Mieszkańcy Ukrainy południowo-wschodniej wobec polskości : dylematy tożsamościowe na przełomie XX/XXI wieku (na przykładzie obwodu zaporoskiego)

Abstract

This doctoral thesis is devoted to the issues of Polish identity in the south-east of Ukraine. It attempts to combine research into the cultural aspects of ethnicity with the analysis of currently occurring social processes, such as international migration movements and the resulting processes of assimilation and the transformation of ethnic labour markets. This dissertation deals with the issues of cultural pluralism and the transformation of consciousness under the influence of political and globalisation factors. Due to the multicultural and industrial characteristics of the analyzed area of Zaporizhia province, where Poles, due to territorial dispersion, have never formed a cohesive group, the topic of their historical presence on the left bank of the Dnieper is also taken into account, along with important aspects of Polish and Russian political influence on this phenomenon. The attitudes towards the Polish character (including structures and organizations) of the Polish diaspora in a democratic state (USA) and in the post-colonial Ukraine are also compared in this paper. Analysis and conclusions presented in this thesis are based on long-term field studies, sociological surveys, questionnaires, observations by the author and in-depth studies of archival materials, primary and secondary sources.