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Paper Short Abstract:

Despite their many differences, what all Muslims in Poland share is that they can never be described as Polish-Catholic. In a state where these categories determine belonging, their loyalty/identity/rights may be questioned. The paper examines practices of racialisation of Muslims in Poland.

Paper Abstract:

After 1945 Poland became an homogenous state, inhabited mostly by ethnic Poles of Catholic faith. In fact, the figure of Catholic-Pole still remains present and is regarded as a representation of an average citizen. Ethnic and religious diversity has not prevailed in many regions, but the north-eastern part of the country, Podlasie, is an exception in this matter – populated not only by Catholics, but also Orthodox Christians as well as Polish Tatars – Muslims. Coincidentally, it has long been considered a notoriously xenophobic part of Poland. Public anti-Muslim rhetoric became widely spread in Poland during the election campaign in 2015. Islamophobic narratives were largely mobilized again in the face of the humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border in 2021. I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Podlasie in 2022 and 2023, tracing everyday practices of othering of Muslims. The group is very diverse, ranging from local Polish Tatars to already settled refugees from Chechenia and Syria, to people on the move crossing the border from Belarus. However, what all Muslims in Poland have in common, is that they can never be described as Polish-Catholics. In the state where those two categories symbolically determine belonging to the nation, Muslims may find their loyalty/identity/rights questioned. I am examining disciplining practices linked to the processes of racialization of Muslims in Poland, and the responses to those acts.