Projecting the Polish nation: feelings of Polish nationhood among Pole's Card holders from Belarus

Abstract

This thesis explores feelings of national belonging among Pole's Card holders from Belarus. It compares the diasporic stance of the Polish state with findings garnered from in-depth interviews with Pole's Card holders. The Pole's Card is a Polish co-ethnic policy that facilitates the process of migration to Poland for descendants of Polish citizens in the former Soviet Union, also granting other benefits. The Card requires applicants to declare their belonging to the Polish nation. This work finds that the Polish state exaggerates the existence of a Polish diaspora in Belarus, most likely for discursive domestic political goals. Meanwhile, most Pole's Card holders interviewed claimed that better opportunities for work and education were the primary reasons for receiving the Card. Most participants did not see themselves as belonging to the Polish nation, although many expressed their respect towards Poland, and some claimed a qualified sense of belonging to the Polish nation thanks to their roots and the historically multi-ethnic nature of Poland. A minority of respondents felt that they genuinely belonged to the Polish nation. This thesis uses the history of ethnic identity and nationalism in the interwar Eastern Kresy, the Soviet Union, and modern Belarus to contextualise the Pole's Card, referring to theories of nationalism and diaspora.