Between Otherness and Belonging
Journal: Narodna umjetnost
Year: 2025

The region of Podlasie is a historically diverse area where Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim communities have coexisted for centuries. Since 2021, due to an increase in irregularized migration, the area has been experiencing a transformation into a militarized zone where racialized narratives about Polishness and Europeanness are highlighted and reproduced. Official discourses portray Muslim migrants as threatening the national identity, which affects all Polish and non-Polish Muslims in Podlasie.