‘In between’ – looking for the place of Eastern Europe in the global South-North division

• In Event: Penality in the south(-s) (3): Southern (border) criminology (2)

Abstract

The contemporary, binary division of the world between the Global North (GN) and the Global South (SG) is mainly a legacy of colonialism. For this reason, Eastern Europe hardly fits into any of those categories. Its geographical location or history, especially the communist legacy and experience of being dependent on the Soviet Union followed by attempts (mostly successful) to join the EU, do not resemble the realities of African, Asian or South American countries and societies. The question is then: does it make the East a unique category, a representative of its own new group, or is it ‘just’ a region in transition – on its path to fully accepting the characteristic and identity of the GN. This leads to yet another question – when does such a process end and is it possible to join and be accepted as a full member of the GN? This is, however, just the beginning of a journey into dismantling the GN-GS division. As southern criminology teaches us, there are both topics and territories (mostly peripheral) that could be southernized (see Carrington, Hogg, Scott, & Sozzo 2018).
In this paper I will try to take a closer look at Poland (as a representative of Eastern Europe) and its bordering practices. This gives me an opportunity to problematise the notion of the East and its ‘in-betweenness’ with regard to migration.

Author

• Witold Klaus, Institute of Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences