Małgorzata Budyta-Budzyńska

The subject of the article are Polish-Belarussian relations in the Białystok region in the second decade of the 21st century, twelve years after the passing of the bill on national and ethnic minorities and regional language. I discuss the changes brought about by the bill, how it is perceived by leaders of the minority, and its possible influence on the sense of national identity among Belarussians in Poland. In the second part of the paper I describe the main conflict between the Polish majority and the Belarussian minority, centered around the memory and commemoration of the “damned soldiers”, and of one of them in particular: Romuald Rajs, alias Bury.

In the article I address Polish-Belarusian relations in the Białystok region in the second decade of the 21st century — twelve years since the adoption of an Act on national and ethnic minorities and regional language. I discuss changes brought about by the new legislation, how they are assessed by leaders of the minority group, and the possible impact of the bill on the sense of national identity among Belarusians in Poland. In the second part of the article, I describe the main conflict between the Polish majority and the Belarusian minority, which concerns the memory and commemoration of the so-called damned soldiers, and of one of them in particular: Romuald Rajs, alias “Bury”.

This Article is made in Open Access, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 license.
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This article is a translated and modified version of the text that was published in the previous issue of “Zoon Politikon”. See:
Małgorzata Budyta-Budzyńska, Mniejszość białoruska w Polsce – dwanaście lat po przyjęciu ustawy o mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym,
"Zoon Politikon" (8) 2017, DOI: 10.4467/2543408XZOP.17.011.9268.

The presence of immigrants has the potential to produce significant changes in the social and cultural fabric of a city, although they may equally well remain essentially invisible. In the present article I discuss the presence of Polish immigrants in the urban space of Reykjavik. Since the first decade of the 21st century, Poles have been the largest non-native nationality in the island, this being the fourth such case in the world – aside from Norway, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The numerical dominance of Poles among immigrants to Iceland is such that immigrant, or foreigner, is frequently considered as synonymous to Pole. Does this predominance of Poles among immigrants translate to their visibility in the urban space? In what ways do they mark their presence? In the article I analyze the presence and activity of Poles in the spheres of culture, local politics, business and sports. I describe Polish organisations and associations, and events held by the Polish diaspora. Some of those are focused on cultivating the culture of the country of origin and on integration within the group, thus being typical Oddiseyan associations; the purpose of others is to facilitate the adaptation of Poles to the host society, and to promote Polish culture within the host society– thus they are reminiscent of Rubiconic associations, to refer to Daniel Joly’s wellknown classification. In the article I consider the question: which among the Polish initiatives have gained visibility among the hosts and have the potential to become relatively permanent fixtures of the cultural map of Reykjavik. Is the potential of the Polish diaspora in terms of organisation and culture sufficient to reach a wide audience of Icelanders and foreigners of other nationalities, and to gain their interest?

In the second decade of the 21st century the Stare Juchy municipality is undergoing two parallel processes with respect to spatial mobility: migration abroad, and migration of settlers to Juchy. Those who until now inhabited the locality are leaving for the cities or abroad, mainly to Iceland; at the same time, properties in the region are being acquired by people originating from big cities who have chosen to relocate here, either temporarily or permanently. Both forms of mobility take place on a relatively large scale, in comparison with other parts of the region, leading to significant social and spatial polarization. Two different rural communities take shape, with members differing in habitus and possession of economic, social and cultural capital.
In the article I present the results of a study carried out in 2016–17 on migration processes in the Stare Juchy municipality. The study shows that emigrants and return emigrants are not agents of change in the municipality, while the new residents play an increasingly important role, by investing in local tourism, centers of therapy, initiating a variety of social activities and performing as leaders of civic projects.