Monday, September 14, 2015

Cultural imperialism. How much has really changed?

In the period 1990-2015 many Russians and Ukrainians found employment in Polish elementary and secondary state schools of music. This would be ok if their professional qualities exceeded those of the local candidates and if there were no qualified candidates from Poland. However, graduates of Polish musical academies often experience great difficulties in finding suitable jobs. This makes the practice of employing foreign nationals highly questionable.

It is clear that this employment policy did not have good results. Combined with other circumstances and facts, it is an evidence of continued cultural imperialism from the East. It is also one of many proofs that things have remained essentially unchanged in the area of job inequalities and discrimination faced by some Poles in Poland. During the communist dictatorship 1944-1990 all those with anti-communist views were strongly discriminated and often harassed in their jobs and in private life. Not much has changed. Discrimination continues, sometimes even more openly than before 1990. I and my wife experienced and continue to experience a vicious political persecution.

There is an interesting case of a Russian citizen Olga R. employed in 1993 by the Musical Academy in Wroclaw with the rank of adiunkt, which may be roughly compared to a mix between a post-doc and an assistant professor at an American university. In a July 4, 2007 ruling, case II PK 358/06, the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy) stated that she did not have the academic title required for this job. She was a Russian citizen, a graduate of the Musical Academy in Sankt Petersburg.