Migration society and transcultural entanglement in a multi-structured urban space – Kamjaneć-Podilśkyj in the 16th and 17th centuries

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The project examines official and unofficial attitudes towards migration in an early modern urban community. The city of Kamjanec in the south-eastern province of Podolia in the kingdom of Poland was a supra regional trading hub and at the same time an important fortress bordering the Ottoman Empire, Moldova and Crimea. The city was uniquely self-governed by a tripartite Armenian, Polish and Ruthenian magistrate, which exemplified the multifold structures of a migration society. The city’s location near the border and frequent armed conflicts in the region also led to the development of a common attitude against Ottomans and Tatars. The study sets in with the beginning of urban and regional records in the mid-16th century leading up to the time of the Ottoman occupation in 1672, which substantially changed the institutional and demographic framework. The project is led by the following questions: How are migrant populations positioned in a multipolar matrix of actors? How and with whom do they negotiate affiliations? Who sets up boundaries and implements them? Using an actor-centered approach, the study traces processes of communication and entanglement among urban actors against the background of their contacts with regional and territorial elites. Within the urban community these processes are important for outlining social hierarchies and managing conflicts but also for creating a sense of community against an outside threat. The project highlights the complexity of negotiations determining social order, regulating the modalities of being accepted into the community, and defining narratives of belonging. The study of transcultural entanglements serves as a key to understanding processes of society formation, therefore providing a methodologic contribution to the debates on migration and society well beyond the scope of the specific case study.