A Paradise on the Oder? - Department of Scandinavian Studies

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City & Societyprocesses of the EU’s institutions and policies to overcome nationaldifferences. Within Słubice/Frankfurt(Oder), the deregulation ofcross-border movements for people, goods, services and capitalmandated by the EU has created a functionally transnational spacein which individuals (or at least all EU citizens) can circulatefreely across national borders. Nevertheless, even amidst the deterritorializedspace of Słubice/Frankfurt(Oder) the border crossingremains a strong node of territoriality and continues to regulate anddemarcate ethnic and national identities even as its de-emphasiswithin the EU enables the formation of transnational, “European”identities.The EU’s borders are both locations where nationalist and ethnicdifferences are most easily reinforced and where an individualcan most easily inhabit the transnational space of the “European.”Residents of Słubice/Frankfurt(Oder) demonstrate new transnationalidentities that complicate and challenge the idea of ethnicallyand territorially defined nation-states and their associatedethnicities as markers of difference. Therefore, even as the EU’stransnational institutions and governing practices create newconduits for expressing identity, they simultaneously reinforce theUnion’s internal differences. If a transnational “European” identityis to exist as a long-term continental identity, as the EU is pursuingthrough its policy actions, it must find ways to encompass multipleand competing nationalities and ethnicities rather than supersedethem, and must develop a “tolerance for contradictions, plurality,and the juggling of cultures” (Rosaldo 1989:216). Simultaneously,if the EU and the creation of a “European identity” can be understoodas “works in progress,” then Frankfurt(Oder)/Słubice is onelocation where the work is being done, as are many multi-ethnicand transnational locales throughout “Europe,” each of whichpresent not only unique dilemmas and challenges for the EU toincorporate, but also variable expressions of what being “European”means (cf. Pagden 2002, Malmbourg & Strath 2002).NotesAcknowledgements: I would especially like to thank Michał Buchowski,Toralf Kliensorge, Sebastian Mayer, Witold Nowiński, Monica Gariup,and Jarosław Janczak for their hospitality, assistance, and friendship duringmy fieldwork in Słubice/Frankfurt(Oder). I would also like to thank MattiBunzl, Zsuzsa Gille, William Kelleher, and Mahir Saul for their critiquesof earlier versions of this essay, as well as two anonymous reviewers. Thisresearch was funded by two grants form the European Union Center at146
<strong>Paradise</strong> on theOder?the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to which I am very grateful.In the interests of confidentiality, all names in this essay have beenreplaced with pseudonyms.1 The Posnanian War of December 27, 1918 to June 28, 1919 and theSilesian War, which was fought sporadically during the summers of 1919-1922 (Davies 1982:394).2 This line was proposed by British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzonduring the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1920 and the post World War Ipeace negotiations (Davies 1982:504). It approximates the Nazi-Sovietdemarcation line of 1939.3Due to the chaotic circumstances of this region at the end of WorldWar II, the precise number of German expellees remains impossible todetermine.4 Słubice’s name derives from a Slavic settlement in the Middle Agescalled Śliwice, which the Piasts ceded to Brandenburg along with the restof the Lubuska region in 1250 (Urząd Miejski w Słubicach 2003:5).5 Euroregions are cross-border regional institutions that the EUuses to assist in the administration of transnational regional funds andpolicies. Euroregions are not official governing bodies, but are insteadvoluntary associations of municipal and local governments that can generallybe considered civil society institutions. For a detailed discussionof the Euroregion that includes Słubice/Frankfurt(Oder), “EuroregionPro Europa Viadrina,” and the EU funding that supports it, see Asher(2004).6 Since Poland has not yet been admitted into the Schengen Conventionthe border controls remained in place in Słubice/Frankfurt(Oder) evenafter Poland’s accession to the EU.7 96.7% of Polish citizens identify as ethnically Polish while 91.5%of German citizens identify as ethnically German (CIA World Factbook2005).8 This is the earliest date that Poland is projected to fulfill the debt toGDP ratio, interest rate, and inflation requirements of the 1997 Stabilityand Growth Pact that will allow it to participate in the third and finalstage of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), at which time theEuro currency is adopted for general use.9 In 2005, a plan was adopted to complete a tram line connectingSłubice to Frankfurt(Oder) by 2008. Other Polish-German border cities,such as Görlitz-Zgorzelec, have successfully implemented integrated publictransportation systems.10 In the case of Germany and the fourteen other pre-2004 EU members,a two-year transitional period on immigration can be implemented,during which national measures constraining immigration can be appliedunilaterally by a current member state on a new member state. These policieswill be reviewed every two years, but may be applied for up to seven(European Commission 2002:6).11 Ukraine has maintained its visa-free policy towards Polish citizens.12 Although both the German and Polish terms are used, it is common147
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