Toward a Theory of Borders in Motion

Abstract

The premises of this exploration in border theory are that borders are always in motion, that our theories about borders need to reflect this axiom beyond acknowledging borders as process and changing quality, and that these theories need to align with the “motion turn” in the social sciences. After characterizing and visualizing borders in motion, the paper evaluates the potential building blocks for a theory of borders in motion. These include concepts of border construction and reconstruction, exercise of power, equilibrium seeking, vacillating borders, spaces of flows, and uncertainty in transition space, among others. Analogues from basic and environmental science are postulated to explain how motion operates to generate bordering and create borders and borderlands, as well as account for movements surrounding borders and their alteration and reconciliation. Three component realms of a conceptual framework are offered: generation and realization of borders through dichotomization and dialectic, border dynamic motions and signatures, and alteration and reconciliation of the border in response to breaking points. The evolving framework is articulated with reference to a case study from the Pacific Northwest border region between Canada and the United States.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Don Alper, Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly, David Davidson, Hugh Conroy, Bryant Hammond, Evelyn Mayer and other colleagues at Western Washington University and the University of Victoria for interrogating the notion of “breaking points,” and bringing me to a realization of the broader context of borders in motion. Thanks as well to the participants of the BRIT XI conference in Geneva and Grenoble, and particularly the lead organizers Anne-Laure Amilhat-Szary and Frederic Giraut. The conference theme of “Borders in Motion,” and the many presentations that acknowledged or explored this theme, inspired me to examine the theoretical implications more carefully and closely. Finally, I am thankful for the constructive criticisms and useful suggestions offered by the anonymous reviewers.

Funding

The initial research for this project was supported by the Border Policy Research Institute, Western Washington University, during the author's Visiting Research Fellowship in 2008.