Rebordering France and Denmark Narratives and Practices of Border-Construction in Two European Countries

Abstract

This article examines the continued significance of borders and boundary constructions in the allegedly ‘borderless Europe’. It analyses the events in 2011 that led to the temporary closure of borders in France and in Denmark, and aims to show how some European nation-states attempted to reclaim their power of border control by tweaking the Schengen agreement. We argue that these events are not only examples of how countries manage the inflow and outflow of people. By closing or restricting their physical borders, both countries were also trying to reinstate narrative identity boundaries around the French and the Danish people. We advocate that physical borders find legitimacy in boundaries, i.e. narratives that conceptually separate groups and territories, and illustrate this through an analysis of local media in the countries involved.

KEY WORDS:

• Borders
• Boundaries
• Narratives
• Security
• Immigration
• Europe

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their invaluable guidance in the preparation of this article. One of the authors (Kinnvall) also acknowledges support from the project “Democracy Beyond the Nation State? Transnational Actors and Global Governance” funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

Notes

1. One could say for instance that processes of border construction take place every time a new state is included in the EU through accession.

2. This does not mean that the securitisation of migration cannot be a mean in itself. Rather, it widens the number of factors that may explain its occurrence.

3. Narratives developed by a government in regards to particular issues or in relation to specific threats can of course be contested by its citizens. An example is provided when pro-migrant and anti-racist actors across the global North argue that migrants and refugees should be granted permit of stay to a much larger extent than the receiving nation-states are willing to allow. They then try to introduce ideas and counter-narratives about migrants’ and refugees’ rights and mobilise against all forms of discrimination against such groups.

4. According to the Italian ministry of Interior Affairs, it is estimated that between 20.000 and 25.000 migrants arrived from Maghreb, mainly from Tunisia, to Italy. Compared to other migratory influxes caused by wars, this is a relatively low number. For instance, following the war in Kosovo in 1999, an estimated one million people left Kosovo and parts of Serbia.