June 20

4:00 PM - 5:45 PM

0.A.03

Elzbieta Opilowska

Abstract: Border regions are peripheries. Remote from the national center, they usually face depopulation and weak economy. On the other hand, according to the European regional policy goals and financial instruments as Interreg, border regions are places where European integration can be tested. Laboratories of integration or microcosms of Europeanness are labels frequently attributed to borderlands. However, they are also places where two nations, two state systems, two languages and cultures come together and could learn or isolate from each other. Thus, they provide fertile ground for populism and far right movements. Nevertheless, border location is very often used as distinguishing feature and resource. The cross-border cooperation (CBC) offers the opportunity to overcome economic and social problems, also beyond the nation states.

The aim of the paper is to discuss the first results of the research project on the German-Polish relations in foreign policy and cross-border cooperation, funded by the German-Polish Science Foundation. Based on expert interviews I will address the following questions: How do the bilateral relations on the national level impact the local cooperation modes? Which factors and motives determine the cross-border cooperation? Which role do the EU- and the states actors play in establishment and sustainability of cross-border networks?

Disciplines: Sociology
Political Science

Substantive Tags: Central Europe, Foreign Policy/Relations, European Union and Integration, Regionalism, Territorial Politics

Research Networks: European Culture, Territorial Politics and Federalism, Transnational Memory and Identity in Europe

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