Mirek Dymitrow

Begrepp som skadar: Exempel från inre periferier i Polen, Nordmakedonien och Sverige

Conceptually induced harm: Examples from inner peripheries in Poland, North Macedonia and Sweden

Summary, in English

This chapter approaches the process of spatial peripheralization from the perspective of concept-induced harm. Harm is both a moral and a legal term construed along any form of physical or mental damage, be it intended or unintended. More broadly, however, harm denotes any form of setback to interest, and while harm can arise as the result of an onset of emotion, more often than not harm is conceptually induced. What this means is that any abstract division or delimitation upheld or enforced by socio-cultural factors will at the same time enable and constrain individual agency in space. In this chapter, I look into how peripheries are created through constraints enforced by forms of spatial planning that are governed by strong conceptual schemata rooted in the rural-urban binary. This is done by exploring the concept of inner peripheries in three diverse European contexts: Toruń (Poland), Skopje (North Macedonia) and Gothenburg (Sweden). Using comparative methodology, the aim of this chapter is to point to the ease with which concept-heavy planning can disrupt geographical homogeneity by creating an inner periphery within. Understanding how oxymorons like inner periphery may become a real – yet unnoticed – challenge for spatial cohesion is important if we truly want to curb interventions that cause concept-induced harm.