Przejście graniczne jako zasób społeczności lokalnej

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the results of the research on the ways of capitalizing resource – the border crossing point at the Polish-Russian border. The attempt to specify the impact of the border crossing on the community of trans-border micro region has been made. For local borderland communities on the EU eastern border, border crossing points have become an important local resource that is capitalized both economically (mostly thorough trans-border trade), socially and culturally (through the establishment of the environment of traders) and politically (through local elites). The way of border crossing capitalization depends on the actors using it. Traders use it directly whereas all inhabitants of borderland and local authorities capitalize the border indirectly. The identifi cation of the ways of border crossing capitalization and the actors who bring it about indicate that the existence of a border crossing is of a great importance for the institutionalization of informal economy, the organization of local community’s life, and building political position of local authorities.