This collective publication offers an insight into some of the many and varied social and political practices emerging in the border regions of the Western world as a reaction to the phenomenon of globalisation. It proposes to qualify these practices with the notion of "B/ordering space". One thing they all have in common is that they are processes linked to the existence of borders which manifest on a spatial and territorial level.
The Center for Inter American and Border Studies (CIBS) has established itself as a benchmark in the field of border studies by capitalising on the expertise on its own border territory. As well as often being high-profile, this territory presents some important challenges in terms of governance, demography and migration, as well as access to education and healthcare, employment and economic development. To meet these challenges the centre has developed an interdisciplinary approach specific to the territory studied, and a high level of expertise.
L’ouvrage pose la question générale de l’existence d’une identité collective propre au territoire transfrontalier du Rhin Supérieur. Trois types de contributions permettent de baliser les réponses à cette question : l’examen d’initiatives institutionnelles qui encouragent la construction de cette identité collective, des analyses d’us et habitus de ce territoire qui témoigne de cette identité chez les acteurs et habitants de cette région et enfin des témoignages issus de régions proches qui confirment le propos général.
There is significant renewed interest for borders. Empirical observation has shown that border stabilisations and destabilisations are multifaceted and are therefore increasingly perceived as complex processes. With this publication project, the 20 authors critically and productively address the concept of “border textures” in order to produce an analysis and reflection instrument likely to strengthen the complex research on borders from all angles.
This working paper highlights the thematic field of “energy” and presents the challenges which occur in terms of territorial development for the Greater Region. It discusses the energy transition concept and focuses on energy systems and vectors, specifically the development of wind energy and the production of energy from biomass with regard to the development of fossil energy in Germany and France.
This working paper highlights the thematic field “mobility and transports” and presents the challenges which occur in terms of territorial development for the Greater Region. It specifically focuses on the territorial distribution of cross-border worker movements and on the reliance on cars within the Greater Region, as well as on the influence of European policies on the way challenges inherent to cross-border transport are addressed.
The working paper pertains to the thematic field “demography and migration” and highlights the challenges for territorial development in the Greater Region. Particular emphasis is placed on cross-border residential mobility at borders with the Grand Duchy, on population ageing and on the guarantee of general interest services in rural regions.
The thematic document highlights various aspects of cross-border spatial development based on the following central themes: spatial planning instruments, promotion of cross-border cooperation, health care, transport infrastructures and services, territorial integration through the combination of transport modes and creation of European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation. The contributions pertain to different cross-border spaces in Europe.
In this article, Soja covers the research fields of regional and urban studies, which increasingly tend to blend together. He makes a case for an approach consisting in considering these two research fields together, as empirical research also increasingly allows for the simultaneous observation of these categories which used to be considered separately. Soja highlights gaps and needs with regard to research; he reports eight important thematic fields for critical and comparative regional research: 1) new regionalism, 2) the regenerating power of towns and regions, 3) regional urbanisation, 4) the end of the metropolis, 5) broadened regional urbanisation, 6) multi-scalar regionalisation, 7) regional governance and planning and 8) regional democracy.
Oliver Kramsch and Chiara Brambilla, researchers in the field of borders, use Walter Mignolo’s epistemologic perspective to develop a new viewpoint on Euro-African border spaces in their article. The analysis of a report by the West African Borders and Integration (WABI) initiative reveals a new perspective on the EU, its border spaces and cross-border relations, which eclipses colonial reports and is used as a model by WABI. It contains new dynamics in the reciprocal historic construction of borders, which make it necessary to broaden Mignolo’s concept on exteriority and on the way to think borders over. The authors conclude that Eurocentrism and Occidentalism are not solely located in Western Europe, but are appropriated and interpreted specifically on a local level beyond European borders. Conversely, the way borders and exteriority are considered is not solely found outside the West. The authors have therefore drawn up their article as a method to think borders over, allowing for reclassification of Euro-African relations and border construction.
