Networks or structures? : organizing cultural routes around heritage values : case studies from Poland

The most common way of managing cultural heritage recently takes form of cultural routes as they seem to offer a new model of participation in culture to their recipients; they are often a peculiar anchor point for inhabitants to let them understand their identity and form the future; they offer actual tours to enter into interaction with culture and history, to build together that creation of the heritage, which so is becoming not only a touristic product, but, first of all, the space for cultural, social and civic activity. Yet, so far, according to what we know, the research problem concerning the method of cultural route organization (points on the route) into solid structures or more of the networked nature, has not been deliberated. A question arises, what values are brought by routes and how to organize routes to be the carriers of the values important for communities, where routes are functioning. And, as a consequence, if, from the point of view of the values of local communities, organizing solid route structures or organizing more widely-spaced, network-based routes would bring effects and what those effects would be. Thus, the posed question is of course scientifically imprecise because a network is a type of structure but presents a given direction for the development of cultural route structures. Our objective here is to present a certain solidity and rigidity of structure with dynamic and smooth understanding of the network. The research presented in the article is based on 3 case studies. We have selected for this purpose the three largest cultural routes in Poland, organized to various degrees. The outcome of the research was referred also to other cultural route organization research

Ist Kreativität ein subjektives oder ein kollektives Phänomen? Über eine ungeklärte Frage in der Non-representational Theory und eine denkbare Antwort der Philosophie der symbolischen Formen

The micro-macro-problem of the social sciences is also present in human geographies' discussions of creativity. Creativity could be conceptualized either as a capability of subjects or as emerging from interaction processes. A direct consequence of this theoretical indecision is an inconsistent notion of creativity in Nigel Thrifts' nonrepresentational theory (NRT) that is originally developed to valuate creative praxis. The paper advances a proposal for conceptualizing creativity in NRT by using the philosophy of symbolic forms established by Ernst Cassirer. First, the paper develops a notion of individual creativity that is implied in Cassirers' work on symbolic pregnance and symbolic forms and via Bourdieus' interpretation of Cassirer also in the French sociologists' theory of incorporation. Second, the paper shows two possibilities to include the outlined notion of individual creativity in NRT. Creativity could be linked with NRT by modifying Bourdieus' concept of incorporation as used to establish a notion of nonrepresentational praxis. The second possibility of including creativity is a connection of affect and experience, which leads directly to the emergence of novelty

Die Emergenz der Masse – zur Urbanität im globalen Süden

The potentiality of crowds, in terms of possibilities for achieving a livelihood in the big and dense cities, gains centre stage in contemporary urban studies dealing with the global South. These emergent effects of crowds act as dissociation of further work in urban theory from the global North that often displays a universalistic claim. However, contemporary urban theory both from the global South and North has astonishing less to say about internal processes of crowds that could be interpreted as emerging effects. The paper analyses the work on crowds by Peter Sloterdijk and the performative theory of assembly by Judith Butler in terms of theoretical possibilities to enrich contemporary thinking on urbanity in the South. The paper accentuates two important arguments for urban theory that could be fit into existing work in the field. Sloterdijk emphasises the affective synthesis of crowds and the build environment as an important mechanism of interaction between crowds and urbanity, whereas Butler elaborates the performative effect of crowds to articulate the right of owning attested rights

Der Fremde als Katalysator für Inventionen: kommunale Innovationsförderung auf Grundlage der Unbestimmbarkeit von Handlungsfolgen

No abstract available

Migration and Urbanity in Rural Areas. Developments in the German-Luxembourg Border Region

Studies on the connection between migration and urbanity are usually concerned with conditions and developments in cities. The presence of ‘urbanity’ in rural space is the topic of the present contribution. It will be discussed using the example of residential migration in the Greater Region SaarLorLux. The massive influx of residential migrants from Luxembourg into the border regions of the neighbouring countries is a relatively recent phenomenon, the main cause of which lies in the developments in the real-estate market in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. This phenomenon is of special interest for the topic of migration in rural areas in two regards: because of the important demographic changes produced by the residential migrants in individual border villages and because of the complex composition of the group of residential migrants, which is extremely differentiated regarding the dimension rural – urban. Central to the article is the question, whether urban attitudes and practices become visible in German border villages, and, if so, how the migratory movement from Luxembourg influences this ‘rural urbanity’. Furthermore, taking the everyday practices of the residential migrants as starting point, it asks in how far the dichotomy urbanity - rurality presents a conceptual approach for the examination of individual and structural integration processes