This article examines the iconography of blackness in the book covers of early Polish children’s ... more This article examines the iconography of blackness in the book covers of early Polish children’s literature. In doing so, it draws attention to textual practices that consciously or unconsciously reproduce the long-existing Eurocentric colonial/racial imaginaries of Africa and its people. This literature often depicts the inferiority of illustrated Black bodies, whilst highlighting the superiority of whiteness and Europeanness, as part of the global colonial/racial order. Such cultural productions, which contribute to the reproduction and dissemination of contemporary racism, are intertwined with the everyday experiences of people of colour in Poland.
The legacies of eugenics in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and their connections to global colo... more The legacies of eugenics in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and their connections to global colonialism remain uncharted. Therefore, it is worth pondering over this relationship, which requires a historical perspective and a repositioning of the recent postcolonial ‘turn’ in CEE to include the history of eugenics. For the most part of the 20th century, eugenics took shape within both colonial and nation-building projects. Eugenic strategies devised to preserve the colonial system outside Europe have always coexisted with programmes designed to improve the well-being of nations within Europe. This convergence between colonial, racial and national dimensions of eugenics requires a critical rethought. While this key line of inquiry has been a major focus in Western Europe and the US, it remains under-theorised in CEE. By highlighting the colonial implications of nation-building in the region, we attempt to destabilise the all-too-pervasive historiographic misconception that CEE nation...
Scholarship in Poland has sought to consider in and out migration. Whilst this body of works enga... more Scholarship in Poland has sought to consider in and out migration. Whilst this body of works engages forcefully with migration, it has yet to fully grapple with global racial discourses and the diverse range of racial identities in Poland. Simultaneously, studies on borders are often reduced to securitisation where the racialised – immigrants, foreigners, and asylum-seekers are often connected to the internal security logic, where racial logic is either ignored or not fully acknowledged. Therefore, the focus often overlooks the ways in which race and racism interact with migration and securitisation in the everyday lived experiences of people racialised as black or brown; and why some may integrate more than others. Premised on Critical Race Theory, this study maps the figures in the Polish imaginary of European, and examines whether Poland has different, if related, histories of racial thinking and exclusion. In doing so, the study asks how such histories have been conceived, shape...
In recent years, a march has been held in Poland to mark the country’s independence. While the ev... more In recent years, a march has been held in Poland to mark the country’s independence. While the event is viewed as an opportunity to remember those who died in the process of establishing the Polish state, it has also faced allegations of racism and xenophobia. Bolaji Balogun argues that in light of these debates, it is worth examining how ethnic minorities in modern Poland frequently find themselves at odds with traditional conceptions of Polish identity.
ABSTRACT Whilst literature on race and ethnicity in Poland is growing, it has yet to fully grappl... more ABSTRACT Whilst literature on race and ethnicity in Poland is growing, it has yet to fully grapple with the diverse range of racial identities in Poland. Simultaneously, despite calls for Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS) to develop into a more global field, there remains a paucity of literature focusing on racial mixedness in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and no substantive consideration of the lived experiences of mixed-race people in Poland. Taking these absences as our entry point, we bring Critical Mixed Race Studies into conversation with pieces of literature on race and ethnicity in Poland in order to extend the theoretical and empirical terrain of both fields. Drawing upon data from interviews conducted with black/white mixed-race people in Poland, this article casts light on the lives of this nascent group, and specifically on their experiences of racism and exclusion in a society imagined as homogenously white.
Whilst scholarship has sought to consider migration in Poland, there has been a lack of engagemen... more Whilst scholarship has sought to consider migration in Poland, there has been a lack of engagement with the ways in which race and racism interact with migration. In this article, I map the figures in the Polish imaginary of European, and examine whether Poland has different, if related, histories of racial thinking. I ask how such histories have been conceived, shaped and mediated. To examine this, I focus on the lived experiences of sub-Saharan African immigrants and children of immigrants (Black/mixed-race) who are often portrayed as non-Europeans and seen by some as ‘not quite Polish’. In doing so, this article provides an insight into the racial contours of Polish self-conception. I call this logic ‘Polish-centrism’ – a focus on some aspects of Polish culture to the exclusion of a wider view of the world. It is within this logic that I examine what it means to be Black and Polish in Poland.
Whilst literature on race and ethnicity in Poland is growing, it has yet to fully grapple with th... more Whilst literature on race and ethnicity in Poland is growing, it has yet to fully grapple with the diverse range of racial identities in Poland. Simultaneously, despite calls for Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS) to develop into a more global field, there remains a paucity of literature focusing on racial mixedness in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and no substantive consideration of the lived experiences of mixed-race people in Poland. Taking these absences as our entry point, we bring Critical Mixed Race Studies into conversation with pieces of literature on race and ethnicity in Poland in order to extend the theoretical and empirical terrain of both fields. Drawing upon data from interviews conducted with black/white mixed-race people in Poland, this article casts light on the lives of this nascent group, and specifically on their experiences of racism and exclusion in a society imagined as homogenously white.
This article examines the iconography of blackness in the book covers of early Polish children’s ... more This article examines the iconography of blackness in the book covers of early Polish children’s literature. In doing so, it draws attention to textual practices that consciously or unconsciously reproduce the long-existing Eurocentric colonial/racial imaginaries of Africa and its people. This literature often depicts the inferiority of illustrated Black bodies, whilst highlighting the superiority of whiteness and Europeanness, as part of the global colonial/racial order. Such cultural productions, which contribute to the reproduction and dissemination of contemporary racism, are intertwined with the everyday experiences of people of colour in Poland.
The legacies of eugenics in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and their connections to global colo... more The legacies of eugenics in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and their connections to global colonialism remain uncharted. Therefore, it is worth pondering over this relationship, which requires a historical perspective and a repositioning of the recent postcolonial ‘turn’ in CEE to include the history of eugenics. For the most part of the 20th century, eugenics took shape within both colonial and nation-building projects. Eugenic strategies devised to preserve the colonial system outside Europe have always coexisted with programmes designed to improve the well-being of nations within Europe. This convergence between colonial, racial and national dimensions of eugenics requires a critical rethought. While this key line of inquiry has been a major focus in Western Europe and the US, it remains under-theorised in CEE. By highlighting the colonial implications of nation-building in the region, we attempt to destabilise the all-too-pervasive historiographic misconception that CEE nation...
Scholarship in Poland has sought to consider in and out migration. Whilst this body of works enga... more Scholarship in Poland has sought to consider in and out migration. Whilst this body of works engages forcefully with migration, it has yet to fully grapple with global racial discourses and the diverse range of racial identities in Poland. Simultaneously, studies on borders are often reduced to securitisation where the racialised – immigrants, foreigners, and asylum-seekers are often connected to the internal security logic, where racial logic is either ignored or not fully acknowledged. Therefore, the focus often overlooks the ways in which race and racism interact with migration and securitisation in the everyday lived experiences of people racialised as black or brown; and why some may integrate more than others. Premised on Critical Race Theory, this study maps the figures in the Polish imaginary of European, and examines whether Poland has different, if related, histories of racial thinking and exclusion. In doing so, the study asks how such histories have been conceived, shape...
In recent years, a march has been held in Poland to mark the country’s independence. While the ev... more In recent years, a march has been held in Poland to mark the country’s independence. While the event is viewed as an opportunity to remember those who died in the process of establishing the Polish state, it has also faced allegations of racism and xenophobia. Bolaji Balogun argues that in light of these debates, it is worth examining how ethnic minorities in modern Poland frequently find themselves at odds with traditional conceptions of Polish identity.
ABSTRACT Whilst literature on race and ethnicity in Poland is growing, it has yet to fully grappl... more ABSTRACT Whilst literature on race and ethnicity in Poland is growing, it has yet to fully grapple with the diverse range of racial identities in Poland. Simultaneously, despite calls for Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS) to develop into a more global field, there remains a paucity of literature focusing on racial mixedness in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and no substantive consideration of the lived experiences of mixed-race people in Poland. Taking these absences as our entry point, we bring Critical Mixed Race Studies into conversation with pieces of literature on race and ethnicity in Poland in order to extend the theoretical and empirical terrain of both fields. Drawing upon data from interviews conducted with black/white mixed-race people in Poland, this article casts light on the lives of this nascent group, and specifically on their experiences of racism and exclusion in a society imagined as homogenously white.
Whilst scholarship has sought to consider migration in Poland, there has been a lack of engagemen... more Whilst scholarship has sought to consider migration in Poland, there has been a lack of engagement with the ways in which race and racism interact with migration. In this article, I map the figures in the Polish imaginary of European, and examine whether Poland has different, if related, histories of racial thinking. I ask how such histories have been conceived, shaped and mediated. To examine this, I focus on the lived experiences of sub-Saharan African immigrants and children of immigrants (Black/mixed-race) who are often portrayed as non-Europeans and seen by some as ‘not quite Polish’. In doing so, this article provides an insight into the racial contours of Polish self-conception. I call this logic ‘Polish-centrism’ – a focus on some aspects of Polish culture to the exclusion of a wider view of the world. It is within this logic that I examine what it means to be Black and Polish in Poland.
Whilst literature on race and ethnicity in Poland is growing, it has yet to fully grapple with th... more Whilst literature on race and ethnicity in Poland is growing, it has yet to fully grapple with the diverse range of racial identities in Poland. Simultaneously, despite calls for Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS) to develop into a more global field, there remains a paucity of literature focusing on racial mixedness in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and no substantive consideration of the lived experiences of mixed-race people in Poland. Taking these absences as our entry point, we bring Critical Mixed Race Studies into conversation with pieces of literature on race and ethnicity in Poland in order to extend the theoretical and empirical terrain of both fields. Drawing upon data from interviews conducted with black/white mixed-race people in Poland, this article casts light on the lives of this nascent group, and specifically on their experiences of racism and exclusion in a society imagined as homogenously white.
Whilst scholarship has sought to consider migration in Poland, there has been a lack of engagemen... more Whilst scholarship has sought to consider migration in Poland, there has been a lack of engagement with the ways in which race and racism interact with migration. In this article, I map the figures in the Polish imaginary of European, and examine whether Poland has different, if related, histories of racial thinking. I ask how such histories have been conceived, shaped and mediated. To examine this, I focus on the lived experiences of sub-Saharan African immigrants and children of immigrants (Black/mixed-race) who are often portrayed as non-Europeans and seen by some as ‘not quite Polish’. In doing so, this article provides an insight into the racial contours of Polish self-conception. I call this logic ‘Polish-centrism’ – a focus on some aspects of Polish culture to the exclusion of a wider view of the world. It is within this logic that I examine what it means to be Black and Polish in Poland.
What motivated the 60,000 people who joined the far-right Polish Independence March?
On 11th N... more What motivated the 60,000 people who joined the far-right Polish Independence March?
On 11th November, around 60,000 people joined Poland’s Independence March, organised by members of two far-right groups. A march on such a scale raises serious questions about the country’s relationship to racism.
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On 11th November, around 60,000 people joined Poland’s Independence March, organised by members of two far-right groups. A march on such a scale raises serious questions about the country’s relationship to racism.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/kasia-narkowicz-bolaji-balogun/what-motivated-60000-who-joined-far-right-polish-i