Angeliki Monnier
Fonction
Professeur
Organisation
Université de Lorraine
Entités (trans)frontalières au sein et autour de l’espace du Rhin supérieur
Entités (trans)frontalières au sein et autour de l’espace du Rhin supérieur
Border Region
France, Germany, Switzerland, Upper Rhine
Language(s)
Français
Main Category
Introduction
This publication investigates the notion of collective identity in the Upper Rhine cross-border region with the participation of various researchers and specialists in this region.
Summary
L’ouvrage pose la question générale de l’existence d’une identité collective propre au territoire transfrontalier du Rhin Supérieur. Trois types de contributions permettent de baliser les réponses à cette question : l’examen d’initiatives institutionnelles qui encouragent la construction de cette identité collective, des analyses d’us et habitus de ce territoire qui témoigne de cette identité chez les acteurs et habitants de cette région et enfin des témoignages issus de régions proches qui confirment le propos général.
Content
The collective publication opens with a set of theoretical definitions relating to the notions of collective identity and borders, followed by a summary of the recent history of the Upper Rhine region. Collective identity here is understood as resulting from the customs and habits, which the author also refers to as "practices" and "materialities", existing in the territory, which are often in contradiction with the institutional dynamics implemented in these territories.
The first part focuses on the institutional initiatives that are attempting to encourage the construction of a collective identity in this territory, with a top-down approach. This part contains four contributions:
- "Le transfrontalier, nouveau paradigme du développement économique territorial" (The cross-border, a new paradigm in territorial economic development) by René KAHN
- "Qu’est-ce qu’une Euro-région ? Identifications et frontières au défi de l’institution dans l’espace du Rhin supérieur" (What is a Euroregion? Identities and borders challenging the institution in the Upper Rhine area) by Philippe HAMMAN
- "Gérer l’espace fluvial, construire le territoire transfrontalier ?" (Managing the river area, building the cross-border territory?) by Élodie PIQUETTE
- "D’un réseau d’acteurs en travail social à une coopération institutionnelle. Un parcours complexe" (From a network of social work operators to institutional cooperation. A complex path) by Béatrice MULLER, Martin BECKER and Rudi WAGNER
The second part of the publication examines a bottom-up approach to the resistance of customs and habits in the face of the opening of European borders. This part contains three contributions:
- "Le retour du rail : les frontières sous tension" (The return of the railways: the borders under pressure) by Raymond WOESSNER
- "Le patrimoine de la frontière. Entre négation et prise en charge désordonnée" (The heritage of the border. Between negation and disorderly handling) by Benoît BRUANT
- "Éléments de justification d’une identité transfrontalière par des étudiants avancés de cursus transfrontalier. Notes de recherche" (Elements of the justification of a cross-border identity by advanced students on cross-border courses. Research notes) by Cédric DUCHÊNE-LACROIX
The third part examines equivalent dynamics in other cross-border areas neighbouring the Upper Rhine. These accounts serve to confirm the hypotheses put forward in the first two parts. This part contains three contributions:
- "Développement culturel et coopération transfrontalière. L’exemple du Canton du Jura et du Territoire de Belfort" (Cultural development and cross-border cooperation. The example of the Canton of Jura and the Territory of Belfort) by Olivier MOESCHLER and Olivier THÉVENIN
- "Identités et reconfigurations industrielles. Le cas de l’Arc jurassien (1950-1990)" (Identities and industrial reconfigurations. The case of the Jura Arc region (1950-1990) by Francesco GARUFO
- "L’ « identité transfrontalière » problématique de la Grande Région Saar-Lor-Lux" (The problematic "cross-border identity" of the SaarLorLux Greater Region) by Vincent GOULET
Conclusions
The aim of this publication is to identify any contradictions between institutional policies and the customs and habits of the region's inhabitants. In the Upper Rhine there is as yet no cross-border identity in the sense of an identity that would take precedence over the national identities and that would be the result of the meeting and mixing of the regional cultures involved.
On the institutional initiatives side, with the exception of the strengthening of common identity markers such as the Rhine, the impact on the collective identity remains limited given that these initiatives remain confined to economic development and cooperation. Furthermore, this economic cooperation, for example in the training field, continues to be hindered by a lack of standardisation.
On the customs and habits side, it is possible to identify practices and an interplay between different actors emerging from a common relationship with the border (cross-border transport, collective remembrance at sites linked to past conflicts, cross-border university courses). However, these practices are not enough to construct a new collective identity. In addition, for the most part they remain marked by requirements imposed on either side of the borders.
The third part confirms the difficulty of identifying a specific cross-border identity in the territories neighbouring the Upper Rhine: in the Greater Region, in the Canton of Jura and the Jura Arc region. In these territories also, economic logic mainly predominates, ahead of cultural exchanges, as far as cross-border cooperation is concerned.
Lead
Angeliki Monnier
Contributions
René Kahn, Philippe Hamman, Élodie Piquette, Béatrice Muller, Martin Becker , Rudi Wagner, Raymond Woessner, Benoît Bruant, Cédric Duchêne-Lacroix, Olivier Moeschler, Olivier Thévenin, Francesco Garufo, Vincent Goulet
Keywords
Contact Person(s)
Date of creation
2020