Transformation of the Memory and Symbolism of Local Space in the Process of European Integration
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Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences
Publication date: 2017-06-20
Polish Sociological Review 2017;198(2):127-140
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ABSTRACT
European integration impacts the perception and symbolism of space, and the resultant transformation
seems to be linked to changes in memory. Both of these factors belong to the deep, although not always conscious
effects of integration. Memory is rarely stable. The biographical events in an individual’s life, along with changes
in the meaning of the broad European space, affect the symbolism of a local space as developed in both individual
and collective memory. This also transforms the memory and symbolism of even the most intimate experience of
a local space—and again, this takes place both in the memory of individuals and in the collective memory of local
communities. Its form greatly depends on the variety of agents involved in public discourse, such as the media
and the arguments made by political and religious leaders. One of the factors involved is the change in social
and cultural perspective created by the expanded area of easily accessible space, which in today’s EU includes
countries once separated by physically experienced borders.
In the article I will attempt to identify and describe the mechanisms involved in transforming the symbolism
of local space. One of the issues addressed will be the confrontation between advancing cosmopolitanism and the
rise of attachment to localities.