The Unbearable Lightness of Bordering?

Marcin Dębicki — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article deals with the cross-border dimension of the social reality in the Polish-Ukrainian borderland. My intention is threefold: to describe the local perception of the border and the nature of local cross-border practices, to identify the determinants of the diagnosed state, and to propose an entry of these findings into selected theoretical concepts of border(lands) studies. The basis for my claims were ethnographic activities: a series of observations and interviews conducted with residents of this borderland while walking the entire area (at least 450 kilometers, about 120 towns and villages visited) in 2017–22, that is before the escalation of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The main findings of the research are that the border is for my interviewees a largely tamed phenomenon, almost invisible on a day-to-day basis. Despite its relatively low permeability, it is generally not associated with a barrier or limitation of the possibility of contact with the Ukrainian side of the borderland. This is due to the locals’ perception of the low attractiveness of that area and its inhabitants. The underlying empirical findings thus suggest a rethinking of theoretical categories that would be useful in capturing the phenomena inherent in borderlands of this kind.

Border and Regional Studies

The Unbearable Lightness of Bordering?