Border Infrastructure Research Articles

Gendering Bordered Exclusion: Gender Politics and Everyday Spatialization in Indo-Pak Border Infrastructure

ABSTRACT The study explores the transformation of Punjab into a borderland after India’s Partition and examines the effects of infrastructural barriers on everyday lives of villagers, particularly women. An ethnographic study was conducted on two border villages – Audar and Mulakot, and Schindler’s (2015. Architectural Exclusion: Discrimination and Segregation Through Physical Design of the Built Environment. The Yale Law Journal 124, no. 6: 1934–2024) theory of architectural exclusion was employed to analyze the findings. Our study finds that everyday spatialization reflects the patriarchal norms of the villages and the security anxieties of the state. The infrastructural edifice is planned in a manner that they create a palisade in the name of protecting women. Such a design mainstreams tight control in a layered manner, leading to concentric circles of disadvantage where the immediate dominance is wielded by the men in the family, and the second layer of direct control is exercised by the armed forces. To conclude, the creation of bounded borderland spaces with restrictive infrastructure leads to women’s absence from public spaces.

Emerging Security Threats and Strategic Countermeasures along India’s International Borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar

India's borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar are intricate and shaped by various geopolitical elements, resulting in considerable security issues that impact regional stability. These challenges include unauthorized immigration, arms, narcotics, drug and human trafficking, insurgency, and various forms of illicit trade. The porous nature of these borders, coupled with rugged terrain, enables unauthorized crossings and illegal activities. This article highlights the emerging threats in these border areas and underscores the pressing need for comprehensive countermeasures. Recommendations focus on enhancing border infrastructure, deploying advanced technological solutions, and fostering both bilateral and multilateral cooperation with neighbouring nations. The findings strongly support an integrated strategy that combines security measures with regional collaboration, promotes a stable domestic environment that fosters social, racial, and communal harmony, and engages in humanitarian and diplomatic efforts. Such a robust framework is crucial for ensuring border safety, protecting national interests, and promoting lasting peace in the region.

Fenced In

This article explores the emotional responses related to the construction of a wildlife fence along the Denmark - Germany border in 2019. The fence, intended to prevent the entry of wild boar and the potential spread of African Swine Fever, has rekindled anxieties and concerns in a region that has spent the last two decades removing remnants of past border infrastructure. We examine the relationship between anxiety and infrastructure through the case of a Danish farmer whose property is divided by the fence, with his farmhouse in Denmark and a stable and some land holdings in Germany. While this division presents significant practical challenges, we discuss how this infrastructural development is also igniting anxieties.

India’s infrastructure build-up, abrogation of Article 370 and assertive stance regarding Aksai China: China’s motivations for intrusions in May 2020

ABSTRACT This article argues that China intruded at multiple points along the LAC in May 2020 due to the construction of border infrastructure especially the Darbuk-Shyokh (DS)-Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) road in conjunction with India’s Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah’s statement regarding restoration of Aksai Chin and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) into India after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. China perceives that the rapid pace of border infrastructure development by India especially the construction of the DS-DBO road mitigates its military/tactical advantage along the LAC. However, the road has been under construction for more than a decade. Similarly, India’s claims on Aksai Chin and PoK have remained unchanged even after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. What raised anxieties and insecurities in China was abrogation of Article 370 and Amit Shah’s statements because Beijing believes India has become more assertive, aggressive and risk prone under Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party governments led by Modi. Beijing considered that the border infrastructure build-up by India especially the DS-DBO road would allow India to threaten Aksai Chin as per Shah’s statement. This prompted China to intrude along the LAC to mitigate India’s threat and Beijing’s anxieties/insecurities pertaining to Aksai Chin.

Infrastructures of Social Reproduction: Migrant Survival and Economic Development at the Thailand-Myanmar Border

International migration literature has shown that infrastructures consisting of people and institutions sustain migration and help migrants cope in new environments. However, analytic focus on these infrastructures is often limited to the migration process and its impact on migrants. This article extends the growing literature on migration infrastructure by analyzing its socially reproductive capacities in the context of economic development in Thailand. Drawing on ethnographic and interview data from the Tak border zone, I show how the social and humanitarian dimensions of migration infrastructure that grew from war displacement, labor migration, and migrant survival efforts became essential to economic development aims of the Thai state. Through this case, I illustrate a process of infrastructural co-optation by which the state harnesses grassroots and humanitarian actors’ capacities for childcare, education, and healthcare to advance such aims. Authorities spatially contain migrant workers with limited rights and social protections while loosely engaging with parts of the border's infrastructure, which keeps noncitizen workers alive and available for low-wage jobs. The findings show that aspects of migration infrastructure are co-optable, with impact beyond the migration process and for non-migrants.

ВПЛИВ ВІЙНИ НА МІЖНАРОДНІ ТРАНСПОРТНІ ПЕРЕВЕЗЕННЯ УКРАЇНИ

The article found that the full-scale war in Ukraine had a strong impact on international transportation. The structure of the volume of cargo transportation and the number of transported passengers were analyzed. It was determined that there is uncertainty in the market of international freight transportation of Ukraine during the studied period. On the one hand, the war had a negative impact on the country's economy and led to a decrease in the volume of cargo transportation. On the other hand, Ukraine is an important transit country through which key logistics routes connecting Europe and Asia pass. It was established that the blocking of air transport and sea trade, with the exception of the "Grain Initiative", led to a radical change in the structure of domestic import/export and the leadership of land corridors. Global transformations in world trade caused by the war in Ukraine also affected the configuration of existing supply chains, Ukrainian exports were completely reoriented towards the EU. It is indicated that Ukraine's signing of an agreement on visa-free transport cooperation with the European Union has opened up new prospects for bilateral international road transport, freeing Ukrainian carriers from the need to obtain permits for flights to EU countries. However, there are also negative trends that affect the growth of transport services and, as a result, decrease the competitiveness of transport companies. A list of legislative and regulatory innovations and organizational measures aimed at improving international transportation is given. It is argued that a successful solution for the recovery of the country will be the integration of the Ukrainian economy into the EU economic system with the help of various European logistics and infrastructure projects. It was determined that the key factors in the normalization of transportation were: the conclusion of the "Grain Initiative" with the UN and Turkey, which allowed to unblock the ports of Great Odesa; signing the Agreement on the Liberalization of Road Freight Transportation with the EU; development of border infrastructure, in particular, increasing the capacity of existing road and railway checkpoints, as well as the opening of new ones; increasing cargo handling in the ports of the Danube port cluster.

The Doklam Standoff and Importance of Strategic Border Infrastructures: A Critical Analysis from the National Security Perspective of India, China, and Bhutan

The Doklam Standoff and Importance of Strategic Border Infrastructures: A Critical Analysis from the National Security Perspective of India, China, and Bhutan

Azerbaijan and Turkey's Tourism Ties: The Role of Zangezur Corridor

This paper evaluates the impacts of the Zangezur Corridor between Azerbaijan and Turkey on regional tourism. The Zangezur Corridor is a connecting road linking the Nakhchivan region of Azerbaijan to Turkey and has significant potential for regional tourism. Opening the corridor could increase the attractiveness of tourism in the region by facilitating tourists' access to a wider range of destinations. In addition, the development of energy transportation and border infrastructure can contribute to the construction of a suitable infrastructure for the tourism sector. However, the region's historical history of geopolitical tensions raises security concerns. The safety of tourists and the maintenance of political stability are of paramount importance. This paper highlights the potential of tourism as a catalyst for regional cooperation and development and provides a basis for future work. Factors such as security, infrastructure development, and promotion need to be taken into account for a more effective use of the corridor for tourism.

Price of Mobility

This research paper explores the origins of the border industrial complex, current American policies supported by private corporations regarding border infrastructure, and the impact of these policies on Central American asylum seekers. My investigation draws from critical border studies literature on the existence of borders as political tools as opposed to ‘neutral lines’ demarcating sovereignty, interrogating how border policies fuel the neoliberal economy. Given this background, I examine the commercialization of human mobility using border policies at the U.S.-Mexico border as a case study. The question at the core of my investigation is: to what extent does corporate investment in U.S-Mexico border militarization obstruct protection for Central American migrants seeking asylum in the United States? In response, I argue that the issue of corporate involvement in U.S. border policy is important to examine because of how it impedes the implementation of progressive immigration policy by centering the border security market, and decentering human rights. More specifically, I contend that border violence as funded by corporate investment in state bordering becomes a way of maintaining racial hierarchy through movement and citizenship restrictions against racialized migrants from the Global South.

Оценка устойчивости приграничных экосистем в условиях геополитических вызовов

Interest in the problems of studying border ecosystems is caused by the fact that they function under the influence of both internal environmental factors and external macro – and meso-environment. Most studies in the field of the ecosystem approach in regional economics are theoretical in nature and are not supported by empirical analysis. The purpose of the article is to assess the influence of internal and external environmental factors on the sustainability of business ecosystems located in border regions. The methodology is based on the selection of ecosystems under study and the identification of their distinctive characteristics – emergence and cooperative competition. For assessment and grouping, methods of cluster analysis and principal components were used using machine learning in the Phyton programming language. As a result of the study, system-forming factors that are important both from the perspective of ecosystem theory and specific to the border state were identified and grouped; indicators have been formed that allow a comprehensive assessment of the influence of environmental factors on the sustainability of ecosystems; Four clusters were proposed and ecosystems were ranked by type of sustainability. Two classes of the most stable ecosystems with a high level of joint activity, located in favourable border conditions, have been identified. Most ecosystems are classified as unstable for two groups of reasons: the influence of geopolitical factors (66 ecosystems) and instability of the internal environment (65 ecosystems), which hinders their development. During the analysis of the principal components, ecosystems were grouped according to the integral sustainability score and key factors were identified (presence of large enterprises, cooperative ties between actors, foreign investments, import operations with friendly countries, institutional environment and border infrastructure). 47 stable ecosystems and 43 most unstable ones were identified. The results of the study are of practical importance for the development of strategies for the development of regional entrepreneurship, taking into account changes and adaptation to environmental challenges.

Развитие приграничной торговли КНР в условиях глобальных вызовов

The purpose of this study is to analyze the dynamics and structure of Chinese border trade in the context of current global challenges. Border trade is an important source of economic development for some Chinese regions, despite its small share in China’s foreign trade. The article identifies changes in Chinese border trade in the early 2020s: restrictions related to COVID-19 contributed to the development of other forms of trade; sanctions against Russia stimulated an increase in the share of border trade in favor of the EAEU countries. It is shown that the PRC’s border trade was constrained by direct supplies of goods, underdeveloped border infrastructure, the small scale of border markets, informal trade and the «frozen» border conflicts. The implementation by China of different models in the development of border trade has been revealed. An increase in the share of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the border trade of the PRC was discovered, which has become a trade hub between China and the EAEU countries. It is shown that in North-East China, the bulk of trade turnover with Russia was formed by direct supplies of goods, bypassing border trade, indicating stagnation in cross-border cooperation between countries in the Far Eastern territory

Digital Border Infrastructure and the Search for Agencies of the State

Digital Border Infrastructure and the Search for Agencies of the State

ECOWAS Protocol on Migration, Porous Borders and Dynamics of Armed Banditry in Nigeria

The dialectics that have led to an explosion of free movement of persons within ECOWAS borders largely constitute a new dimension of security threats in the region. The security threats emanating from incessant human migration within the region have predictably distorted the security architecture of Nigeria, thereby posing colossal pressures on the Nigerian armed forces, as well as leading to the loss of human lives, properties, and financial resources. The study investigated how ECOWAS protocol on free movement of persons and porous borders in the West African region orchestrate armed banditry in Nigeria. The work was anchored on the Qualitative-Descriptive method of analysis, and ‘inelastic political will’ was adopted as an analytical construct that explains the inability of ECOWAS member governments as well as the Nigerian government to employ sustainable strategies in tackling the ever-changing security threat dimensions within the region. It was revealed that chaotic and explosive cross-border migration of persons in West Africa has a relationship with the new dimension of armed banditry in Nigeria. The study recommended that the ECOWAS framework that promotes the free movement of people be reviewed and amended to address current security crises in the region. Also, there is a need for the Nigerian government to reinforce viable and strong diplomatic ties with the neighboring countries such as Benin, Chat, Niger, and Cameroon regarding border infrastructure development and security enhancement mechanisms to cover ungoverned spaces in the Chad Basin Region.

DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION OF THE BORDERLINE TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES OF UKRAINE WITH THE EU COUNTRIES UNDER MARTIAL LAW

In the article, international cooperation of territorial communities of Ukraine is defined as a strategic direction to attract financial resources and implement their investment projects. The authors name prerequisites for completing the reform of decentralization in Ukraine. It is stressed that the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine and declaration of martial law have caused structural transformations in the parameters of performance of the local government bodies. The study is devoted to the theoretical and applied aspects of the organization and development of international cooperation among the territorial communities in Ukraine. The paper describes the methodology developed to study the international cooperation of territorial communities. The authors make an assessment of the conditions of international cooperation of territorial communities bordering the European Union countries and present results of the questionnaire conducted amongst managers of the border territorial communities of Ukraine in order to identify parameters of the international activity development. The analysis was conducted to clarify peculiarities of establishing cooperation of the bodies of local government of Ukraine with foreign partners and to find out restrictions and challenges influencing the communities’ opportunity to implement international initiatives and cooperation in conditions of the russian-Ukrainian war. The researchers have developed a complex of measures necessary to improve the efficiency of the international cooperation between Ukrainian local territorial communities bordering the EU and foreign partners by carrying out a promotional campaign among the representatives of the local government bodies and developing a complex system of advanced training for the staff employed at the local power authorities in the field of international activity. It is also needed to enhance the institutional basis regulating the international activity of the territorial communities of Ukraine, to upgrade the financial and economic basis of the international cooperation implementation, as well as to accelerate the rates of development of the border infrastructure objects.

Hotels as border infrastructure: Quarantine filtration and violence along China’s edges

Hotels as border infrastructure: Quarantine filtration and violence along China’s edges

Hotels as just-in-time border infrastructure

Restricted accessAbstractFirst published online June 8, 2023Hotels as just-in-time border infrastructureAri JerremsView all authors and affiliationsOnlineFirsthttps://doi.org/10.1177/23996544231157254g

Contested promises. Migrants’ material politics vis-à-vis the humanitarian border in Niger

ABSTRACT What promises do humanitarian infrastructures make to encourage migrants to abandon their migration projects? And how do migrants contest these promises? In order to curb EU-bound migration in the transit state Niger, the two UN agencies for migrants and refugees established support and outreach infrastructures that incentivized them to enroll in this humanitarian border and abandon migration. These infrastructural promises prompt their own contestation, because they may not be realized. The International Organization for Migration gave promises of assistance, the voluntariness of the return decision to the country of origin, and reintegration support. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees promised assistance, livelihood, and resettlement to asylum seekers and refugees. When these promises failed, migrants exposed the hidden standards of admission and operation of the humanitarian border infrastructures and the histories and political geographies of border violence and displacement they operated in. Through practices of voice and exit, migrants engaged in material politics that made the absent information visible. They thereby ultimately refused or even altered the services, promises, and actor roles of the humanitarian border. An analysis of such contested promises deepens an understanding of the relationships between humanitarian border infrastructures, their future orientations, and everyday migrant resistance.

Naturalising ‘Black Spaces’ in the Mediterranean: Towards a Political Ecology of Bordering Infrastructures

ABSTRACT This paper introduces the terminology of border infrastructures as a way to enrich a multi-perspectival approach to territorial bordering processes that takes seriously their stratifying and racialising dynamics. Building on the analysis of migrant informal dwellings, or ghettos, which are increasingly constructed as naturalised ‘black spaces’ in the Mediterranean, the paper’s contribution is twofold. First, it calls for more situated research into the multiple networks, connections and agencies involved in bordering processes, which often comprise complex interactions across ‘formal’ and ‘informal’, ‘human’ and ‘more-than-human’ boundaries. Second, it proposes to foreground the socio-materiality of borders-as-infrastructures by analysing how these actively reproduce a logic of separation in both a political and an ecological sense. The article pushes forward a more immersive understanding and methodology that is able to unearth the stratifying, racialising dimensions of contemporary borderwork across and within the confines of nation-state territoriality.

Mobile Commons in the Pre-Pandemic, Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Era: Drawing from Mobility Experiences in Post-Migrant Times

This paper examines the effect of the pandemic in the generation of simultaneous global, regional, and local processes as they materialize in realities and the potential for post-pandemic mobile commons. The paper theorizes the matter drawing on studies in the triangle of Cyprus-Greece-Turkey i.e., the south-eastern border of Europe/EU. Mobile commons is theorized in the current context by locating these processes in the pandemic and post-pandemic era, even though the first empirical work was done during the pre-pandemic period. The pandemic brought about an abrupt interruption of what is at the core of global capitalism: mobility. During this period, regimes of exception, derogation and suspension of rights were introduced across all fields of the civic, social, and political life almost all over the world. The concept of mobile commons aims to capture dynamic processes, as an ensemble or matrix of care of the society on the move, generating reciprocity on the move and a sustainability of the geography of the crossings. Digitality is part and parcel of the current migratory processes. Digitality is a space where media technologies of control coexist with the possibilities of alternative media use. To every form of control technology there is a corresponding form of resistance to it. The paper examines how mobile commons resist digital registration and the process that generate a pan-European digital border infrastructure which aims to immobilize people. It illustrates how encounters between groups produce social dialectics within institutions; struggles, conflicts, disagreements, and negotiations occur, but so do new socialities and solidarities in a world in a constant state of being remade.

Russian-Mongolian Border: Updating Checkpoints and Strengthening Infrastructure Connectivity

The article analyzes the changes on the border of Mongolia with Russia and examines the plans of the two states to develop border infrastructure. There is mutual high interest in modernizing checkpoints. On the one hand, Mongolia has identified the recovery of checkpoints as a key direction of the “New Revival Policy” being implemented. On the other hand, in the current geopolitical conditions, Russia pays great attention to the capabilities of land checkpoints in the east. The author emphasizes the high importance of the border crossings Kyakhta — Altanbulag and Naushki — Sukhbaatar, through which not only bilateral trade is carried out, but also transit goods, including containers on the China — Europe route and back. At the same time, the author notes that as road corridors develop on the territory of Mongolia, and in the future also railway ones, the importance of border crossings is expected to increase both along the western section of the Russian-Mongolian border (primarily Tashanta — Tsagaannuur crossing) and eastern (Solovyovsk — Ereentsav crossing). New transport corridors are important to ensure the transit of goods and the growing Russian-Mongolian trade. The importance of the Mongolian vector is growing not only in terms of ensuring the rapid transportation of goods, but also servicing passenger flows across the border — business and cultural ties are intensifying, and cross-border tourism is developing. Analyzing the ambitious infrastructure plans of Mongolia, the author concludes that favorable conditions has been created to strengthen the infrastructural connectivity of the countries, which is a key condition for the establishment of the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor. Acknowledgements: In memory of Lyudmila Ivanovna Kondrashova, a dear scientific supervisor who inspired the study of not only China, but also Mongolia.