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From ethnic cleansing to affirmative action: exploring Poland's struggle with its Ukrainian minority (1944–89) *
Author(s) -
LEHMANN ROSA
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
nations and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1469-8129
pISSN - 1354-5078
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8129.2010.00439.x
Subject(s) - communism , ethnic cleansing , affirmative action , ukrainian , politics , political science , political economy , ambivalence , government (linguistics) , ethnic group , minority rights , law , sociology , development economics , economics , psychology , social psychology , philosophy , linguistics
. The ambivalent attitude of Poland's communist leadership towards Poland's minorities – on the one hand violent and severely repressive, while on the other hand allowing for controlled liberties and offering protection – is the main focus of this article. In the mid‐1940s, Poland's new communist leadership proceeded to expel and deport millions of Germans, Lithuanians, Belarusians and Ukrainians from their native territories. A decade later, the communist government adopted a policy that aimed at the reduction of discrimination and the creation of equal social and economic opportunities for the country's residual minority populations. This article explores the background of the wavering communist nationalities policies by focusing on Poland's Ukrainians. It demonstrates how the seemingly contradictory policies of ethnic cleansing and affirmative action were prompted by the same underlying political motivations.