CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Biziukova, Volha |
|---|---|
| Title | ETHNIC IDENTIFICATION IN THE CONTEXT OF AN ALTERNATIVE STATE MEMBERSHIP REGIME: THE CASE OF BELARUSIANS ACQUIRING KARTA POLAKA |
| Summary | This thesis deals with the ethnic identification of Belarusian citizens who applied for the Karta Polaka (The Pole’s Card), a type of alternative state membership regime introduced by Poland. The membership in two countries conditions a specific situation for ethnic identification. In the present research I consider the biographic dynamics of ethnic identification in connection with the cultural practices and family stories, the trajectories of identification and the construction of the categories of affiliation. The analysis is made on the basis of the in-depth interviews with the applicants for the Karta Polaka. The process of identification is contextualized in a broader structural and historical context. The narrative of the Karta Polaka affects the way the applicants assign themselves and their ancestors to the ethnic categories due to the introduction of bureaucratic discourse. The cultural practices changed dramatically through generations and at present moment cultural traits are not the strict criteria for the attribution to an ethnic category. The applicants affiliate themselves with several communities simultaneously but describe theirs ways of belonging using different tropes. The applicants follow multiple routes in their identification conditioned by the common structural and historical context along with individual biographical stories. The identification and the status of the Karta Polaka holders are characterized with exclusive and inclusive tendencies. |
| Supervisor | Rabinowitz Dan, Caglar Ayse |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/biziukova_volha.pdf |
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