Formal Borders and Cross-Border Interactions: Country – Region – Municipality

Abstract

This study draws on the concept of isomorphism of formal borders (those established by legislative acts), which postulates similarity in their functions performed in different combinations by borders of various statuses. The article aims to explore the isomorphism of formal borders and their impact on the economy and the quotidian practices of the population. The study employs expert interviews and personal observations from several Russian regions while analysing regional and municipal socioeconomic development strategies. On the one hand, the barrier and constitutive functions of borders help to level the socioeconomic gradient within such boundaries. On the other hand, these same functions accentuate the contrasts between neighbouring territories. The general characteristics of borders also encompass their capacity to either attract or deter specific activities and create or exacerbate the peripherality of adjacent areas. The tension between the continuity of physical and social space and the barrier function of borders shapes the population’s ‘cross-border’ practices, generating commodity flows and other interactions between neighbouring territories. This interaction, in turn, necessitates cooperation between border territories to address a range of cross-border issues. However, such collaborations exist almost exclusively at the interstate level. At the regional and municipal level, this need is either unaddressed or absent, even when acknowledged in strategic planning documents.