Porous Borders Research Articles

Reporting at the border:Translation in periodicals at the Texas-Tamaulipas border during the 19th century

ABSTRACT This paper addresses the historical relationship between journalism and translation. It approaches translation history by considering journalistic translation as found in newspapers published in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (the southernmost, easternmost stretch of the Mexico-US border) during the 19th century. Specifically, the paper will ask whether translation was a tool employed in journalistic activity in the region and, if so, what the role was of translation in such activity. It will review the presence of translation in available border periodicals from the 1840s to the end of the century. This review will show that regarding certain aspects, historical news translation in this region was like that found in other places (e.g. a tool for importing foreign news). However, it will also highlight some traits that are the consequence of the newspapers being published along an essentially porous border where languages and cultures flowed into each other to create a specific bilingual context.

Irregular migration and governance: implications for Nigeria

The global irregular migration crisis has gained momentum in the 21st century due to the high fatality rates and risks among vulnerable migrants in their quest to cross the scorching desert and violent sea. Irregular migration is the movement of people illegally and without the required or proper documentation across international borders. Migration is as old as humanity. Today, Africa faces the enormous challenges of high migratory flows across the Sahara Desert via North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. The challenges of this trend include human trafficking, xenophobia, organ harvesting, and insecurity. Nigeria is not exempt from this crisis irrespective of its endowed natural/human resources, the advent of democracy, and its prominent role as the biggest economy in Africa. Nigeria is rated low in infrastructural and human capital development among nations. Many vulnerable youths are leaving the country in droves for a better living standard. This study examines the trends, triggers, and problems of governance on irregular migration and the implications for Nigeria. The study employs data from secondary sources such as journals, reports, books, and the internet for analysis. Also, the security theory of migration was employed to explain the irregular migration trends. The findings reveal that significant Nigerian youths are irregularly migrating in droves to Asia, the Middle East, and some African countries, But not only to Europe. It shows a thriving and growing industry of irregular migrants’ handlers in the country because of ineffective migration policies, unemployment, poverty, and porous borders. The study concludes that a more comprehensive public policy approach towards addressing unemployment, crushing poverty, humanitarian crises, insecurity, poor governance with attendant consequences of mismanagement of resources, and corruption would perhaps reduce the rise in irregular migration.

Uneasy self-promotion and tactics of patience: Finnish MPs’ ambivalent feelings about personalised politics on social media

This article examines Finnish politicians’ ambivalent attachments to social media – specifically Facebook and Twitter – in candidate-centred, personalised politics. The analysis draws on 20 semi-structured interviews with members of parliament (MPs) to investigate the tactics of adaptation and adjustment politicians develop in a work setting that precludes digital detox. To investigate the MPs’ contradictory feelings, the analysis builds on cultural and media theory to contextualise the porous border between the personal and the political that exists on social media. The analysis revolves around four interconnected themes: uneasiness of self-promotion, Facebook’s ordinariness, Twitter as a necessary evil, and tactics of patience MPs utilise when they encounter various forms of online harassment. The article suggests that in parliamentary research, social media should be considered an ambivalent social glue that holds things together rather than merely a platform for self-promotion.

Efficacy of Lockdowns in Africa

The novel coronavirus has rocked the world, unleashing disease, deaths and a social quagmire. The catastrophic implications of the pandemic have pushed states on the brink forcing most of them to institute country lockdowns in a bid to flatten the curve of infections, avoid new ones and ensuring that the health systems are not overwhelmed at any one point in time. More than ninety per cent of states went on lockdowns, leading to corrosive effects on their economies. The death toll in Asia and Europe was astronomical, whilst that of the United States of America, Brazil and India was unprecedented. Except for a few countries in Europe and Africa that did not act homogeneously, the rest of the world ceased to function. Whilst lockdowns were effective in western countries, in the African continent, it was a different case. Although there was a willingness to institute lockdowns in Africa, the context made it almost impossible for many countries to effectively and efficiently do so. These factors which hampered the workability of lockdowns included high informal employment rates, informal settlements, rampant homelessness, porous borders, a high population density, institutions with vulnerable populations as well as conflict settings. This paper discusses in detail the research findings of the author on the efficacy of lockdowns in Africa utilising the idealism theory. The importance of the study is to equip policymakers with better strategies to make lockdowns more effective through the dissection of problems discovered in the research findings. The paper’s findings are that lockdowns are difficult to adhere to in the African context, should be context-bound and must be buttressed by government efforts and interventions for them to be effective.

Multidisciplinary lines of evidence reveal East/Northeast Asian origins of agriculturalist/pastoralist residents at a Han dynasty military outpost in ancient Xinjiang

Han/non-Han interactions were engrained among the border regions of ancient Imperial China. Yet, little is known about either the genetic origins or the lifeways of these border peoples. Our study applies tools from ancient deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and stable isotope analysis to the study of a Han dynasty population at the Shichengzi site in modern-day Xinjiang. Isotopic analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of human (n = 8), animal (n = 26), and crop remains (n = 23) from Shichengzi indicated that dietary patterns among site inhabitants could be split among agro-pastoral and agricultural groups based on differences in the collagen 15N ratios. DNA analysis divided the four Shichengzi samples into two groups, with one group primarily harboring the ancient Northeast Asian (ANA) related ancestry, while the other showed a dominant Late Neolithic Yellow River (YR_LN) related ancestry. Both ancient DNA and stable isotope evidence point to the Northeast Asian origins of pastoralists and East Asian origins of Han agriculturalists, who, nonetheless, shared a single burial space at Shichengzi. This study thus provides clear evidence for the multiple origins and identities of populations across the porous border represented by the Han Empire and surrounding regions and proposes a new model for the interpretation of border culture in early Imperial China.

Uganda National Institute of Public Health: Establishment and Experiences, 2013–2021

Uganda is an ecological hot spot with porous borders that lies in several infectious disease transmission belts, making it prone to disease outbreaks. To prepare and respond to these public health threats and emergencies in a coordinated manner, Uganda established the Uganda National Institute of Public Health (UNIPH) in 2013.Using a step-by-step process, Uganda's Ministry of Health (MOH) crafted a strategy with a vision, mission, goal, and strategic objectives, and identified value additions and key enablers for success. A regulatory impact assessment was then conducted to inform the drafting of principles of the bill for legislation on the Institute.Despite not yet attaining legal status, the UNIPH has already achieved faster, smarter, and more efficient and effective prevention, detection, and response to public health emergencies. Successes include a more coordinated multisectoral, disciplined, and organized response to emergencies; appropriate, timely, and complete information receipt and sharing; a functional national lab sample and results transportation network that has enabled detection and confirmation of public health events within 48 hours of alert; appropriate response to a confirmed public health event in 24-48 hours; and real-time surveillance of endemic- and epidemic-prone diseases.In this article, we document success stories, lessons learned, and challenges encountered during the unique staged process used to develop the components of the UNIPH. The creation of an integrated disease control center has proven to yield better collaboration and synergies between different arms of epidemic preparedness and response.

A Saga of Decisive Combat of Pakistan Army in North and South Waziristan (2009- 2016)

The entire security landscape of the world was altered due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America's World Trade Centre. After this incident, the US accused Al-Qaeda headship of the attacks. Henceforth, President Bush demanded the Afghan Taliban hand over Osama Bin Laden to the US. However, when the Taliban did not respond positively, the US attacked Afghanistan. The US also pushed Pakistan to take a U-turn on its Afghan policy; hence, President Musharraf decided to offer logistics and other relevant backing to the American force sin their operation in Afghanistan. After the defeat of the Afghan Taliban in 2002, many militants from Afghanistan came to Pakistan's tribal areas through a porous border. As Pakistan supported the US War on Terrorism (WoT), a militant insurgency was started in the tribal areas of Pakistan. This research examines the counter-terrorism strategies of the Pakistan army that it implemented from 2009 to 2016. The study explains the military operations of the Pakistan army in former FATA against hardcore terrorist groups like Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other small and affiliated radical organizations. It is analyzed that military operations namely Rah-e-Nijat and Zarb-e-Azb in former FATA with a focus on North and South Waziristan relatively remained successful.

SOCIAL-ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF TRANS-BORDER CRIMES IN NIGERIA: 2015-2019

The continuous surge in threats to global security especially orchestrated by trans-border - crimes such as money laundering, arms trafficking, drug trafficking and human trafficking, has given rise to a series of new discussions and strategic thinking among scholars and security experts. Nigeria is not an exception to these threats as it has, lately, been witnessing a handful of these palpable security challenges threatening its peaceful corporate existence and economic prosperity. This paper thus examined the dimensions of trans-border crimes and its socio-economic implications for Nigeria. The paper employed qualitative methodology, secondary data collection and descriptive method of analysis. The paper argues that global interconnectedness facilitates increase in trans-border crimes, especially in Nigeria where the unofficial/unmanned borders surpass the official/manned borders. Therefore, it is found that drug trafficking, arms trafficking, trafficking of persons, car smuggling and internet fraud are prevalent trans-border crimes in Nigeria. The socio-economic implications of trans-border crimes are mostly felt in fueling corruption, infiltrating businesses, hindering development and endangering lives and national security. Identifiable causes of increased trans-border crimes in Nigeria include porous borders, political corruption, and compromised security system. It is concluded that trans-border crimes pose serious national challenges that require multi track strategies and coordinated responses from the government, its agencies, transnational agencies, neighbouring governments and the citizens, to address. The paper, thus, recommended that to significantly minimize the menace of trans-border crimes in Nigeria, the government should adequately police the borders while the appropriate law enforcement officers must be well mobilized and equipped to so do.

Building Peshawar: Labor, Security, and Infrastructure at the Edge of Empire

Abstract This article focuses on the recruitment and organization of labor for projects of colonial state infrastructure in the city of Peshawar between 1849 and 1947. Providing access to the Khyber Pass—and thus Afghanistan—Peshawar was an urban center from which the colonial state sought to organize security on the Indo-Afghan frontier. Peshawari laborers, recruited to support the city’s large colonial military cantonment, railways, jail, and other infrastructure projects, were regulated according to colonial narratives about the security threats posed by the city’s geography and ethnic composition. This article contributes to our understanding of the labor of colonial security and border-making by uncovering the circular logic that connected security and labor in colonial-era Peshawar. The colonial state sought to build physical infrastructure to protect the city from the perceived threats posed by the Indo-Afghan frontier. But to build this infrastructure of security, colonial administrators relied on a porous border. Through the porous border they recruited labor from regional populations who they characterized as intrinsically prone to violence or difficult to discipline, spurring a continuous expansion of security infrastructure. Therefore, though an analysis of how laborers were recruited for state projects, the article argues that the colonial regime reified ethnic and social hierarchies within the city.

The Border-Development-Climate Change Nexus: Precarious Campesinos at the Selva Maya Mexico–Guatemala Border

Borderlands can be places of socio-economic tensions, development challenges, and ecological risks, now exacerbated by climate change. We investigate the border-development-climate change nexus using research from Calakmul, Mexico and Petén, Guatemala, to detail the lived experiences and vulnerabilities of campesinos in the Selva Maya cross-border region. Our mixed methods approach combines historical analysis and ethnographic interviews with 70 campesinos. We demonstrate how large scale development approaches result in local and specific policy interventions, but produce mixed outcomes for campesinos, neglecting the most marginalized. Despite the absence of any major border crossings, a porous border in this area allows flows of people, goods, and services to connect the region, but there are differential national outcomes. In Petén, many campesinos suffer from ‘irregularity’ (lacking rights to the lands where they live and cultivate), preventing access to state development benefits. In Calakmul greater climate change demands adaptations beyond the scope of recent policy interventions. We consider how the border region includes biophysical processes as well as socio-political and cultural ones, and we argue that policy interventions are required at global, national, and local scales to address structural inequalities and co-create local solutions to development, migration, and climate change challenges.

Border Security Challenges: a Case Study of Kenya and Somalia Border Relations (1991-2017)

The porous border of Kenya/ Somalia has always been problematic to the Kenyan government, ever since the Somali government’s fall in 1991. This study was based along the Kenya- Somalia boundary in Mandera County. The study examined border security challenges between Kenya- Somalia from 1991-to 2017. One specific objective guided it: to discuss challenges to border security strategies along with Kenya- Somalia border. The study was guided by descriptive survey research design and experimental research designs. This research used several sampling strategies: convenience, systematic, snowball, random sampling, and purposive techniques. The researcher selected a sample size of 398 that comprised heads of families. Further, 85 critical informants of private and public responders were chosen from the two case studies. Primary information was gathered using FGDs, survey tools such as questionnaires and observations and interviews. On the other hand, secondary data was retrieved through relevant articles and publication content analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics proved vital in analyzing preliminary information, while content analysis was utilized when analyzing qualitative data. Tables and figures present the data analyzed. The study established that 86 % of the respondents stated that regional politics, power politics and geopolitical conflicts were significant impediments to border management strategies. It was concluded that geopolitical disputes were the main challenge encountered in border management strategies. The study recommends that Kenya partner with like-minded stronger countries in Africa's horn, affected by the Somali problem like Ethiopia, and develop a common approach to learning from them on dealing with the border issue.

Prioritization of invasive alien species with the potential to threaten agriculture and biodiversity in Kenya through horizon scanning

Invasive alien species (IAS) rank among the most significant drivers of species extinction and ecosystem degradation resulting in significant impacts on socio-economic development. The recent exponential spread of IAS in most of Africa is attributed to poor border biosecurity due to porous borders that have failed to prevent initial introductions. In addition, countries lack adequate information about potential invasions and have limited capacity to reduce the risk of invasions. Horizon scanning is an approach that prioritises the risks of potential IAS through rapid assessments. A group of 28 subject matter experts used an adapted methodology to assess 1700 potential IAS on a 5-point scale for the likelihood of entry and establishment, potential socio-economic impact, and impact on biodiversity. The individual scores were combined to rank the species according to their overall potential risk for the country. Confidence in individual and overall scores was recorded on a 3-point scale. This resulted in a priority list of 120 potential IAS (70 arthropods, 9 nematodes, 15 bacteria, 19 fungi/chromist, 1 viroid, and 6 viruses). Options for risk mitigation such as full pest risk analysis and detection surveys were suggested for prioritised species while species for which no immediate action was suggested, were added to the plant health risk register and a recommendation was made to regularly monitor the change in risk. By prioritising risks, horizon scanning guides resource allocation to interventions that are most likely to reduce risk and is very useful to National Plant Protection Organisations and other relevant stakeholders.

Al Shabaab and its Violent Extremism in Kenya

The purpose of this paper on “Al Shabaab and its Violent Extremism in Kenya” aimed at exploring the dynamics of al Shabaab in Somalia as it affected Kenya. This descriptive research adopted judgmental sampling technique and relied mostly on secondary source (books, journal articles, monographs, internet materials etc) of data collection which were sourced in Nigerian libraries, subjected to content validity before analyzing qualitatively. Results of the findings revealed that the spillover of al Shabaab’s violent extremism to Kenya was caused by porous borders as well as local forces such as historic marginalization, propaganda technique and the presence of al Hijrah sect in Kenya. Al Shabaab has impacted negatively on Kenya’s security, diplomacy, economy as well as humanitarian services. Kenya has responded through the creation of Operation Linda Nchi and Operation Usalama Watch while United States, Africa Union Mission in Somalia, United Nations and European Union also assisted in fighting the dreaded sect according to findings. The contribution of these findings to the explanation of Rosenau’s linkage theory is excellent thereby deepening the understanding of its basic assumptions. Regrettably, Al Shabaab is still a potential threat to Kenya and the entire Horn of Africa, therefore, the paper recommends inclusive dialogue, national integration and constructive engagement as panacea for al Shabaab violent extremism.

TAJIKISTAN: AN EVALUATION OF TERRORISM AND COUNTER-TERRORISM POLICIES SINCE INDEPENDENCE

Tajikistan, a country overloaded with the horriϐic memory of bloody civil war, an increasingly devastated economy, and the ineradicable misfortune of having long borders with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, has been reigning consistently by the Emomali Rahmon’s regime for three decades with wide-scale surveillance and draconian acts. Taking advantage of the weak governance, poor military infrastructure and porous border, Islamic extremists and cross border terrorist groups have also been seen persistently deepening their inϐluence in the region either by perpetrating a series of terrorist activities in the terrain or joining Tajik national into their organizations. This paper presents a detailed analysis of how and to what extent terrorism has posed security threats to Tajikistan through examining the Global Terrorism Database and RAND database that includes the numbers and intensity of the terrorist incidents in the territory since independence. It systematically analyses the prominent terrorist groups and, more particularly, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), which has widened its network in the region. The paper also makes a sincere effort to evaluate the counter-terrorism acts adopted and implemented by Tajikistan. Moreover, the article also examines how the Tajik’s authority constructs state discourse on terrorism by delegitimising social acceptance of the terrorist on the one hand and projecting the state as the severe victim of terrorism on the other. Keywords: Terrorism, Tajikistan, Terrorist Attacks, Counter-terrorism Act, Taliban

The makings of an exclusive community: students' perceptions of dangerous others.

Contemporarily, universities are perceived as neoliberal entities, self-absorbed, driven by corporate interests, markets and economic goals, rather than perceived as providing a public good, concerned for the wider world (del Cerro Santamaria in Review of European Studies, 12(1), 22–38, 2020). This perception of universities as individualised communities rather than collective communities (Rousseau in Social Currents, 7(5), 395–401, 2020) accentuates the responsibilisation of individuals who are viewed as responsible for solving their own problems (Martinez and Garcia in What is neoliberalism, 2000), including ensuring their own safety (Garland in The British Journal of Criminology, 36(4), 445–471, 1996). Set against this social-political backdrop, this paper, using data from an online survey about students’ perceptions of on-campus safety at a university in the north of England, shows how some students, particularly women students, view others as dangerous, rather than view them as vulnerable groups who are residing on the margins of an inequitable society. The porous borders of the university campuses amplify some students’ perceptions of dangerous others and students’ suggestions for campus security to keep out such others arguably serve to aggravate rather than relieve their perceptions of unsafety. Yet the porous borders of the campuses should be seen as advantageous because an ecological university can connect its students to the wider world to help facilitate care for the other (Barnett in The ecological university, 2018). In doing so, this may enhance students’ own sense of well-being and safety in the urban environment. This is a timely argument amidst a global pandemic, where the university restricts access to unauthorised others and, in doing so, facilitates the makings of an exclusive community.

Effect of Rural Banditary on IFAD-CASP Participating Crop Producer

he research study analyzed the effect of rural banditry on IFAD-CASP participating crop farmers in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Interview schedule was used to collect data from 360 respondents that were selected for the study. A multi stage and simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents. Descriptive statistical tools (mean, percentages, frequency distribution) and inferential statistics (logic regression analysis, paired sample T-test and Spearman`s correlation coefficient) were used for data analysis. The results of the study reveals that majority of the respondents were married with an average household size of 8 persons and income level of less than N 20,000/month. Most of the respondents (50%) indicate that the conflict is very severe resulting to great economic, physical and social effects on the respondents. The results of ranking of effect of rural banditry on IFAD-CASP in the study area, indicates poor participation, increased rural poverty, poor supervision of programme, poor economic growth and poor information dissemination were ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively. It could be concluded that rural banditry poses poor economic growth, increased rural poverty, poor participation, and poor programme implementation and induces fear and uncertainty. The study therefore, recommend that urgent provision of adequate security personnel to Mann the porous borders, prompt enrollment of the vulnerable into government social investment programmes, organize training/seminars for peace building purpose and also government should register all mining site and their activities properly monitored.

Imaginative Reflexivity in Decolonizing Expert–Client Relationships. A Response to J. Vink: Designing for Plurality in Democracy by Building Reflexivity

Imaginative Reflexivity in Decolonizing Expert–Client Relationships. A Response to J. Vink: Designing for Plurality in Democracy by Building Reflexivity

Exilic journeys and lives: Paths leading to a Mughal grave in Rangoon

This article studies the exilic journeys and lives of a series of Mughals and Muslims in Burma between the 1850s and 1920s. It presents a microhistory of exiles and sojourners from north India and Europe, including that of the last Mughal king, Bahadur Shah Zafar. The stories of the men and women introduced here are microcosms of the porous borders they crossed. And Rangoon, the hub of Mughal prisoners, convicted saints, merchants, labourers and internationalists, emerged as a ‘junction box’ of Indian Ocean Islam. The article traces Zafar’s life under house arrest in Burma, and then turns to the other Mughals who had accompanied him into exile, describing their confinement, struggles, petitions and mobility extending to marriage matches. From stories of exiled Mughals, this article introduces the story of Islamic anti-imperialists of Kashmiri and Scottish origins who came together in Rangoon to memorialise Zafar. Their efforts to embellish Zafar’s majesty gradually resulted in a tomb establishing Rangoon’s leading Sufi. Rangoon’s Islamic landscape and Zafar’s Sufi afterlife will be experienced and recounted for decades to come by travellers including a Sikh woman suspected of opium smuggling, and this article begins with her observations. Together, the journeys of all these figures, minor and major, misremembered or forgotten, illuminate a porous and multi-ethnic Rangoon, and unsettle presentist imaginings of a homogeneous Myanmar.

WHY NAGA NATIONALISM THRIVED FOR DECADES: AN ASSESSMENT

The younger generation after August 25, 1997 Bangkok declaration between the NSCN-IM and Government of India, have seen less bloodshed and known more of the benign side of India. Today, the Naga youths are integrating and socializing into the mainstream culture by venturing out to major cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata etc. for education, work, better opportunities and economic investments. This is happening alongside the unsettled political Indo-Naga issue. Here we try to understand the causes or reasons behind the rise and sustenance of Naga national movement that has dragged on for more than seven decades, how its social structure, communitarian landholding system, headhunting past, christian proselytization, porous international borders, rugged topography, firm leadership, effective management of dissent and elaborate mechanisms of taxation, all coalesced to give the Naga national movement a firm setting. Taken in right spirit, this assessment can produce a double-edged sword; on the one hand, we can identify how a certain problem is thriving or drawing its sustenance and therefore strategize toward its end. While on the other hand, it can embolden and encourage the other party to build on its strength. Understanding the nuances of Naga political movement becomes an indelible requirement in pursuit of peace and honorable settlement.

Home Safe? Porosity Precarity, Borders: An Australian Crisis Diary

The porosity of our bodies and our planet are palpable in the conjoint crises of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our shared atmosphere is increasingly toxic for all life with greenhouse gas emissions causing global heating, the rising and acidification of the ocean and the increased frequency and severity of what are no longer ‘natural’ disasters. COVID-19, a novel coronavirus which in late 2019 crossed the porous border of non-human and human life has spread rapidly between permeable human bodies through touch and breath, and animated inanimate surfaces with its fatal potential. Both crises have occasioned resort to borders. But what is ‘home’: the household, the nation, the planet? And is it safe? Asking these questions exposes the fault lines of late capitalism – with tectonic shifts and widening inequalities on the basis of gender, race and class. This essay explores these questions through personal vignettes and analyses of the twin crises, from the perspective of Australia.