LECTURE 6
Cross-border
regions in Central-East and South- East Europe
The discussion started from
terms rather often used in the everyday language and also in the media: “East” and “West”. As it became quickly
clear, students are attaching certain value-centred elements to the significance
of these concepts: according to their interpretation, “West” overwhelmingly
means “well developed’, “positive”, with lots of perspectives and the direction
towards everyone moves, while, by contrast, “ East” became a symbol of
backwardness, of not being able or not willing to keep in pace with the
changes. Starting from this underlying assumption, the main problem discussed
was: can regional cooperation be an effective tool in overcoming real and
symbolic barriers in order to re-unite Europe?