LOCAL 'WE' - REGIONAL 'WE'. THE BOUNDARIES OF SOCIAL WORLDS OF THE PODKARPACKIE PROVINCE INHABITANTS

The article analyzes the relations between local and regional identity of the Podkarpackie Province inhabitants. Eight years after the new territorial division of Poland, the question whether institutionalization of regional borders in a form of provincial borders leads to the creation of regional ties still remains topical. The subject literature emphasizes the fact that before the country's administrative reform this form of identification in Poland was much weaker as compared to local and national identifications. Taking the above remarks into consideration, the following possibilities can be distinguished within dependencies between local and regional identity in the Podkarpackie Province: a) the stronger identification with the local community, the weaker identification with the region; b) the stronger identification with the local community, the stronger identification with the region; and c) there are no dependencies between both forms of territorial identification. The attempt to answer the question about the boundaries of social worlds of the Podkarpackie inhabitants is based on the assumption that borders are a complicated cultural model embracing concepts ranging from a line drawn on the ground and the idea of a difference as such. If, however, a border is a 'product' of a given community, then even an arbitrarily determined line is subject to symbolic re-interpretation. It means that borders, including local and regional ones, are of a dynamic and process-like nature.