For the past two decades, a resurgence of borders has been observed. On the one hand, this is shown by the remarkable increase in border controls, border walls and fortified border installations. On the other hand, however, it shows above all the progressive proliferation or multiplication of borders: they penetrate far into the spectrum of society, they manifest themselves very differently and figure spatially fragmented. This transformation of the border is no longer tangible with the familiar concept of the line, but is reflected in interconnected materialities, localizations, temporalities, corporealities, discourses, and multiple efficacies. These new forms of the border are not only challenging for political actors; also border scholars who engage with the changing border realities are confronted with new conceptual challenges.
Transitions and people’s resilience in European borderlands
Borderlands are specific environments where people and communities have historically had to find creative ways of coping within state structures and their transitions. This lecture problematizes transitions in terms of the concept of people’s resilience and from the perspective of people living in three European borderlands.
Dorte Jagetic Andersen is senior researcher in the Centre for Border Region Studies at the University of Southern Denmark.
More information:www.borderrealities.org