Theorizing the Karta Polaka: Debordering and Rebordering the Limits of Citizenship, Territory and Nation in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood

Abstract

This article offers a contribution to theorizing the Karta Polaka, a kin-state law addressing the Polish diaspora in the successor states of the USSR, in the context of the Europeanization of Poland’s borders with Ukraine and Belarus. Building on the observation that the modern state includes individuals according to an ideal model based on a congruency of the categories “citizenship”, “territory” and “nation”, it is argued that kin-state laws, by addressing non-resident non-citizens of national belonging, not only diverge from the ideal inclusion but also redraw the very boundaries of these categories. Building on a qualitative analysis of the Act on the Karta Polaka, accompanying documents and the minutes of parliamentary (committee) sessions concerned with the draft act, this article traces the discursive processes that redraw the boundaries of these categories. Employing the concept of De-/Rebordering, this article shows how the categories of Polish citizenship, territory and nation are redefined and how the inclusion of non-resident non-citizens by the Polish state is legitimated.