Competitive elections are the basis of democracy; without them there is no freedom of choice. Elections without competition are associated with the façade nature of elections in undemocratic systems. There are, however, exceptions to the belief that in a democratic system every election must be competitive. We can also observe them in Poland, particularly in small communes with up to 20,000 inhabitants. They take two forms: non-competitive elections of commune leaders and councillors. The latter case is known in the literature under the legal term of filling seats without voting. In 2018, as many as 8% of Polish councillors obtained their mandate without votes. In 2018 compared to 2014, the number of such cases increased by 77% and compared to 2010, the increase was nearly 300%. In extreme cases, local elections become a ritual with a known result, and the voter loses the ability to influence their representatives. At the same time, from 2002 to 2018, the number of candidates for municipal councils fell by 38%. Both phenomena may be a signal of problems that harm Polish local democracy. The article analyses them through the prism of the mechanisms for selecting candidates for councillors.
{"title":"Polish local democracy in crisis? Non-competitive elections and the supply of candidates for councillors","authors":"M. Mazurkiewicz","doi":"10.25167/brs4889","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25167/brs4889","url":null,"abstract":"Competitive elections are the basis of democracy; without them there is no freedom of choice. Elections without competition are associated with the façade nature of elections in undemocratic systems. There are, however, exceptions to the belief that in a democratic system every election must be competitive. We can also observe them in Poland, particularly in small communes with up to 20,000 inhabitants. They take two forms: non-competitive elections of commune leaders and councillors. The latter case is known in the literature under the legal term of filling seats without voting. In 2018, as many as 8% of Polish councillors obtained their mandate without votes. In 2018 compared to 2014, the number of such cases increased by 77% and compared to 2010, the increase was nearly 300%. In extreme cases, local elections become a ritual with a known result, and the voter loses the ability to influence their representatives. At the same time, from 2002 to 2018, the number of candidates for municipal councils fell by 38%. Both phenomena may be a signal of problems that harm Polish local democracy. The article analyses them through the prism of the mechanisms for selecting candidates for councillors.","PeriodicalId":431553,"journal":{"name":"Pogranicze. Polish Borderlands Studies","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121220506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article aims to discuss the institutional and legal solutions that have emerged in connection with the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, concerning the rules of crossing internal borders in the EU+ area. The author, relying on a descriptive and empirical method, emphasizes that the development of the pandemic means that a solution must be found to preserve the freedom of movement in the EU+ area. Therefore, an important direction in this context is the fact that, in the conditions of increasing prevalence and development of vaccination in the European Union and the Schengen area, it was possible to establish and implement a common framework for issuing, verifying and mutual recognition of interoperable certificates of vaccination, test results and recovery in connection with COVID-19. This allowed for the introduction and issuing of EU digital certificates (EU Covid Certificate), commonly referred to as a „covid passport”.
{"title":"The borders of the European Union in the context of the States’ response to the pandemic threat and the legal framework for the actions taken","authors":"Grzegorz Balawajder","doi":"10.25167/brs4523","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25167/brs4523","url":null,"abstract":"The article aims to discuss the institutional and legal solutions that have emerged in connection with the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, concerning the rules of crossing internal borders in the EU+ area. The author, relying on a descriptive and empirical method, emphasizes that the development of the pandemic means that a solution must be found to preserve the freedom of movement in the EU+ area. Therefore, an important direction in this context is the fact that, in the conditions of increasing prevalence and development of vaccination in the European Union and the Schengen area, it was possible to establish and implement a common framework for issuing, verifying and mutual recognition of interoperable certificates of vaccination, test results and recovery in connection with COVID-19. This allowed for the introduction and issuing of EU digital certificates (EU Covid Certificate), commonly referred to as a „covid passport”.","PeriodicalId":431553,"journal":{"name":"Pogranicze. Polish Borderlands Studies","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131131092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This project evaluates the state borders between Czechia and Poland in the region of Cieszyn Silesia from the perspective of memory studies. Emphasizing the fact that the borders and especially border crossings are sites rich in symbolics, a field observation was conducted to explore whether the border-crossings (can) play a role in memory work. These sites, apart from their apparent function, represent bridges between two states and are usually two national communities. If these groups were in antagonistic relationships in the past (tensions, violence), the border could also become a site of rivalry (e.g., contested border demarcations). In this project, all the border-crossings between Czechia and Poland in Cieszyn Silesia are considered, and the imprints of the past are identified. According to the approach of the SANE framework (Björkdahl et al., 2017), some of these border crossings can be also considered memory sites which means they are (can become) a platform for reconciliation or construction of new and better cross-border relationships. That goal is also valid for Cieszyn Silesia which was divided into two parts after the First World War (Czechoslovak and Polish). Such demarcation did not respect the national and linguistic distribution of populations and left many Poles in Czechoslovakia. The demarcation of the new border was accompanied by events that turned sensitive from a longer perspective (Czechoslovak military campaign in 1919 on Polish territory, Polish occupation of Cieszyn Silesia in 1938). This paper, therefore, explores the reconciling and conflicting narratives the memory sites may have.
{"title":"Border-crossings as memory sites? The case study of the Czech-Polish border in Cieszyn Silesia","authors":"Ondřej Elbel","doi":"10.25167/brs4689","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25167/brs4689","url":null,"abstract":"This project evaluates the state borders between Czechia and Poland in the region of Cieszyn Silesia from the perspective of memory studies. Emphasizing the fact that the borders and especially border crossings are sites rich in symbolics, a field observation was conducted to explore whether the border-crossings (can) play a role in memory work. These sites, apart from their apparent function, represent bridges between two states and are usually two national communities. If these groups were in antagonistic relationships in the past (tensions, violence), the border could also become a site of rivalry (e.g., contested border demarcations). In this project, all the border-crossings between Czechia and Poland in Cieszyn Silesia are considered, and the imprints of the past are identified. According to the approach of the SANE framework (Björkdahl et al., 2017), some of these border crossings can be also considered memory sites which means they are (can become) a platform for reconciliation or construction of new and better cross-border relationships. That goal is also valid for Cieszyn Silesia which was divided into two parts after the First World War (Czechoslovak and Polish). Such demarcation did not respect the national and linguistic distribution of populations and left many Poles in Czechoslovakia. The demarcation of the new border was accompanied by events that turned sensitive from a longer perspective (Czechoslovak military campaign in 1919 on Polish territory, Polish occupation of Cieszyn Silesia in 1938). This paper, therefore, explores the reconciling and conflicting narratives the memory sites may have.","PeriodicalId":431553,"journal":{"name":"Pogranicze. Polish Borderlands Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129523071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The 1996 Constitution of South Africa includes the right of every South African to freedom and security. It is the government’s responsibility to guarantee that national security is maintained and that residents within the limits of South African borders are protected. Based on this assumption, the issue of border management and migration regulations is presumed to be critical. Poor border management and unregulated migration jeopardise national security and endanger residents’ freedom and security. This article contends that South Africa’s inadequate border control and unrestrained migration have jeopardised the country’s national security. As a result of the inadequacy of border control in South Africa, South Africans have resorted to various xenophobic actions, with many foreign nationals losing their lives in the process. This article examines the current policy responses to migration and security at border crossings and what has gone wrong in South African border management. A qualitative research technique was used to fulfil the goals of this paper.
{"title":"Using Technology to Address Cross Border Crime and Illegal Migration: The Case of South Africa","authors":"Victor H. Mlambo, T. Adetiba, X. Thusi","doi":"10.25167/brs4830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25167/brs4830","url":null,"abstract":"The 1996 Constitution of South Africa includes the right of every South African to freedom and security. It is the government’s responsibility to guarantee that national security is maintained and that residents within the limits of South African borders are protected. Based on this assumption, the issue of border management and migration regulations is presumed to be critical. Poor border management and unregulated migration jeopardise national security and endanger residents’ freedom and security. This article contends that South Africa’s inadequate border control and unrestrained migration have jeopardised the country’s national security. As a result of the inadequacy of border control in South Africa, South Africans have resorted to various xenophobic actions, with many foreign nationals losing their lives in the process. This article examines the current policy responses to migration and security at border crossings and what has gone wrong in South African border management. A qualitative research technique was used to fulfil the goals of this paper.","PeriodicalId":431553,"journal":{"name":"Pogranicze. Polish Borderlands Studies","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116907437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article presents an ethnographic case study on the labour insertion of 30 Bolivian Aymara women in Arica (Chile). It covers their life histories, contrasting their productive and migratory experiences. Our objective is to describe the sectors where the interviewees insert themselves in the labour market and show that their productive functions are configured in a multidimensional way: as ethnicised cultural and social capital and as a gender mandate. The findings suggest that their working activities are framed by the deployment of the multiple presence of women, which is configured as an expression of their productive and reproductive overload.
{"title":"Gendered Inequalities in Ethnic Enclaves: Labour Insertion of Bolivian Aymara Women in Northern Chilean Borderlands","authors":"M. Guizardi, Lina Magalhães, Isabel Araya","doi":"10.25167/brs4706","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25167/brs4706","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents an ethnographic case study on the labour insertion of 30 Bolivian Aymara women in Arica (Chile). It covers their life histories, contrasting their productive and migratory experiences. Our objective is to describe the sectors where the interviewees insert themselves in the labour market and show that their productive functions are configured in a multidimensional way: as ethnicised cultural and social capital and as a gender mandate. The findings suggest that their working activities are framed by the deployment of the multiple presence of women, which is configured as an expression of their productive and reproductive overload.","PeriodicalId":431553,"journal":{"name":"Pogranicze. Polish Borderlands Studies","volume":"198 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132257668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In recent years, the most dramatic episodes of the Greek-Turkish conflict have been taking place in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean. In addition to the maritime frontier, a tense situation has emerged along the Evros/Meriç River, which currently serves as an artificially constructed defence line. This paper seeks to understand how the defensive role has emerged and how it achieved stability through nationalist policies, bilateral conflicts, and European encouragement. The study employs the constructivist theory of international relations to unfold the question which provides a theoretical background and methodological framework for analysing historical periods and related transformations. The paper argues that the river did not originally serve as a natural border but has taken on a “borderized” nature, a highly protected defence line which undermines the development of the whole Thracian region.
{"title":"Constructing a defence line: The functional transformation of Evros/Meriç river","authors":"Péter Kacziba, Viktor Glied","doi":"10.25167/brs4562","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25167/brs4562","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, the most dramatic episodes of the Greek-Turkish conflict have been taking place in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean. In addition to the maritime frontier, a tense situation has emerged along the Evros/Meriç River, which currently serves as an artificially constructed defence line. This paper seeks to understand how the defensive role has emerged and how it achieved stability through nationalist policies, bilateral conflicts, and European encouragement. The study employs the constructivist theory of international relations to unfold the question which provides a theoretical background and methodological framework for analysing historical periods and related transformations. The paper argues that the river did not originally serve as a natural border but has taken on a “borderized” nature, a highly protected defence line which undermines the development of the whole Thracian region.","PeriodicalId":431553,"journal":{"name":"Pogranicze. Polish Borderlands Studies","volume":"106 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116658481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The German minority has been successfully putting up candidates in local and parliamentary elections in the Opole Voivodeship since the 1990s. It has its representatives on all levels of local government in the region, as well as in the Polish parliament. In many local governments in Opolskie Province - including at the regional level - it co-manages, and in some communes and districts it exercises authority. In subsequent elections for more than three decades it has been competing for votes with political parties, regional or local committees, as well as with committees referring to ethnic issues, in Opolskie Province - silesian. The aim of this article is to indicate which of these committees are main political rivals of German minority at the level of municipalities, districts, regional assembly and in parliamentary elections in the Opolskie province. In order to determine this, the aggregated results of political groups, local committees and committees relating to ethnic issues were compared and analyzed with the results of the minority committee at the different levels of local government and in parliamentary elections. The research used research methods such as quantitative-qualitative analysis, case study, descriptive analysis, comparative analysis and desk research. In order to deepen the issues, to better understand them, as well as to confront information from data source and literature about political competitors, activists of the German minority were also asked in IDI interviews.
{"title":"Political competitors of the German minority in local and parliamentary elections in the years 1990-2019 in Opole Province","authors":"Katarzyna Kownacka","doi":"10.25167/brs4738","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25167/brs4738","url":null,"abstract":"The German minority has been successfully putting up candidates in local and parliamentary elections in the Opole Voivodeship since the 1990s. It has its representatives on all levels of local government in the region, as well as in the Polish parliament. In many local governments in Opolskie Province - including at the regional level - it co-manages, and in some communes and districts it exercises authority. In subsequent elections for more than three decades it has been competing for votes with political parties, regional or local committees, as well as with committees referring to ethnic issues, in Opolskie Province - silesian. The aim of this article is to indicate which of these committees are main political rivals of German minority at the level of municipalities, districts, regional assembly and in parliamentary elections in the Opolskie province. In order to determine this, the aggregated results of political groups, local committees and committees relating to ethnic issues were compared and analyzed with the results of the minority committee at the different levels of local government and in parliamentary elections. The research used research methods such as quantitative-qualitative analysis, case study, descriptive analysis, comparative analysis and desk research. In order to deepen the issues, to better understand them, as well as to confront information from data source and literature about political competitors, activists of the German minority were also asked in IDI interviews.","PeriodicalId":431553,"journal":{"name":"Pogranicze. Polish Borderlands Studies","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133970467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This research note focuses on two phenomena: the transformations in the landscape in Hungary as an effect of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and the welcome/help centers that were established to channel mobility and provide a temporary safe space. I suggest that liminality (which serves as a main explanatory category) is characteristic of both. It is stated that in this context that the bodies of refugees are reminders of the existence of the (state) border, which gets reaffirmed by the process of welcoming and hosting and is also reflected in the visual reminders in the landscape. I also divide the management of the refugee crisis into three phases: spontaneous action, institutionalization, and sanitization. With the phase of sanitization (removing the physically existing “indicators” of the war, including refugees, volunteers, signs, and queues) the reality and severity of the war can be concealed, and the “normality” can be reinstated. Research is based on field observations and interviews taken in March 2022 in Budapest, Kisvárda, Vásárosnamény, Barabás, and Beregsurány in Hungary.
{"title":"Landscape in transition in the shadow of 2022 Russia’s invasion in Ukraine – notes from Hungary","authors":"Ágnes Erőss","doi":"10.25167/brs4792","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25167/brs4792","url":null,"abstract":"This research note focuses on two phenomena: the transformations in the landscape in Hungary as an effect of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and the welcome/help centers that were established to channel mobility and provide a temporary safe space. I suggest that liminality (which serves as a main explanatory category) is characteristic of both. It is stated that in this context that the bodies of refugees are reminders of the existence of the (state) border, which gets reaffirmed by the process of welcoming and hosting and is also reflected in the visual reminders in the landscape. I also divide the management of the refugee crisis into three phases: spontaneous action, institutionalization, and sanitization. With the phase of sanitization (removing the physically existing “indicators” of the war, including refugees, volunteers, signs, and queues) the reality and severity of the war can be concealed, and the “normality” can be reinstated. Research is based on field observations and interviews taken in March 2022 in Budapest, Kisvárda, Vásárosnamény, Barabás, and Beregsurány in Hungary.","PeriodicalId":431553,"journal":{"name":"Pogranicze. Polish Borderlands Studies","volume":"08 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116985761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wojciech Opioła, Bartosz Czepil, M. Dębicki, Ewa Ganowicz, Justyna Kajta, Katalin Kovály, Łukasz Moll, Natalia Niedźwiecka-Iwańczak, Elżbieta Opiłowska, Grigorii Pidgrushniy
Since February 24, 2022, we have been witnessing the next stage of what began in the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War: a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. For the first time in the history of the European Union, the intensive armed conflict is now approaching the border of the EU and Schengen Zone. The consequences of war: the refugee crisis, humanitarian aid, and economic problems have affected EU countries both immediately and directly. While keeping in mind the human tragedy and the tragedy of Ukraine, we would like to address a few important questions from the perspective of regional and border scholars. From this perspective, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine is another stage of the new political order in Europe, preceded by the war in Ukraine that started in 2014, the 2015 migration crisis, 2021 Belarus-EU border crisis, which altogether – from the perspective of the border studies – could be described as re-bordering and securitization of borderlands. In this joint editorial, we address four main questions. Firstly, how we can interpret the Russian invasion in the wider, historical context, taking the frontier thesis as an explanatory category developed by Turner (1994). Secondly, the Ukrainian refugee crisis, in the context of the previous Belarusian-EU border crisis, is a multi-layered issue, where religion, gender, geopolitics, and rationales meet. Thirdly, apart from the military and political actions, war and refugee flux could be seen from the perspective of a grassroots movement of aid. Fourthly, the war in Ukraine brings uncertainty and questions about democracy and peace in Western Europe.
{"title":"War and politics. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and refugee crisis on the eastern EU border from the perspective of border studies","authors":"Wojciech Opioła, Bartosz Czepil, M. Dębicki, Ewa Ganowicz, Justyna Kajta, Katalin Kovály, Łukasz Moll, Natalia Niedźwiecka-Iwańczak, Elżbieta Opiłowska, Grigorii Pidgrushniy","doi":"10.25167/brs4791","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25167/brs4791","url":null,"abstract":"Since February 24, 2022, we have been witnessing the next stage of what began in the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War: a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. For the first time in the history of the European Union, the intensive armed conflict is now approaching the border of the EU and Schengen Zone. The consequences of war: the refugee crisis, humanitarian aid, and economic problems have affected EU countries both immediately and directly. While keeping in mind the human tragedy and the tragedy of Ukraine, we would like to address a few important questions from the perspective of regional and border scholars. From this perspective, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine is another stage of the new political order in Europe, preceded by the war in Ukraine that started in 2014, the 2015 migration crisis, 2021 Belarus-EU border crisis, which altogether – from the perspective of the border studies – could be described as re-bordering and securitization of borderlands. \u0000In this joint editorial, we address four main questions. Firstly, how we can interpret the Russian invasion in the wider, historical context, taking the frontier thesis as an explanatory category developed by Turner (1994). Secondly, the Ukrainian refugee crisis, in the context of the previous Belarusian-EU border crisis, is a multi-layered issue, where religion, gender, geopolitics, and rationales meet. Thirdly, apart from the military and political actions, war and refugee flux could be seen from the perspective of a grassroots movement of aid. Fourthly, the war in Ukraine brings uncertainty and questions about democracy and peace in Western Europe.","PeriodicalId":431553,"journal":{"name":"Pogranicze. Polish Borderlands Studies","volume":"134 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124596853","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Multiethnic borderlands, like Transcarpathia in Western Ukraine, are characterized by ethnic-linguistic-confessional complexity where ethnic boundary-making and ethnic categorization are constructed and rooted in politics. The present study aims to analyze how the mechanisms of ethnic categorization and boundary-making play out on a local level. Based on data analysis and fieldwork conducted in Hudya/Gődényháza in Transcarpathia, a village with ethnically, linguistically, and denominationally diverse population, we describe how “ethnicity” is getting blurred and reconstructed in the narrative strategies of residents. We examine the characteristics of the various classification systems (external classification, self-reporting) and their relation to each other. It is found that the ethnic, linguistic, and denominational affiliations in the village (and its wider region) are often divergent, which is reflected in the significant discrepancy between the data gathered in various ethnic classification systems. We argue that denomination is the prime factor of both self-identification and external classification, obscuring the boundaries between religious and standard ethnic terms. We further point to the formation of new boundaries between autochthonous and allochthonous populations. Although this cleavage emerged a few decades ago and has been transgressed by dozens of marriages among autochthonous and newcomers, it can easily get ethnicized, thus it adds an extra layer to the existing distinctions.
{"title":"Ethnic categorization practices and boundary (re)making in a multiethnic borderland of Ukraine","authors":"Ágnes Erőss, Katalin Kovály, Patrik Tátrai","doi":"10.25167/brs4561","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25167/brs4561","url":null,"abstract":"Multiethnic borderlands, like Transcarpathia in Western Ukraine, are characterized by ethnic-linguistic-confessional complexity where ethnic boundary-making and ethnic categorization are constructed and rooted in politics. The present study aims to analyze how the mechanisms of ethnic categorization and boundary-making play out on a local level. Based on data analysis and fieldwork conducted in Hudya/Gődényháza in Transcarpathia, a village with ethnically, linguistically, and denominationally diverse population, we describe how “ethnicity” is getting blurred and reconstructed in the narrative strategies of residents. We examine the characteristics of the various classification systems (external classification, self-reporting) and their relation to each other. It is found that the ethnic, linguistic, and denominational affiliations in the village (and its wider region) are often divergent, which is reflected in the significant discrepancy between the data gathered in various ethnic classification systems. We argue that denomination is the prime factor of both self-identification and external classification, obscuring the boundaries between religious and standard ethnic terms. We further point to the formation of new boundaries between autochthonous and allochthonous populations. Although this cleavage emerged a few decades ago and has been transgressed by dozens of marriages among autochthonous and newcomers, it can easily get ethnicized, thus it adds an extra layer to the existing distinctions.","PeriodicalId":431553,"journal":{"name":"Pogranicze. Polish Borderlands Studies","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126071476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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