Political boundary making toward Poland: Social identities and interest-formation in German elite reasoning

Matthias Ecker

No P 99-307, Discussion Papers, Research Group International Politics from WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Abstract: Using data from the ‘German-Polish Elite Study’, the paper presents findings as to how the German ‘positional elite’ thinks about the changing political significance of the border between Germans and Poles. Three dimensions of current ‘political boundary making’ are considered: Restrictions on cross-border traffic at Oder and Neisse and the two enlargements of the European Union and NATO respectively. As can be shown, while ‘transnational’ identity ties between German and Polish elite members foster support for political integration, national identification is in some ways still an obstacle to ‘de-bordering’. Nevertheless, interests – although themselves depending on social identities – are still (more) important variables for understanding how boundaries are drawn. With respect to enlargements, the German elites support a reduction in the political signifi-cance of the German-Polish border; albeit more in terms of a European ‘society’ based on functional regimes like EU and NATO than a European ‘community’ in the sociological meaning. With respect to controls: while borders may vanish as military ‘hard shells’ (John Herz), the German-Polish state border is still seen as a necessary instrument against crime, although with the ‘odour of a lost battle’ in terms of efficacy.

Date: 1999
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