290107 SE SE: Reg./political geogr. of East-Central Europe (2007S)

Related to the concept of East-Central Europe in a cultural sense (working defnition: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Baltic States) the seminary deals with the historical foundations of current spatial structures (political-ecclesiastical affiliation to the European West, socio-spatial differentiation by free cities and plemenite rule, reformation, large empires, nation states, divergent Communist systems), major items of the current transformation process (privatisation, foreign direct investment, expansion of the service sector, tourism as an engine for development, social polarisation, new elites, the new poor, adaptation of the legal systems, democratisation, party systems, decentralisation and regionalisation, position of minorities a.o.) with an emphasis on spatial development processes (growing spatial disparities, rise of centres and decline of rural areas, suburbanisation a.o.). In addition national and regional identities and the roles the individual countries play in the European integration process are highlighted.