Cross-border Space Research Articles

O Comércio do Porto as a cross-border space between Portugal and Spain

A Guerra Civil de Espanha é considerada o primeiro conflito moderno a ser fotografado, dia após dia, por fotógrafos espanhóis e estrangeiros. Esses instantâneos tirados entre 1936 e 1939 são hoje suportes de memória para recuperar a história do conflito espanhol. No entanto, no seu contexto, tornaram-se mais uma ferramenta para ganhar a guerra no domínio da propaganda. O objetivo deste artigo é refletir sobre o papel desempenhado por um jornal português, O Comércio de Porto, na cobertura da guerra. O jornal fez uma extraordinária cobertura fotográfica dos acontecimentos em Espanha. E fê-lo como porta-voz oficial de Franco em Portugal. Começaremos por traçar o perfil das 1099 fotografias publicadas entre julho de 1936 e abril de 1939 e depois analisaremos a forma como essas imagens foram utilizadas para manter o moral dos Aliados, criticar o inimigo e convencer os estrangeiros da necessidade de colaborar com a causa política comum.

The Interplay Between Ethnicity, Borders and Cross-border Political Spaces: Insights from the Italian–Austrian Border Region

This paper explores the dynamics of cross-border relations, ethnic diversity and the role of sub-state actors in border regions, focusing on the Austrian–Italian border. Using a transnational regionalism lens, it examines how minorities, majorities, sub-state political elites and the media perceive and utilise cross-border spaces. The findings reveal contested perspectives among sub-state political elites, influenced by historical conflicts, while the media emphasise the connective role of the state border. Furthermore, autonomist parties and representatives contribute to framing cross-border cooperation as a means of connection and shared territorial policymaking. The research highlights the potential of sub-state to foster inclusive cross-border relations in minority contexts and empower minority communities in border regions, offering insights into integration and connection beyond ethnic and territorial divisions.

Borders: Exclude or Relate?

Executive Summary US political discourse characterizes the US-Mexico border as a site of threat and, of necessity, exclusion. This frame ignores the importance of borders to economies, families, and culture in our increasingly interconnected world. Moreover, it leads to policies that place people at risk of victimization and death. In conceiving of the border solely in terms of exclusion, nations forego the opportunity to strengthen relationships across borders. This paper argues that the politics of humane migration require a vision of borders as sites of encounter, engagement, and relationship, rather than solely exclusion. This reconceptualization of the US-Mexico border, in particular, would strengthen relationships across borders, and prioritize cooperation between Latin America/the Caribbean and the United States, starting with regulated legal flows. It would also respond to the shared contexts of migration, including contraband in arms and drugs, criminal violence, and climate change. It articulates an alternative vision of borders as a “commons” in which mutual needs can be addressed (a commons is an issue or resource in which every one has access and involvement). Migration itself provides a perfect example of such a need. It takes place in a political climate partially but powerfully shaped by racism and classism. Thus, it has become a polarized “issue” that appears insolvable. In fact, it may not be a problem at all. Rather, in our current demographic-economic situation, as well as for our cultural well-being, migration should be treated as an asset. Insofar as it needs to be addressed, this paper delineates many possibilities. The options are not perfect and magical — the challenges are hard and diverse — but they an advance a vision of a shared cross-border space on migration. That might be a crucial move, not only for migration, but along a path that recognizes relationships and commitments of many kinds across the hemisphere and world. Recognition is not enough; real change in resources and power needs to follow. But a vision of connection rather than exclusion provides the political starting point needed for change to happen. In every political instance in which borders are used to frame migration in terms of who, how, and how much to exclude, connectedness loses ground. A politics of humane migration can only emerge if rooted in a positive vision of borders as sites of engagement and encounter.

Cross-border mapping and cooperation: integrating and dividing practices

Cross-border cooperation (CBC) has emerged as a prominent domain of practices within the European framework, aligned with the European Commission’s objectives to foster harmonious development. This article addresses the empirical field of CBC between regional political stakeholders and public administrations in regional and local contexts at Europe’s internal borders. Despite the establishment of cross-border regions, borders are still perceived as barriers, prompting actors in CBC to develop strategies to transcend territorial boundaries. One such strategy is cross-border thematic mapping, which visually represents topics like infrastructure, demography and cultural heritage. The article explores how cross-border thematic maps contribute to the creation and thinking of the cross-border space as a region in the context of CBC. It presents empirical research and an interpretation, arguing that while cross-border cartography advances cooperation, it also poses unintended challenges. Applying a praxeological approach, the study conceptualizes map usage as practices, drawing on ethnographic data from public events in an anonymized cross-border European region. The study explores the practices of map usage and develops a theorization to understand the social dynamics of cross-border building with maps. By bridging the gaps in practice-oriented cross-border studies and CBC research, the article contributes to the understanding of the role of cross-border maps in regional development and social dynamics.

Economic Growth and Spatial Analysis in Transport Corridors: A Preliminary Review

Abstract The construction and development of international transport corridors have become a means of cross-border space governance, promoting the flexibility of international industrial chains and supply chains. Due to the uncertainty of cooperation, the development of international transport corridors entails a long-term and complex system of engineering. Transport corridors can generate wider economic benefits and costs through their effects on a potentially diverse set of development outcomes, such as economic growth, poverty, jobs, equity, environmental quality, and economic resilience. The focus on roads, rails, and waterways is justified, as transport corridors based on these modes have clearer potential for economic spillovers than, for example, airline routes. The current paper describes a multi-method approach involving spatial and non-spatial analysis to investigate spatial disparity along a proposed corridor and examine its integration within the existing settlement structure. The conceptual structure for the review is guided by a simple canonical model describing the policy maker’s problem in maximizing the net wider economic benefits of corridors. The meta-analysis confirms that characteristics of individual studies, as well as the placement and design of transport infrastructures, systematically influence the findings of corridor studies. It also shows that, on average, estimated impacts of corridor interventions on economic welfare and equity tend to be beneficial, while they are often detrimental to environmental quality, and possibly also to social inclusion.

Commemoration and radical right-wing populism in European borderlands

Abstract The success of radical right-wing populist (RRWP) parties is based on discourses displaying “power geometries” (Massey 1993, 1999). These involve the representation of power relations, with on one side a globalized elite, boosting the mobility of human beings, goods and capital across borders, and on the other side, a territorially embedded people subject to this borderless mobility. Power geometries can also be used to approach the chameleonic behavior of RRWP politicians and their allies in the political space. The article uses this concept to interpret the attitude of the Trieste City Executive and the reactions to it when it commemorated a past connected to Italian fascism. The results show that the power geometries involving the RRWP and their allies in European borderlands can lead to discursive ambivalence in two overlapping spaces: the territorial and state-bordered space of representative democracy, and the topological and cross-border space of para-diplomacy.

The Simultaneous Production of Leisure Peripheries and Cross-Border Spaces: A Study on Tourism Valorization in the Andean Puna (Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile)

ABSTRACT This paper aims to examine the involvement of tourism valorization processes in the material and symbolic production of interstate borders in the Andean Puna (Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile). Through qualitative research based on fieldwork, interviews, and document analysis, this study builds a processual multiscalar and geographical approach. It shows how tourism contributed to the construction of leisure peripheries by national states, the networking of the border by the tourist market, and cross-border integration projects by local actors. It is suggested that bordering and cross-bordering are overlapping and complementary processes, producing complex spaces traversed by conflicting territorial projects of different actors, for whom the border became a resource of identity-building and economic improvement.

Valeska Bopp-Filimonov and Martin Jung, eds. Kaleidoskop Rumänien. Einblicke in die aktuelle Vielfalt des interdisziplinären Faches Rumänistik

Valeska Bopp-Filimonov and Martin Jung, eds. <i>Kaleidoskop Rumänien. Einblicke in die aktuelle Vielfalt des interdisziplinären Faches Rumänistik</i>

Трансграничность как стратегический фактор развития туризма и выставочно-ярмарочной деятельности на Дальнем Востоке России

Under the influence of globalization and international economic integration, borders appear to be a strategic resource for the development, especially for the border regions of the country, where cross-border spaces and institutions are basically formed. The development of cross-border cooperation in the tourism trade show industries and international cultural exchange is a strategic direction for diversifying the economy of the Russian Far East. The article provides a general analysis of the incoming tourist flow and an OTSW- analysis of the Far Eastern border regions of Russia to justify the need of the development of these strategic directions of macroregion’s economy.

MECHANISMS AND PRINCIPLES OF INTERACTION BETWEEN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ENTITIES IN CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION

The article defines “public administration” as a set of principles, methods, forms, and means of impact on the activity of a region and a country as a whole. The operation of the mechanisms of interaction between public administration entities in cross-border cooperation is recommended to be categorized by interaction entities in the public domain, which, in turn, are divided by the number of entities, their composition, role, and participation. The article provides the classification of the mechanisms of interaction between public administration entities in the framework of cross-border cooperation: by the coverage with a legal framework that secures interaction, by the coverage with interaction, by the types of cooperation between interaction entities in a border region where a regional authority is the main entity, by the types of cooperation between interaction entities in cross-border region or space where a regional authority is the main entity, by interaction scope, by the results of interaction, by interaction intensity, by the levels of formalization and public administration, by initiative, by cooperation effect in a border region, and by the duration of cooperation. The mechanisms of interaction between public administration entities in a cross-border region or space are suggested to be divided by the features of interaction, coverage (based on the boundaries of cross-border space), activity sectors, the impact of other entities and institutions operating beyond the public domain, etc. The instruments of cross-border cooperation most frequently used by public administration entities at border areas of Ukraine are outlined, including international agreements, border cooperation agreements, Local Border Movement Agreements, Neighborhood Programs, joint cross-border development strategies, regional development strategies with priorities set on cross-border cooperation, regional cross-border cooperation development programs, new cross-border cooperation forms (Euroregions, clusters, industrial zones and parks, etc.), direct contacts – meetings, events, forums, etc. The article specifies the principles of public administration, including structural principles, principles of process, and principles of the final result.

Prejudice on discretion in law enforcement of financial legal provisions

The imperfection of the procedure for implementing prejudgment in court proceedings may lead to instability of practice, and this demonstrates the relevance of the research topic with regard to formulating clear criteria for the mechanism of discretionary prejudgment in the application of financial rules of law. With this in mind, the purpose of the article is to identify the peculiarities of bias of discretionary powers in the law enforcement of financial rules of law. The methodological tools are based on the general philosophical (dialectical, hermeneutical), general scientific formal (empirical in the form of observation, description and comparison; axiomatic; hypothetical-deductive; formalization; unity of historical and logical) and special scientific methods (formal-logical; comparative legal; systemic and structural), as well as the methodology of reversal and monitoring of a preliminary court decision, which allows to study theoretical and practical issues of discretionary powers in the law enforcement of financial and legal provisions in the unity of their substantive component and external form of reflection. The author proposes a classification of prejudice by: the level of law enforcement; legal force of prejudice; significance of the established factual circumstances which are the subject of proof; nature of the accusation; and subject. The author examines the psychological dimension of the use of prejudicial categories as a metacognitive activity of establishing and taking into account the meaning of prejudice, taking into account the accuracy of empirical generalizations, and formulating judgments to identify the future consequences of making decisions with prejudicial categories contained in the original decision. The author outlines the mechanism for implementing the legal policy on the use of financial prejudicial categories, which should be based primarily on the instrumental and procedural characteristics of this model of legal influence. It is established that in the organizational and legal aspect, the conditions for the national market segment to enter the cross-border space are formed by streamlining the procedures for interaction of legal entities through the appropriate forms of legal influence. The practical significance of the results obtained is that they can be used to determine the procedure for applying prejudgment at the supranational and national levels, in particular, in the context of applying the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Introduction: Assimilation, integration or transnationalism? An overview of theories of migrant incorporation

Introduction: Assimilation, integration or transnationalism? An overview of theories of migrant incorporation

Трансграничность как стратегический фактор развития туризма и выставочно-ярмарочной деятельности на Дальнем Востоке России

Under the influence of globalization and international economic integration, borders appear to be a strategic resource for the development, especially for the border regions of the country, where cross-border spaces and institutions are basically formed. The development of cross-border cooperation in the tourism trade show industries and international cultural exchange is a strategic direction for diversifying the economy of the Russian Far East. The article provides a general analysis of the incoming tourist flow and an OTSW- analysis of the Far Eastern border regions of Russia to justify the need of the development of these strategic directions of macroregion’s economy.

Development of the logistics and transport infrastructure of the border regions of Western Ukraine in the context of deepening integration with the European Union

Transport and logistics system of Ukraine is a circulatory system of the economy. In the conditions of war, it plays a vital role in the delivery of humanitarian, social, food, energy, and, above all, military aid to Ukraine. The ability of the national transport network to provide reliable just-in-time shipment of goods in the required quantity to the end consumers and the interoperability level of the national and European transport systems today are the factors influencing the risk formation processes on a global scale. The war in Ukraine has brought about rapid changes in shipping and logistics, as well as in the structure and volume of international and transit cargo flows. In 2019-2021, about 20-25% of cargo transportation by road transport in international traffic was carried out through the territory of russia and belarus; more than two-thirds of goods crossing (in physical terms) the customs border of Ukraine were sold through sea checkpoints. However, in 2022, compared to the previous year, the number of vehicles that crossed the customs border of Ukraine with EU countries has increased by 21%, especially with Romania - by 64%. Automobile transport became the leader in terms of the volume of imports brought into the country, and railway transport took the second place. The rapid growth in the volume of rail and road freight transportation to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania has significantly increased the burden on the transport and border infrastructure of the border regions of Ukraine. In such conditions, the available capacity of the transport and logistics infrastructure in the Ukraine-EU cross-border space proved to be insufficient. Therefore, the article offers a methodical approach to the analysis of the logistics and transport infrastructure of the border regions of Ukraine, taking into account the peculiarities and prospects of its operation at the international (European), national, and regional levels. The components of the logistics and transport infrastructure are defined, and the integral indices of the logistics and transport infrastructure are calculated. Ways of efficient realization of the capacity and the development of the transport and logistics infrastructure of the border regions of Ukraine are suggested.

A Sample of Resilient Intercultural Coexistence in Ethnic Hungarian, Serbian and Bulgarian Communities in Western Romania

This article sets out to highlight the way in which the phenomena of co-construction and territorial deconstruction make themselves apparent locally. We focused our study on Timiș County, core of the historical Banat region, for the reason that it is still an ethno-cultural mosaic linked to its cross-border space. We based our analysis on the exploitation of a specific bibliography and, especially, on a survey through questionnaire and interview. The regional socio-cultural identity of Banat was founded on the dialogue and intercultural co-construction that have been practised since 1718. The repeated processes of socio-spatial co-construction and deconstruction, due to the changes of sovereignty and limits, prove a remarkable identity resilience, Banat being a model of continuity of regional territoriality. In the current context of European integration and of regionalisation, these processes have been reactivated, with the ethnic minorities cultivating solidarity with their co-nationals over the border while also preserving solidarity with the present host country, Romania.

Cross-border spaces in the perception of threats to Russia's National Security

Changes in international relations and perceptions of national security are forcing individual States to expand the contours of their own security borders. It is not uncommon for these contours to go far beyond their own borders. The purpose of the study is to determine the nature of the perception of the transformation of cross-border spaces in the system of threats to Russia's national security. The main materials of the study were socio-political discourse, in particular individual speeches of the President of Russia, the national security strategy and other normative and doctrinal documents in the field of ensuring the security of the Russian Federation. The studied narratives and comparison of statements and reactions to individual regional transformations, compared with doctrinal documents in the field of national security, allowed us to identify trigger points. In particular, in comparison of the political changes in Afghanistan, Finland and Ukraine, it was revealed that it is the value transformation at the current moment in the vision of the Russian elite that is of the greatest concern, both regionally and politically and socially. The basis of the research methodology is a systematic approach, content analysis, and a comparative approach, which made it possible to identify the dominants in the current political discourse and determine the reason for the perception of the transformation of cross-border spaces by the Russian elite in a certain way. As a result, it is determined that the change of the value paradigm is perceived as something significantly more dangerous than a military threat, as well as the expansion of NATO to the east, which is by no means perceived as an equivalent threat. In addition, the Russian elite perceives the current international system as something unfair, due to the capabilities of Western states to influence areas lying near the borders of Russia. While Russia itself does not have the opportunity to broadcast its ideas and values on territories far from its borders. Changes in the value orientation of cross-border areas lying in the border of Russia are perceived by the elite at the moment as the main national threat to the country's security.

Enjeux et défis de la mobilité sociale dans Pour que je m’aime encore de Maryam Madjidi

Globalization and migratory flows have brought about the progressive transformation of societies. Consequently, many heterogeneous scenarios have been created in cross-border spaces. In this context, literature has become an archipelago of reflection where the conceptual challenges inherent to mobility are exposed from a humanist social perspective. There are many axes of analysis that we could trace in this regard, but we would like to focus on the literary projection of the cross-border experience of Maryam Madjidi, who explore the identity con-struction under the prism of autofiction.

DEVELOPING CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION: RESEARCH OF DIRECTIONS

The relevance of cross-border higher education cooperation in Russia is conditioned by the state policy of border geostrategic territories integrated development under conditions of globalization development, regionalization, growing migration flows of population, including educational mobility. The main idea is that at present a high level of conceptualization of cross-border cooperation in the training of pedagogical and managerial personnel in the sphere of education in the cross-border space of Russia as an integral scientific and educational system is highly needed. The aim of the research is to substantiate the research directions of managerial and pedagogical personnel training in the sphere of education, migration management in education for the period up to 2030. The methodological basis of the study is an interdisciplinary paradigm of analysis of cross-border and cross-border cooperation in education. We examine and summarise research on cross-border cooperation in education from 1993 to 2020, conduct a systematic search for theories of state border protection, borderology, discuss the results and implications for educational research and practice. The study used a content analysis of relevant 313 empirical studies published between 2017-2021, in journals included in the international databases Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Elibrary. The theories, models, perspectives, potentials of cross-border cooperation in global and cross-border dimensions were explored, the results of interdisciplinary study of cross-border cooperation in borderology and political science is represented. The theories, problems and models of cross-border cooperation of higher educational institutions in the post-Soviet period are highlighted. The most significant results: a) the necessity of creation of potentials of federal universities in development of cross-border geostrategic cooperation in the field of education was substantiated; b) conditions and possibilities of development and realization of master's programs of education managers training, relevant to formation of cooperation with universities of border and cross-border space were systematized; c) educational issues of border and cross-border cooperation were developed. The study concludes with discussion and formulation of new research directions in cross-border cooperation in education. Information about main directions of research on cross-border and transboundary cooperation can be used when planning new scientific, educational, scientific-methodological projects of cross-border and transboundary cooperation in education and science.

The Impact of Covid-19 on Structure and Agency in a Borderland. The Case of Two Twin Towns in Central Europe

ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked numerous unintended social and political consequences, especially for border regions as many European states decided to temporarily close their borders. This decision had a tremendous effect not only on the work of various actors in border towns, but also on the lives of borderlanders, whose daily practices are embedded in cross-border spaces. By applying a strategic-relational approach (Jessop [2001]. Institutional Re(Turns) and the Strategic – Relational Approach. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 33, no. 7: 1213–35. doi:10.1068/a32183), our article aims to explore the impact of the pandemic on institutional structures and the agency of various actors in two selected twin towns – Frankfurt an der Oder-Słubice and Cieszyn-Český Těšín. Based on both expert, semi-structured interviews with representatives of the above-mentioned towns and a document analysis, it elaborates on the coping strategies deployed to counteract the challenges caused by the border closure, the factors impacting cross-border cooperation, as well as the similarities and differences between the selected cases .

Mobile people in global migration and the working of law: a reflection on the role of legal pluralism

ABSTRACT This paper for the anniversary issue of the Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law attempts to explain how legal pluralism as a sensitizing concept plays a role as an auxiliary in looking at phenomena where there is a co-existence between various legal systems. The legal pluralism approach carries methodological consequences that require a researcher to use microscopic lenses to observe the relations between law and relevant actors in cross-border spaces. It is also important to examine the interrelations between the concept of personhood with law in a context of legal pluralism. Without a legal pluralism approach linked with a relational approach that looks at the connections between law and relevant actors, research would not be able to generate a significant narrative about how law works. In this paper, the conceptual and methodological reflections on legal pluralism are linked to a research on the diversity of legal references that regulate the issue of Indonesian female migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with all its implications for actual access to justice for women.