Bratslavshchina from the point of view of frontier theory in the context of the land issue

Abstract

Purpose. Creating a new territorial structure is planned within the reform of decentralization of Ukraine. All suggested approaches are based on geographical, historical, economic, and transport criteria but do not take into account the specifics of the population identity in the regions. To draw attention to the distinctness of the population in the territories that once belonged to Bratslavshchina. Methods. The theoretical basis of the analysis is the "big man’s frontier" theory, i.e. the frontier theory in Australian rework. Scientific novelty. The distinctness of the Bratslav variant of the Ukrainian frontier lies in the fact that it was here where the main tense confrontation took place between several powerful opponents who laid claims to the Ukrainian lands, which were the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Tsardom of Muscovy/the Russian Empire, the Crimean Khanate, and the Ottoman Empire. The struggle around the land issue led to consequences similar to the Australian frontier: large land tenure, long-term predominance of slave labor, popularity of socialist ideas, and the victory of state socialism. This determined such identity traits as the duality of population behavior, i.e. collectivism along with individualism and institutional loyalty along with being prepared to offer resistance. However, the nature of the Bratslav frontier developing seemingly similar features is different. The context of the “land issue” allows us to consider the population identity in these territories under the conditions of the frontier from the property, legal, and ethnographic points of view. Conclusions. Since the analysis was performed only in the context of the land issue, it is necessary to proceed with it taking into account other perspectives, such as religion, customary law, national consciousness in the twentieth century, and collective and historical memory.