The Impact of Legislation on the Process of Group Identity Formation

Abstract This article presents analyses of actions taken by a selection of ethnic minority groups in Poland—Tatars, Kashubians, Lemkos, and Silesians—in response to the 2005 Law on National and Ethnic Minorities and Regional Languages. Introduced herein is the concept of the ‘statutory ethnic field’, which pertains to the impact of a legal framework on minority group relations with the state and on minority group identity strategies. A qualitative research dataset (including interviews, participant observation, and document content analysis) has facilitated the reconstruction of identity processes and the ways in which minorities adapt to, negotiate or contest legal categories. Illustrated here is the diversity of strategies—from acceptance of the existing legal framework, to its partial contestation, to actions aimed at changing group status. Light is also shed on internal conflicts and competition for recognition that arise from different identities and interests within these four minority populations. This study shows how the 2005 law has shaped the ethnic field in Poland, affecting identity dynamics, group politics, and relationships between each group and the state. The text at hand fits into the broader context of research on ethnic relations and identity politics in multicultural societies.