Societies and Spaces in Contact

This volume speaks to the inter-disciplinary issues related to divergence and convergence processes and situations in contact regions, offering fresh and innovative insights from the crucial Central-Eastern European area where conflict and coexistence potentials seem to best represent the unity in diversity managing dilemma on the continent.

This volume represents an inter-disciplinary discussion of some fundamental categories of convergence and divergence, focusing in particular on issues of both social integration and devolution related to ethnos as the space of identity, and demos as the space of polity. The aims of the book are to assess past developments within crucial parts of Central Europe where both conflict and coexistence potentials seem to best represent the actual unity in diversity managing dilemma in the continent; to provide an analysis of current approaches to minority protection, language planning, spatial and social cross-border and inter-cultural policies; and to develop an evaluation of the future trends and opportunities for co-operation and re-integration within a local and broader operational context.

Autorentext

Prof. Dr. Milan Bufon was Director of the Institute and is currently Senior Research Associate at the Science and Research Centre of Koper. Prof. Dr. Tove H. Malloy is professor of European Studies at the Europa-Universität Flensburg. She was Director of the European Centre for Minority Issues in Flensburg, Germany. Prof. Dr. Colin H. Williams was Research Professor in Sociolinguistics, now an Honorary Professor, in the School of Welsh, Cardiff University, UK.

Inhalt

Majority-minority relations, plurilingualism, and cross-border regionalism. Migrations, ethnic changes, and social integration. Narratives, constructions and perceptions of cultural landscapes. Symbolic ethnicity Convergence within diversity A foreign country as a homeland or a homeland as a foreign country.