Paper short abstract:

I want to present different ways of Polish anthropologists to engage in public debate in a very important period: the time of the rebirth of the Polish state, the establishment of academic and research institutions, and the important role that scientists played then in public sphere.

Paper long abstract:

The problem of anthropology's engagement in the context of nationalism is of special importance. Researchers of the interwar period also succumbed to it themselves and were involved in projects that strengthened Polish nationalism or were critical of it. I will focus on two characters representing different ways of involvement: Bożena Stelmachowska proving the Polishness of Cassubians and Jan Stanisław Bystroń, who criticized the national megalomania (not only Polish anyway).

Despite the difference in attitudes, they shared - what we now call - methodological nationalism. Moreover, science came to the aid of "cultural legitimacy" of political solutions. The objectivist concepts of contemporary anthropology proved to be very helpful. This was well served by the assumption of the objective existence of national and ethnic groups based on common culture, consciousness, ties and territory that was widely shared.