The focus of this text is the boundaries between disciplines, subjects, specialized fields of knowledge as well as epistemic and knowledge cultures. The author addresses differences in cross-border and integrative research with the term boundary work. Different methods of boundary work, such as exploring professional profiles and identities; conceptual work and boundary work with variables, indicators and thresholds, are presented.
Included in an edited collection focusing on social services of general interest in Europe, this chapter considers the concept of "social service" as it is understood in France, and addresses concerns relating to spatial equality to diagnose issues of accessibility to maternity wards across the Greater Region. The representations provided differ from Anglo-Saxon approaches to measuring the territorial impact of social services of general interest, by taking a predominantly social approach. As the focus of the study, the Greater Region exemplifies the heterogeneity of issues of accessibility seen across neighboring regions.
Border work has an indisputable influence on the development of areas on both sides of the border. This article summarizes the impact and policy responses to the steady increase in the number of cross-border workers, with an emphasis on the Lorraine villages and cities where most of the cross-border commuters to Luxembourg live. After a presentation of the evolution of the number of cross-border workers in Lorraine, the perception of the impact of this trend on territorial development on local, inter-municipal, regional, national, and European policies is summarized. Under the title “local dynamics,” the improvement of the accessibility of the territories, the increase in housing construction, the development of services and facilities, as well as financial and tax support are discussed. It is noted that the impact varies by area and creates strong disparities. Reflections on development prospects are presented.
In the light of the Schengen Agreement border checks at the EU internal borders have largely been abolished. Thirty years after the signature of this agreement, Europe faces “refugee crisis” (EC 2016). After recent events such as the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, some countries decided to re-establish border controls. What are the impacts of the reintroduction of these border controls from a spatial perspective? To answer this question, the authors propose a synthetic literature review on conceptual tools for analyzing the reintroduction of border controls and link these with a set of empirical findings. The focus is on the Greater Region, a cross-border region where functional flows are important.
In order to analyze the importance of national borders for spatial identities in border regions, a multidimensional analysis model will be developed. Using the example of the SaarLorLux Greater Region, both the representation of space and the organization of the everyday practices of the residents of the region as well as the spatial projections in political discourses are examined. It becomes clear that, despite cross-border interdependencies, national borders play an important role in the residents’ processes of identification with and identification by/of. However, they are not regarded as rigid categories.
In recent years, the number of people from Luxembourg relocating to the German border area has increased considerably. Based on four different studies dealing with this development, the article shows that cross-border practices have contributed to a relativization of national borders, but that these continue to exist through new demarcations, such as spatial differentiations and social demarcations.
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.
This special edition focuses on national borders. It deals with the development of border regions and highlights various forms of mobility. It deals with four topics of border studies: daily cross-border mobility, directing commuter flow, cross-border housing migration and the consequences of demarcations.
This chapter questions the marginality of border areas. The marginal nature of border areas is often highlighted in public politics, but rarely directly presented in all its ambiguity. Although these spaces may contain places of marginalization (prostitution, concentration of various types traffic, accumulation of refugees confined to the border), these situations are far from a generalization. Thus, it isn't enough to define them this way. The ambiguous relationship between borders and margins is addressed symbolically by the various cases (in France and in Europe). To test the character of the margin phenomena, a multi-level approach is proposed.
Luxembourg has the highest number of cross-border commuters in the EU. They commute daily to the trilingual country from the neighboring countries of Germany, France or Belgium. This results in multifaceted linguistic and cultural constellations of cooperation. This article examines how multilingualism and interculturality are experienced and handled by cross-border commuters in the country. The resulting typologies are based on interviews, interaction analyses and surveys.
