In this anthology, the authors examine how cross-border regions emerge and what characterizes them. The practices of institutional participants and border area residents in the fields of the labor market, economy, political cooperation, media, everyday life and culture will be analyzed and discussed.
This book summarizes the articles presented in the cross-border research workshops of 2008-2009 organized by the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme of the University of Lorraine in collaboration with the University of Luxembourg. The researchers from different disciplines, such as political science, information or communication studies, history, geography and sociology, came together to exchange ideas about the different approaches to the research object of the border. The questions that form the basis of the empirical investigations deal with the stability, persistence, and traces of the border; representations of territories and borders as well as the dynamics of transcultural and cross-border exchanges.
The three main subjects of study are (1) the border areas visited (political dispositives and social perceptions), (2) media construction and information practices at the level of the Greater Region and (3) the impact of cultural events on transnational representations. The sources used are biographies, questionnaires, surveys and discourse analyses.
The three cross-border metropolises Pôle Européen de Développement de Longwy (PED), the French-Vaud-Geneva metropolitan area and the French-Belgian cross-border platform Flanders – Dunkirk – Opal Coast were analyzed in a national comparative study to show the specific challenges of these areas. Thematic maps were analyzed on three major topics, which were then used to filter out relevant indicators: cross-border dynamics, differences and complementarities, as well as the metropolitan dimension.
Luxembourg has the highest number of cross-border commuters in the EU. They commute daily to the trilingual country from the neighboring countries of Germany, France or Belgium. This results in multifaceted linguistic and cultural constellations of cooperation. This article examines how multilingualism and interculturality are experienced and handled by cross-border commuters in the country. The resulting typologies are based on interviews, interaction analyses and surveys.
This thesis inquires into the implementation of cross-border spatial planning strategies. Based on the study of cases such as Attert (Belgium), Backerich (Luxembourg), Montmédy (France), and Gaume (Belgium), as well as of the Vosges du Nord/Pfälzerwald Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, the author develops a typology of the different phases of the construction of a cross-border territory project.
In “Contribution B/Ordering in the Greater Region. Mobilities – Borders – Identities” Christian WILLE questions the quadrangle inhabitants' sense of belonging as predicted in the model for regional-political cooperation in the Greater Region. The author examines “which orders of self/other are apparent in the self image of the inhabitants of the Greater Region and to what extent they suggest a cross-border identity” (p. 52) and elaborates on three central features of identity constructions.
The Association for Borderlands Studies brings together scholars, institutions and experts from various disciplines and regional backgrounds in Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America as contributory members who deal with the topic of “borders.” Joint conferences are organized and a scientific journal (Journal of Borderlands Studies) and a newsletter are published.
The anthology “European Borderlands,” edited by Elisabeth Boesen and Gregor Schnuer, contains an introduction and 11 chapters of content. It deals with everyday practices in European border regions that support social development and cultural identity. Changes in border regions are considered from a historical, sociological, economic, geographical, literary, anthropological or political perspective. The selected case studies are mainly located in border regions between Germany and its neighbouring countries, but also between Belgium and France, Estonia and Finland or Hungary and Slovakia. They show the diversity of border demarcations, which contradict a “borderless Europe” through border narratives.
At the very heart of the Greater Region, Luxembourg is an important hub of international finance that could well be considered a financial “cluster.” The activity of the financial sector, indeed, contributes directly and indirectly to the economic growth of Luxembourg itself and its neighboring territories. Building on Porter’s approach, this article bears witness to the link between cross-border commuting and the attraction of key competencies, from the perspective of the competitive advantage of Luxembourg’s financial sector. Such a conclusion is backed up by a detailed descriptive analysis of both the cross-border workers themselves and the particularities of the job-market and of the economy in Luxembourg. Testifying to what we might call “procyclic” relationships, these interrelations appear to be impacted by both structural reforms in the catalyst country and by fluctuations in the economy.
Border as Method claims that contemporary globalization has not led to the diminution of borders but to their proliferation, linking this proliferation of borders with the intensification of competition within global labor markets. Focusing on border struggles across various geographical scales, and combining theory with a number of case studies drawn from various parts of the world, the authors approach the border not only as a research object but also as an epistemic framework, which enables new perspectives on the practices of border-making and the maintenance of borders as essential tools for the production of labor power as a commodity.
