The Black Protests: a Struggle for (Re)Definition of Intimate Citizenship.
PDF

Keywords

intimate citizenship
reproductive rights
women’s rights
public sphere

How to Cite

Nawojski, R., Pluta, M., & Zielińska, K. (2019). The Black Protests: a Struggle for (Re)Definition of Intimate Citizenship. Praktyka Teoretyczna, 30(4), 51–74. https://doi.org/10.14746/prt.2018.4.2

Abstract

This article focuses on an analysis of the redefinitions of the visions of intimate citizenship in the arenas created by the recent women’s protests in Poland. The 2016 and 2018 attempts by the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament, to introduce amendments to the existing law regulating access to abortion in Poland stirred dramatic social mobilisations and widespread social protests labelled with the umbrella term “Black Protests”. We see these mobilisations not only as a protest, but also as attempt to (re)define dominant notions of citizenship, and in particular, as a quest for a new model of intimate citizenship, i.e. a public reconceptualisation of the rights regarding the private/intimate sphere. Our article offers an in-depth analysis of these reconceptualisations. It unfolds in the following way. Firstly, we discuss the phenomena of the Black Protests and Polish Women’s Strikes and present the context of their emergence as well as their agenda. Secondly, we briefly discuss the issue of intimate citizenship. We then present the methodology as well as discuss the empirical material used for our analysis. In the final part, we reconstruct the visions of (intimate) citizenship emerging from the collected material.
https://doi.org/10.14746/prt.2018.4.2
PDF

References

CBOS. 2016. Polacy o prawach kobiet, “czarnych protestach” i prawie aborcyjnym. Retrieved form: http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2016/K_165_16.PDF (accessed 20.04.2019).

CBOS. 2017. Stosunek do osób o orientacji homoseksualnej i związków partnerskich. Retrieved from: https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2017/K_174_17.PDF (accessed: 20.04.2019).

Chmielewska, Marta, Małgorzata Druciarek, and Izabela Przybysz. 2017. Czarny protest – w stronę nowego “kompromisu aborcyjnego”?. Warszawa: Instytut Spraw Publicznych.

Evans, David. 1993. Sexual Citizenship: The Material Construction of Sexualities. London–New York: Routledge.

Fraser, Nancy. 1990. “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy.” Social Text 25–26: 56–80.

Fuszara, Małgorzata. 2005. “Between Feminism and the Catholic Church: The Women’s Movement in Poland.” Czech Sociological Review 5: 1057–1075.

Halsaa, Beatrice, Sasha Roseneil, and Sevil Sümer (eds.). 2012. Remaking Citizenship in Multicultural Europe Women’s Movements, Gender and Diversity. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Heinen, Jacqueline, and Stephane Portet. 2010. “Reproductive Rights in Poland: When Politicians Fear the Wrath of the Church.” Third World Quarterly 31(6): 1007–1021.

Isin, Engin F., and Patricia K. Wood. 1999. Citizenship and Identity. Politics and Culture series. London, UK: Sage.

Kabber, Naila. 2005. “The Search for Inclusive Citizenship: Meanings and Expressions in an Interconnected World.” In Inclusive Citizenship: Meanings and Expressions. Ed. N. Kabber. New York–London: Zed Books: 1–27.

Keller, Reiner. 2011. “The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD).” Human Studies 34(1): 43–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-011-9175-z.

Keller, Reiner. 2012. “Entering discourses: A New Agenda for Qualitative Research and Sociology of Knowledge.” Qualitative Sociology Review 8(2): 46–75.

Korolczuk, Elżbieta. 2016a. “Explaining Mass Protests Against Abortion Ban in Poland: the Power of Connective Action”. Zoon politikon 7: 91–113.

Korolczuk, Elżbieta. 2016b. “Bunt kobiet AD 2016: skąd się wziął i czego nas uczy?” In Przebudzona rewolucja: Prawa reprodukcyjne kobiet w Polsce. Raport 2016. Ed. A. Czarnecka. Warszawa: Fundacja im. Izabeli Jarugi-Nowackiej.

Korolczuk, Elżbieta. 2019. “Odzyskiwanie języka, czyli jak zmieniła się debata o aborcji w kontekście Czarnych Protestów i Strajków Kobiet.” In Bunt kobiet. Czarne Protesty i Strajki Kobiet 2016–2018. Eds. E. Korolczuk, B. Kowalska, J. Ramme, and C. Snochowskia-Gonzalez. Gdańsk: Europejskie Centrum Solidarności.

Kowalska, Beata, and Radosław Nawojski. 2019. “Uwaga, Uwaga tu obywatelki! Obywatelstwo jako praktyka w Czarnych Protestach i Strajkach Kobiet.” In Bunt kobiet. Czarne Protesty i Strajki Kobiet 2016-2018. Eds. E. Korolczuk, B. Kowalska, J. Ramme and C. Snochowskia-Gonzalez. Gdańsk: Europejskie Centrum Solidarności.

Kowalska, Beata, Radosław Nawojski, and Magdalena Pluta. 2018. “Kobiece rewolucje wciąż trwają.” In Transgraniczność w perspektywie socjologicznej. Europa – podzielona czy wspólnota?. Eds. M. Zielińska, D. Szaban, and B. Trzop. Zielona Góra: Lubuskie Towarzystwo Naukowe.

Król, Agnieszka, and Paula Pustułka. 2018. “Women on Strike: Mobilizing Against Reproductive Injustice in Poland.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 20: 364–384. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2018.1460214.

Kubisa, Julia. 2016. “Odzyskajmy Polskę dla kobiet!” Krytyka Polityczna. Retrieved from: http://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/odzyskajmy-polske-dla-kobiet/2016/ (accessed 20.04.2019).

Kulczycki, Andrzej. 1995. “Abortion Policy in Postcommunist Europe: The Conflict in Poland.” Population and Development Review 3(21): 471–505.

Lister, Ruth. 2008. “Citizenship: Citizenship and Gender.” In The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology. Ed. K. Nash, and A. Scott, 323–332. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Lister, Ruth. 1997. Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives. London: Macmillan Education UK.

Majewska, Ewa. 2017. Tramwaj zwany uznaniem. Feminizm i solidarność po neoliberalizmie. Warszawa: Książka i Prasa.

Majewska, Ewa. 2018. Kontrpubliczności ludowe i feministyczne. Wczesna „Solidarność” i Czarne Protesty. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Książka i Prasa.

Marshall, Thomas. H. 1963. Class, Citizenship, and Social Development. New York: Anker Books.

Mishtal, Joanna. 2015. The Politics of Morality: The Church, the State, and Reproductive Rights in Postsocialist Poland. Ohio University Press.

Murawska, Katarzyna, and Zofia Włodarczyk. 2016. Nam się zaczęło pod dupą palić… Czarny protest w perspektywie organizatorek. Warszawa: Instytut Studiów Zaawansowanych. Retrieved from: http://krytykapolityczna.pl/file/sites/4/2017/09/Nam-si%C4%99-zacz%C4%99%C5%82o-pod-dup%C4%85-pali%C4%87_Murawska_Wlodarczyk.pdf (accessed 20.04.2019).

Nowicka, Wanda. 2007. “The Struggle for Abortion Rights in Poland.” In Sex Politics: Reports from the Front Lines. Ed. R. Parker, R. Petchesky, and R. Sember. Rio de Janeiro: Sexuality Policy Watch.

Plummer, Ken. 1995. Telling Sexual Stories: Power, Change and Social Worlds. London: Routledge.

Plummer, Ken. 2001. “The Square of Intimate Citizenship: Some Preliminary Proposals.” Citizenship Studies 3(5): 237-253.

Plummer, Ken. 2003. Intimate Citizenship: Private Discussions and Public Dialogues. Seattle–London: University of Washington Press.

Ramme, Jennifer, and Claudia Snochowska-Gonzales. 2019. “Nie/zwykłe kobiety. Populizm prawicy, wola ludu a kobiecy suweren.” In Bunt kobiet. Czarne Protesty i Strajki Kobiet 2016-2018. Eds. E. Korolczuk, B. Kowalska, J. Ramme and C. Snochowskia-Gonzalez. Gdańsk: Europejskie Centrum Solidarności.

Richardson, Diane. “Constructing Sexual Citizenship: Theorizing Sexual Rights.” Critical Social Policy 1(20): 105–135. https://doi.org/10.1177/026101830002000105.

Siim, Birte. 2000. Gender and Citizenship. Politics and Agency in France, Britain and Denmark. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Voet, Rian. 1998. Feminism and Citizenship. London: Sage publications Ltd.

Walby, Sylvia. 1994. “Is Citizenship Gendered?” Sociology 28(2): 379–395.

Weeks, Jeffrey. 1998. “The Sexual Citizen.” Theory, Culture & Society 3–4(15): 35–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276498015003003.

Young, Iris Marion. 1989. “Polity and Group Difference: A Critique of the Ideal of Universal Citizenship.” Ethics 99(2): 250–274.

Yuval-Davis, Nira. 1997. “Women, Citizenship and Difference.” Feminist Review 57: 4–27.

Yuval-Davis, Nira, and Pnina Werbner. 1999. Women, Citizenship and Difference. London– New York: Zed Books.

Zawadzka, Anna. 2017. “Polityka mimikry. Polityka historyczna i feminizm w Polsce.” Zadra 1–2.

Zielińska, Katarzyna. 2012. “Challenging the Nation. Polish Women’s Quest for Democracy and Justice.” In Collective Identity and Democracy in the Enlarging Europe. Eds. M. Góra, Z. Mach and K. Zielińska. Frankfurt a. Maine: Peter Lang.