Du barbelé au pointillé : les frontières au regard des sciences humaines et sociales

Du barbelé au pointillé : les frontières au regard des sciences humaines et sociales

Border Region
Europe, France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg
Language(s)
Français
Type
Note on a scientific paper, a conference paper, etc.
Main Category
Language – Culture – Identity
Theories – Concepts – Terms
Introduction

The border studies field draws on multidisciplinary approaches to throw light on complex involvements in the social space.

Summary

This collective and multidisciplinary publications questions the notion of the border, whose realities and existence are today being challenged under the effect of globalisation. Four disciplines come together here: law, history, sociology and economics. The publication offers historical and epistemological reflections arising out of analyses of European border situations.  It highlights the recent changes in the border situations in the European space and the social dynamics running through them.

Content

This collective publication is the outcome of exchanges conducted by and at the centre for human sciences at the University of Lorraine, a process in which borders appeared as a theme of primary importance. The publication develops a multidisciplinary approach with researchers from 4 areas of human sciences working in border regions.

The publication is structured in three parts: The first part offers a historical and semantic overview of the notion of borders in Europe. This part contains three contributions:

  • "Conception et matérialité des frontières en l'an Mil : l'exemple des boucles mosanes ardennaises" (Conception and materiality of borders in the year 1000: the example of the Ardennes Meuse loops) by Cédric Moulis and Patrice Bertrand,
  • "Maître Eckhart et les frontières linguistiques de son temps" (Maître Eckhart and the linguistic borders of his day) by Jean Devriendt,
  • "Frontière historiographique entre Lorrains et Bourguignons ?  Regards croisés" (A historiographic border between the people of Lorraine and Burgundy? Contrasting perspectives) by Antoine de Neufchâtel and Vianney Muller.

The second part develops the idea that the border is an intermediate space where specific social processes are condensed. This part contains the following contributions:

  • "La frontière et le droit" (The border and the law) by Paul Klötgen,
  • "La citoyenneté de l'Union européenne: la résurgence des frontières" (Citizenship of the European Union: the resurgence of borders) by Malika Ghemmaz,
  • "Des confins ancestraux aux frontières individualisées : le droit, le temps et l'argent" (From ancestral boundaries to individualised borders: law, time and money) by Christopher Pollmann.

The third and final part covers various phenomena relating to the passing and crossing of borders. It consists of the following contributions:

  • "Les Ponts du Rhin comme témoins des relations transfrontalières (1861-2009)" (Rhine bridges as witnesses to cross-border relations (1861-2009)) by Karen Denni,
  • "Quels effets de la frontière sur le travail frontalier des lorrains?" (What are the effects of the border on cross-border workers in Lorraine?) by Rachid Belkacem, Monique Borsenberger and Isabelle Piroth,
  • "Références à la frontière et rapports sociaux. Longwy 1978-2010" (References to the border and labour relations 1978-2010) by Jean-Luc Deshayes.
Conclusions

First of all, the publication provides a reminder of the paradoxical relevance of border studies at a time when they are evidently being dissolved under the effects of globalisation and European integration.

Historical approaches show, in particular, that the conventional and current understanding of borders is essentially that inherited from the modern states and that it actually results from a temporally and territorially more extensive process. Currently, within the European space, this complex history still marks the customs and habits that prevail on either side of each border.

The publication therefore highlights the role that social experience plays in the process of identification and differentiation that takes place on either side of a border. A border is not merely a geographical and administrative demarcation. It implies a specific social space that needs to be studied. A study of border crossing by European citizens, for example, throws light on the existence of an opposition between spatial proximity and social distance. Even if it has brought different cultures and identities closer together, the recent opening of borders does not eradicate the social distances resulting from these differences.

Key Messages

Borders studies takes on a paradoxical importance in the era of globalisation, a phenomenon that is contributing to limiting their influence and impact, but which clearly is unable to eradicate them.

The recent opening of borders has brought with it specific social phenomena the study of which reveals the various differentiations and oppositions that subsist in border territories.

Lead

Jean-Luc Deshayes, Didier Francfort

Author of the entry
Sylvain
MARBEHANT
Contributions

Cédric Moulis, Patrice Bertrand, Jean Devriendt, Vianney Muller, Paul Klötgen, Malika Ghemmaz, Christopher Pollmann, Karen Denni, Rachid Belkacem, Monique Borsenberger, Isabelle Piroth

Links

https://www.lcdpu.fr/livre/?GCOI=27000100112910

Keywords
Social sciences
Cultural studies
Multidisciplinarity
social approach to borders
Contact Person(s)

Jean-Luc Deshayes

Fonction
Chercheur
Organisation
Laboratoire Lorrain de Sciences Sociales, Université de Lorraine, France
Date of creation
2020
Publisher
Presses Universitaires de Nancy
Identifier

ISBN-10 2-8143-0026-1
ISBN-13 978-2-8143-0026-2