The Identity Discourse of the Kashubian Elites in the Context of the 2021 Census of Population and Housing

Abstract

There is an identity discourse among the Kashubian elite, which focuses on the problem of the political consequences of the use of the term “nation” towards Kashubians, which is particulary visible in the context of the 2021 Census of
Population and Housing. The issue of the “Kashubian nation” goes back to the beginnings of the 40’s of the 18th century and remains alive throughout the history of the Kashubian movement. It was marginalized in the history of the
Kashubian-Pomeranian Association dating back to 1956, but after the Act on National and Ethnic Minorities and Regional Language appeared in 2005 and the political status of a “regional language” was granted to the Kashubian language and also after registration in 2011 the Kaszëbskô Jednota Association turned out that the real core of the dispute over the status of Kashubian culture, and thus the social status of the community, is primarily its national and
cultural distinctiveness.