In this ethnographic study, I explore the ways, in which the engagement of Polish Catholics with Swedish society generates both adaptation and resistance. The thesis begins with an overview of the history of the Swedish Catholic Church and notes how Poles became one of the most numerous immigrant groups in Sweden during past decades. I then make use of fifteen in-depth interviews along with more than twenty sessions of observation in a Polish milieu in the Mälaren Valley. Polish Catholics often consider themselves, as one put it, as "weird creatures" in Sweden, not only for being a religious minority, but also due to conflicts between Catholic moral teachings and prevailing modern liberal views in Swedish society. Also, interviewees tend to blame Sweden for weakening the religiosity of their compatriots. Catholicism often presents particular challenges for the adaptation and integration of Poles, especially teenagers, who are, as one out it, seen "like freaks here". Also notable is the controversial stance of parishioners and the clergy on gender questions. While many laity see feminism as a threat, some priests assert that "feminism and Catholicism have so much in common". Among other challenges for the religious life of Poles in Sweden are consumerism, which leads to the formulation "prosperity destroys people" and is seen as a competitor to the church; and the Swedish language, which divides first and second generations. Interviewees also express shared interests with Muslims and solidarity with Orthodox Christians.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-10-16T16:54:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DÉLCIO MARQUETTI_.pdf: 3560233 bytes, checksum: a414d74d21293df2e6c206fe56c33a5b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-16T16:54:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DÉLCIO MARQUETTI_.pdf: 3560233 bytes, checksum: a414d74d21293df2e6c206fe56c33a5b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09-01 / Milton Valente / Esta análise parte de uma sequência de conflitos ocorridos em 1900 na colônia General Carneiro (PR), entre militares, que ali se encontravam a serviço da Comissão de Estradas Estratégicas com a finalidade de construírem uma estrada carroçável que ligasse o porto de União da Vitória ao município de Palmas, e imigrantes poloneses. Desrespeitando limites temáticos estritos, arquitetamos uma história social dessa tensa área fronteiriça, que mescla história militar e imigração e que contempla os soldados do Exército e imigrantes europeus como os personagens principais. Investigamos as relações e identidades etnoculturais aí engendradas, considerando os conflitos como pontos privilegiados para a análise das interdependências entre os indivíduos e os seus grupos de pertencimento. Num jogo cambiável de escalas, contemplamos os valores e as expectativas dos envolvidos nesses embates cotidianos e as políticas públicas relacionadas à imigração, à ocupação de territórios fronteiriços e à segurança nacional. O trabalho pretende ser também um exercício teórico-metodológico de problematização da atuação da Justiça, especialmente a Militar, bem como do uso da fonte judiciária. / This analysis is based on a sequence of conflicts occurred in 1900 in the colony General Carneiro (PR) among military soldiers who were there in service of Strategic Roads Commission in order to build a carriageway road which could link Porto da União da Vitória to the city of Palmas, and Polish immigrants. Disrespecting strict thematic limits, we built a social history of this tense border area, which merge military history and immigration and include the soldiers of the army and European immigrants as the main characters. We investigated the relationships and ethnocultural identities engendered there, considering the conflict as key points for the analysis of the interdependencies among individuals and their belonging groups. In a switchable playing scales, we are going to contemplate the values and expectations of those involved in these daily encounters and public policies related to immigration, occupation of border areas and national security. This assignment also aims to be a theoretical-methodological exercise of questioning the actions of Justice, especially the military and the use of judicial source.

This thesis is concerned with adult L1 attrition in the case of highly-educated long-term Polish immigrants in Sweden. The study sheds light on two classical issues pertaining to L1 attrition, namely what happens to a fully developed mature language system in an immigrant context, and why it happens. Specifically we aim to answer the following questions: (1) Are Polish speakers in Sweden different from comparable individuals in Poland with respect to (i) judgement and use of a number of Polish linguistic features (se keywords below), and (ii) hesitation phenomena, i.e. ability to be quick and easy and linguistic insecurity? (2) Is the variation in linguistic results dependent on how often and in what context the Polish language is used and/or which attitudes the individuals have towards it as well as how long they have been living in Sweden? One of the main contributions of the study regards methodology. The data is analysed in three steps: an initial focus on group comparisons shifts to the analysis of individual results in relation to the variation observed in the comparison group, and finally to a holistic view of the attrition effects or their absence. It is suggested that in studies on adult L1 attrition, where the effects are expected to be relatively cosmetic, the range of the linguistic behaviour in the comparison group as a reference point as well as a holistic perspective on individual results gives a more truthful picture of the attrition process. In addition the study shows that attrition effects are present in some individuals (60 %) to a different degree. The most common effect overall is linguistic insecurity followed by the overuse of 1st person pronouns as explicit subjects and to a lesser degree by the overuse of 3rd person pronouns. Surprisingly there is a scanty effect on the other hesitation phenomenon, i.e. the ability to be quick and easy. No or limited effects are observed in other structural areas which basically supports previous findings on L1 adult attrition. Finally, the presence versus absence of the attrition effect can not be straightforwardly related either to language use, attitudes or length of residence, with one exception being linguistic insecurity.

Independent Poland ceased to exist in 1795 and the various insurrections to restore the Polish state were thwarted by the Germans, Austro-Hungarians, and Russians. During the First World War, Polish statesmen called upon the thousands of Polish immigrants in the United States to join the Polish Army in France, a military force funded by the French government and organized by the Polish Falcons of America and Ignacy Paderewski, the world-famous Polish pianist. Over 20,000 men trained in Canada and fought in the final months of the war on the Western front. While in France they were placed under the command of General Jozef Haller and became known as Haller’s Army. At the conclusion of the war, the Allied leaders at the Paris Peace Conference decided to send the soldiers to Poland to fight in the Polish-Soviet War to stop the western advance of the Bolsheviks. When the war ended, the United States government, with the influence of Secretary of State Robert Lansing, funded the return of the soldiers to their homes in the United States. This dissertation focuses on questions of the relationships among foreign policy, nationalism, and immigration and investigates forced recruitment, dissatisfaction with the cause of Polish independence exacerbated by difficult wartime conditions, nationalism among immigrant groups, ethnic identity, and anti-Semitism.

This study examines the accessibility and barriers that Polish immigrants face in public gynecological care in Sweden and explains their attitudes towards and frequency of gynecological visits. To understand attitudes of the research group, the study explores their knowledge about basic gynecological health topics such as Pap and HPV tests, HPV infections and vaccinations. Qualitative ethnographic methods were used in this research. Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 to 45-year old Polish women living in Stockholm, Sweden. Analysis was performed using descriptive and theoretical approaches. The results indicate several barriers to fully adapt to the Swedish healthcare system for Polish women. The barriers included the lack of understanding of how Swedish gynecological care works (division of specializations), problems in finding specialist care, an insufficient number of specialists, a lack of information in English or Polish, and a limited amount of knowledge among study participants about HPV tests and vaccinations. The adaptation of Polish immigrants to the Swedish system and their level of trust is influenced by their first experiences in Sweden, health literacy, experiences with the Polish private gynecological system, and the attitudes of partners and family with Swedish backgrounds or those who have long term experiences in Sweden.