Towards a Dormant Border Theory?

OVERVIEW

This research project seeks to contribute to the field of Political and Cultural Geography through critical analysis of the border and its diverse manifestations. Set against the backdrop of a fractured European Union, this research will investigate formal bordering in Romania, developing nuanced understandings pertaining to a dormant border theory. The polysemic and polyvalent nature of the border will be expounded upon in a four-fold fashion, addressing the border as cognitive, embodied, technological and physical. Building on Simon's (2015) notion of phantom borders, a dormant border theory would proffer a new conceptual understanding of the (re)active border susceptible to be awoken at any moment. The varying stimuli that bring to life once 'inactive' borders will be explored focusing on events, discourses and embodied experience. A More-than-Representational lens will be adopted in line with the 'affectual turn'. This project will contribute to Critical and Feminist Geopolitics seeking to address the following questions;

How are borders (re)constructed and manifested through discourse, affect and emotion?
To what extent are borders 'dormant', and if yes, for whom, when and where?
How do borders (re)act in response to stimuli, and what are these stimuli?

CONTEXT

This research project will build on the recent developments in affectual geopolitics (Anderson, 2010; Anderson & Harrison, 2010; Cadman, 2009; Sharp, 2009; Thrift, 1997, 2000). Lorimer (2005) developed a More-than-Representational Theory (MTRT) that wedded discourse with affect, and will serve as a prominent lens in this project. Emotional Geopolitics similarly shares a preoccupation with embodiment, yet focuses primarily on emotion rather than affect in its research (Bondi, 2005; Pain, 2009, 2010; Thrift, 1997). States can manipulatively draw on the use of emotion and affect, conducing what Tazreiter (2015) terms a politics of affect. Laketa's (2016) recent work on the everyday in a post-conflict city voiced the concern of many regarding the underexplored area of empirical research in affectual geopolitics; this project seeks to contribute to the nascent and promising field.

METHODOLOGY

However, to fully address the research questions, analysis is required beyond discourse. MTRT provides opportunities to explore the (re)active border and its stimuli through investigations of agency and performance (Anderson, 2009; Laketa, 2016; Muller, 2008, 2015; Pile, 2011). Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with a variety of key actors including migrant-centred NGOs, regular and irregular migrants, governmental officials, political activists and border enforcement officers based in Romania.

IMPACT

This project will unearth the experiences of individuals at the (re)active border, empowering NGOs concerned with the securing of human rights for migrants and refugees. Furthermore, it will contribute to larger-scale discussions of migration, security and mobility within the EU. It will inform policy-makers and progressive governments in three ways. Firstly, revealing the everyday encounters many migrants face, shedding light on the humanitarian intervention required to ensure human rights for all. Secondly, understanding the border in light of its dormancy and potential will shape policy debates and diplomacy between and within states in matters of mobility, security and humanitarianism. Finally, this research project will determine the stimuli that release the potentiality of the border, thereby providing insights into the border and its subsequent management.