Robert Rydzewski

W tym tekście na początku rozważę zastosowanie teorii post-kolonialnych do przestrzeni, w
której dochodziło do spotkań dwóch grup podróżujących w przeciwnych kierunkach.
Następnie opiszę szlak bałkański oraz działania aktywistów/tek wspierających ludzi
szukających schronienia w UE.

The margins of the EU became meeting points for asylum seekers from the Global South and volunteers from the Global North during the period described as "the long summer of migration" or the "refugee crisis" in Europe in 2015 and 2016. Volunteers' numerous actions in different parts of the country significantly contributed to the protection of asylum seekers in Serbia and undermined the restoration of the EU border regime in Southeast Europe. This chapter is based on data from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Serbia and supported by literature on migration, activism, and tourism. It analyzes the movement on the fringes of the EU and illuminates the points of entanglements and interactions between white privileged subjects supporting asylum seekers and volunteers' social and personal conditions for geographical mobility. Drawing upon concepts such as mobility, self-realization, and solidarity, it discusses intersecting mobilities that produced not only structural and hierarchical stratifications but also new forms of political action and solidarity. The key element of the solidarity movement is self-development, which plays an important role in volunteers' decision-making processes about whether or not to engage during the "refugee crisis" in Serbia.

In recent years, a number of ethnic Albanians from North Macedonia have decided to return from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy to Macedonia in spite of the unfavourable economic and political conditions in their home country. Why have Albanian Macedonian emigrants decided to come back? What is their role in the political, social, and economic changes in their home country? These questions seem to be particularly valid against a background of insufficient statistical and qualitative data regarding return migration in the post-Yugoslav context. Drawing on ethnographic research and circular as well as transnational migration studies, I question the argument that migrants return to their home countries only because of the achievement of initial financial aims or deteriorating working conditions in the European Union. Although these arguments might reflect some ethnic Albanian motivation to return, they do not cover the complexity of the phenomena. This article argues that Albanians from North Macedonia have decided to return home because of a strong sense of community and ethnic belonging, as well as recognition of Albanian minority rights and economic possibilities that emerged after major political changes: the collapse of Yugoslavia and the armed conflict in 2001 in North Macedonia. Furthermore, I also show that returnees might have an important impact on the local community due to their know-how, transnational connections, and economic resources that help them acquire higher economic and social positions in an ethnically divided society.

ybki rozwój techniki nie oszczędza kin. Wielkie i skomplikowane projektory wyświetlające filmy z 35 mm taśmy, zastępują samoobsługowe projektory na płyty blueray albo dyski twarde. Przy obsłudze starych projektorów kinooperator był osobą niezbędną. Odpowiadał nie tylko za puszczanie filmów, ale również za światło na sali kinowej, klejenie zerwanych taśm i naprawę projektorów. Pan Piotr, kinooperator z trzydziestoletnim stażem, zdradza tajniki swojego zawodu, który odchodzi w niepamięć.

Disenchantment with Unfulfilled Promises-Adolescence in a Provincial Macedonian Town In the last decade, significant social movements have emerged in Southeast Europe. Citizens, mostly in the capital cities, objected to the corrupt political class and their criminal entanglements, privatization of public space, environmental degradation or NATO military pacts. As a result, we witnessed violent clashes between law enforcement and protesters, resignations of politicians and revolts. However, not everyone was protesting and-as shown in the case of Macedonia-not all citizens supported new pro-European transformation. This paper is about those who decided not to engage in protests and passively observe protest during so called the "Colorful Revolution" in Macedonia. The starting points for my analysis are the following questions: in which terms can we describe human existence when their agency is invisible or does not take affective from? Why instead of political engagement does political indifference arise? Drawing on the terms such as hope and disenchantment, I argue that passiveness and political apathy, which I observed among my research participants, was caused by the disenchantment with unfulfilled promises carried out by independence of Macedonia in 1991.

This paper analyses the Balkan route after the closure of the formalised corridor through the Balkan Peninsula to the EU. It emerges from maps and non-governmental organisation reports-which most often depict a one-way, linear migrant journey and subsequent entrapment in camps in Greece, Macedonia, and Serbia-and juxtaposes this with migrant narratives. By March 2016, the movement of migrants in Serbia had not stopped. Despite great efforts towards militarising external European Union borders, the push-backs and violence of border guards, and the structural and institutional imposition of waiting, migrants persisted in trying to move. They rarely stayed in government-run transit and asylum centres but instead travelled around Serbia: not only from south to north but also from north to south and in any other direction. In light of these considerations, key questions arise: What does this movement mean for migrants? Why have migrants often rejected state protection offered by government facilities in favour of traveling around the country, thus exposing themselves to danger? I argue that migrant movement on the doorstep to the EU is an expression of hope to bring »the stuckedness« to an end.

Since the dissolution of Yugoslavia we can see a significant growth in the importance of ethnic identity in the Balkan states. In effect, since than an irredentist tendency can be seen in the region. The struggle for the creation of a monoethnic country
turn into civil wars in the Balkan peninsula in the early 1990s. Macedonia, against a background of ex – republics of Yugoslavia, was relatively stable. However, it does not mean that the ethnicity did not play a great role in independent Macedonia. Ethnicity leaves its mark on politics, society and Macedonian cities. In recent years, the local government of Tetovo-a city in the north-western part of Macedonia-has been trying to impose a new identity. This local policy fits in with the wider national fight for national identity and over possession of the city’s public spaces. Simultaneously, we can witness the process of Albanian community emancipation that has influenced social relations. As a result of the changes, the ethnic Macedonians are being pushed out from Tetovo, the second biggest city in the country. In this paper I will argue that what we are witnessing can be called Ethnic Gentrification. I will try to develop the concept of gentrification (Glass 1964) and briefly discuss the legitimacy of broadening well-established concepts.

Zmiany administracyjne, polityczne i demograficzne wpłynęły na oblicze miasta. Gmina Tetovo powiększyła się o czysto albańskie wioski oraz zyskała większą autonomię. Niegdyś świecący triumfy w mieście Macedończycy, dzisiaj są wypychani z przestrzeni publicznej. Albańczycy, dzięki emigracji do Austrii i Niemiec znacząco się wzbogacili: kończą uniwersytety, budują domy, obejmują główne urzędy. Jednak ta opowieść jest jednostronna i nie mówi o wygranych ostatnich przemian tylko o przegranych - Macedończykach w Tetovie - którzy w Macedonii stanowią większość, ale w Tetovie mniejszość.

Wielu Syryjczyków pierwsze lata wojny domowej spędziło w obozach dla uchodźców i miastach w Jordanii, Libanie i Turcji. Mieli nadzieję, że ukończą studia, znajdą pracę, a  gdy wojna w Syrii się skończy, wrócą do swoich domów. Jednak  przez kilka lat życia na uchodźstwie zdążyli się zorientować, że nie mają szans na edukację, pracę i godne życie, a końca wojny nie widać.

Basel uciekł z Syrii do Istambułu w 2012 roku z nadzieją, że będzie mógł tam skończyć studia.  Zamiast uczyć się, pracował w szwalni. Rozczarowany warunkami życia i pracy w Turcji wrócił do Syrii. Tam ogrom zniszczeń, czyhające śmiertelne niebezpieczeństwo oraz pobór wojskowy zmusiły go do dalszej ucieczki.

Niezrzeszeni ludzie z całej Europy w swoim wolnym czasie i za własne pieniądze próbują wspierać wszystkich ludzi zmierzających do Europy bez znaczenia na motywacje wyjazdu. Reportaż przedstawia pracę niezależnych wolontariuszy jesienią 2015 roku w przejściowym obozie dla uchodźców na południu Serbii.