Multiculturalism and multiethnicity in the cityscape: The case of Białystok religious landscape
Abstract
Białystok is the capital of a province in north-eastern Poland. In the past the city featured ethnic, cultural and religious diversity, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Protestants, and Jews coexisted here in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Jewish communities shaped the city’s religious landscape and local identity significantly since the second half of the 19th century and until World War II when they constituted half of the city’s population. This was the biggest minority group among Polish cities. The post-Jewish landscape became invisible and silent by now. It was the result of the Nazi policy of extermination, and the anti-Semitic policy of the communist Polish authorities, as well as the attitude of Polish society towards the Jewish minority until the late 1960s. From among almost 60 synagogues and prayer houses which operated before the war, only three have survived, but they have not been in use for religious service for a long time. Białystok has also been inhabited by the so-called Polish Tatars. The Muslim community, which for centuries consisted mainly of Polish Tatars, is increasingly visible in the city, which is also the seat of Muslim Religious Union, the largest Muslim union in Poland. There is also the Białystok Centre of Islam and a house of prayer. Today’s religious landscape of the city is mostly formed by both Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. As a result of the city’s demographic and spatial development, the number of churches has grown significantly as compared to the inter-war period. The strongest and the most visible qualitative changes were observed after World War II. Multiculturalism is still important asset of the city. This paper presents the transformation of the cultural and religious landscape of Bialystok in the context of the impact of the politics and ideology from the 19th century to the present. It also highlights the importance of multiculturalism in the city landscape for the promotion and development of tourism and city branding.
References
Arneil, B. 2006. Diverse Communities: The Problem with Social Capital. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511490156
Arneil, B. and MacDonald, F. 2016. Multiculturalism and the Social Sphere. In The Ashgate Research Companion to Multiculturalism. Ed.: Ivison, D., London, Routledge, 95-117.
Banting, K. and Kymlicka, W. 2006. Multiculturalism and the Welfare State: Recognition and Redistribution in Contemporary Democracies. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Bhikhu, P. 2002. Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory. Boston, Harvard University Press.
Bilska-Wodecka, E. 2012. Człowiek religijny i związki wyznaniowe w przestrzeni miasta w XX i na początku XXI wieku (Religious man and religious associations in the city space in the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century). Kraków, IGiGP UJ.
Byelostok (Polish: Białystok), 2002-2011. In Jewish Encyclopedia. (retrieved 20.01.2017)
Caffyn, A. and Lutz, J. 1999. Developing the heritage tourism product in multi-ethnic cities. Tourism Management 20. (2): 213-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(98)00075-2
Czyżewski, P. 1999. Powstanie cerkwi białostockiej (The rise of the Białystok Orthodox church). Białostocczyzna 4. (56): 11-18.
Dacewicz, L. 1997. Nazewnictwo Żydów w XVIIIwiecznym Białymstoku (The naming of Jews in 18th century Białystok). Białostocczyzna 4. (56): 25-31.
Dolińska, K. and Makaro, J. 2013. O wielokulturowości monokulturowego Wrocławia (On the multiculturality of monocultural Wrocław). Wrocław, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego.
Duridywka, M. and Kociszewski, P. 2013. Wielokulturowość Podlasia i możliwości jej wykorzystania w turystyce (Multiculturality of Podlasie region and possibilities of its use in tourism). Turystyka Kulturowa 6. 5-29.
Florida, R. 2002. The Rise of the Creative Class. And How It's Transforming Work. Leisure and Everyday Life. New York, Basic Books.
Hero, R. and Preuhs, R. 2006. Multiculturalism and Welfare Policies in the USA: A State-Level Comparative Analysis. In Multiculturalism and the Welfare State: Recognition and Redistribution in Contemporary Democracies. Eds.: Banting, K. and Kymlicka, W., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 121-151. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289172.003.0004
Irimiás, A. and Michalkó, G. 2013. Religious tourism in Hungary - an integrative framework. Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 62. (2): 175-196.
Kalina, M. 1995. Polonizacja Cerkwi prawosławnej w województwie białostockim (1918-1939) (The Polonization of the Orthodox Church in Białystok [1918-1939]). Białoruskie Zeszyty Historyczne 2. (4): 74-105.
Klimczuk, A. 2012. History of the Jews in the Podlasie Region. We Have Lived Together for Centuries: from Cultural Diversity to Multiculturalism. Bottom-up Techniques of Social Capital Building. In Wielokulturowe Podlasie w Unii Europejskiej. Eds. Wrońska, I. and Rusiłowicz, M., Białystok, Prawo i Partnerstwo, 152-163.
Kobrin, R. 2014. Żydowski Białystok i jego diaspora (Jewish Białystok and its diaspora). Sejny, Fundacja Pogranicze.
Laden, A.S. and Owen, D. eds. 2007. Multiculturalism and Political Theory, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Łaguna-Raszkiewicz, K. 2012. Pamięć społeczna o relacjach polsko-żydowskich w Białymstoku: perspektywa edukacji międzykulturowej (Social memory of Polish-Jewish relations in Białystok: the perspective of inter-cultural education). Toruń, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Grado, Lechowski, A. 2009. Białystok. Przewodnik historyczny. (Białystok. A historical guidebook). Benkowski Publishing.
Małek, A. 1999. Białystok pod zaborem pruskim 1795-1807 (Białystok under Prussian rule 1795- 1807). Białostocczyzna 4. (56): 19-24.
Marotta, V. 2007. Multicultural and Multiethnic Cities in Australia, Ethnic Landscapes in an Urban World. Research in Urban Sociology 8. (6): 41-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1047-0042(06)08003-2
Miśkiewicz, A. 2011. Tatarzy polscy w latach 1945-1985. Zarys historyczny (Polish Tatars in the years 1945-1985. A historical overview). Studia Podlaskie 3. 99-137.
Modood, T. 2007. Multiculturalism: A Civic Idea. London, Polity. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosm129
Niziołek, K. 2008. Szlak Dziedzictwa Żydowskiego w Białymstoku (Polish Tatars in the years 1945-1985. A historical overview). In Historia, pamięć, tolerancja. Nauczanie o wielokulturowości i lokalnej historii. Eds.: Niziołek, K. and Poczykowski, R., Białystok, Fundacja Uniwersytetu w Białystoku, 135-140.
Pasieka, A. 2013. Wielokulturowość po polsku. O polityce wielokulturowości jako mechanizmie umacniania polskości (Multiculturalism the Polish way. On the policy of multiculturalism as a mechanism for reinforcing Polishness). Kultura i społeczeństwo 3. 129-155. https://doi.org/10.2478/kultura-2013-0026
Phillips, A. 2007. Multiculturalism without Culture, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press.
Pizam, A. 1999. Cross-cultural Tourist Behavior. In Consumer Behavior in Travel and Tourism. Eds.: Pizam, A. and Mansdeld, Y., Binghampton, Haworth, 393-411.
Puchnarewicz, E. 2010. Znaczenie wielokulturowości w turystyce u progu XXI wieku (The importance of multiculturalism in tourism at the turn of the 21st century). In Wielokulturowość w turystyce. Ed.: Puchnarewicz, E., Krakow, Wyższa Szkoła Turystyki i Języków Obcych, 15-33.
Reisinger, Y. 2009. International Tourism: Cultures and Behavior. Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann.
Rex, J. and Singh, G. 2003. Multiculturalism and Political Integration in Modern Nation-States: Thematic Introduction. International Journal on Multicultural Societies 5. (1): 3-19.
Sacharczuk, J. 2014. Kwestie społeczne wynikające z wielokulturowości z uwzględnieniem sytuacji Białegostoku (Social issues arising from multiculturalism taking into account the situation of Białystok). In Od wielokulturowości miejsca do międzykulturowości relacji społecznych. Eds.: Nikitorowicz, J., Muszyńska, J. and Boćwińska-Kiluk, B., Warsaw, Wydawnictwo Akademickie Żak, 24-38.
Sadowska, J. 2015. Społeczność żydowska w Białymstoku w latach 1944-1950 (Jewish community in Białystok in the years 1944-1950). Jewish History Quarterly 3. 515-531.
Sadowski, A. 2006. Białystok. Kapitał społeczny mieszkańców miasta (Social capital of the city's inhabitants). Białystok, Wydawnictwo Wyższej Szkoły Ekonomicznej w Białymstoku.
Sadowski, A. 2013. Miejsce społeczności żydowskiej w strukturze Białegostoku jako odradzającego się miasta wielokulturowego Białystok (The place of Jewish community in the structure of Białystok as a reborn multicultural city). Studia Migracyjne-Przegląd Polonijny 47. (1): 225-242.
Shmulewitz, I. 1982. Bialystok - A Historical Survey. In The Bialystoker Memorial Book / Der Bialystoker Jizkor Buch. New York, 3-5.
Sosna, G. and Troc-Sosna, A. 2004. Cerkiewna własność ziemska na Białostocczyźnie w XV-XX wieku. Zbiór materiałów (Orthodox Church landed estate in Białystok region in the 15th-20th centuries. A collection of materials). Diecezja warszawsko-bielska i białostocko-gdańska, Białystok, Orthdruk.
Strategia Rozwoju Miasta Białegostoku na Lata 2011-2010 plus (The strategy for the development of the city of Białystok for the years 2011-2020 plus). 2010, Białystok, City Hall in Białystok.
The Bialystoker Memorial Book / Der Bialystoker Jizkor Buch. New York, 3-5.
Tiryakian, E.A. 2003. Assessing multiculturalism theoretically: E pluribus unum, Sic et Non. International Journal on Multicultural Societies 5. 20-39.
Trotman, C. 2002. Multiculturalism: Roots and Realities. Indiana, Indiana University Press.
Wiśniewski, T. 1992. Bóżnice Białostocczyzny (Shuls of Bialystok region). Heartland of the Jewish life: synagogues and Jewish communities in Białystok region. Białystok, David.
Wyszowska, I. and Jędrysiak, T. 2014. Dziedzictwo kulturowe Ludwika Zamenhofa. Idea przeszłości czy przyszłości? (The Cultural Heritage of Ludwik Zamenhof. An idea of the past or the future?) Turystyka Kulturowa 6. 70-89.
Copyright (c) 2017 Justyna Liro, Julia Sołjan, Elżbieta Bilska-Wodecka, Izabela Sołjan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
