity within the context of Central and Eastern Europe ............................... 32 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 35 Chapter 2: The origins of Polish nationalism and its role in the Polish perception of social inclusion and exclusion ........................................................................................ 38 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 38 Partitions ........................................................................................................................... 39 Dmowski vs. Piłsudski ...................................................................................................... 43 World War I and World War II ......................................................................................... 46 Communist years in Poland .............................................................................................. 48 Solidarity movement post ‘89 elections ............................................................................ 52 The role of the Catholic Church ........................................................................................ 54 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 57 Chapter 3: Poland and migration in the context of the European Union ................. 59 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 59 Out-migration of Poles to the UK ..................................................................................... 59 Migration policy in Poland within the framework of the EU ........................................... 64 Refugee crisis and the EU ................................................................................................. 69 Polish response to the refugee crisis ................................................................................. 72 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 75 Chapter 4: An analysis of the Polish perception of social inclusion and exclusion of migrants ........................................................................................................................... 76 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 76 Political elites .................................................................................................................... 78 Law and Justice ............................................................................................................. 78 Jarosław Kaczyński ....................................................................................................... 90 Survey respondents ........................................................................................................ 94 Church ............................................................................................................................. 103 Media .............................................................................................................................. 106 Franczak 3 Public opinion ................................................................................................................. 110 Local level movements ................................................................................................... 113 Far-right nationalist movements ................................................................................. 113 United Against Racism ................................................................................................ 115 Gdańsk - solidarity city ............................................................................................... 116 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 117 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 119 Appendices ..................................................................................................................... 127 Works Cited ................................................................................................................... 130 Franczak 4 Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my research advisor, Nadya Nedelsky for her encouragement and support throughout this process. Your guidance throughout the Senior Seminar and the whole academic year, introduction to the psychological literature that I used throughout this thesis, weekly meetings, and careful readings of every draft made this project possible. I would also like to thank my academic advisor James Von Geldern for his guidance and mentorship throughout my four years at Macalester, for spontaneous conversations about Central and Eastern Europe and many office hours spent discussing academic and life decisions. Thank you to Professor Wendy Weber for being a part of my honors committee, taking the time to read this thesis, and for introducing me to the topic of human rights, refugees and migration. Your classes sparked my interest in migration and are reflected in this project. Additionally, thank you to friends and family for believing in me and supporting me throughout this entire process. In particular, I want to thank my fellow honors writers Clara Drew, Rebecca Mendelsohn and Christopher Mendoza for keeping me sane during long hours spent in the library, and my housemates Jhader Aguad ,Ted Bebi, and Melissa Leong for your patience, advice and emotional support when I needed it the most. Franczak 5 Abstract With the Eurosceptic and anti-refugee Law and Justice Party in power in Poland, advocating for the rights of Polish migrants in the Brexit negotiations, the question, then, arises: how do Poles simultaneously justify the idea of a borderless EU and the rejection of refugees? I argue that all actors in the debate on social inclusion and exclusion of migrants are using the value of solidarity, but defining it differently because of the collective identities that they prioritize. There are two prevalent, historically grounded sides in the debate: one side is liberal, and cosmopolitan, the other is illiberal and ethno- nationalist. Franczak 6 Introduction Eng.: We want a Polish repatriate, not an Islamic immigrant. (“Chcemy Polskiego Repatrianta, Zamiast Islamskiego Emigranta [Wideo z Marszu]”) Europe is not a market, it is the will to live together. Leaving Europe is not leaving a market, it is leaving shared dreams. We can have a common market, but if we do not have common dreams, we have nothing. Europe is the peace that came after the disaster of war. Europe is the pardon between French and Germans.