Borders “Borders are not just hard territorial lines – they are institutions that result from bordering policies – they are thus about people... Bounded.

Borders

“Borders are not just hard territorial lines – they are institutions

that result from bordering policies – they are thus about

people... Bounded territories and borderlands are the outcome

of the continual interactions and intersections between the

actions of people (agency) within the constraints and limits

placed by contextual and structural factors (structure).”

Brunet-Jailly, Emmanuel (2011) Borders, Borderlands and Theory: An Introduction, Geopolitics.

Borderlands

• Borderlands: areas within which the effects of borders are ‘felt’ (on both sides of the border) …… Not only by residents and travellers…

… but also by the states

Border => separationBorderland => overlap

“National borders are political constructs, imagined projections of territorial power. Although

they appear on maps in deceptively precise forms, they reflect, at least initially, merely the

mental images of politicians, lawyers, and intellectuals. Their practical consequences are often

quite different. No matter how clearly borders are drawn on official maps, how many customs

officials are appointed, or how many watchtowers are built, people will ignore borders whenever

it suits them. In doing so, they challenge the political status quo of which borders are the ultimate

symbol. People also take advantage of borders in ways that are not intended or anticipated by

their creators. Revolutionaries hide behind them, seeking the protection of another sovereignty;

local inhabitants cross them whenever services or products are cheaper or more attractive on the

other side; and traders are quick to take advantage of price and tax differentials. Because of such

unintended and often subversive consequences, border regions [borderlands] have their own

social dynamics and historical development.”

Michiel Baud, M and W. Van Schendel (1997) Toward a Comparative History of Borderlands.

Journal of World History, 8(2): 211.

Borderland

• Basic example– Legally, US declares any location within 100 miles

of the border a ‘port of entry’– Checking by customs and border patrols at a

laundromat

Bordering … not simply building borders

US construction of US-Mexico “border wall”, 2008

Bordering

• Spatialized processes of ‘Othering’ that come to express sharp distinctions between entities

• Exercise of state sovereignty, incl. at great distances from the border itself

“Moving borders”:where do borders start and for who?

• Reassure US public (domestic audience)

• Entice foreign public (international audience)

• “First, we seek to use new information technology to renew America's welcome, making it as easy as possible for foreign visitors to travel to the United States and to do so securely and safely.

• Second, we seek to create travel documents for the 21st century, documents that can protect personal identity and expedite secure travel.

• The third pillar of our strategy is to conduct smarter screening in every place that we encounter travelers, whether at a consulate abroad or at a port of entry into the United States.”

‘Border screening’

• Profiling: ‘risk’ criteria definition• Tracking: detecting through movements• Connecting: relations between people and things• Screening: systematic review (algorithms, etc…)• Preventing: visa refusal• Stopping: at border, before or beyond…=> Where is the ‘border’?

Australia’s multi-layered border management

• Visa system (with alert checking)– Central Movement Alert List (CMAL)– statistical Risk Scoring System (RSS)=> Security Referral Service => Australian Intelligence (ASIO)

• airline liaison officers (ALOs) network• Advance Passenger Processing system (APP), which

operates at check-in overseas• Processing at Australian airports and seaports on

arrival.

Alternative geopolitics of borders

• “Doctors without borders”

• “Humane borders”

Conclusions

• Borders are historically contingent and characterized by contextual features and power relations

• Borders are not simply the outer lines of territorial states but can be located “wherever selective controls are to be found”

• Borders need to be “performed” to exist

At home

• Think about your own border crossing experiences: how did you ‘perform’ the border (e.g. acting as the ‘safe citizen’)