This research project investigates the influence of tourism, place marketing and entrepreneurial forms of urban governance on the formation of urban ethnic discourses. The working argument is threefold:
(1) that place-marketing and tourism create a new discursive field in which narratives of ethnicity expressed through the built environment are rewritten:
(2) that various agencies with differing agendas pursue diverse strategies in marketing heritage and ethnicity; and
(3), that disenfranchised communities are often silenced by official neoliberal discourses while simultaneously being given a place to speak through the development of their own tourist attractions and place-marketing schemes.
The drives to generate service-sector growth and to attract investors and businesses through strategic marketing are perhaps the most aggressive forces shaping cities today. These goals have powerful impacts on spatial planning, new construction, urban policy, and resource allocation.1) Such urban regeneration schemes are particularly attractive to transitioning cities, such as post-socialist cities or newly deindustrialized cities, looking to develop new methods of income generation. Moreover, given the low overhead costs and the ease with which small suppliers can infiltrate the market, tourism is a sector which socially and economically disadvantaged people can enter with relative ease.2) Thus, both the government (often through public-private partnerships), and community groups in transitioning cities often seek to develop a strong tourism industry in order to generate revenue and build infrastructure.3)
During such regeneration processes, discourses and narratives relating to the cities' heritage and demographics are rewritten. On both a macro and a micro scale, ethnic identity is expressed in cities through an array of spatial, social, and symbolic forms: businesses, cultural and community centers, districts, neighborhoods, language, dress, graffiti, flags and other symbolic markers, etc. Individual and collective identities both are defined, expressed, and legitimized through spatial and material practices.4) In turn, these expressions shape cultural and ethnic identity formation. All cultural expressions from extravagant monuments to daily dress are essential to the formation and preservation of collective memory—and therefore, to creation of a common heritage, itself one of the defining markers of an ethnic group.5)
Tourism and place-marketing provide a new discursive lens for the rewriting of ethnic discourses and the reformation of ethnic images in the city. Tourism and place-marking are essentially discourse-producing mechanisms aimed at audiences interested in the cultural and historical narrative of a particular place. Place-marketing actively rewrites and redevelops the built environment of the city and its narratives by
(1) selecting particular structures and narratives over others for promotion
(2) reframing those structures in order to make them more tourism-friendly and “readable”
(3) changing structures and districts into tourist attractions and thus reassigning ownership of the city and
(4) spurring urban development schemes. And like all discourses, those produced for the sake of tourist consumption are subject to any number of falsifications or manipulations to suit a particular purpose.
Analyses of how a city chooses to present itself, which narratives it chooses to present, which it chooses to ignore, which social groups are included and excluded, can provide valuable insight into a particular group's acceptation, legitimacy and integration, within the city.6) Governments and urban management regimes worldwide create new formations of ethnic, cultural, and national identity through the development of tourist attractions, tourist narratives, and place-marketing schemes. Tourism can both bind ethnic groups to the nation as well as provide them the tools with which to declare and maintain their separateness.7) Under Rabin, new government sponsored tourism patterns and trails in Israel engendered new imaginings of nationhood which, for the first time in decades, conceived of Palestinians living within the 1949 Armistice line as Israelis.8) Tourist interest in socially marginalized groups, such as the Sherpa in Nepal, can successfully increase that group´s social standing within a state and can lead to not only a greater share of representation, but also an increase in government resources, be they financial or infrastructural. On the other hand, ethnic groups considered adverse to a country´s self-image, such as the Turks in Germany, will remain purposely excluded from the country/city’s touristic landscape. Individual and community-group based tourism ventures have been used in the urban centers of Northern Ireland and Bosnia-Herzegovina to contest the legitimacy of the dominant historical or cultural narratives. Other times, cities will boast cosmopolitanism, whether extant or imagined, to make themselves more appealing to tourists and investors. A variety of strategies clearly exist; what is most evident, is that cultural and heritage based-tourism is an important factor in the symbolic reformations of collective ethnicities and the relations which structure intergroup relations.
Ostrava and Krakow are both cities still undergoing the long process of transitioning from Socialism and deindustrialization, and which have actively pursued cultural and heritage based regeneration to attract tourists and investors. Krakow was the European capital of Culture in 2000 and Ostrava is currently a candidate for 2015. Both cities have boast rich multicultural heritages. Yet, while both EU and non-EU based immigration are changing the dynamics of these cities, they do however remain relatively homogeneous. In Ostrava, discussions of ethnicity are linked primarily to national minorities, who are represented in the city's symbolic landscape through an array of cultural centers (German House, Polish House, etc.). In Krakow, urban managers are actively producing a discourse of the city as a diverse, open, and cosmopolitan locale, in efforts mostly to appeal to the vast numbers of tourists the city sees every year, rather than to actually reflect the reality of citizens actually in residency. Histories of ethnicity and ethnic relations in both cities must be historically situated, as the cities' Jewish heritages and histories of forced migrations inevitably shape contemporary understandings and formations of ethnicity. In Krakow especially, we see a continually growing interest in Jewish heritage and Jewish history, which has developed almost entirely in response to tourist interest. The Jewish district of Kazimierz is heavily marketed in city promotional materials and the city has developed a specific Jewish heritage trail. Kazimierz boasts kosher restaurants, Jewish bookstores and hosts a yearly Jewish cultural festival. The entire character of the neighborhood has changed within the past 15 years to become essentially, more Jewish; all the while only about 100 self-identified Jews live in the city. The largest minority group in both cities, the Roma, is essentially invisible in the cities' symbolic landscapes.
A discursive analysis of representations and presentations of ethnicity in these cities combined with political and sociological research into how immigration and formations of ethnic identity are perceived and constructed, can tell us much about official discourses on ethnicity in the city and how groups may or may not try to contest these discourses. Tourism, place-marketing, urban regeneration, ethnic discourses and identity formation and ethnic relations are intimately intertwined. And the city—in its spatial, social, and symbolic sense—is at the center of this dynamic interplay.
Notes:
1) See for instance: David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An Inquiry into the Origins of Social Change (Cambridge: Blackwell, 1989); Denis Judd and Susan Fainstein, eds. The Tourist City (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1999); and, Sharon Zukin, The Culture of Cities (Cambridge: Blackwell, 1995).
2) Susan Fainstein and David Gladstone, “Evaluating Urban Tourism” in The Tourist City, eds., Dennis Judd and Susan Fainstein (New Haven: London: Yale University Press, 1999), 24.
3) David Gladstone, From Pilgrimage to Package Tour: Travel and Tourism in the Third World (New York: Routledge, 2005); David Harrison, ed., Tourism and the Less Developed World: Issues and Case Studies (New York, NY: CABI Pub, 2001).
4) Morrisey, Mike and Frank Gaffikin. “Planning for Peace in Contested Space,” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research vol. 30 no. 4 (December 2006) 873 – 893.
5) Donald L. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict (Berekely: University of California Press, 1985).
6) Marc Howard Ross, eds. Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies: Contestations and Symbolic Landscapes (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009).
7) Michel Picard and Robert E. Wood, eds. Tourism, Ethnicity and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997).
8) Rebecca Luna Stein, Itineraries in Conflict: Israelis, Palestinians, and the Political Lives of Tourism (Durham: Duke University Press, 2008).
Mar 15, 2010
Andrea Barna - Getting acquainted with the interest of the population of Krakow about the Jewish issues and their possibilities
Despite the dark past which surrounded Krakow during the Second World War, many Jewish people decided to stay in Krakow and try not only to accept the past, but show it to others, remind them of atrocity and make them learn from it, mainly with the help of their one-year-long festival, the Jewish Cultural Festival. As I am majored in communications I would like to do a research about their PR possibilities outside Krakow of attracting people to visit Krakow in order to get to know more about the dark past the Jews suffered. The research field I am most interested in is the media and PR possibilities that are the most helpful for this issue and the most usable to boost this kind of cultural tourism of Krakow. Krakow is definitely one of best places to help these ambitions as many Jews stay there preserving their culture; have an appealing architecture and gastronomy; and Auschwitz is also close enough. I firmly believe that with a stronger PR built upon this, the tourism of Krakow could boost soon, but only maximising the small, free possibilities could also achieve great results. I also would investigate the attitude of Krakow today in this issue in order to harmonize the interests and possibilities.
The most favourable possibility is the Jewish Cultural Festival. Searching other Jewish festivals on the Internet I could not find any advertisements about each other. Should we think that these are competitors? My answer is no, they need to help one another in order to reach the target groups. These festivals usually focus on different free time activities, so they really could advocate each other. Boskovice Festival in the Czech Republic; Klezmer Paris in France, Yiddish Summer Weimar in Germany, Klezfest in England, Jewish Summer Festival in Hungary, Klezmer Festival in Lithuania and the different festivals in Poland (Krakow, Gdansk, Lódz, Bialystok, Chmielnik, Warsaw) all could help each other and collaborate. As far as I know there is not a central web site that provides information on these. To establish one could help all of them, and with the initiation Krakow could control it. Establishing one is a long process, so naturally it is not my intention in the two days I can spend in Krakow with my research.
The second types of possibility I would like to draw the attention to are the museums, synagogues, cemeteries, cultural places… that preserve the Jewish past and culture and so form the settings of the festivals. These places could find equal partners in other countries. To show an example I would like to mention the Jewish Summer Festival in Hungary that has five main settings: Dohány Street Synagogue, Rumbach Street Synagogue, Hungarian Jewish Museum, Symbol Budapest and the Uránia Movie Theatre. All of them could advertise synagogues, museums, cinemas that are the settings of the festivals in Krakow. This is again a huge project that is still not utilized.
In my view an elaborated PR project focusing each year on one country and the customs and memories of its population would draw the attention of the foreigners and make them feel that it is a vital issue they do not know enough about. It could really boost the cultural tourism of Krakow and could also draw the attention of the new generation to our diverse cultures and the past from which we always need to study.
In Krakow my research will focus on the people who live there for a long time. I would take interviews focusing on their needs. The projects I mentioned above can work only if the people support them and see what they can profit from them. Their feelings and attitudes can be the basic contribution or hindrance of any kind of PR activity. Based on complex interviews I would like to reach as many people and target groups as I can in those two days. It could show the facts how much the people advocate boosting cultural tourism based on Jewish history and culture in Krakow.
I think the connection of my research and ethnicity is obvious. I would focus on the everyday people. By asking them about their interest in this issue and their contribution and feelings about it, I could get to know a lot about their way of thinking of the past, different cultures, the Jewish culture, the memorials around them and their knowledge. A later aim can be the realisation of the PR projects I mentioned above, but I would use these two days to get acquainted with what the people want inside Krakow and what they make possible or just reject.
The most favourable possibility is the Jewish Cultural Festival. Searching other Jewish festivals on the Internet I could not find any advertisements about each other. Should we think that these are competitors? My answer is no, they need to help one another in order to reach the target groups. These festivals usually focus on different free time activities, so they really could advocate each other. Boskovice Festival in the Czech Republic; Klezmer Paris in France, Yiddish Summer Weimar in Germany, Klezfest in England, Jewish Summer Festival in Hungary, Klezmer Festival in Lithuania and the different festivals in Poland (Krakow, Gdansk, Lódz, Bialystok, Chmielnik, Warsaw) all could help each other and collaborate. As far as I know there is not a central web site that provides information on these. To establish one could help all of them, and with the initiation Krakow could control it. Establishing one is a long process, so naturally it is not my intention in the two days I can spend in Krakow with my research.
The second types of possibility I would like to draw the attention to are the museums, synagogues, cemeteries, cultural places… that preserve the Jewish past and culture and so form the settings of the festivals. These places could find equal partners in other countries. To show an example I would like to mention the Jewish Summer Festival in Hungary that has five main settings: Dohány Street Synagogue, Rumbach Street Synagogue, Hungarian Jewish Museum, Symbol Budapest and the Uránia Movie Theatre. All of them could advertise synagogues, museums, cinemas that are the settings of the festivals in Krakow. This is again a huge project that is still not utilized.
In my view an elaborated PR project focusing each year on one country and the customs and memories of its population would draw the attention of the foreigners and make them feel that it is a vital issue they do not know enough about. It could really boost the cultural tourism of Krakow and could also draw the attention of the new generation to our diverse cultures and the past from which we always need to study.
In Krakow my research will focus on the people who live there for a long time. I would take interviews focusing on their needs. The projects I mentioned above can work only if the people support them and see what they can profit from them. Their feelings and attitudes can be the basic contribution or hindrance of any kind of PR activity. Based on complex interviews I would like to reach as many people and target groups as I can in those two days. It could show the facts how much the people advocate boosting cultural tourism based on Jewish history and culture in Krakow.
I think the connection of my research and ethnicity is obvious. I would focus on the everyday people. By asking them about their interest in this issue and their contribution and feelings about it, I could get to know a lot about their way of thinking of the past, different cultures, the Jewish culture, the memorials around them and their knowledge. A later aim can be the realisation of the PR projects I mentioned above, but I would use these two days to get acquainted with what the people want inside Krakow and what they make possible or just reject.
Peter Michalik - Draft paper for European City seminars: Ethnicity in the City (Ostrava - Krakow)
My project, as a part of the European City seminar: Ethnicity in the City project, covers one specific area of a possible research: the metamorphoses of a formerly Jewish Krakowian district. Kazimierz, once a separated city, used to be the place of residence of the Jewish community in Krakow for centuries. Deep changes, following the deportations during the Second World War, transformed the character of the place to a high degree. Nowadays, only fragments of the Jewish community remained in Kazimierz, which means, that the cultural and ethnical group, that was shaping the district for a long time, is missing. The district became a part of the must – see Krakowian touristic routes, a place where masses of visitors spend their money and to whom the character of the place is being adapted to a certain degree. On the other hand, Kazimierz is an importan place of European cultural and historical memory. The Old synagoge and Jewish cemetery are sites visited by pilgrims from all aroud the world. This ambivalent character of present Kazimierz is a factor, that falls into my field of research, covering both the metamorphoses of the urban reality and the ethnical relevancy of the studied area. The core of my research is the way, how the persisting communities are reflecting these ambiguities cinsidering their personal relationship between memory and the urban space.
Viorica Buica - Ethnic memory and contemporary public spaces: A study about Bohaterow Getta Square, Krakow
Premises
Given the proliferation of public squares in contemporary cities, but given also the gradual atrophy of their social role, their success can no longer be exclusively associated with how they were formed, nor with what they contain, but, first of all, with what happens inside them. Its life should come first, be it an extremely dinamic square, with shops and lively commerce, a quiet place, inviting to contemplation, or a place to meet friends and find out the latest news, a place for social and political debates, or just a space that has all these functions, at different hours of a day. This interactive dimension has even deeper meanings and challenges when the place is and ethnic and commemorative one, like in the case of new Bohaterow Getta Square (ex-Zgody Square) in Krakow.
The remodellation of Zgody Square by the Polish architects Piotr Lewicki and Kazimierz Latak managed to recuperate the intense ethnic memory of the place, but in the same time to create a powerful and liveable new public space for the city.
Short history of the place
Zgody Square is a historical place in the city, loaded with painful memories, reminding of the extermination of Jews in World War II. On March 3, 1941, the German authorities closed off a great part of the Podgorze district, in order to transform it in a ghetto for the Jews in the city; in the beginning, 17.000 Jews were relocated here. Taking up an area of 20 hectares, the ghetto streched from Zgody Square to Rekawka Street and between Lwoswska Street and Wegierska Street. It was sealed off from the city with a high wall and strategically situated next to an industrial district, with many plants, including the now famous “Schindler’s factory”.
Also the Plaszow concentration camp was near by, while the adjoining Zablocie train station facilitated future deportations. On May 30, 1942, for instance, the ghetto dwellers without identity cards where rounded up in Zgody Square and more than 4.000 of them left for the Belzec death camp.
The tragic ethnic memory of the place had to be integrated and “told” by the vast project of remodelling the square. Also, supporting the project, the old pharmacy in Zgody Square (owned by a man that helped a lot the Jews in the area during World War II) was turned into a museum of the Holocaust.
Urban solution
This urban project has the quality that it does not assign any use to the space, allowing passers-by and visitors to interact with the site and feel its memories, but also to add new ones. Even the commemorative dimension is high, the square represents a dynamic, functional and modern public area.
Seeing archival films and photos, reading memoirs of those who survived the Holocaust, the architects interpreted the history of the Krakow Ghetto as a sequence of movements, that capture a drama: a column of miserable human beings marching along the pavement, each with a stool over his heads; a girl crossing the street has a chair with its backrest down in her hands.
The architects knew that after the nazis liquidated the Ghetto, Zgody Square was full of useless things, a meaningful trace of the absence of their owners: wardrobes, tables, sideboards and other furniture have been abandoned; they have been moved from one place to another no one knows how many times now.
All this information generated a story that streches over the entire surface of the square, while the simple process of “defamiliarization” brings out objects stripped of their everyday practical functions: chairs, a well with a pump, rubbish bins, tram stops shelters, bicycle racks and even traffic signs.
The materials used symbolize the pass of time and they are very simple, almost humble: patinated bronze, corroded cast iron, paving blocks of grey syenite and ordinary concrete.
The Polish architects created a symbolical discourse that turns the square into the site’s memory, making visible that which could not be seen anymore, compensating for the irremediable absence of essential facts and things.
Uses, social life and symbolic meanings
Observing directly the daily life of the square, I will try to draw some conclusions regarding the following issues:
- how people interact with the new urban elements (and also the perspective of the tourists)
- the correlation between social identity and the activities in the square
- the relation of the square with the Kazimierz and Podgorze areas (with Jewish communities)
- the patterns in using the public space
- the presence of Jewish symbols and the way people react to them
- the presence of Jewish community in the square
In the end, I will try to compare the Zgody Square with some other european public squares with a powerful ethnic dimension in order to see the impact of the ethnic memory on contemporary urban life.
Note: the images were provided by the architect Piotr Lewicki.
Given the proliferation of public squares in contemporary cities, but given also the gradual atrophy of their social role, their success can no longer be exclusively associated with how they were formed, nor with what they contain, but, first of all, with what happens inside them. Its life should come first, be it an extremely dinamic square, with shops and lively commerce, a quiet place, inviting to contemplation, or a place to meet friends and find out the latest news, a place for social and political debates, or just a space that has all these functions, at different hours of a day. This interactive dimension has even deeper meanings and challenges when the place is and ethnic and commemorative one, like in the case of new Bohaterow Getta Square (ex-Zgody Square) in Krakow.
The remodellation of Zgody Square by the Polish architects Piotr Lewicki and Kazimierz Latak managed to recuperate the intense ethnic memory of the place, but in the same time to create a powerful and liveable new public space for the city.
Short history of the place
Zgody Square is a historical place in the city, loaded with painful memories, reminding of the extermination of Jews in World War II. On March 3, 1941, the German authorities closed off a great part of the Podgorze district, in order to transform it in a ghetto for the Jews in the city; in the beginning, 17.000 Jews were relocated here. Taking up an area of 20 hectares, the ghetto streched from Zgody Square to Rekawka Street and between Lwoswska Street and Wegierska Street. It was sealed off from the city with a high wall and strategically situated next to an industrial district, with many plants, including the now famous “Schindler’s factory”.
Also the Plaszow concentration camp was near by, while the adjoining Zablocie train station facilitated future deportations. On May 30, 1942, for instance, the ghetto dwellers without identity cards where rounded up in Zgody Square and more than 4.000 of them left for the Belzec death camp.
The tragic ethnic memory of the place had to be integrated and “told” by the vast project of remodelling the square. Also, supporting the project, the old pharmacy in Zgody Square (owned by a man that helped a lot the Jews in the area during World War II) was turned into a museum of the Holocaust.
Urban solution
This urban project has the quality that it does not assign any use to the space, allowing passers-by and visitors to interact with the site and feel its memories, but also to add new ones. Even the commemorative dimension is high, the square represents a dynamic, functional and modern public area.
Seeing archival films and photos, reading memoirs of those who survived the Holocaust, the architects interpreted the history of the Krakow Ghetto as a sequence of movements, that capture a drama: a column of miserable human beings marching along the pavement, each with a stool over his heads; a girl crossing the street has a chair with its backrest down in her hands.
The architects knew that after the nazis liquidated the Ghetto, Zgody Square was full of useless things, a meaningful trace of the absence of their owners: wardrobes, tables, sideboards and other furniture have been abandoned; they have been moved from one place to another no one knows how many times now.
All this information generated a story that streches over the entire surface of the square, while the simple process of “defamiliarization” brings out objects stripped of their everyday practical functions: chairs, a well with a pump, rubbish bins, tram stops shelters, bicycle racks and even traffic signs.
The materials used symbolize the pass of time and they are very simple, almost humble: patinated bronze, corroded cast iron, paving blocks of grey syenite and ordinary concrete.
The Polish architects created a symbolical discourse that turns the square into the site’s memory, making visible that which could not be seen anymore, compensating for the irremediable absence of essential facts and things.
Uses, social life and symbolic meanings
Observing directly the daily life of the square, I will try to draw some conclusions regarding the following issues:
- how people interact with the new urban elements (and also the perspective of the tourists)
- the correlation between social identity and the activities in the square
- the relation of the square with the Kazimierz and Podgorze areas (with Jewish communities)
- the patterns in using the public space
- the presence of Jewish symbols and the way people react to them
- the presence of Jewish community in the square
In the end, I will try to compare the Zgody Square with some other european public squares with a powerful ethnic dimension in order to see the impact of the ethnic memory on contemporary urban life.
Note: the images were provided by the architect Piotr Lewicki.
Mar 13, 2010
Siobhan Magee - Ostrava and Krakow Research Draft
Introduction
The actions and appearance of a passenger on a tram often mark them out as either an ‘insider’ or an ‘outsider’. This distinction is central to the idea of ‘ethnicity in the city’ because ‘ethnicity’ and ‘culture’ are political concepts with the power to be either inclusive or damagingly exclusive. When we think about our travels on trams, or indeed or other forms of public transport in European cities, one of the words that is likely to describe our journeys is ‘busy’- that is, busy with people. This business is also at the heart of what makes the city special- that it contains a great number of people who, despite their close proximity to one another, are strangers with diverse beliefs, backgrounds and lifestyles. In which ways do these people feel a common bond, a sense of community with one another? In which ways to they fear, resent and misunderstand those whom they perceive as ‘different’?
‘Insiders’ and ‘outsiders’?
Ethnicity is based on a feeling of belonging to particular historical or cultural tradition. I predict that the discussions and fieldwork in Ostrava and in Krakow will expose the trickiness of the word ‘ethnicity’. It is a confusing term because it is very similar to ‘culture’. It is also a potentially very dangerous word. Both historically and in the present day, ‘ethnicity’ is brandished as a tool for exclusion, racism, discrimination and genocide. ‘Ethnicity’ is a sensitive and momentous topic. It is impossible to give it a thorough and ethical appraisal in only two days. But I suggest that the Krakow tram works as a snapshot of the ‘insider/outsider’ dichotomy central to ethnicity.
On the one hand, a tram constitutes a group: when we board a particular tram, we join a ‘community’ in a specific place and time. This community is based on the belief that each passenger wants the same thing: to travel. When we travel on such transport, we are expected to act in a very specific way. ‘Insiders’, those ‘in the know’ within a certain social situation know these rules. For example, on a Krakow tram, there might be a tacit agreement between passengers about how much eye-contact it is acceptable to make with a stranger, or how close one should stand to them. Ideas about generation, disability and gender come to the fore with the mundane but heavily political question ‘for whom should I give up my seat?’
But on the other hand, such rules can create ‘outsiders’: migrants and tourists who are not familiar with tacit and written codes of conduct. People unfamiliar with the tram-system, new to the city, might be unsure about how to buy and validate a ticket. Insufficient knowledge of such a system might lead to the double-threat of social embarrassment and accidental illegal behaviour in the form of fare-evasion. Do people help those unfamiliar with such rules, or do they allow them to consolidate their ‘outsider’ identity?
Perceptions of Trust
Trams, along with other forms of public transport, are many citizens’ most frequent point of interaction with state and municipal governments. When people complain of a tram being late, or being dirty, they very often are also either implicitly or explicitly criticizing those in positions of power. In capitalist societies, municipal authorities also serve as mediators between passengers and advertisers. A passenger on a Krakow tram is exposed to countless advertisements for businesses and services: shopping malls, travel agents, hairdressers- the list goes on. Can municipal governments be trusted to mediate between businesses and the tram’s ‘captive audience’ of consumers?
However, a tram passenger is not only compelled to interact with state and municipal authorities, but with other passengers too. If he/she is able to trust these authorities, and indeed the driver of the tram, in which ways does he/she also go about ‘trusting’ fellow passengers? Public transport is quite unique in its requirement that one exist in close proximity with strangers. Which assumptions do passengers make about others when judging who is ‘trustworthy’ and who might be ‘risky?’ How might these be attached to differences in gender, age, social class or nationality?
How might these issues be explored in Krakow, using the practical and heuristic devices of ‘tramlines’?
• Looking at the map of tramlines. The names and locations of tram-stops tell a story about a city. They are often named after a famous person or a significant event.
• Signs, for example prohibitions such as ‘no drinking’. This could use photography or video.
• Advertisements. This could also use photography.
• ‘Ethnicity’ with the axes of other divisions within society. For example, exploring ‘ethnicity and gender’. Other ideas could be ‘ethnicity and age/generation’ or ‘ethnicity and social class and/or wealth’.
• ’24 hours of the tram’- observing a tram around the clock, to see how its atmosphere changes when light fades to dark, and when it passes through different parts of the city, areas perceived as ‘nice’, ‘not so nice’ and even ‘dangerous’.
The actions and appearance of a passenger on a tram often mark them out as either an ‘insider’ or an ‘outsider’. This distinction is central to the idea of ‘ethnicity in the city’ because ‘ethnicity’ and ‘culture’ are political concepts with the power to be either inclusive or damagingly exclusive. When we think about our travels on trams, or indeed or other forms of public transport in European cities, one of the words that is likely to describe our journeys is ‘busy’- that is, busy with people. This business is also at the heart of what makes the city special- that it contains a great number of people who, despite their close proximity to one another, are strangers with diverse beliefs, backgrounds and lifestyles. In which ways do these people feel a common bond, a sense of community with one another? In which ways to they fear, resent and misunderstand those whom they perceive as ‘different’?
‘Insiders’ and ‘outsiders’?
Ethnicity is based on a feeling of belonging to particular historical or cultural tradition. I predict that the discussions and fieldwork in Ostrava and in Krakow will expose the trickiness of the word ‘ethnicity’. It is a confusing term because it is very similar to ‘culture’. It is also a potentially very dangerous word. Both historically and in the present day, ‘ethnicity’ is brandished as a tool for exclusion, racism, discrimination and genocide. ‘Ethnicity’ is a sensitive and momentous topic. It is impossible to give it a thorough and ethical appraisal in only two days. But I suggest that the Krakow tram works as a snapshot of the ‘insider/outsider’ dichotomy central to ethnicity.
On the one hand, a tram constitutes a group: when we board a particular tram, we join a ‘community’ in a specific place and time. This community is based on the belief that each passenger wants the same thing: to travel. When we travel on such transport, we are expected to act in a very specific way. ‘Insiders’, those ‘in the know’ within a certain social situation know these rules. For example, on a Krakow tram, there might be a tacit agreement between passengers about how much eye-contact it is acceptable to make with a stranger, or how close one should stand to them. Ideas about generation, disability and gender come to the fore with the mundane but heavily political question ‘for whom should I give up my seat?’
But on the other hand, such rules can create ‘outsiders’: migrants and tourists who are not familiar with tacit and written codes of conduct. People unfamiliar with the tram-system, new to the city, might be unsure about how to buy and validate a ticket. Insufficient knowledge of such a system might lead to the double-threat of social embarrassment and accidental illegal behaviour in the form of fare-evasion. Do people help those unfamiliar with such rules, or do they allow them to consolidate their ‘outsider’ identity?
Perceptions of Trust
Trams, along with other forms of public transport, are many citizens’ most frequent point of interaction with state and municipal governments. When people complain of a tram being late, or being dirty, they very often are also either implicitly or explicitly criticizing those in positions of power. In capitalist societies, municipal authorities also serve as mediators between passengers and advertisers. A passenger on a Krakow tram is exposed to countless advertisements for businesses and services: shopping malls, travel agents, hairdressers- the list goes on. Can municipal governments be trusted to mediate between businesses and the tram’s ‘captive audience’ of consumers?
However, a tram passenger is not only compelled to interact with state and municipal authorities, but with other passengers too. If he/she is able to trust these authorities, and indeed the driver of the tram, in which ways does he/she also go about ‘trusting’ fellow passengers? Public transport is quite unique in its requirement that one exist in close proximity with strangers. Which assumptions do passengers make about others when judging who is ‘trustworthy’ and who might be ‘risky?’ How might these be attached to differences in gender, age, social class or nationality?
How might these issues be explored in Krakow, using the practical and heuristic devices of ‘tramlines’?
• Looking at the map of tramlines. The names and locations of tram-stops tell a story about a city. They are often named after a famous person or a significant event.
• Signs, for example prohibitions such as ‘no drinking’. This could use photography or video.
• Advertisements. This could also use photography.
• ‘Ethnicity’ with the axes of other divisions within society. For example, exploring ‘ethnicity and gender’. Other ideas could be ‘ethnicity and age/generation’ or ‘ethnicity and social class and/or wealth’.
• ’24 hours of the tram’- observing a tram around the clock, to see how its atmosphere changes when light fades to dark, and when it passes through different parts of the city, areas perceived as ‘nice’, ‘not so nice’ and even ‘dangerous’.
Laszlo Szemelyi - Bratislava/Vienna Research draft
Laszlo Szemelyi
Peter Pazmany Catholic University
Piliscsaba, Hungary
Introduction
When we analyze countries in practically any aspect – from economic growth opportunities through crime and living standards to environment protection and sustainable utility system –, it turns out that the number and proportion of skilled workers is a crucial success factor to the country. Not surprisingly we can take this to the level of cities, the relation between success and skilled workers remains the same, for in any country most skilled workers are employed in big cities.
While the emigration of highly qualified people is a problem more or less all across Europe, it is worth noting that there are two important differences between Eastern and Western countries. Western Europe has long been challenged by the threat of their professionals moving to the USA as the latter is often considered by them offer an almost unmatched mix of money, research personnel concentration and meritocracy. However if we look at Eastern Europe and in this case Slovakia, apparently not only the USA seems to have this kind of pulling attractiveness but also some Western European countries, predominately the Benelux states, UK, Germany and Austria.
Secondly, most Western European countries trying to fill holes in skilled labor force can rely to some extent on historically related countries providing immigrants with proper skills as a heritage of colonialism. In Eastern Europe this source of brain gain is practically absent. Very few skilled immigrants could be described as coming from a country which has been historically dependent on the country of the immigrant’s destination. An example of this kind of immigration source can be the Hungarian diaspora in the neighboring countries. Another example could be the case of Poland, the borders of which having been changed so many times in history.
Research goals
Having touched upon the special circumstances in Eastern Europe under which its skilled migration situation is forming, we should note the fact that the emotional side of migration is at least so important as the economical. Though when we ask skilled migrants about their motivation, income perspectives is by far the most important factor, if we turn to those who decided not to relocate from their home country mention mostly personal reasons like family, friends and culture. No surprise that in case of an emigration in the country of destination the alien environment and the language problems often make the emigrants seek the company of their fellow countrymen.
The question is: are skilled migrants an exception? Is ethnicity, if we define it as forming national migrant communities separated to a large extent from communities of the majority as well as from other national migrant communities, absolutely typical amongst them? And if not, can we note any relation between their ‘skilled nature’ (more educated, having good fix job and consequently higher living standards, possibly more open to higher culture) and their openness to other communities or the openness of the majority to them?
Due to the nature of the problem it is wise not trying to do a survey and decide about skilled migrant ethnicity upon quantitative results. It is much worthwhile doing interviews with them to be able to grasp the shades of community membership, activities and openness to other communities. I plan to talk to skilled immigrants in Bratislava about their view of the communities in the city and their participation in them. I also try to find out how important they think this part of migrant life is and how crucial this aspect was in their decision to relocate to Bratislava.
Research impact
If a city or a country wants to be successful, it has to solve the problem of keeping existing skilled workers, educating more and possibly attracting more from abroad. It is impossible to reach this goal without knowing the motivation of these people affecting their decisions on staying or moving, learning or not, choosing one city or another. My research will help city leaders understand how skilled immigrants view their public relations and what is the possible effect of this on their future location. In addition, this research will show if any ethnic problems are related to the skilled immigrants and what is their opinion about it.
Peter Pazmany Catholic University
Piliscsaba, Hungary
Introduction
When we analyze countries in practically any aspect – from economic growth opportunities through crime and living standards to environment protection and sustainable utility system –, it turns out that the number and proportion of skilled workers is a crucial success factor to the country. Not surprisingly we can take this to the level of cities, the relation between success and skilled workers remains the same, for in any country most skilled workers are employed in big cities.
While the emigration of highly qualified people is a problem more or less all across Europe, it is worth noting that there are two important differences between Eastern and Western countries. Western Europe has long been challenged by the threat of their professionals moving to the USA as the latter is often considered by them offer an almost unmatched mix of money, research personnel concentration and meritocracy. However if we look at Eastern Europe and in this case Slovakia, apparently not only the USA seems to have this kind of pulling attractiveness but also some Western European countries, predominately the Benelux states, UK, Germany and Austria.
Secondly, most Western European countries trying to fill holes in skilled labor force can rely to some extent on historically related countries providing immigrants with proper skills as a heritage of colonialism. In Eastern Europe this source of brain gain is practically absent. Very few skilled immigrants could be described as coming from a country which has been historically dependent on the country of the immigrant’s destination. An example of this kind of immigration source can be the Hungarian diaspora in the neighboring countries. Another example could be the case of Poland, the borders of which having been changed so many times in history.
Research goals
Having touched upon the special circumstances in Eastern Europe under which its skilled migration situation is forming, we should note the fact that the emotional side of migration is at least so important as the economical. Though when we ask skilled migrants about their motivation, income perspectives is by far the most important factor, if we turn to those who decided not to relocate from their home country mention mostly personal reasons like family, friends and culture. No surprise that in case of an emigration in the country of destination the alien environment and the language problems often make the emigrants seek the company of their fellow countrymen.
The question is: are skilled migrants an exception? Is ethnicity, if we define it as forming national migrant communities separated to a large extent from communities of the majority as well as from other national migrant communities, absolutely typical amongst them? And if not, can we note any relation between their ‘skilled nature’ (more educated, having good fix job and consequently higher living standards, possibly more open to higher culture) and their openness to other communities or the openness of the majority to them?
Due to the nature of the problem it is wise not trying to do a survey and decide about skilled migrant ethnicity upon quantitative results. It is much worthwhile doing interviews with them to be able to grasp the shades of community membership, activities and openness to other communities. I plan to talk to skilled immigrants in Bratislava about their view of the communities in the city and their participation in them. I also try to find out how important they think this part of migrant life is and how crucial this aspect was in their decision to relocate to Bratislava.
Research impact
If a city or a country wants to be successful, it has to solve the problem of keeping existing skilled workers, educating more and possibly attracting more from abroad. It is impossible to reach this goal without knowing the motivation of these people affecting their decisions on staying or moving, learning or not, choosing one city or another. My research will help city leaders understand how skilled immigrants view their public relations and what is the possible effect of this on their future location. In addition, this research will show if any ethnic problems are related to the skilled immigrants and what is their opinion about it.
European City Seminars 2010 - Ethnicity in the City
1) Ostrava (Czech Republic) and Krakow (Poland), 16 – 21 April 2010.
2) Bratislava (Slovakia) and Vienna (Austria), 14 – 18 May 2010.
3) Berlin (Germany), 18 – 21 June 2010
Historically, European cities always faced the challenge of dealing with migration; the urban much more than the rural spaces thus became the realm in which the ability to integrate, accommodate and include diverse and changing populations had to be negotiated. Any talk of inclusion should, however take note underlying power structures, and question who defines the rules of integration. How are the chances of this model´s survival in a changing economic and demographic environment, characterized by the influx of new migrants, the rising power of developers and investors, and the spread of urban areas beyond its historic borders? The uncertainty about the future of the “European city” model is maybe most visible in case of the cities of Central and Eastern Europe, which experience a process of rapid changes that affects the cities´ social and built fabric and the political steering of its development.
With these statements in mind Multicultural Centre Prague (website European City), Insitute for Public Affairs, Villa Decius Association and Rejs e.V. (magazine Plotki) invite researchers, journalists and artists to participate in a unique project that will deal with ethnic themes in central European cities. The outcome of this project will contain several case studies and media material as photo series, audiovisual recordings etc.
Selected participants will participate at the following research seminars:
1) A six day-long 'travelling' research seminar in Ostrava (Czech Republic) and Krakow (Poland), 16 – 21 April 2010. Focusing mostly but not exclusively on the two cities of Ostrava and Krakow, the participants will present and discuss their own contributions and conduct the field research in and around Ostrava and Krakow.
and/or
2) A five day-long 'travelling' research seminar in Bratislava (Slovakia) and Vienna (Austria), 14 – 18 May 2010. Focusing mostly but not exclusively on the two cities of Bratislava and Vienna, the participants will present and discuss their own contributions and conduct the field research in and around Bratislava and Vienna.
and/or
3) A four day-long research seminar in Berlin (Germany), 18 – 21 June 2010. Focusing mostly but not exclusively on the city of Berlin, the participants will present and discuss their own contributions and conduct the field research in and around Berlin.
The programme is open for everyone living in a EU member state with good knowledge of English. Researchers (senior researchers, PHD and MA students in the widest range of social science including but not limited to sociology, geography, anthropology, history, cultural studies), journalists and artists (photographers and film-makers) are especially encouraged to apply.
2) Bratislava (Slovakia) and Vienna (Austria), 14 – 18 May 2010.
3) Berlin (Germany), 18 – 21 June 2010
Historically, European cities always faced the challenge of dealing with migration; the urban much more than the rural spaces thus became the realm in which the ability to integrate, accommodate and include diverse and changing populations had to be negotiated. Any talk of inclusion should, however take note underlying power structures, and question who defines the rules of integration. How are the chances of this model´s survival in a changing economic and demographic environment, characterized by the influx of new migrants, the rising power of developers and investors, and the spread of urban areas beyond its historic borders? The uncertainty about the future of the “European city” model is maybe most visible in case of the cities of Central and Eastern Europe, which experience a process of rapid changes that affects the cities´ social and built fabric and the political steering of its development.
With these statements in mind Multicultural Centre Prague (website European City), Insitute for Public Affairs, Villa Decius Association and Rejs e.V. (magazine Plotki) invite researchers, journalists and artists to participate in a unique project that will deal with ethnic themes in central European cities. The outcome of this project will contain several case studies and media material as photo series, audiovisual recordings etc.
Selected participants will participate at the following research seminars:
1) A six day-long 'travelling' research seminar in Ostrava (Czech Republic) and Krakow (Poland), 16 – 21 April 2010. Focusing mostly but not exclusively on the two cities of Ostrava and Krakow, the participants will present and discuss their own contributions and conduct the field research in and around Ostrava and Krakow.
and/or
2) A five day-long 'travelling' research seminar in Bratislava (Slovakia) and Vienna (Austria), 14 – 18 May 2010. Focusing mostly but not exclusively on the two cities of Bratislava and Vienna, the participants will present and discuss their own contributions and conduct the field research in and around Bratislava and Vienna.
and/or
3) A four day-long research seminar in Berlin (Germany), 18 – 21 June 2010. Focusing mostly but not exclusively on the city of Berlin, the participants will present and discuss their own contributions and conduct the field research in and around Berlin.
The programme is open for everyone living in a EU member state with good knowledge of English. Researchers (senior researchers, PHD and MA students in the widest range of social science including but not limited to sociology, geography, anthropology, history, cultural studies), journalists and artists (photographers and film-makers) are especially encouraged to apply.
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