Paper short abstract:

Chervonograd, a place where the physical border meets transborder mobility, global weakening of borders in a result of flows of capital and modern technologies. Place where the state project of "miners' city" coexists/conflicts with the "migrant city," and this space is the object of research.

Paper long abstract:

Ukrainian town Chervonograd, a place where the physical (political) border meets transborder mobility, global weakening of borders in a result of flows of capital and modern technologies. In other words, the place where globalization and de-territorialization crosses with territorial reality of the national state and, thus, the main object of research is the city as dynamic space of transformations and result of this intersection. On the one hand, Chervonograd is a miners' town, where state invests capital in the unprofitable miner industry and supports "miners'" identity (miners' day, monuments of miners), and on the other hand - city, where with opening of the borders after collapse of USSR and activation of the international capital, especially in shadow economy and connected with migrant economy one can note mutation of territoriality of the national state. In the city space, and especially in architecture and the character of public and private constructions, monuments, interiors of the private houses, local and foreign goods and commodities becomes visible the intersection (tension) of global capital and territorial policy of the state, what causes creation of hybrid identity of the town - at the same time miners', Ukrainian, border, migrant/global.

The main problem of this research is in what way belonging to the national state, and closeness to the state border, what means to the transnational flow of capital and people influenced the life strategies and everyday practices of local inhabitants and how it is visualized in the city space of Chervonograd.

Paper Download (360 KB)