Re-making the Gorale: regional identity, European Union cultural policy and new models of 'entrepreneurial' citizenship in the Carpathian Borderlands
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Area Studies
Abstract
Title: 'Re-making the Gorale: Regional Identity, European Union cultural policy and new models of 'entrepreneurial' citizenship in the Carpathian borderlands.
Duration: 1st November, 2010 - 1st August, 2011.
Summary
The fall of Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989 sparked a resurgence of nationalism and nationalist sentiments, the popular perception of communism as a foreign imposition driving the repatriation of the state in favour of the nation. Twenty years after the break-up of the Eastern Bloc, however, the strengthening of regions as political and cultural entities threatens the unequivocal status of the nation-state as the origin of cultural and ethnic identities.
The research proposed examines this recent development, and seeks to understand the relationship between regional identity, European Union cultural policy and new models of 'entrepreneurial' citizenship in the borderlands of the Silesian Beskids, Southern Poland. The overall objective is to document and understand how the model of 'entrepreneurial' citizenship is actively appropriated and put into practice in the making of local and regional identities. This work focuses on three major areas of enquiry. The first is the role of 'cultural entrepreneurialism' for the creation of micro-businesses, jobs and cultural policy within the frame of Poland's post-socialist economic restructuring. The second is the importance of European Union cultural policy and its accompanying models of citizenship for the development of regional identities that are supported by such entrepreneurial ventures. Finally, the research questions the ability of such new modes of civic engagement, belonging and identity to challenge to the political, bureaucratic and cultural hegemony of the Polish nation-state.
These questions have arisen with the maturation of my current research project Lace and Licentiousness: The Politics of Shared Knowledge, funded by The Nuffield Foundation. The study was originally conceived as an examination of how policies of economic transition influenced innovation, small-scale entrepreneurship and the changing politics of specialist knowledge amongst traditional craft workers (lace makers) in Koniaków, Southern Poland. Long-term fieldwork in the region, however, revealed that entrepreneurialism and European integration are being embraced explicitly as the path to the re-discovery and revival of Highland (Górale) culture, traditions and dialect in the Silesian Beskids. At the same time, cultural funding from supra-national organizations is being sought for activities that strengthen ethnic and cultural ties with Górale groups across the border in the Slovak and Czech Republics. One example that highlights this process is the resurrection of the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Dukedom of Cieszyn Silesia as a 'Euroregion' in 1999. These measures have emphasized the cultural and historical integrity of regional identity, while creating conceptual links between the old, multi-ethnic political formation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the European Union. Using contemporary bureaucracy, Górale groups are re-imagining and re-instating historical territories, borders, and ethnic and linguistic communities. Together, these developments present alternative models of citizenship, civic engagement and belonging that all challenge the political, bureaucratic and cultural hegemony of the nation-state.
The planned six months of field research and archival work will already be completed by the proposed start date. The Fellowship is thus being sought primarily for the purposes of analysis, writing up and dissemination of the research, as well as the development of scholarly debate surrounding the issues in the form of a themed seminar hosted by the School of Interdisciplinary Areas Studies, University of Oxford.
Duration: 1st November, 2010 - 1st August, 2011.
Summary
The fall of Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989 sparked a resurgence of nationalism and nationalist sentiments, the popular perception of communism as a foreign imposition driving the repatriation of the state in favour of the nation. Twenty years after the break-up of the Eastern Bloc, however, the strengthening of regions as political and cultural entities threatens the unequivocal status of the nation-state as the origin of cultural and ethnic identities.
The research proposed examines this recent development, and seeks to understand the relationship between regional identity, European Union cultural policy and new models of 'entrepreneurial' citizenship in the borderlands of the Silesian Beskids, Southern Poland. The overall objective is to document and understand how the model of 'entrepreneurial' citizenship is actively appropriated and put into practice in the making of local and regional identities. This work focuses on three major areas of enquiry. The first is the role of 'cultural entrepreneurialism' for the creation of micro-businesses, jobs and cultural policy within the frame of Poland's post-socialist economic restructuring. The second is the importance of European Union cultural policy and its accompanying models of citizenship for the development of regional identities that are supported by such entrepreneurial ventures. Finally, the research questions the ability of such new modes of civic engagement, belonging and identity to challenge to the political, bureaucratic and cultural hegemony of the Polish nation-state.
These questions have arisen with the maturation of my current research project Lace and Licentiousness: The Politics of Shared Knowledge, funded by The Nuffield Foundation. The study was originally conceived as an examination of how policies of economic transition influenced innovation, small-scale entrepreneurship and the changing politics of specialist knowledge amongst traditional craft workers (lace makers) in Koniaków, Southern Poland. Long-term fieldwork in the region, however, revealed that entrepreneurialism and European integration are being embraced explicitly as the path to the re-discovery and revival of Highland (Górale) culture, traditions and dialect in the Silesian Beskids. At the same time, cultural funding from supra-national organizations is being sought for activities that strengthen ethnic and cultural ties with Górale groups across the border in the Slovak and Czech Republics. One example that highlights this process is the resurrection of the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Dukedom of Cieszyn Silesia as a 'Euroregion' in 1999. These measures have emphasized the cultural and historical integrity of regional identity, while creating conceptual links between the old, multi-ethnic political formation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the European Union. Using contemporary bureaucracy, Górale groups are re-imagining and re-instating historical territories, borders, and ethnic and linguistic communities. Together, these developments present alternative models of citizenship, civic engagement and belonging that all challenge the political, bureaucratic and cultural hegemony of the nation-state.
The planned six months of field research and archival work will already be completed by the proposed start date. The Fellowship is thus being sought primarily for the purposes of analysis, writing up and dissemination of the research, as well as the development of scholarly debate surrounding the issues in the form of a themed seminar hosted by the School of Interdisciplinary Areas Studies, University of Oxford.
Planned Impact
Impact Summary
This research relies heavily on ethnographic research in the communities of the Trojwies mirco-region. Six months of fieldwork in small communities such as these will necessarily leave a mark on local lives and social relations. The applicant is very aware of the need to share with her local respondents and collaborators the results of her research, both in terms of giving them access to her published material and through forming specific, local initiatives through which people in the community might benefit from the study. This will be done in two ways (detailed below): the depositing of academic, written works with the local library and the Municipal Cultural Centre in Istebna, the creation of a workshop on cultural policy structure, channels for influencing policy and procedure of applying for funds.
Dissemination of academic work:
By depositing copies of scholarly publications written on the basis of this material in the local municipal library in Istebna, the Municipal Cultural Centre (Gminny Osrodek Kultury, Istebna) and the Museum of the Beskid Region, Wisla, this research will be made available to all participants and collaborating institutions. As most publications will necessarily be in English, this may restrict the ability of some inhabitants lacking language skills from accessing them material. However, I will endeavor to disseminate my findings in other ways that will benefit a wider section of the local community (see below).
Workshop(s) on cultural policy, policy-making and funding:
The development of a free workshop and materials for local businesses, interest organizations and cultural groups (e.g. music and dance troupes, choirs etc.) together with the director of the Gminny Osrodek Kultury, Istebna (GOK - Municipal Cultural Centre), Elzbieta Legierska-Niewiadomska.
The planned workshop would take place during my time in the community (14th March to 10th April, 2011). It would consist of a three, 40 minute presentations explaining:
- the structure of cultural policy and funding in Poland and beyond,
- the local, duties and contacts for local, regional and national governmental and third sector organizations offering financial, legal or other support for small scale civic and/or entrepreneurial cultural initiatives,
- a run-through of the procedures for application to select funding initiatives.
My own input would be to explicate and present on the structure of policy and policy making in Poland and the EU, as well as offer advice and support where materials and applications may be available predominantly in English. Currently, language is often a barrier for people in the community seeking additional information and wider funding for their activities.
Materials in the form of small booklet outlining the contents of the presentation, supplying contacts and addresses of relevant organizations and the nature of different funding initiatives available to groups, businesses and individuals will be produced directly at GOK. The document will be produced using word-processing software, printed and photocopied as required, thus costing very little and being easily reproducible and easy to update in the future. The cost will be born by the GOK itself. A power-point presentation will also be made for each talk. All materials and presentations will be in Polish.
In the short term, it is hoped that these activities will return to the community in an immediately beneficial way the assistance, support and knowledge I gained while working in the community in a manner that directly benefits all participants. In the medium to long term, it is hoped that by making my results available to the local community, as well as developing practical tools for groups and individuals seeking support and funding for local cultural activities, this research will ultimately contribute to the further eco
This research relies heavily on ethnographic research in the communities of the Trojwies mirco-region. Six months of fieldwork in small communities such as these will necessarily leave a mark on local lives and social relations. The applicant is very aware of the need to share with her local respondents and collaborators the results of her research, both in terms of giving them access to her published material and through forming specific, local initiatives through which people in the community might benefit from the study. This will be done in two ways (detailed below): the depositing of academic, written works with the local library and the Municipal Cultural Centre in Istebna, the creation of a workshop on cultural policy structure, channels for influencing policy and procedure of applying for funds.
Dissemination of academic work:
By depositing copies of scholarly publications written on the basis of this material in the local municipal library in Istebna, the Municipal Cultural Centre (Gminny Osrodek Kultury, Istebna) and the Museum of the Beskid Region, Wisla, this research will be made available to all participants and collaborating institutions. As most publications will necessarily be in English, this may restrict the ability of some inhabitants lacking language skills from accessing them material. However, I will endeavor to disseminate my findings in other ways that will benefit a wider section of the local community (see below).
Workshop(s) on cultural policy, policy-making and funding:
The development of a free workshop and materials for local businesses, interest organizations and cultural groups (e.g. music and dance troupes, choirs etc.) together with the director of the Gminny Osrodek Kultury, Istebna (GOK - Municipal Cultural Centre), Elzbieta Legierska-Niewiadomska.
The planned workshop would take place during my time in the community (14th March to 10th April, 2011). It would consist of a three, 40 minute presentations explaining:
- the structure of cultural policy and funding in Poland and beyond,
- the local, duties and contacts for local, regional and national governmental and third sector organizations offering financial, legal or other support for small scale civic and/or entrepreneurial cultural initiatives,
- a run-through of the procedures for application to select funding initiatives.
My own input would be to explicate and present on the structure of policy and policy making in Poland and the EU, as well as offer advice and support where materials and applications may be available predominantly in English. Currently, language is often a barrier for people in the community seeking additional information and wider funding for their activities.
Materials in the form of small booklet outlining the contents of the presentation, supplying contacts and addresses of relevant organizations and the nature of different funding initiatives available to groups, businesses and individuals will be produced directly at GOK. The document will be produced using word-processing software, printed and photocopied as required, thus costing very little and being easily reproducible and easy to update in the future. The cost will be born by the GOK itself. A power-point presentation will also be made for each talk. All materials and presentations will be in Polish.
In the short term, it is hoped that these activities will return to the community in an immediately beneficial way the assistance, support and knowledge I gained while working in the community in a manner that directly benefits all participants. In the medium to long term, it is hoped that by making my results available to the local community, as well as developing practical tools for groups and individuals seeking support and funding for local cultural activities, this research will ultimately contribute to the further eco
Organisations
Publications
Makovicky N
(2018)
Kombinowanie : agency, informality, and the poetics of self in Highland Poland
in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Makovicky, N M
Neoliberalism and the Moral Economy of Fraud
Makovicky, Nicolette
(2014)
Neoliberalism, Personhood, and Postsocialism: Enterprising Selves in Changing Economies
Nicolette Makovicky (Author)
(2012)
Review: FashionEast. The Spectre that Haunted Socialism.
Sendyka P
(2018)
Transhumant pastoralism in Poland: Contemporary challenges
in Pastoralism
| Description | The objective of this research has been to examine the relationship between the formation of regional identity, European Union cultural policy, and new models of citizenship in contemporary Central Europe. An analysis was made of ethnographic material which was collected in the Euroregion of Cieszyn Silesia (straddling the border of Poland and the Czech Republic) during 6 months of fieldwork prior to the start of the Fellowship, and during 4 weeks of fieldwork undertaken during the Fellowship. This research sought to answer the following questions: a) How is the model of 'entrepreneurial' citizenship actively appropriated and put into practice in the making of local and regional identities? b) What role do European Union cultural policies and funding schemes play in this process? c)How has this process changed the relative importance individuals and communities grant established frameworks for self-identification (e.g. nation, history, ethnicity). My findings showed that the active appropriation of models of 'entrepreneurial' citizenship was taken up by a minority of socially well-connected actors who have been able to establish the necessary connections with local and regional funding bodies and bureaucracy, as well as the offices of the Euroregion Cieszyn Silesia and the offices of the Silesian regional council. The majority of these persons were male, middle-aged, and run a business based on tourism and/or the heritage industry, or were producers of specialist foods. I found that indigenous notions of enterprise (and the notion that indigenous Gorale were particularly prone to enterprise) overlapped and became intertwined with the rhetoric of European integration and economic liberalization. This allowed these actors to declare themselves as having been 'always already' enterprising civic capitalists by virtue of the Gorale roots (and despite decades of socialist rule). However, I also observed that the move from centralized, state funding for cultural activities to project-based funding has excluded the community majority who do not possess the skills, knowledge, time, and most importantly the social network required to access and successfully bid for funding. Thus, European Union project-based cultural funding designed to foster local civic and commercial initiatives in fact became a socially exclusionary mechanism. Furthermore, as Gorale identity became strongly associated with social and cultural enterprise within a framework set by external funding bodies, this exclusionary dynamic also cut members of the community off from a broader understanding and expression of regional identity. Beyond the problems of elite formation, the research found that there has been a substantial strengthening of local and regional identity as Silesian Gorale and - in particular - a renewed identification of the region as belonging to two geographically, historically and cultural distinct areas operating beyond or outside the boundaries of the Polish state: one being the territory of the pre-World War I Duchy of Cieszyn Silesia (territorially overlapping with today's Euroregion) and the other the trans-Carpathian region as the imagined home of Gorale populations across Polish territory and beyond. The research suggests that project-based support for local cultural and civic initiatives have strengthened Gorale ethnic identity by enabling increased communication, interaction, collaboration and trade within the imagined geography of both the Silesian Gorale, and Gorale communities in general. |
| Exploitation Route | This research has potential interest to those working in the development of cultural policy, as well as civic organizations and non-governmental bodies looking to understand the dynamics and consequences of community intervention in areas dependent on tourism and heritage. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Other |
| Description | CEELBAS Research Networks Scheme |
| Amount | £2,500 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | CN12OX-7 |
| Organisation | Centre for East European Language Based Area Studies (CEELBAS) |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2013 |
| End | 12/2013 |
| Description | John Fell OUP Research Fund |
| Amount | £4,134 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | Project ref: 111/100 |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Department | John Fell Fund |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2012 |
| End | 01/2012 |