Współczesny sens regionalizmu

Abstrakt

Idea of regionalism appeared in Province in late nineteenth century in a particular cultural moment in the history of France. At the turn of century it spread across the Europe. In Poland ‘regionalism’ became popular during the interwar period as it has been adopted in institutional and organizational way. However, the term has begun to function in an ordinary usage and became a part of the common-sense only since last two decades. Nowadays, the term ‘regionalism’ exists in three meanings: (1) regional ideology, consciousness, or identity; (2) overall of cultural efforts undertaken within a region which determine its uniqueness and originality (such eff orts continue spontaneously although they may be also guided institutionally and purposely in order to preserve the identity of region); (3) sociocultural movement whose activities seek to popularize regional consciousness.
Th e contemporary regional movement declares to fulfill tasks which represent continuation of the aims of regional activity in Second Polish Republic. However, it focuses on spreading regional tradition rather than on activity aiming at ‘creation
of present day’, i.e. on attempt to intervene in social processes within local or regional boundaries (e.g. transformation and modernization which constitute the
contemporary reality and regional differentiation). According to sociologists, present ‘Wielo-Polska’ (‘Multi-Poland’) encompasses fields defi ned by wealth, inhabitants, citizen activities and absenteeism, development and level of education among the population, level and scale of foreign investment, and technological innovation. The contemporary regional movement should consider this matter. It has to try to activate local and regional communities, promote enterprise, civic engagement, pro-innovation attitudes, and educational aspirations. Nonetheless, it has also to take into account regional and local traditions. This general and complex task defines the sense of contemporary regionalism.