The research which laid the foundations for the report was fielded in the second half of June 2002 and was based on the interview method (and, to a lesser extent, on observation method). It was carried out in accordance with qualitative research methodology, which is typical for humanistic sociology and social anthropology. This technique was selected because it best serves our basic research goals, namely it makes it possible to reach ‘deeper layers of consciousness’ than the survey type of research.
The empirical basis of the research is provided by interviews (which typically lasted over an hour) with groups of opinion leaders representing selected local communities in the eastern borderland, namely those of Bartoszyce and Przemyśl.
Respondents were selected on the suggestion of 1. representatives of local authorities (selection of elite by elite itself), 2. inhabitants, 3. interviewers who come from and are familiar with the given border region. One should add that selected respondents may be considered experts in at least one of the three dimensions in which the situation in the borderland can be perceived, i.e. economic, social and cultural and political dimension.
The interviews consisted in free conversation, which was, however, conducted according to a precisely developed scenario by two experienced teams of researchers, made up of sociologists from Warsaw and Rzeszów. It should be added that persons who come from a given area, well-familiar with the situation and specifics of the researched region, were included in each of the teams. This was helpful in the selection of interviewees and in animating the interview, particularly in the case of difficult talks on such ‘sensitive’ subjects, as national and religious identification and participation in the ‘gray’ economic area and in other illegal activities.
Due to the above factors, respondents represented different social and professional categories. The respondent list included the following categories of persons:
(1) Representatives of local authorities (central administration) and local government authorities- (councilors), including politicians perceived as ‘euro-enthusiasts’ and ‘euro-sceptics’
(2) Local entrepreneurs engaged in:
(a) typical border region economic activity (import-export),
(b) activity not connected directly with import-export but still based in the borderland, (c) individual activity or running a family firm or a medium-sized company.
(3) Representatives of organizations and minority associations
(4) Members of national minorities (including immigrant settlers from neighboring countries),
(5) Clergy of different religious denominations (depending on the religious denomination pattern in a given municipality).
Interviews were conducted, as already stated beforehand, according to a scenario whose form and substance were precisely developed.
From the formal point of view, the interview fell into two parts: (1) main section - identical for all the respondents and (2) variable, complementary section, dependent on the type of respondent. (Complementary scenarios were developed separately for each of the above-mentioned categories of respondents).
As far as the substance was concerned, the interview, according to the preplanned scenario, consisted of several types of thematic blocs (this relates both to the permanent and the variable section of the interview).
The first thematic bloc contained questions concerned with the period preceding theintroduction of visas for the neighboring country, namely the present-day situation at Poland’s eastern border.
The second thematic bloc contained questions on the period following the introduction of relevant visas, i.e. on effects of the introduction of mandatory visas by
Poland (expected after July 2003) on its borders with eastern neighbors who are neither European Union members nor candidates.
The third thematic bloc contained questions on broadly understood economic processes, relating to the situation on the state border and in the border region.
The fourth thematic bloc contained questions relating to broadly understood cultural and social phenomena, associated with the situation on the state border and in the border region.
In the fifth thematic bloc, we put forward questions which directly relate to political and legal matters in connection with the situation on the state border and in the border regions (this bloc contained questions which were directed only to local politicians, who represented local government and central administration).
It should be emphasized that the last three thematic bloc, underlined due to the type of dominant characterization of the situation on the border and in the border regions, overlap with the two thematic blocs which had been presented before and are based on the criterion of time.
2.Scope of analysis
Interviews with selected representatives of the two local communities of the eastern borderland were intended to:
Firstly, diagnose social attitudes of local elites towards present-day ‘situation in the borderland’, caused by Poland’s open border policy towards Russia and Ukraine.
Secondly, determine the ways in which the respondents perceive the effect of such a policy on their local communities. Thirdly, project their image of the ‘situation on the eastern border’ of Poland after it had been ‘secured’ in accordance with the European Union requirements and the Schengen rules and to elicit what type of public feeling they expect in their communities.
This general research task was carried out with the use of relevant data collected through interviews, observation and from monographs in three separate albeit complementary dimensions, namely the economic, social-political and political one.
Division of the general analysis into three detailed ones, concerning each of the dimensions individually, allows for a better- in our opinion- characterization of social
attitudes towards the change at the eastern border. Therefore, in the below report, we present the analysis of the empirical material in three parts. The first one concerns the economic dimension of the situation at the border, the second one- the social and cultural dimension of that situation, and the third one- its political dimension.
Economic dimension: In the first part dealing with that dimension, we analyze the cross-border economic cooperation and its social and civilizational effects on the region and its leading actors.
Social and cultural dimension: In our analysis of the second dimension in the next part of the report, we mostly concentrate on the social situation at the border and its impact on social ties, particularly family ties between persons on the two sides of the border. While analyzing this second dimension, we take into consideration the character of those ties and their dependence on the openness or closure of the border. We also consider factors which enable continuos cross-border cultural cooperation (formal and informal one) between individuals, groups and organizations.
Political dimension: While dealing with this dimension in the final third part of the analysis, the focus of our research becomes the system of central and local administration in the borderland. We approach the situation at the border- both the present and the future one- from three perspectives. Firstly, from the point of view of the interaction between administration- the central and the local one- in the borderland. Secondly, from the perspective of different forms of inter-regional cooperation between organizational units (municipalities) on the two sides of the border. Thirdly, from the perspective of the relation between different units of local government and central administration in the context of the new border policy.