The phenomenon of marginality in the context of contemporary social space

Abstract

The processes of globalization and the resulting transformations leading to the intensification of social interactions both within countries and between them have highlighted the need to study contemporary trends in the ethno-cultural sphere. The increase in migration flows, resulting in the emergence of polyethnic groups, has led to the formation of Homo mobilis – a mobile individual not rigidly tied to a specific locus. Marginal situations have emerged and continue to form: individuals or groups find themselves at the boundaries of two or more cultures or ethnicities, and this duality of position has various consequences, both positive and negative. Marginality, on one hand, contributes to the preservation and even increase of cultural and national diversity, while, on the other hand, it is accompanied by processes negatively affecting the fate of the ethnic group and its culture. These include risks related to possible assimilation, dissolution into a larger ethnic group, which always poses the threat of «national» losses. National roots weaken, historical memory, language, traditions, and way of life are lost.