Ukrainian Organisations and Associations That Shape the Image of the Ukrainian Minority in Poland

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyse Ukrainian organisations, associations, and festivals that shape the image of the Ukrainian minority in Poland. Results. Consideration of the topic of the article, and specifically the research process requires reference to a number of basic assumptions, the basis of which is certainly the conviction that every person, regardless of his nationality, is a social being who, assigned to a particular group, functions as a community, forming more or less permanent ties with it. Various theories and methodological assumptions are used to properly present the issues contained in the article, including the normative approach, the discourse around the functioning of national minorities, the historical approach, as well as the functional approach, especially concerning the subject of assimilation of cultures and the mutual interpenetration of what is Ukrainian and Polish, come to the fore. The scientific novelty of the article is a comprehensive study of Ukrainian organisations and associations in Poland, shaping the image of the Ukrainian minority in Poland (on the example of 1991–2019), both in terms of successful cooperation and existing problems. Conclusions. The construction of good-neighbourly relations between nations rests on two pillars: the activities of state institutions and direct relations between citizens of neighbouring states. Negligence in either of these spheres is reflected on the nature of such relations. Lack of action on the part of the authorities in this regard can negatively affect the activity of citizens, in turn, stopping only at the declarations of politicians, in the absence of grassroots initiatives makes such relations, only an empty form without substance. One of the most important examples of grassroots initiatives are various types of organisations, associations, which are created, among other things, to work for the preservation of the cultural identity of the Ukrainian community in Poland and the development of cooperation between Poland and Ukraine.