The Polish immigrant community in Great Britain dates back to 1945 when due to the turmoil of the II World War and the post-war political situation around 200 000 Poles, mostly soldiers but also members of the political and intellectual elite, settled in the country. The identity of the steadfast, as they were soon called, normative in its nature and involving tight symbolic borders, was forged in sharp opposition to the communist regime as well as in social, political and economic depravation. Their energy was thus channelled into very rich yet, increasingly inner-centred and thus continuously ghettoised organizational activity. The impressive web of miscellaneous associations, organizations and institutions was established, which, on the one hand, facilitated accommodation of the migrants to the new conditions, yet, on the other, helped to sustain the exclusive anti-assimilationist identity by which the new incoming waves of Polish migrants could hardly be embraced. The present community of Polish origin is therefore fragmented: with the almost completely impregnable fortress of the steadfast at the centre and other forms of ethnic self-identification forming concentric circles outside. The organizations created by post-war migrants still exist in largely unchanged form and are still held by the steadfast. What is more, they act and are recognised by the Polish officials as the exclusive representatives of the Polish community in that country, even though, in many respects they do not meet criteria for being representative. The regime fall in Poland fostered a new phase of relations between the Polish community in Great Britain and the country of origin, which was by no means easy, as there was hardly any precedence to fall back on, not to mention the notorious heritage of the 1945-1989 period. It comes as no surprise that the present shape of mutual relations is far from satisfactory. What is more, the lack of developmental tendencies can mostly be attributed to the monopolization of official channels by the steadfast organizations in Great Britain, whereas in the country of origin by the conservative circles in the Senate and the Wspolnota Polska Association. Added to that, the overwhelming majority of initiatives within diasporic policies pursued by the Polish state are based on the concept of re-nationalisation.
2
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
Many Jewish families in inter-war Poland were either assimilated or on their way towards full assimilation. In contrast to a plethora of studies about the customs, conduct and life of the Jewish community there are almost no publications dealing with the assimilated Jews. The reason for this state of affairs lies in the encountered difficulties with discovering suitable sources. One of the greatest obstacles involves the question of national consciousness. Assimilated Jews did not constitute a uniform community in the Second Republic. Some of them regarded themselves as thoroughly Polish, but only in individual cases did they totally ignore their Jewish descent. The overwhelming majority considered itself to be Poles, albeit in a slightly specific fashion. Moreover, its members were compelled to justify, emphasise and verify their Polishness. Almost all the assimilated Jews did not possess an unambiguously precise national identity. At times, they belonged simultaneously to two cultures, or while remaining exclusively within the range of Polish culture they were aware of the fact that they were not perceived as Poles. Polish identity was cherished predominantly by the older generation, i.e. persons who were already adults at the time when Poland regained independence. On the other hand, children and adolescents, even from totally assimilated households, were incapable of defining their national affiliation clearly and unwaveringly. Due to the growing tide of anti-Semitism, the 1930s began witnessing progressing dissimulation. Young people, whose parents regarded themselves as Poles, tried to return to their Jewish roots -as a rule, unsuccessfully, without indispensable knowledge of language, culture or religion. The same years were tantamount to a period of a contrary process: the offspring of traditional Jewish families were disenchanted with observing Jewish rituals, which they regarded as outdated. Educated in Polish or Jewish schools with Polish as the language of instruction, they frequently did not retain close ties with their grandparents and parents, who remained solely within the range of Yiddish. Furthermore, they sought an environment in which they would feel 'more at home', and would not be rejected owing to a different culture and language. Consequently, an increasing number of Jews felt themseles to be Poles, while an ever smaller number was regarded as such by the Polish community. The Jews in question remained in a state of suspension. In view of the more and more vivid demands made by both sides, concerning unambiguous national declarations, there came into being a mechanism of enclosing the assimilated Jews within a specific social circle. By doing so, they created, although perhaps involuntarily, a community of their own, a sui generis third nation of the assimilated.
3
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
Multiculturalism is a kind of social policy that consists in the cultural neutrality of the state. In Western Europe it has shaped huge environments of immigrants derived from non-European cultures. Because of a great cultural distance between European societies and immigrants, assimilation of the latter turned out to be more difficult than had initially been expected. In response to such a situation, European states began to implement a multicultural social policy. In effect, a huge number of immigrant behaviors proved to stand in contradiction to human rights but consistent with multiculturalism. Nowadays we can observe a contestation (but not abandonment) of a multicultural policy and growth of anti immigrant attitudes. There is a tendency to gradually diminish multiculturalism and place more emphasis on human rights.
4
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
This article deals with a suburb of Zielona Góra populated by immigrants from Ukraine. These people settled in this area in 1947 during the 'Vistula operation'. The article describes how these people adopted the Polish lifestyle and interacted with the Polish population. These changes had major influence on the state politics, which assimilated and unified the Ukrainian minority and kept them under strict political control. The article displays different political attitudes of the local and central staff to the Ukrainian minority. They dispersed these people and relocated them around the Polish countryside. Also, the article depicts changes that occurred in the social and political environment for the Ukrainian people. It also points out the stereotypes found in literature and other media about each social group.
In 1947 the Ukrainian resettled from south-eastern Poland underwent assimilation processes. Cut off from their roots, not accepting the new situation, they started to return to their land, shortly after the 'Vistula' campaign. The year 1956 brought hopes, petitions to the authorities and the rise of the Ukrainian Social-Cultural Association. Individual families tried to legalize their come back. The returns caused anxiety among settlers, who protested strongly together with local authorities. As a result, central authorities dealt with the problem and finally managed to decrease the phenomenon in 1958. While 80% of the resettled population declared their will of return in the middle of the 50s, the strong attitude of the authorities allowed only 20% to come back to their land.
6
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
Even though the English language does not have an official status in the United States, it is ideologically linked to the American national identity. Founding Fathers made ‘a deliberate choice of a policy not to have a policy’, as far as language is concerned. However, unsurprisingly, English became the most common language in the colony and Americans acted as if it were official. It was imposed on the immigrants at the turn of the 20th century (while the contemporary immigration makes the language issue very much up -to -date), and linguistic (and cultural) assimilation was also an important issue as for the conquered and the colonized territories. The article focuses on the American language policy at the earliest stage of the formation of the United States, and the policy towards the restrictions of non -English language use in the conquered and annexed territories (Native Americans, French -language natives of Louisiana, Spanish -speakers in the Southwest and Puerto Rico, as well as the population in Hawaii).
7
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
Even though the English language does not have an official status in the United States, it is ideologically linked to the American national identity. Founding Fathers made ‘a deliberate choice of a policy not to have a policy’, as far as language is concerned. However, unsurprisingly, English became the most common language in the colony and Americans acted as if it were official. It was imposed on the immigrants at the turn of the 20th century (while the contemporary immigration makes the language issue very much up -to -date), and linguistic (and cultural) assimilation was also an important issue as for the conquered and the colonized territories. The article focuses on the American language policy at the earliest stage of the formation of the United States, and the policy towards the restrictions of non -English language use in the conquered and annexed territories (Native Americans, French -language natives of Louisiana, Spanish -speakers in the Southwest and Puerto Rico, as well as the population in Hawaii).
The purpose of this article is an analysis of the cultural integration of the Ukrainian and Vietnamese immigrants who have the right of residence in Poland and of their strategy for adaption. The subject of the survey included such issues as the attitudes of the immigrants to their own culture and to Polish culture; the degree of cultural integration measured by their knowledge of the Polish language; contacts with Polish society and selected collective cultural characteristics (e.g. the level of social trust and the willingness to cooperate on the basis of ethnic ties) which affect the strategy for adaption. Marital relations are also taken into account (mixed and unmixed), the sex and age of the immigrants (especially the age at which the immigrants embarked on their cultural integration) and their attitudes to cultural integration. The article discusses the differences between the levels of cultural integration of the two groups and the consequences of such differences. The authoress argues that a strategy of assimilation predominates among the Ukrainians, while one of integration dominates among the Vietnamese.
The aim of the studies presented in this paper was to propose a new explanation of under- and overestimation effects in comparative judgments. The fundamental assumption of this new interpretation is that in comparative judgments ('the object X in comparison with the object Y' type) the target is contrasted with the comparison standard when the compared objects seem generally dissimilar and assimilated to the standard when the objects seem generally similar. In a series of three studies students were asked to compare the chances of certain events occurring to two objects (self vs. classmate vs. the average person). The direction of comparison was manipulated. Generally, when the more salient object was compared to the less salient object, irrespective of the valence of the events, the overestimation effects occurred only in case of frequent events and the underestimation effects only in case of rare events. The reversal of direction of comparisons yielded the clear reduction of comparative bias.
10
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
The Muslim emigration to France is connected with many social, religious and political problems. The worshippers of Islam were admitted to settle, but not to integrate with French society and the national economy. Although, according to the French scheme of integration, all people are equal before the law and it is unlawful to emphasize differences, life in France does not reflect the Republican idea any more, and instead of creating the French nation as one community, a multicultural society unable to assimilate newcomers is being born. There are numerous stereotypes in French society that push aside Algerians and Moroccans, especially those living in the suburbs, and put them in conflict with the French legal system. This approach should change and the French must cease perceiving Muslims as strangers and realise they are lawful citizens, an inseparable part of their everyday life. The successive generations of Muslim immigrants should no longer be pushed to the margins of social life because of their ethnic origin, name, religion, and culture. The violent riots in France in 2005 and 2007, however, were caused not only by cultural conflict but also by the recession of the French economy. The main problem in the French suburbs is the high level of unemployment (40%) caused by the numerous meanders of the immigration policy. Instead of facilitating employment for immigrants, the government demands special professional training even for jobs which do not require such qualifications.
11
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
This contribution focuses on the problems of ethnic identity and assimilation processes in minority background, and concentrates on the problems of Slovak minorities. The author. presents the classification of assimilation factors, which he designed on basis of the theoretical aspects of ethnicity. These assimilation factors have a vast influence on members of a minority in minority communities. This approach is guided results of the author's field research and review of relevant literature, especially in the areas of the Republic of Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Croatia. The paper contains new information that can contribute to the theory of assimilation processes. The research of these issues and the outlined factors of ethnic assimilation and their contexts certainly cannot be considered as definitive.
12
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
The purpose of this paper is to explicate essential terms related to ethnicity. It contains definitions of such terms as nation, ethnicity, ethnic group, ethnographic group, ethnic minority, assimilation. Also, the paper presents an outline of the ethnicity building process and touches upon the issue of native tongue as a criterion defining ethnic membership. Additionally, the paper contemplates the correlation between the declared native language and religious denomination. The analytical database used for the purpose of this paper are Polish and foreign reference resources, as well as sociological and historical literature.
The aim of this work was the determination of the ability of four commercial starter cultures of mesophilic lactococci to cholesterol assimilation during 24-hours-long culture in MRS broth medium at 30oC. The tested starter cultures showed various ability to assimilate cholesterol from culture medium varying from 10,4 ? 1,56% to 29,8 ? 5,22%. The results of this study proved the existence of significant differences in cholesterol assimilation ability between commercial starter cultures of mesophilic lactococci, and also even between individual repetitions for the same culture. The best cholesterol-assimilating starter culture of mesophilic lactococci was used for the production of sour cream, that was stored at 5-6oC for 14 days and tested in respect of microbiological (number of lactococci) and physicochemical properties (pH, titrable acidity, fat acidity, cholesterol content). During the 14-day refrigerating storage, the number of lactococci and pH did not change. Titrable acidity and fat acidity increased negligible. After the 14-day refrigerating storage, the decrease of the cholesterol content was observed. The decrease of cholesterol content in sour cream was over 35% in comparison with cholesterol content in sweet cream used for sour cream production and stored for 14 days at the same conditions as sour cream.
14
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
In her article the authoress analyses ethnic differentiation in the Donetsk and Zaporozhe regions in South-Eastern Ukraine. These areas first were a target of colonisation in order to establish a new fuel-metallurgical basis for the Russian Empire by developing the Donetsk coal industry and strengthening agriculture by colonising the steppes near the Black and Azov Seas. An important stage in the settlement of these areas occurred at the beginning of the 16th century, when early settlers, mainly Ukrainian manufacturers, Cossacks and peasants-refugees, arrived. The next step came in the 16-18th centuries, when the defence of the southern borderland from Tartar invasions took place. From the 18th century onwards foreign newcomers contributed to the cultural and industrial development of this region. They settled mainly in compact groups. The characteristics of settlement and development of such groups as Bulgarians, Germans, Jews, Czechs, Tartars, Poles, and Armenians are analysed in this article, too. The population censuses of the years 1959, 1989, 2001 are taken into account. The industrialisation and later 'Stalinisation' of the region led to the liquidation of part of some ethnic groups and to their enforced assimilation, in an effort which was supposed to create a homogeneous Soviet people. However, as a result of political changes since 1991, the region is becoming multicultural again.
The article analyzes the discourse in social sciences on the process of adaptation of migrants to a host society. The discourse is based on „integration theories”. Such an approach creates some difficulties and drawbacks. Therefore, an alternative approach grounded in empirical data on Chechen refugees in Poland is presented. The model is based on the concept of „adaptive strategies”. A „strategy” stresses human agency over structural pressures. The adaptive strategies of the Chechens in Poland are expressed in two contexts, i.e. a host society, explained by „new assimilation theories,” and transnational space. The strategies are applied in the process of reconstructing everyday life and while entering the social structures of the host society. The Chechens in Poland reconstruct their everyday life following patterns acquired in Chechnya. What is more, they use modern technologies to reproduce Chechen culture in Poland. Since the assistance offered by the Polish governmental and nongovernmental institutions to refugees and asylum seekers is insufficient, it often happens that the Chechens in Poland can receive support only from members of their own community in Poland. Owing to that support they are able to survive and adapt to the new environment.
By using the long-term empirical observation method and on the basis of sociolinguistic principles, we analyzed the interpersonal communication of the convicts with the purpose to expose their communication stereotypes as determinants of assimilation with abnormal social environment and with the aim to highlight the potential to at least partially eliminate the risks of negative environmental influences on personality formation with a practical importance for the corrections of the re-educational system.
As a consequence of the presence of immigrants in Poland various types of organizations provide them with services, assist them or supervise their integration process. Together those organizations constitute an organizational field. The actions of the actors must be legitimized according to the regulations, norms and cognitive mechanisms binding in the given organizational field. Therefore, legitimization is a process of acquiring legitimacy, which can be understood as a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs and definitions. The actors carrying out the „integration” define the term in many different ways, and often consider it to denote different actions. This is not only because the concept of „integration” is open, but also because organizations and their officials use the term in a manner strikingly contrary to its academic definitions. The paper examines three cases of the legitimizing usage of the term „integration;” firstly, how the members of the organizations in the field refer to the literature about „integration” to name their practices; secondly, how the terms „integration” and „assimilation” are used in order to legitimize or delegitimize; and finally, how the formal requirements of the European funds exert coercive pressure for isomorphism on the organizations applying for resources and legitimization of their actions under the term „integration”.
This paper is dealing with problem of assimilation in the novel Chlieb by Jozef Cíger Hronský. Chlieb is reflecting interesting part of Slovak history between two wars, where the issue of nationality was very important and Slovak literature was one of the ways how to deal with it. This using of literature in a “politic function” was very popular among our writers in those days. Hronský uses characters of Czech family as one of main problems in this novel. At the example of Osterčílek’s family author is trying to prove assimilation of another nation by very strong community of Slovak people in Bacúch. He uses marriage, funeral and job as formal reasons for staying in village Bacúch. This theme was chosen because of Hronský’s important role in Slovak politics and culture.
JavaScript jest wyłączony w Twojej przeglądarce internetowej. Włącz go, a następnie odśwież stronę, aby móc w pełni z niej korzystać.