Tolerance of Cultural Diversity in Poland and Its Limitations
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Tolerance of Cultural Diversity in Poland and Its Limitations Michał Buchowski Katarzyna Chlewi ńska Adam Mickiewicz University of Pozna ń 2012/34 5. New Knowledge Country Synthesis Reports EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE , FLORENCE ROBERT SCHUMAN CENTRE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES Tolerance of Cultural Diversity in Poland and Its Limitations PROF . MICHAŁ BUCHOWSKI & KATARZYNA CHLEWI ŃSKA ADAM MICKIEWICZ UNIVERSITY WP5 : New Knowledge on Tolerance and Cultural Diversity in Europe D5.1 Comprehensive Country Reports © 2012 Michał Buchowski & Katarzyna Chlewi ńska This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the author(s), editor(s). If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title, the research project, the year and the publisher. Published by the European University Institute Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies ACCEPT PLURALISM 7th Framework Programme Project Via dei Roccettini 9 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole - Italy www.accept-pluralism.eu www.eui.eu/RSCAS/ Available from the EUI institutional repository CADMUS cadmus.eui.eu Michał Buchowski and Katarzyna Chlewi ńska Tolerance, Pluralism and Social Cohesion: Responding to the Challenges of the 21st Century in Europe (ACCEPT PLURALISM) ACCEPT PLURALISM is a Research Project, funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Program. The project investigates whether European societies have become more or less tolerant during the past 20 years. In particular, t he project aims to clarify: (a) how is tolerance defined conceptually, (b) how it is codified in norms, institutional arrangements, public policies and social practices, (c) how tolerance can be measured (whose tolerance, who is tolerated, and what if degrees of tolerance vary with reference to different minority groups). The ACCEPT PLURALISM consortium conducts original empirical research on key issues in school life and in politics that thematise different understandings and practices of tolerance. Bringing together empirical and theoretical findings, ACCEPT PLURALISM generates a State of the Art Report on Tolerance and Cultural Diversity in Europe, a Handbook on Ideas of Tolerance and Cultural Diversity in Europe , a Tolerance Indicators’ Toolkit where qualitative and quantitative indicators may be used to score each country’s performance on tolerating cultural diversity, and several academic publicat ions (books, journal articles) on Tolerance, Pluralism and Cultural Diversity in Europe . The ACCEPT PLULARISM consortium is formed by 18 partner institutions covering 15 EU countries. The project is hosted by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and co-ordinated by Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou. The EUI, the RSCAS and the European Commission are not responsible for the opinion expressed by the author(s). Adam Mickiewicz University of Pozna ń is one of the largest academic centres in Poland. The University employs nearly 3,000 teaching staff and serves 50,000 students in 14 faculties offering BA, MA and PhD programmes. Students can choose from 190 majors. AM U cooperates with over 100 partner universities abroad. Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology is one of the leading anthropological institution in the region that offers specialised courses on identity, ethnicity, migration, multiculturalism and cultural critique. Michal Buchowski is a Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Pozna ń and of Comparative Central European Studies at European University Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder. He also lectured as a Visiting Professor at Rutgers Univ ersity and Columbia University. His scientific interest is in Central European postsocialist cultural and social transformations as well as ethnicity and migration . Currently he serves as a Head of the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology in Pozna ń, President of the European Association of Social Anthropologists and vice-Chair of World Council of Anthropological Associations. Katarzyna Chlewi ńska is a PhD student in the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at AMU. She works on tolerance towards minorities, including sexual ones. Contact details: Michał Buchowski & Katarzyna Chlewi ńska Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology Adam Mickiewicz University ul. Św. Marcin 78 61-809 Pozna ń, Poland Fax: + 48- 61 829 4710 4685 770 E-mail: [email protected] & [email protected] http://etnologia.amu.edu.pl/go.live.php For more information on the Socio Economic Sciences and Humanities Programme in FP7 see: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/cooperation/socio-economic_en.html Tolerance of Cultural Diversity in Poland and its Limitations Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 3 Keywords ................................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 1. Discourses of Tolerance and Cultural Diversity in Poland ............................. 10 National identity and state formation ............................................................................................ 11 Main cultural diversity challenges in Poland ................................................................................ 15 Definitions of tolerance/acceptance in Poland .............................................................................. 28 Tolerance as public policy ............................................................................................................................ 29 Tolerance as a value ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Tolerance as a practice ................................................................................................................................. 31 Concluding Remarks ....................................................................................................................... 32 Chapter 2. Polish School in Need for Tolerance .................................................................. 34 School diversity in Poland .............................................................................................................. 37 Changes in education after 1989 .................................................................................................... 38 Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 39 Case Study1: The Ups and Downs of the Education of Roma..................................................... 41 Schooling Roma in Pozna ń .......................................................................................................................... 44 Main Challenges for Teachers and School Managers .................................................................................. 46 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................. 50 Cross and Religion in Polish Schools ............................................................................................. 51 Religion in Public Schools ........................................................................................................................... 53 Crosses/Religious Symbols in Schools ........................................................................................................ 56 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................. 58 Concluding Remarks ....................................................................................................................... 60 Chapter 3. Political Tolerance in Poland: the Case of Silesian Autonomy Movement .... 62 Minorities in Polish society. A historical perspective ................................................................... 63 Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 70 Silesian Autonomy – the political challenge .................................................................................. 71 The Silesians as the ‘camouflaged German option’ ..................................................................................... 74 The Association of People of Silesian Nationality ....................................................................................... 75 Thematic analysis ............................................................................................................................ 78 Silesian identity in dispute ........................................................................................................................... 78 Republic vs. Nation ...................................................................................................................................... 81 RAS & Silesians in public space .................................................................................................................. 83 Concluding notes ............................................................................................................................