(Re)framing identity claims: European and state institutions as opportunity windows for group reinforcement

Abstract

How do we account for the reinforcement of identity particularisms despite transnational integration? This paper addresses the question by comparing two ethnolinguistic groups, Silesians and Kashubs in Poland. It is argued that in order to obtain state protection and tools to develop and survive, ethnic entrepreneurs adjust to institutions and discourses. Census politics, state laws' elaboration, transnational institutions represent openings to which groups adjust by reframing identity claims. In doing so, they re‐imagine and reinforce their communities. Following Rogers Brubaker, group‐making is presented as an eventful process where ethnic elites invest identity categories with groupness by taking advantage of opportunity windows at hand. Further, tracing changing political opportunities, strategic adjustments and groups' boomerang effect bid, the paper embeds identity groups within the social movement literature.

Flawed Premises and Unexpected Consequences: Support of Regional Languages in Europe

“…The Kashub-Pomeranian Association (Zrzeszenie Kaszubsko-Pomorskie, ZKP), the main ethnic organization of Kashubs, has been instrumental in leading the movement to increase the political and cultural clout of the Kashub language community since 1990. 16 In order to enhance regional cooperation in Poland, the ZKP works with similar associations within the League of Regions and is also a part of the Federal Union of European Minorities, advocating consistently for greater local selfgovernment in order to preserve and extend the use of the Kashub language in territories where it was historically used. Importantly, the Kashub language community has found itself in a Polish language environment that is comparatively similar to Kashub, and the historical narratives and cultural traditions of Poles and Kashubs in Pomerania have both been influenced by contacts with German culture (while the region was a part of Prussia), and with Kashubs having long identified closely with the Polish nation.…”

Au-delà d’une fenêtre d’opportunité ? Expliquer le (re)cadrage des actions collectives de la diaspora tamoule depuis 2009

“…Pour y répondre, nous proposons un cadre théorique provenant de la sociologie politique des mouvements sociaux et de l'action collective. De ce fait, à la lumière des travaux sur les fenêtres d'opportunité, définies comme étant des espaces d'ouverture et de fermeture au-delà et en-deçà de l'État et de ses institutions (Meyer, 1993 ;Meyer et Minkoff, 2004 ;Dembinska, 2012), ainsi que sur les structures mobilisatrices, soit des réseaux formels ou informels d'individus ou de groupes , nous émettons deux hypothèses. La première consiste à expliquer le recadrage des actions collectives de la diaspora tamoule par la présence d'une fenêtre d'opportunité : la fin du conflit sri lankais.…”

“…Plus encore, ces organisations militent parfois pour le même enjeu et partagent des revendications semblables au-delà des frontières géographiques. Par exemple, Dembinska (2012) évoque l'« effet boomerang » (Keck et Sikkink, 1998 ;della Porta et Tarrow, 2005) lorsque certains groupes ethnolinguistiques s'allient avec d'autres groupes à l'extérieur de leur territoire géographique, afin d'exercer une pression externe sur leurs institutions étatiques.…”

Attitudes towards Minorities in Post‐communist and Democratic Poland

“…The first post‐communist parliament appointed the Ethnic Minorities Committee, but the Act on minorities was not introduced until 2005. Discussions surrounding creating a law on minorities started as early as 1989 and intensified after 2001 (Dembinska ). As previously mentioned, the urgency to adopt law on minorities was based on Poland's aspiration to become a member of the EU.…”