Borders in a ‘borderless’ world

Fronteras porosas y narcotráfico: una problemática de orden transnacional entre Perú y Colombia

“…Para hacer un análisis sobre las fronteras es necesario abordarlo conceptualmente. La noción clásica de la frontera como límite territorial ha sido importante para ser explicada desde un punto de vista geográfico y de defensa de la soberanía territorial (Prescott, 1999). Empero, estas teorías quedan cortas a la hora de ser explicadas ante dinámicas sociales y políticas que transcurren en estos espacios.…”

Borderland studies, frontierization, and the Middle East’s in-between spaces

“…Most notably, Nick Megoran articulated his prescription for boundary biography, that is to explore over time how international boundaries materialise and dematerialise for those that confront, experience or negotiate them at various levels and scales of encounter (Megoran, 2012). It connected in more obviously critical fashion with previous assertions that one of the best territorial contributions a political geographer could make was to chart and characterise the evolution of international boundaries, whether or not their alignment and status had been the subject of serious dispute (Prescott, 1999). Megoran's studies of Central Asia have also showcased an often complex, sometimes relationship between boundaries and borderlands, where governments use boundaries that have been neatly nationally/ethnically cleansed as performative, nationalistic sites within trans-boundary regions or borderlands that are notably mixed in terms of the backgrounds and identities of their inhabitants (Megoran, 2017).…”

“…As noted in Zinovia Foka's paper in this special issue:(Foka, 2020) 3 From different vantage points in boundary/border studies, one traditional and one more critical,Prescott (1999) andMegoran (2012) have both urged that geographers continue to focus on the evolution of individual territorial limits as one of the best contributions we can make to better understanding their operation and dynamics.…”

Back to the barrier function: where next for international boundary and territorial disputes in political geography?

“…Megoran (2012) has seemingly connected with such advice to forward his recipe for 'boundary biography' -that is to explore the experiences of individual boundaries (with the borders of scale that they produce) that render them more or less materially significant to those that confront them. Prescott (1999) has also consistently emphasised Stephen Jones' admonition that 'each boundary is almost unique [and] therefore many generalisations are of doubtful validity' (Jones, 1945, p. vi). (Reputedly, Victor made his doctoral students pencil in such a caution as they begin writing every page of their theses).…”