The Politics of Digital Borders

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and large-scale digital databases play a crucial role in the European management of borders and mobility governance. Since the 1990 Schengen Agreement three large-scale IT systems and a number of information sharing mechanisms have emerged. This chapter scrutinizes the relationship between digital technology and border politics by following the idiom of co-production, which focuses on the interconnectedness between techno-political developments and the (re-)construction of social orders. It examines how digital systems are deployed and enacted in the processes of identification, data collection and categorization. The analysis is based on various documents issued by the main official authorities and actors, from official communications and regulation by the European Commission and Council to the information brochures and technical reports of the eu-Lisa agency. The chapter will first present the main developments of ICTs and digital systems in European border management, and then point to the ways in which digital technologies are deployed for the governance of cross-border mobility. In particular, it highlights the de-territorialization effects of digital border governance and the important role of the human body in identification and categorization processes. Finally, it argues that digital borders are co-produced by the interaction and interplay of human actors and technological systems at the various border sites.