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
• Spatialized processes of ‘Othering’ that come to express sharp distinctions between entities
• Exercise of state sovereignty, incl. at great distances from the border itself
• “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’)