ABSTRACT

New Medievalism, or 'postmodern territoriality' is about more than nested hierarchies, but instead hybrid, intermediate, ambiguous and uncertain territorialities. Thus the metaphor of New Medievalism assists in grasping the difficulty of ascribing one administration or institution to one space, illustrating the contested nature of boundaries in protected areas. In the Bieczszady, in Poland, there were a variety of overlapping and contrasting boundaries, reflecting the complex combination of various forms of protected areas: There is a gradual move towards having a larger biosphere reserve with more strict protection. The strategy of the local government was not so much to seek to modify boundaries but rather to change the prevailing institutionalisation of the existing bounded spatial entities. Increasingly complex spatial scenarios emerged in which competing interests vied for legitimacy over an area, using a selection of arguments linked to spatialised identity and insider/outsider. A spatial entity was paradoxically not always matched and 'managed' by an equivalent administration.