PENTACTORS PROJECT

PENTECOSTALISM / ACTIVISM / OTHERS

Missionaries, Migrants and Hosts. Pentecostalism, the 'Other', and Activism in Contemporary Poland

ABOUT THE PROJECT: fields of our interest and main research questions

The PENTACTORS project is of ethnographic nature. It aims to explore the vibrant and, each time, more visible Pentecostal world in Poland. We are interested in these aspects of the contemporary dynamics of Pentecostalism in Poland that are linked with new socio-political developments in the country and with broadly framed migration. We are curious about what it means to be Pentecostal in a predominantly Catholic country such as Poland; and what does it mean to be both Pentecostal and a foreigner in Poland? We would like to listen to those Pentecostal voices that came to Poland as migrants, refugees, passers-by, missionaries, and other types of newcomers. What is the perception of local Polish Pentecostalism by people who came to Poland from different countries and different models of Pentecostal culture? What are the experiences after first contact with Polish Pentecostals? Is there something that Polish Pentecostals could learn from the foreigners, was the primary contact a stunning, fascinating or maybe a challenging experience? Is there a need and space for a new Pentecostal mission in Poland?

In the context of migration, we do not forget about the Polish Pentecostal world, we would like to know how it is changing and developing by integrating, cooperating and learning from the newcomers. What are the main challenges?

Finally, we are interested in the idea of “acting”. How do Pentecostals perceive and what do they do in terms of engagement with society and also those individuals who need support, help, guidance, and transformation? How do Pentecostals imagine the change and transformation they bring into society and individual lives? What does the Pentecostal mission mean in terms of engagement in improving, supporting, helping, showing the way and life-changing activities? How do Polish and foreign Pentecostals strive for a “better world”? How do they imagine and act for social justice, social advancement, good city, state and future? What is the Pentecostal attitude in terms of crises such as forced migration, refugee crisis, unemployment trauma, racism, discrimination, poverty, and multiple other struggles and life hardships? What kind of engagement and help is possible?

Therefore during our research, we will be particularly interested in three different dimensions of being Pentecostal in Poland: the level of everyday life – how to be Pentecostal in Poland, what are the struggles and challenges, what are the rewards; civic attitudes that include modes of belonging, worldview, and various modes of citizenship; and broadly defined activism.

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

In the PENTACTORS project, we will work with multiple actors involved in what is framed as Pentecostalism in Poland. While the tradition of the Pentecostal movement in Poland could be traced back to the first decades of the 20th century, recent developments of Pentecostalism in Poland are definitely made up of vibrant interactions between Polish hosts and foreigners. Therefore, our project is focusing on the notion of the ‘Other’ that becomes the main operational framework. The ‘Other’, allows approaching Pentecostalism in Poland in terms of both the ‘Other’ socio-religious space and the space confronting the ‘Other’.

The first dimension relates to the fact that the Pentecostal ‘Other’ in Poland links in a specific way with multiple religious, social and imaginative phenomena, where Catholicism constitutes the hegemonic matrix. Pentecostals and Charismatics are marginal in the Polish religious landscape but their approach and engagement with current social and political issues should be considered an example of social voice beyond mainstream Catholicism. It becomes valid, considering progressive religious pluralisation in Poland and the increasing visibility of Pentecostals in recent years in Poland.

The second dimension resonates with the fact that the Pentecostal movement in Poland has been, for several years, significantly influenced by foreign actors, particularly those coming from the Global South and the East – specifically from Ukraine. Adopting such a perspective allows capturing the Pentecostal ‘Other’ in Poland with the heuristic tool of the nexus of ‘Southern missionaries’ and ‘Ukrainian newcomers’. By ‘Southern missionaries’ we understand the wave of Pentecostal missionaries coming from the Global South and managing several spatialities in Polish Pentecostalism. ‘Ukrainian newcomers’ refers to Ukrainian Pentecostal migrants and recent war refugees resonating with the Polish Pentecostal circuit.

At the same time, this heuristic nexus mirrors current socio-political processes in Poland, such as the recent migratory crises in the country and the influx of Ukrainian war refugees caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In PENTACTORS project the figure of migrant, missionary, refugee, and foreign by-passer becomes the axis of the research, considering both religious spatialities and Polish society at large. Such a figure links internal Pentecostal dynamics in Poland with the overall socio-religious and political landscape and transnational socio-religious dynamics that involve Poland. With such an approach, we expect to reflect on the range of important processes in Polish contemporary Pentecostalism.

Therefore, it is crucial to ask how the internal dynamics, and the religious worlds of such groups as Pentecostals, are emplaced, connected and related to current social practices and contemporary socio-political performances in Poland. While the Pentecostal movement in Poland is rapidly evolving, also due to the migratory component, it is still unknown what exactly this growth means for the Pentecostal embedment in the social life in Poland – considering, firstly, its different dimensions such as, for instance, everyday practices, secondly, the current Pentecostal social, religious and political connectivity, and thirdly, the social and political engagement of its members.

Ultimately, unpacking the ‘Other’ by using the Southern-Ukrainian heuristic tool is also intended to direct reflection on the level of epistemic differences and similarities between Southern, Eastern, and local Pentecostal models. This will allow, in turn, to insert Polish Pentecostalism research into the global framework of Pentecostal studies. So far, the debate on the Central East European Pentecostal experiences is uncommonly framed by focusing on both a local context such as the hegemonic Catholic matrix, linked with the post-communist experience and on Southern epistemologies of Pentecostalism. By applying such a framework to religion in Poland, we expect to bring to light several aspects of the global connections of Polish Pentecostalism that have thus far been neglected.

 

RESEARCH AREA: Kraków, Lublin, Warsaw and the Polish Eastern border

Polish eastern border became, during recent months, a socio-political space, a magnifying glass of local and international politics, an assemblage of multiple modes of social engagement, activism, ideologies, convictions and individual attitudes. These frontier areas, together with several larger cities where migrants and refugees accumulate, will become our research field. Our spatial heuristic triangle is defined by the space between Krakow, and Lublin together with the eastern border area and Warsaw. As far as the research will be placed in three cities, the Eastern region of Poland (related to Lublin and at the same time to the Polish eastern border – the epicentre of the current migratory crisis and transition zone for war refugees) will be included in the triangle. The triangle represents an exemplary section of Polish territory that is defined through different types of connections.