The present geopolitical situation has made the debate on borders and their functions, significance, and symbolism more prominent than at any time since the end of the Cold War. While the various ...processes of globalisation have challenged the traditional border concept, the scalar model of identity and society remains primarily anchored in national space. The understanding of the state as a multiscalar construction, constantly negotiated and reconfigured by its actors at different levels, allows us to broaden the scope of our analysis and rethink and transform the spatial formations previously taken for granted in assessing the impacts of globalisation more regionally. State borders continue to have considerable relevance today, yet as the articles brought together in this special section will demonstrate, borders must be understood as complex, multiscalar, multidimensional, yet dynamic entities that have different symbolic and material forms, functions, and locations. With examples from Europe, Southeast Asia and the global south, this section aims to advance our knowledge of the multiscalar dynamics of border politics. The articles investigate how borders are negotiated vis-à-vis questions of identity, belonging, political conflict, and societal transformation, and how they are re- and deconstructed through various institutional and discursive practices at different levels and by different actors.
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Expanding Boundaries Laine, Jussi P; Moyo, Inocent; Changwe Nshimbi, Christopher
2021, 20201227, 2020, 2020-12-28, Volume:
1
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This book challenges the common European notions about African migration to Europe and offers a holistic understanding of the current situation in Africa. It advocates a need to rethink Africa-Europe ...relations and view migration and borders as a resource rather than as sources of a crisis.
Migrant movement from Africa is often misunderstood and misrepresented as invasion caused by displacement due to poverty, violent conflict, and environmental stress. To control this movement and preserve national identities, the EU and its various member states resort to closing borders as a way of reinforcing their migration policies. This book aims to dismantle this stereotypical view of migration from Africa by sharing cutting-edge research from the leading scholars in Africa and Europe. It refutes the flawed narratives that position Africa as a threat to European societies, their economies, and security, and encourages a nuanced understanding of the root causes as well as the socioeconomic factors that guide the migrants’ decision-making. With chapters written in a concise style, this book brings together the migration and border studies in an innovative way to delve into the broader societal impacts of both. It also serves to de-silence the African voices in order to offer fresh insights on African migration – a discourse dominated hitherto by the European perspective.
This book constitutes a valuable resource for research scholars and students of Border Studies, Migration Studies, Conflict and Security Studies, and Development Studies seeking specialisation in these areas. Written in an accessible style, it will also appeal to a more general public interested in gaining a fuller perspective on the African reality.
This brief reflection is written from the standpoint that much of the witnessed suppression of welcome derives from either a lack of fully understanding, or misunderstanding, the reasons for and ...circumstances of the perceived crisis, as well as of the histories and motivations of the people who have arrived in Europe in great numbers. Rather than simply depicting the governmental perspective in opposition to that of the people, the argument put forth here is rather that the reactions to this extraordinary situation have been torn at best, and it is the mounting polarization, rather than the immigrants as such, that are putting Europe’s democracies, social model, cooperation as well as values to the test. The anxieties caused by immigration have become intertwined with deep insecurities triggered by originally unrelated societal changes, whereby the question of the suppression of welcome has a lot to do with the difficulty in finding an appropriate balance with one’s own benefits, preferences of association and responsibilities towards others. Efforts need to be taken to debunk tenacious false narratives about migration, and to provoke debate in a fashion that will lead to a nuanced understanding of the root causes and motivating factors behind the migrant flows, as this would enable us to take proper action in addressing them.
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This research supports the evolution of border studies by advancing recently elaborated theoretical insights convincingly captured as borders in motion and the multiscalar nature of borders. Drawing ...on ongoing empirical research in Yunnan province, China, the combined perspectives tender a new approach of 'relational motion' to inform analyses interrogating the complex and dynamic nature of border-related phenomena occurring in, across and beyond Yunnan. We propose a new consideration of the ways border phenomena manifest, and detail outcomes by highlighting a range of interrelated processes. Our focus on processes, as opposed to borders or borderlands only, provides a critical insight to understand how border-related phenomena shape - and are shaped by - a diverse range of initiatives whose nature are connective and discrete, distinct and obscure, theoretical and empirical. Theoretical discussion is centred on four empirical sections: Kunming as a border and borderlands metropolis; Yunnan as an integrative energy centre; Yunnan as a focal point for transregional security; and transborder migration in Yunnan. Empirical insights contextualize how macroscale initiatives, such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)- manifest at multiple scales through border-related phenomena. The research presents fresh empirical and theoretical insights into China's south-west to understand this dynamic, nuanced region better.
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Background and objective:
Tibia fractures are relatively common injuries that are accompanied with acute compartment syndrome in approximately 2% to 20% of cases. Although the shoe-lace technique, ...where vessel loops are threaded in a crisscross fashion and tightened daily, has been widely used, no studies have compared the shoe-lace technique with the conventional one. The aim of this study was to compare the shoe-lace technique with the conventional technique.
Methods:
We identified 359 consecutive patients with intramedullary nailed tibia fracture and complete medical records including outpatient data between April 2007 and April 2015 from electronic patient database of our institute. The use of the shoe-lace technique was compared to conventional one (in which wounds were first left open with moist dressings). Main outcome measurement is direct closure of fasciotomy wounds.
Results:
From 359 consecutive patients with intramedullary nailed tibia fracture, fasciotomy was performed on 68 (19%) patients. Of these, the shoe-lace technique was used in 47 (69%) patients while in 21 (31%) patients, the shoe-lace technique was not applied. Side-to-side approximation was successful in 36 patients (77%) in the shoe-lace+ group and 7 patients (33%) in the shoe-lace– group (p = 0.002).
Conclusions:
The main finding of our comparative study was that the shoe-lace technique seems to ease direct closure of lower leg fasciotomy wounds, and thus reduces the frequency of free skin grafts. Our finding needs to be confirmed in a high-quality randomized controlled trial.
Borders remain vitally important features of our political world. Throughout the Global North, the common response to the broad challenges and the multiple overlapping crises has been to regress to ...state-centric thinking and nationalist agendas and revert to ad-hoc border closures. We have witnessed a consistent drive for ever stricter border and migration policies, which are not limited to the mere border management, but become an inherent part of a wide range of polices and societal practices. The premise assumed herein is that borders do not only divide physical space, but are also used increasingly to sort people according to the degree of their belonging. The question under scrutiny here is that how to balance the calls for the freedom of movement against the right to freedom of association? I seek to unravel this conundrum by addressing the arguments used to support these, which might appear as inherently, opposite stands. In advocating for unbounded inclusiveness, I seek to challenge the widely accepted notion that people are from a certain territorially demarcated place, and their rights, duties - and opportunities in life, ought to remain based on their arbitrary fact.
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Sitkeä covid-19-pandemia on jättänyt jälkensä niin yhteiskuntaan, jossa elämme, kuin myös sitä käsittelevään tutkimukseen. Julkisessa ja poliittisessa keskustelussa – tosin osin akateemisessakin – ...covid-19 on kelvannut syyksi ja motiiviksi moneen; miksi asiat on tehty miten ne nyt ovat tai miksi jotain on jätetty tekemättä. Kyseistä asiaa ei tarvitse sen kummemmin selitellä; riittää että mainitsee sanan ”covid”, tuttavallisemmin korona. Tämän kirjoituksen tarkoitus ei ole vähätellä vallitsevan pandemian merkitystä tai sen moninaisia vaikutuksia. Normaaliin, mikäli covid-19-pandemiaa edeltävää aikaa sellaisena voidaan pitää, ei ole paluuta. Tämän ei kuitenkaan tulisi olla lähtökohtaisesti negatiivinen seikka, mutta sen kääntäminen positiiviseksi vaatii parempaa ymmärrystä uusista pelisäännöistä. Koronasta on tullut kätevä syntipukki tai veruke, jonka piikkiin on voitu vyöryttää liuta muitakin aikamme ilmiöitä ja ongelmia, ja näin hakea oikeutusta toimille, jotka eivät ”normaalitilanteessa” välttämättä olisi olleet poliittisesti korrekteja tai saaneet laajaa hyväksyntää. Maailma on muuttunut, ja maantieteen tulee muuttua sen mukana. Maantieteellä tieteenalana on suunnattomasti potentiaalia tämän laajanalaisen muutoksen tulkkina.
Although direct migration flows from Sweden to Portugal have been marginal, the actual number of citizens from Sweden living in Portugal continues to increase every year. Many Swedes appear to move ...to Portugal via a third country. By far the largest number of Swedish citizens permanently residing in Portugal settles on the Algarve or in the Lisbon area, generally close to their compatriots. Those settling in other parts of Portugal do so among the Portuguese and at a distance from their compatriots. This paper discusses Swedes' migration behavior in Portugal. We seek to use bordering theories to explain the migration behavior of Swedes in moving to Portugal. Overcoming borders mainly concerns the overcoming of socially constructed imaginaries of belonging to a certain place. The mental influence of the state border cannot be understated in theories of cross-border economic interaction such as migration.
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Whether we talk about the global scale of the threat or focus on the disruption and potential reversal of processes and realities that we assumed immutable, the epochal significance of the COVI-19 ...pandemic is indisputable. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, no other event has revived territorial borders and sent territorialist shockwaves across the world as COVID-19. The wave of contagion and fear that shadowed the discovery of the coronavirus at the end of 2019 was followed by a wave of bordering in the spring of 2020 when borders were broadly closed as a kneejerk reaction to a threat perceived largely as external. With a focus on Europe, North America and Africa, this special issue aims to advance our knowledge of the multiscalar and multidimensional dynamics triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in various border contexts. The articles in this special issue investigate the response of institutional structures and the agency of regional actors in the face of rebordering, the securitización of the pandemic, the essentialization of fear, the disruption of daily life and livelihoods, the contestation of border closures vis-à-vis questions of survival, and the re/deconstruction of borders dictated by shifting power balances supporting contested border regimes. In the aggregate, this collection of articles reminds us that territory and territoriality remain vigorous and fitting instruments in the toolbox of nation states as demonstrated by the rebordering shocks triggered by the coronavirus pandemic across the world.
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