Przemiany potrzeb tożsamościowych w kontekście wyzwań współczesności. Na przykładzie mniejszości ukraińskiej w województwie podlaskim

Abstract

The article in the theoretical part deals with minority identity, its revitalization and understanding what identity needs are. Attention was paid to the borderland as a special place for forming identity, especially ethnic and national identity. The second part of the article presents the transformation of identity needs of “Ukrainians from Podlasie”. This is an interesting and unique group, which has made an effort to revitalize its identity and in recent years has undergone a specific evolution of its identity needs: from a complete lack of the need for national identification and the emergence of strong needs for assimilation to Polish and Belarusian identity, through the needs related to revitalization, institutionalization and autonomy to the visible needs for equal, subjective treatment, education and integration. Although the article deals with the Ukrainian minority in the Podlaskie Voivodship in Poland, its findings apply universally to the transformation of ethnic and national minority identities in contemporary societies. The path of transformation of identity needs described in the article refers to many minorities and ethnic groups functioning in modern democracies in Europe and in the world.