Abstract
Taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union was
interpreted by the Polish authorities as a great opportunity to strongly manifest
its political role in the Community. The inauguration of the Polish Presidency
was accompanied by numerous promotional events aimed at bringing
the citizens closer to understanding integration and strengthening the sense
of being part of the common European nation’s family. On the wave of
those events, there was a discussion in the media and between parties about
the national and international identity of the Poles and Poland, which is an
excellent material for studies within the methodological frames of social
constructivism. The authors asked several research questions. Does a contemporary
state, such as Poland, consciously and consistently build a sense
of diversity and self consciousness of its citizens or does it aim to blur the
borders between the national and communal identity? Do political parties
include the issue of the double identity of the state in the public discussion
agenda and in what way do they differ in doing that? How do the authorities
translate the issue of the state identity into its international roles? What is
the community’s ability to critically assess the authorities’ actions in the field
of the state’s identity? All the above-mentioned research dilemmas lead to
critical conclusions. It seems that neither political elites in Poland nor broadly
understood community do not perceive identity issues as important topics in
a public debate. Infantile attitudes or excessively instrumental social engineering
predominate and there is a lack of real reflection over the relation
between the state self-consciousness and the roles that a country can play on
the European Union arena.