The International Research Training Group, a cooperation between Lund, Tartu and Greifswald, investigates cultural implications of border change within the entire Baltic Sea Region (B.S.R.) from the 15th century until the present. Besides the nine states bordering the Baltic Sea, the B.S.R. in a wider sense includes five hinterland states that form part of the Baltic Sea drainage basin. The underlying theoretical approach combines elements of open systems theory, network theory, neo-institutionalism and organisational development to explore the theoretical and analytical potential of concepts of borderland for the humanities and social sciences. The scope of the borderland goes beyond the territorial dimension to encompass mental and cultural interactions in abstract space. The participating disciplines examine the boundaries, borders and adjacent borderland areas in the B.S.R., whereby the focus in Tartu is on historical-anthropological studies, in Lund on human geography, cultural anthropology and political economy, and in Greifswald on approaches from history, linguistics and social sciences. These complementary foci offer a broad and innovative spectrum of macro and micro-level perspectives on the issue of borders and borderlands. In this context, the Research Training Group explores four interdisciplinary themes: (1) the emergence and transformation of historical borderlands, (2) the cultural contexts of cross-border action in borderland areas, (3) the economic permeability and persistence of borders, (4) new border regimes: the political dimension of border formation and dissolution. These four themes will be examined with particular focus on the overarching theorisation of synchronic and diachronic processes of change. These issues have yet to be investigated in a broader transnational perspective and form a productive, sustainable basis for doctoral research.
DFG Programme
International Research Training Groups
International Connection
Estonia, Sweden
