Black Slavs: Poland's African diasporic community and the rise of post-communist right-wing nationalism

Around 60,000 people gathered on the streets of Warsaw last November, for what was meant to be the annual Independence Day march. It is now known as one of the largest gatherings of far-right activists in recent years in Europe. Participants carried banners reading "White Europe of Brotherly nations" and "Let's pray for an Islamic Holocaust" whilst shouting slogans such as "Pure Poland! White Poland!" _and "Refugees Out!". Yet only 0.3% of the national body is made up of foreigners. What does the rise of far-right activism mean for them? My project focuses on the black minorities in Poland and their experience of the changing political, economic, and social fabric of Poland in the contemporary moment. I will pay particularly close attention to the black diasporic networks in Warsaw that were established during the Cold War period and remain in existence today but will also look at the experiences of African migrants who have come more recently to Poland to make their lives. I will utilise participant observation, oral history and photo-elicitation with my participants to produce research that seeks to further our understanding of an unstudied African diaspora of the 20th century as well as our understanding of Poland. Following the networks of the black diaspora in Poland will allow me to understand the complex, racialized histories within an African diasporic community set in an increasingly hostile nationalist environment.