Roundtable: Internalizing Borders: The Social and Normative Consequences of the European Border Regime

Abstract

State borders and their protection have resurfaced as highly controversial public issues in the past two decades. Hopes for a unified Europe and the stability of liberal states appear to presuppose the grim reality of enforcing repressive border controls against unwanted migrants. However, the return to borders as alleged safeguards of liberal sovereignty comes with their material fortification, the employment of biometric databases, militarized border police, the forced immobilization in camps, and the criminalization of humanitarian activities. With the hardening of borders, violence, too, becomes an integral part of policing the mobility of populations on a worldwide scale.

Against this backdrop, the research group “Internalizing Borders: The Social and Normative Consequences of the European Border Regime” explores the consequences of the fortification and closing of borders for the states and societies engaged in these processes. Convinced that such complex phenomena require interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration, the group brings together scholars from history, political science, anthropology, law, sociology, and geography. The Roundtable will discuss findings from the group in light of current developments of the European border regime: What effects of border policies can be described in European societies? How do broader social changes interact with the fortification of European borders?

in-person event