In this article "Introduction. Theorizing Borders" Chris Rumford examines different transformation processes affecting borders and boundaries. The author demonstrates this with regard to the role of political borders, but also the changing relations between boundaries and society. This also results in changing perceptions of borders, to which attention should be paid. The multiple types of borders that now exist are illustrated through a series of examples before concluding that further theoretical-conceptual discussion turns out to be highly relevant.
The aim of the book is to show what means exist to soften borders and avoid the discrimination and marginalisation that separation can generate. To extend the debate, the book draws on the theoretical framework of social ecology. Social ecology is concerned with the complex relations between nature and society and seeks to provide perspectives by showing how environmental issues are dependent on the social context.
In this scientific study, the authors take a comparative approach to the analysis of border areas in the French territory. The methodological and technical concerns implicated in such analysis are discussed. The third part of the study focusses on the advantages of taking a medium-scale approach. The study draws on a large number of maps and graphic representations. Finally, the authors put forward a typology of border areas.
The EUBORDERSCAPES project analyzed the conceptual changes in the study of borders that have taken place in the past decades. The project focused on the social significance and subjectivities of state borders. “Objective” categories of state territoriality were critically interrogating. Parallel to the study of conceptual change, the main research question was “how [do] different and often contested conceptualisations of state borders (in terms of their political, social, cultural and symbolic significance) resonate in concrete contexts at the level of everyday life”.
This paper deals with the possibility of elaborating a theory of the bordering that encompasses the different types of border and boundary experience. David NEWMAN refers to his previous works, where he argued that the creation of a common vocabulary between the different disciplines interested in changing border/boundary phenomenon is necessary in order to create a common set of theoretical constructs and frameworks. After an input on borders as institutions and the bordering process, a research agenda for the study of borders is discussed.
