Ethnopolitical Mobilization without Groups: Nation-Building in Upper Silesia

Abstract

Ethnolinguistic political mobilization has spread throughout the post-communist area. However, it is unclear whether it has been accompanied by a strengthening of group boundaries. This paper examines the nation-building process of unrecognized Silesians in Poland. It explores the mobilization strategies used by Silesian ethnopolitical entrepreneurs in their quest for regional autonomy and recognition of their language and group. I argue that the increase in the number of self-declared Silesians and the successful institutionalization of a Silesian national category have not led to mass national consciousness. Due to structural transformations and transnational processes, Silesians display multidimensional fluctuating identifications, which suggest the absence of a sense of national groupness.

Keywords:

• Silesia
• Poland
• nation-building
• language
• Hroch
• Brubaker

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Katarzyna Karnaszewska for her excellent research. This article would not have been possible without her. I am also grateful to Alistair Cole and Jean-Baptiste Harguindéguy as well as to the anonymous reviewer for their very helpful comments that helped me to refine my argument. I also wish to thank Eric Guntermann for his excellent editing job.