Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.15176/vol62no211
Between Otherness and Belonging: Strategies of Mitigating Muslim Otherness in Podlasie
Joanna Urbańska
orcid.org/0000-0002-3261-538X
; Center for Migration Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Sažetak
The region of Podlasie is a historically diverse area where Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim communities have coexisted for centuries. Since 2021, due to an increase in irregularized migration, the area has been experiencing a transformation into a militarized zone where racialized narratives about Polishness and Europeanness are highlighted and reproduced. Official discourses portray Muslim migrants as threatening the national identity, which affects all Polish and non-Polish Muslims in Podlasie. This article explores strategies adopted by different groups of Muslims in Podlasie in the face of racialization processes. The main focus is on a well-established group of Polish Tatars whose centuries-long presence on the Polish territory allows for claims of familiarity and sameness to be made. While Tatars tend to reference their bond with the state through their respect for the military and Catholicism, other Muslims strive for personalization to improve their subordinate position in the hierarchies of Polishness. Some of these strategies reinforce racialized notions of belonging, further perpetuating existing divisions. However, acts of solidarity are also present among the communities, irrespective of their social distance. This article illustrates how racialization practices impose hierarchies of belonging on different Muslim groups in Podlasie and showcases strategies of negotiation of their status within those hierarchies.
Ključne riječi
Muslims, Podlasie, Poland, Islamophobia, racialization, migration
Hrčak ID:
341680
URI
Datum izdavanja:
19.12.2025.
Posjeta: 524 *