The Polish–Lithuanian borderlands, past and present: multicultural versus decolonial responses to local and state violence

Abstract

This article presents the case of the Suwałki Triangle region on the current Polish–Lithuanian border to demonstrate how local activists developed a “multicultural” interpretation of social relations to counter previously dominant nationalist narratives. It then contrasts this interpretation with a “decoloniality” framework to illustrate the limits of the multicultural approach. Decoloniality, developed by Walter Mignolo to theorize about Latin American historical experiences, finds continued hierarchies in the apparently plural social landscape, situates identity as a fluid response to these hierarchies, and privileges voices that are “delinked” from them. Decoloniality may explain the complex borderland identifications of the Suwałki Triangle – and potentially other territorialized communities – better than multiculturalism.

Keywords:

• Poland
• Lithuania
• Sejny
• borderland ethnic conflict