POLISH MULTICULTURALISM: ON THE POLICY OF MULTICULTURALISM AS A MECHANISM OF STRENGTHENING POLISHNESS

The aim of this article is to try to determine the justifiability of applying the category of multiculturalism in the Polish context. The author claims that studies of diversity in Poland have to take into account that this diversity is functioning in the context of a single, dominant Polish Catholic culture which exerts enormous influence both on the manner in which Others are seen, and on the establishment and maintenance of social hierarchies. Overlooking this circumstance means that instead of being an instrument for the appreciation of cultural minorities the category of multiculturalism favours the reification of cultural differences and the further marginalization of the ’culturally Other’. Material from field research in the district of Uście Gorlickie, which is inhabited by Poles and Lemko Ukrainians, is used for illustration. In describing the conflict between advocates and opponents of the introduction of dual language signs, the author attempts to prove that the debate at the local level reflects the dominant vision in Poland of majority-minority relations