Neighbourhood as a Cultural and Social Issue

Abstract

The neighbourhood is a broad category, which is present throughout sociological and cultural research. Of course, articles of the latest issue of "Colloquia Humanistica" do not exhaust the problem. However, we present crucial texts that relate to rarely undertaken issues, some of which might even be considered pioneering. We hope that they will be inspiring for researchers who are interested in the humanities and cultural studies, and once again we are pleased that we have been able to create an issue that is not merely declaratively, but truly interdisciplinary, and yet consistent. We try to present an understanding of the neighbourhood that emerges from the presented texts. The connotation they are most concerned with is that of exchange and opening, of contact, which is based on upholding the borders of one’s group – and of oneself, one’s own space, but at the same time, on opening to other people and the need for communication during which communities and people define themselves. The neighbourhood and contact are also the basis for the exchange processes, the thwarting of which can lead to the most dangerous phenomena for the functioning of societies.