This paper is based on a series of qualitative (semi-structured) interviews conducted by the author with representatives of Polish civic organisations in southeastern Lithuania (the towns of Eišiškės, Jašiūnai, Pabradė, Šalčininkai, Švenčionys, Švenčionėliai, and Turgeliai). Data was collected from January 2013 to June 2014 as part of a research project to investigate ethnic, civic, regional, and local identities of ethnic minorities in southeastern Lithuania. The project was carried out by the Institute for Ethnic Studies at the Lithuanian Social Research Centre and was funded by the Research Council of Lithuania. The paper discusses the role of voluntary organisations operating in Southeastern Lithuania in mobilising the Polish community. The author investigates the activity of Polish organisations as they maintain and construct the identity (ethnic, civic, local and regional) of local community. Part of the research strategy is to recognise the content and means by which these organisations appeal to collective memory to create and affirm Polish identity. An analysis of interview data shows that the activities of organisations predominantly target the Polish community and their aims are to promote and foster Polish culture, language, and history. The Polish civic and political organisations and their leaders play active roles in identity building and mobilising the Polish Community in southeastern Lithuania. Referencing and recalling collective memories of the Polish ethnic group is an important tool for building a collective identity that lack local and regional dimensions.

This article examines the complex interactions of policy and media discourses and public attitudes as contextual factors which contribute to the creation of a social-cultural environment for the integration of refugees. It applies comparative integration context, system justification and sanctioned theories and identifies the discursive practices and implications for maintaining the existing socio-political system of the host country. Critical discourse analysis of policy, media, semi-structured and focus groups interviews of experts, refugees, and policy actors reveal the normative assumptions about integration policies which provide the prospects for interpretation about the creation of both distances and opportunities for interaction between the host society and refugees.

This article analyzes how institutions influence the process of identity formation within the Polish minority communities in Belarus and Lithuania. We focus on ways that the identities of people who consider themselves Poles in Belarus and Lithuania are targeted by institutions like the state, schools, and nongovernmental organizations. We aim to shed light on how these processes are shaped by institutional settings and broader political contexts. The authors take a bottom-up approach to institutions and look at how members of the Polish communities in the two neighboring countries conceptualize the role of various institutions—NGOs, schools, Karta Polaka (the Polish Card)—to shape their sense of ethnic belonging. The article is built on a cross-case analysis. Data for the Lithuanian and Belarusian cases, consisting of interviews and secondary sources, were collected independently and then reread in light of a common research question. Through our analysis, we show differences and similarities in how analogous institutions function on the two sides of the border and elaborate on the reasons why these differences occur and what role state policy and supranational regulations play in the process.

The article presents empirical data from qualitative interviews with leaders and representatives of Russian ethnic group nongovernmental organizations conducted inthe cities of Vilnius, Klaipėda and Kaunas in 2016–2017. The analysis of aspects of social justice in civic participation of the Russian ethnic minority group is presented in the article. The author applies the definition of Nancy Fraser (1996, 2007), who distinguishes three dimensions of social justice: economic, cultural and political, associated with redistribution, recognition policy and political representation. It is discussed if and how the motives, goals and activities of the Russian nongovernmental organizations are linked or related to these mentioned dimensions. The study revealed that the field of activity of the Russian nongovernmental organizations mainly focuses on cultural activities and cultural aspects related to the policy of recognition of ethnic groups. The empirical data is collected in the framework of the research project which addresses the experiences of social and historical justice by different generations of Lithuanians and Lithuanian Russians. The research project is funded by the Research Council of Lithuania and conducted by a group of researchers from the Lithuanian Social Research Centre (the number of this project is LIP-031/2016).

Lietuvos socialinių tyrimų centras, Etninių tyrimų institutasSantrauka. Šiame straipsnyje analizuojamos etninių mažumų grupių (lenkų ir rusų) religinės organizacijos ir jų veiklos įtaka šių grupių religiniam ir etniniam identitetui. Straipsnio tikslas -atskleisti religinio ir etninio identiteto sąsajas etninių mažumų grupių religinių (katalikų ir stačiatikių ortodoksų) organizacijų veikloje. Straipsnis parašytas vykdant mokslinį projektą "Etnokonfesinis identitetas ir socialinė įtrauktis Lietuvoje po 1990 m.: rusų stačiatikių ir lenkų katalikų atvejai" ir jame pristatomi pirminiai tyrimo duomenys (14 pusiau struktūruotų interviu) surinkti 2019 m. spalio mėn.-2020 m. kovo mėn. šio projekto metu. 1 Apibendrinus pirminius atliktų interviu duomenis atskleista, kad Vilniuje esančios rusų stačiatikių ir lenkų katalikų religinės organizacijos pagal narystės principus ir veiklos pobūdį orientuotos pirmiausia į religines bendruomenes, tačiau kartu ir į tam tikras etnines grupes (lenkai katalikai ir rusai, įvairių tautybių rusakalbiai arba mišrių šeimų atsovai -stačiatikiai). Vilniuje esančios rusų stačiatikių ir lenkų katalikų religinės organizacijos turi įtakos formuojant lenkų ir rusų etninių grupių religinį identitetą, nes, viena vertus, buriasi etniškumo pagrindu, kita vertus, siekia išlaikyti svarbius etninškumo elementus -kilmę, kalbą, ryšius su istorine tėvyne. Lenkų ir rusų religinių organizacijų veikla orientuota į religinį švietimą, sielovadą ir socialines veiklas. Analizuojant sąsajas tarp etninio ir religinio identiteto bei organizacijų vaidmenį stiprinant šias sąsajas, tyrimo duomenimis, matyti, kad yra skirtumų tarp lenkų katalikų ir rusų stačiatikių organizacijų. Lenkai organizacijos atstovai katalikų tikėjimą sieja su etniškumu, skirtingai nuo stačiatikių, kurie religinio identiteto nesieja su etniniu identitetu, rusiškumu.Reikšminiai žodžiai: etninių mažumų grupių religinės organizacijos, rusai stačiatikiai, lenkai katalikai, religinis ir etninis identitetai, identitetų sąveika.