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Section 7. Sociology
Bobryk Adam,
Siedlce University of Natural Science and Humanities, Poland PhD, associate professor, Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Security Institute
E-mail: adam.bobryk@uph.edu.pl Kalita Cezary,
Siedlce University of Natural Science and Humanities, Poland PhD, assistant professor, Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Security Institute
E-mail: cezary.kalita@uph.edu.pl
Policy and the national minorities in Poland. Social and philosophical aspect
Abstract: The problem of national and ethnic minorities is connected with the asymmetry which exists between the "majority" and the "minority" on the ontological level. Minorities have to be protected mainly by legal protections on the national and international legislation level. In Poland different type processes can be observed, which from the one side give the emancipation of the minorities and from the other side reduce it to the folklore. According to the migrating processes the situation of minority can depend of the permanent changes on political level in range of protection of majority and the inclusion of minority.
Keywords: national minorities, ethnic minority, policy, Poland, asymmetry, right, safety, folklore, emancipation, inclusion.
Policy according to the national minorities in Poland, through the XX and the beginning of the XXI century, was determined their significant amount degree and their spatial concentration. The particularly essential changes happened after the II World War. The change of the borders of the Polish Republic and in the consequence the displacement of population caused the significant limitation of the part of the national minorities. According to numbers in 1954 the total their number carried out 650 000 which made up 2,4% of the totality [7, 25]. In this time the government realized many activities steered on the forming of the homogeneous society.
This was aimed to gradual assimilation of minority, more and more universally propagating thesis about identity of citizenship and nationality [19, 274]. At the time the slogan about political and moral unity of the nation was commonly advocated. The foundation of this slogan was the message that there is only one nation in Poland and all citizens create it. The national distinctness was in the large degree tantamount to the folklore and to the perception in categories of the parochialism. However it should be noted down that the individual stages of functioning the Polish Republic characterized the different specific in the national policy. The range of liberties was enlarged or reduced. But not all nations living in this country had the possibility of the team working and they possessed their own institutions. The nationalities which were allowed, in some period of time, to organize the
collective life which was done by the Belorussian, the Czech, the Lithuanian, the Germany, the Russian, the Slovakian, the Ukrainian and the Jews [18]. Their presence in the public life was invariably marginal.
The essential change of the status of the national minorities appeared as an effect of the democratic transformations in Poland. In 1989 the principal reconstruction of the political system happened. The abolition of all limitations in social life of national minorities was the consequence of it. They got the possibility of free undertaking initiatives satisfying their group needs. This contributed to empowerment the national communities. This was the element of the wider process, as Andrew Sadowski notices the national communities got the liberty of manifesting its features as well as the satisfying their needs. He affirms "The democratic processes liberate the feeling of hope to change the economic status, social of many groups and minority categories which in different political conditions were in situations of the subordination and often the public discrimination" [22, 7]. Then the state stood up before the challenge of a new defining the ways of conducting in the area of national and cultural differentiation. This was concerned both in the social dimension of the acceptance the minority by the majority as also institutional by the necessity of accepting the legislative solutions defining the rights of minority. Both of these aspects determined the scale of presence as well as the activity of different nationalities in public space [26, 90].
The new approach to matter of the minority caused the enlargement the interest of this problem. In beginnings of ninetieth this issue caused a lot of emotions or anxieties connected with relations especially with minorities of the German and the Jewish. However, the development of the social life led to reducing the fear on the background of relationships between the minority and the majority. The growth of acceptance of the national variety, it contributed to the limiting the tensions and the negative occurrences connected with the
national membership. The democratization of social system, opening the borders the, free moving between individual states in Europe, the unrestricted access to products of culture, showing the value of the variety and not risk, had the positive influence on these transformations.
As the symbolic beginning of the new policy with the minority nations the calling at The Lower House, 2nd August 1989, the Committee of National Minorities and Ethnic can be recognized. Essential there was the expose of Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the Prime Minister, delivered 12th September 1989. At the time he guaranteed the right of the minority to save its identity. He also underlined their activity in the social life as the rightful citizens [20, 38]. The institutionalization of life of the minority by accepting the new legal standards, normalized its public activity and gave the new instruments of working. The changes were made first of all in the support of the international documents as "The Frame Convention ofAdvice of Europe about protection of national minorities" and "The European card of regional languages or minority".
The legislation in Poland was gradually adapted to standards of the international rights in domain of protection the minority. The amendments were made on already existing documents or there were accepted new ones in field of working which earlier did not be regulated. The first essential change was the introduction the exemptions in the electoral law in 1991. It concerned on the limitation of the indispensable numbers of signatures to registration the lists, facilitations in registration the nationwide list and the possibility to obtain mandates. The committees of minority gained the limitations of requirements in the regional and national registrations of the candidates' lists. During the changes of the electoral law the principle of limitation the requirements was saved, especially the exemption of the duty of crossing 5% threshold relaxation valid different formations. The critic of these standards appeared both from the side of the representatives of the majority, expressing the opinion that the domain of exemptions is too large, as from the minorities paying the attention that they practically make impossible the obtain-ment the wide representation. So many postulates of changes appeared [21, 95-96]. At present the valid Law from 5th January 2011 in article 197, it relieves the committees of minority from 5% threshold. It simultaneously creates the convenient temporary frames relating to the necessities of notification to the State Electoral Committee the fact that given list represents the national minority. According to the Law it must happen the latest 5 days before the execution voting [23]. The only minority which in every parliamentary choice, thanks to the relaxation
of the necessity of crossing the nationwide electoral threshold, gets the parliamentary representation the German are. At present in result of the execution of choices on 25th October in 2015 the German minority which put out the list of 24 candidates was supported by 27530 electors (0,18%) and was given one mandate at the Lower House received by Richard Gall [12].
In domain of education the essential changes were of the effect of receiving on 7th September in 1991 the Law "About system of education". The article no. 13 gives tasks to the public schools as they make possible "the supporting the feeling of national identity, ethnic, linguistic and religious, and in peculiarity the learning the own language as well as the own history and the culture", adding simultaneously "the proper Secretary of State of Education will undertake the working in aim of popularization the knowledge about history, the culture, language and about traditions of religious of the national and ethnic minorities as well as the community using their regional language" [25]. The educational establishments teach not only the language of minority but this language is the lectures languages in many schools. Moreover the program of teaching is broadened to the geography, the history, the culture of the state with the minority identifies. The pupils' minimum number to open the class at the kindergartens, the primary and secondary school is 7 pupils. In the higher school the number of people is 14. It can be possible to create the in-terschool class when the number is smaller. The establishments leading the teaching of the minority have enlarged the educational subsidy. However, to such educational establishments attends less than 1% pupils' totality. They are taught in domains of science, the Belorussian culture and language and the Hebrew, Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Slovak, Ukrainian, Lemko, Romany and Kashubian [5, 352-357].
The law protection of the minority was captured in the Constitution of Polish Republic from 2nd April 1997. It also forbids functioning any formations appealing to nationalistic or racial hatred. It guarantees simultaneously that "The Republic of Poland assures the Polish citizens belonging to national and ethnic minorities the freedom of saving and the development of own language, saving customs and the tradition as well as the development of own culture. National and ethnic minorities have right to creating their own educational and cultural institutions, and institutions servant to the protection of religious identity as well as to participation in deciding of the relating their cultural identity matters" [16].
The special meaning for the qualification of range the laws and liberties had "the Law from 6th January 2005 about national and ethnic minorities as well as about regional language". Its article 1 regulates the issues connected with saving and the development of the identity of cultural national and ethnic minority, the saving and the development of regional language, the civil integration as well as the social people's belonging to the minority and also the way of realization the equality treatment of people without regard on the ethnic origin.
It defines also the task and the competences of the administration and the individuals of territorial council in range
these matters [24]. In period, when the Law was accepted the first time for years there were the objective relating number of the minority data. Results were settled on the basis of the General List of Population and Flats in 2002.There were affirmed then that they make up 1,23%. In Poland there were 109 nationalities at that time [27, 224]. At present as it results with the Common List conducted in 2011 the people who classified to national or ethnic minority (together with unacceptable) constitute 1,43% as well as the person about double identity all united with Polish gives 2,38% of all population [9].
For acknowledgement by the Law for minority given nationality should fulfill following conditions together: to distinguish its language, culture and to possess tradition, and aiming to save them, to have consciousness of historical community aiming to its expression and protection, to identify with own state nation, and its ancestors should live in the territory of Poland the least 100 years. These criteria fulfilled 9 nationalities: the Belorussian, Czech, Lithuanian, Germany, Armenian, Russian, Slovaks, Ukrainian and Jews.
There were distinguished also 4 ethnic groups, which had to fulfill similar conditions apart from the requirement of the identification with the nation organized in its own state. In Poland as ethnic groups there were recognized: Karaites, Lemkos, Romanies, Tatars. It was distinguished also one community of regional language which in understanding the Law is Kashubian. The membership to minority is voluntary, and independent of the duty of declaring. There is forbidden any applying having on aim the assimilation, discrimination or the change of nationalistic structure in the administrative individuals [24].
In the legislation there were qualified many authorizations which contribute the supporting and the development of national identities. The minorities have the guaranteed the right to using the native language in private and public life as also recording the names and surnames with principles of native language. It is the special authorization the admittance to applying of languages of minority as auxiliary ones. The main criterion should proof that in the given commune state the minority stands the least 20% of population. Moreover the additional inscriptions of official names of locality, objects and streets [4, 61-62] can be applied. The former name in the minority language was in German and was applied in reference to commune Biskupice (the Bischdorf) on 22nd December in 2006. Till 7th July 2015 there were given 58 names in language of the minority on 2478 functioning community states in the country. It is 2,3% of all councils. Additional names are used in following languages: German 31, Kashubian 23, Lemko 2, Lithuanian 1, Belorussian 1 [10]. However, the language of minority as the auxiliary language was introduced on the terrain of 33 populaces. The first administrative individual was Radlow on 25th January in 2006 where the status auxiliary language gained German. Following auxiliary languages at councils there are applied: German 22 populaces, Belorussian 5, Kashubian 5 and Lithuanian 1 [11]. The finishing the
term of the office the Lower House of the Polish Republic on 25th September in 20015 the new editing of Law about minorities was accepted broadening the range of laws: the possibility of introduction the auxiliary language on the level of administrative districts. But the President of the Polish Republic, Andrzej Duda on 27th October vetoed the law that estimated costs of its initiating did not become exactly counted. It aroused the anxiety of minority being afraid that the change could be occurred against them. As it was shown the bilingualism would concern probably only 4 administrative districts and in them languages: Kashubian, Lithuanian as well as Belorussian [28].
The organs of the public power on owner of the earlier law are obliged to workings of saving and the development of the identity of cultural minority as well as the civil integration. There are undertaken solutions supporting the creative, artistic, informative, investigative activity. At the public media there are broadcast and emitted television and radio programs in the languages of the minority on terrains of the special concentration. The initiatives of the minority get the help in the domain of functioning the libraries or the activity of the environmental common rooms. For their support were intended both grants by the competition system and the purposeful grants-in-aid [24]. They do not satisfy fully the expectations of the minority but they make up the important form of support. For solving the varied kind of problems as also the effective co-operation the Common Committee of Government and the National Minorities and Ethnic was created.
The problems of "minority" can be considered from two different points: from the side of the minority and with the point of sight of the majority. On the ontological level in case of the minority we have to deal with the asymmetry. The only fact of the asymmetric property carries the different problems of the philosophical nature (ethical) as also social and cultural. The main aporia of philosophical and social depends on this, that "majority" has total tendencies and it tries to protect its own identity by the strong integration of the elements which characterize the distinction but they also enrich their identity adding the feature of minority. However the "minority" aims to hermetic sealing and sees chances of its protective by the internal integration, throwing aside the guilds of the majority which can shake with its identity. The minority has the characterizing community features, when the maj ority reminds more the society, although, there is the tendency to reforming in the predominant community. This phenomenon of asymmetry of boundary strip deepens the minority and majority [1].
Stepping out in Poland national and ethnic minorities despite of naming them the name of the minority, from the state point of view they have the entirely different status to realization of principles of the tolerance. John Locke excluded from the right to tolerance Catholics because they are subjected to two powers. From one side they are obliged to the loyalty in relation to the King of England, and from the other side they are subjected to the pope's superior part so to the leader of the church [14, 125-126]. Transferring this histori-
cal analogy from the Lock's thought on the present issues, the question can be put, in relation to who the national minority should be loyal: does the powers of state to which citizen is (where it lives) or the power which it is connected ethnically? This problem was especially exposed in Poland in relation to the German minority and at present it is discussed in Lithuania in relation to the Polish minority. There is the dose of fear in relation to the national minority, particularly, when its ethnic state administers the large demographic and economic potential or else military.
In turn the ethnic minorities do not wake such the anxiety because their state out status does not carry the possibilities of the protective by the different organizational subject, what can be the different state. The ethnic minorities are first of all the not so political minorities (frequently they at all do not manifest such ambitions), but cultural, what was often (and it is) imported to folklore, as the main symptom of the activity of the given ethnic minority (The Romanies) [6]. Therefore the possession or not possession by the given minority the external motherland conditions its political and social position in the country, but it is also translated on the perception of the national minorities as the element of the danger of the cohesion of the state (Germany).
The size of the given minority conditions its position in the decision (political) structures of the state. Taking under attention that the minorities stepping out in Poland can be divided with the regard on their size, practically we can deal with only two categories: the small minorities (The Lithuanian) and the averages (The German), without the parting of the large minorities. Therefore their influence is comparatively small both in political matters and social ones. The only way of increasing their meaning can be the strong support made by the external motherland. However, only the German minority can count on such support.
The meaning of the relationship with the country of the origin, as it was said above, is conditioned also by historical processes also. In Europe and Poland under this regard is a very typical country, the very radical territorial shifts of borders of states followed [8, 48]. It is worth to notice that the largest territory which Poland hugged had 990 000 square kilometers (1634-1667), and the smallest 157 194 square kilometers (1807-1815 the Grand Duchy of Warsaw), or yet smaller 1 164 square kilometers (1815-1846 the Republic of Cracow). There were periods also, in which Poland as the au-tonomic state at all did not step out. At present Poland occupies area of321 679 square kilometers [17, 18]. Such situation causes, that the different historical status has many minorities. We have to deal with the autochthonous minority, which is the minority settled historically (the Belorussian) as well as the alluvial minority which is the effect of the present migrating processes (the Vietnamese).
The trite affirming is outright, that in the closest future we will has to deal with first of all with the processes of the inflow and shaping of the minority alluvial (the Syrian), but there is also the enlarging of the autochthonous minorities such as the
Belorussian or Ukrainian. This process is conditioned with the migrating policy, both Poland and the European Union's process. So there will happen the processes of larger reforming from the country about comparatively uniform ethnic structure, in direction of differentiation and not only by the people's' natural high tide from the neighbor countries, but also in the result of the global economic migration, political, religious or social.
This process will enlarge the proportions on the advantage of the minority which is "radically different from the predominant nation", where the differences hug the whole spectre of different features from racial, across religious, cultural or mental differences. This will enlarge the aporia which is connected with the dichotomy of the "minority — majority", what will intensify the processes of the "defensive" of the uniform majority. The state will aim to integrating processes (inclusion) absorbing the migrating minorities [3]. This can be seen in the rhetoric of the political rightist parties which underline the national ethos with the lack of alternative from the side of the weak of the Left which in Poland had first of all the national character also [8, 991-1006].
It gives the birth of the social problem relating on the distribution of the minority on the territory of Poland. Should they be compact groups or be distracted on the terrain of the whole country. Taking under attention that Polish centers for refugees are placed in the east, it can be effective of this tendency to settling on this terrain the minority of the emigrants. The influence on such policy has additionally the fact of desolating of these terrains — fall of the occupants' number. They are also the terrains where the enlarged number of the autochthonous minority steps out (the Belorussian, the Ukrainian) [15, 161-176]. In this effect the processes of differentiating of Poland more ethnically violently will step out on the eastern terrains than the western ones. This process will be the restoration, not in the literal sense, of the state from before the II World War, where Poles on the eastern terrains made up the ethnic minority.
Summing up it can be prognosticate, that the processes of the shaping the national or ethnic minorities are not finished. Taking under attention such phenomena how the strong processes of the migrating populations ethnically Polish abroad in frames of the European Union, aging the society, low growth of population, it seems necessary to receive the emigrants. This concerns on the potential minorities different radically from the predominant nationality (the Arab) and in the small degree different ethnically, cultural or socially (the Belorussian, the Ukrainian) [13, 297-299]. The solution of the aporia the "minority — majority" depends from the policy of the state you, but also more and more from the international organizations (the European Union). The protection of the minority and its emancipation follows so as the result of accepting the international laws, what is the very positive phenomenon. The legal decisions precede the decision of social and political, however, these last have the decisive influence on the real the situation of the minority in the changing global world [2].
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