Abstract
Borders and social ordering: Critical reflections on border-making
This book provides an excellent overview of societal issues that are conditioned and shaped by state borders. As the author points out quite presciently, ‘the study of borders constitutes a prism through which to examine how contemporary social, cultural and political processes impact our lives’ (p. 2). Border studies has ‘liberated’ itself from its largely descriptive and positivist beginnings to become a highly critical science, questioning the logics of border-making statecraft and focusing attention to the negative impacts of borders on individuals. Border studies has also become a multidisciplinary affair, reflecting the many ways in which borders between social groups are actively made.
A major conceptual shift in border studies lies in acknowledging that state borders are complex political institutions transecting social spaces not only in administrative but also in cultural, economic and functional terms (Donnan and Wilson, 1999; Kramsch, 2010; Liikanen, 2011). Central to this latter perspective are multiple interpretations of border significance, border-related elements of identity-formation, sociocultural and experiential basis for border-defining processes, power relations in society and geopolitical orders as well as critical analyses of geopolitical discourses. Border studies has also been amenable to the cultural turn in the humanities and social sciences, as the influence of philosophers such as Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari testifies.
While Gabriel Popescu’s book clearly reflects these recent shifts in the research field, it is most directly a contribution to the critical political geography of borders, thus working within the tradition established by scholars such as John Agnew, Peter Taylor, Julius Minghi and Anssi Paasi. The main objective of the book is to depict borders as examples of political geographies of globalization; it deals extensively with the contradictions between increasing global flows and attempts to selectively benefit from, manage and restrict these flows. Furthermore, Popescu’s guide to the study of borders in the 21st century puts considerable emphasis on their socially constructed nature. Deriving inspiration from the border landscapes approach, and its focus on the symbolic and social significance of state boundaries, Popescu suggests that the contemporary border studies has increasingly investigated complex processes of ‘border-making’. Social construction is thus reflected here in the concept of bordering, which can be defined as the everyday construction of borders through ideology, cultural mediation, discourses, political institutions, attitudes and agency (see Van Houtum and Naerssen, 2002).
Popescu’s contention is that ‘border-making constitutes a key principle for organizing social relations in space, when borders change their functions, shapes and meanings, people’s lives change as well’ (p. 151). Departing from this basic perspective, Popescu develops a complex analysis of border construction and de-construction with regard to the evolution of nation-states and state territoriality, processes of globalization, securitization (both pre- and post-9/11) and questions of identity. A primary focus on borders developed in the book is therefore that of borders as manifestations of power and power relations – both between and within national societies.
The book is organized quite straightforwardly. It begins with a good theoretical overview and discussion of the changing field of border studies and then introduces the main arguments that structure analysis. There is a short section that deals with borders before and during the modern era and that provides an interesting discussion of borders in history and with regard to the emergence of modern state borders. This is intended as a preface to more detailed discussion of the current era of globalization. Globalization is dealt with in the next chapter with specific reference of the transformation of state borders within the international economy and in response to global flows, environmental issues (e.g. global climate change and health issues), human rights and international terrorism. These issues set the stage for a discussion of the ‘production’ of borders, more specifically processes of bordering, debordering and rebordering.
A further section deals with borders and the control of mobility within the world system. This discussion is closely intertwined with the question of border security and more general securitization polices that have proliferated during the new Millennium. The author’s critical observations with regard to the securitization debate make for some uneasy but important reading – particularly. Borders can be seen as sophisticated techniques for the exercise of biopower and biopolitics and for the creation – discursively and physically – of spaces that are set outside everyday social contexts. These exceptional spaces, such as the Guantánamo detention camp, refugee retention centres and concentration camps, not only control mobility but also serve to externalize perceived societal threats and neutralize political resistance to security policies. The control of mobility also takes place in less spectacular ways, such as through the use of biometrics and body scans at borders and airports.
Finally, and in a perhaps more optimistic vein, Popescu deals with state borders as resources for economic, political and cultural cooperation. Based on a discussion of recent European experience, the book ends with a discussion of cross-border cooperation strategies in which borders have been and might be employed as bridges (e.g. through Euroregions) within the context of European integration. Euroregions have allowed for the creation of local and regional ‘neighbourhood’ contexts that have helped break down intercultural resentment and mental barriers to interaction. Nevertheless, as Popescu points out, these cooperation projects are often overshadowed by national political interests and geopolitical concerns.
This analyses offered by Popescu are supported and documented by numerous examples gleaned from historical sources, the author’s own observations as well as by a carefully crafted synthesis of recent research on border-related issues. The book also provides provocative food for thought; for example, in outlining border-making dilemmas that characterize the contemporary world. Many of these dilemmas have to do with the contradictions between state territoriality and sovereignty and the global reach of financial flows, information and ideas and environmental challenges and threats. Gabriel Popescu’s book is very much a product of contemporary scientific and political reflection on the significance of the border function as a manifestation of political/social/cultural power. All in all, this book is a timely selective contribution to a widening international debate on the societal significance and impact of state borders.