Remembering and Living on the Borderlands in the South Caucasus

Abstract

Past border regimes of porous borders and mobilities for trade and labor in the South Caucasus play an important role in the narratives from these former Soviet borderlands. Since 1991, the nature of these borders has changed in surprising ways. They have become international borders with technologies and ostentatious symbols of state securitization and sovereignty. The more intimate and functional character of these borderlands has changed too. The effects of wars and conflicts since the end of 1980s have become an integral part of the narratives and practices. This chapter examines and compares the findings of recent research on borderlands in the South Caucasus and highlights where and why closures and openings occurred and how spatial histories have been shaped and variegated in these narratives.