Cultural Borderlands in Sociological Perspective (The Case of Upper Silesia).

Paper I present is devoted entirely to Upper Silesia (Poland) treated as a good example of a cultural borderland. Over many centuries Upper Silesia has been subjected to strong cultural, social, political and economic influences emanating from Poland, Bohemia and Moravia, Austria, Prussia and later Germany. Through hundreds of years Upper Silesia and its sub-regions have been under the authority of various states, have been the place of contact or conflict of many cultures, have been forced into the spheres of influence of several political and economic systems. This border character of Upper Silesia makes this region especially attractive for research. The breakdown of totalitarian system and the process of political liberalisation in Poland have facilitated or even made possible the undertaking of many local sociological studies. In this climate regular research has been initiated on Silesian native population (hanysy), the regional German minority, he dash of cultures and also the awareness of the regional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]