Border Imperialism
by Sami Riggs
Overview:
The concept of border imperialism stems from the ideas from the activist by the name of Harsha Walia. This topic is introduced in her book Undoing Border Imperialism. She works to have border imperialism be an alternative concept that works against the myths of the Western views of migrants.
Walia writes that there are four structures to border imperialism “first the mass displacement of impoverished and colonized communities resulting from the asymmetrical relations of global power, and the simultaneous securitization of the border against those migrants whom capitalism and empire have displaced; second, the criminalization of migration with severe punishment and discipline of those deemed “alien” or “illegal”; third, the entrenchment of a radicalized hierarchy of citizenship by arbitrating who legitimately constitutes the nation-state; and fourth, the state-mediated exploitation of migrant labor, akin to conditions of slavery and servitude, by capitalist interests.”
These four concepts point out the violence and destruction that borders create rather than providing protection, which is what many Western’s believe is what borders are for. Walia points out the connections within border imperialism and how networks of governments determine the people who are included within a nation-state, and how that territory will be controlled. Border imperialism is more than just an imaginary line that separates one nation from another but rather it makes the connections between colonialism, diaspora, and racism.
Examples of the Four Parts of Border Imperialism:
1. Mass displacement of communities resulting from relations with a global power: “Border controls are most severely deployed by those Western regimes that create mass displacement and […] against those whose very recourse to migration results from the ravages of capital and military occupations. Practices of arrest without charge, expulsion, indefinite detention, torture, and killings have become the unexceptional norm in militarized border zones” (Walia). An example of how Western regimes create mass displacement is seen in U.S involvement in wars in the Middle East. Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have caused devastation to many civilians resulting in a growing number of refugees. With the involvement of the U.S in these wars has caused the wars to last much longer, making it one of the longest wars in American history. The longevity of the wars continues the increase of refugees and the displacement of communities in those countries.
2. Criminalization of migration with severe punishment: An example of this is with immigrants in the U.S who have been put in immigrant detention centers. Refugees who are trying to enter the U.S are seen as illegal and are placed in centers where many of the people are treated inhumanely. Many immigrants are locked up, kept from their families, and are treated as if they don’t have any rights. The way these people are treated show how countries punish people for crossing a border.
3&4. Racialized Hierarchy of citizenship and Exploitation of migrant labor: “In her study of Jamaican migrant farmworkers in the Okanagan Valley, a region with a majority white settler population, Hjalmarson (2016) shows how the differential inclusion and segregation of non-citizen workers in Canada also constitutes a racialized segregation that separates “temporary” Black migrants from “permanent” white residents (how long a white resident has actually lived in the community is of little importance)” (Grahman and Hjalmarson). This example shows how immigrants face the racial problems in the work-force and their daily lives due to the racial hierarchy within the global powers. People of color will face more unequal treatment and struggle to become a part of the nation, no matter how long they have been within the nation because of the color of their skin.
Significance:
Borders play a bigger role in society than just dividing up territories, rather they are one of the major causes for violence around the world. In an article by Levi Graham and Elise Hjalmarson they write, “As various migrant mobilizations across the globe have so powerfully illustrated, borders themselves create more problems than they resolve.” Border imperialism focuses on this phenomena and how violence occurs form the “systemic structuring of global displacement and migration through and in collusion with capitalism, colonial empire, state building, and hierarchies of oppression” (Walia). These connections of political, economic and social organizations create and shape the movement of people and explain the nature of migration.
Discussion questions:
What states are more susceptible to border imperialism?
Would getting rid of borders better the situation of oppressed nation-states?
How might nations act if there were no such thing as border?
Is it possible to have a world without borders?
Image: Cover of Harsha Walia’s book Undoing Border Imperialism
Readings
Walia, Harsha. Undoing Border Imperialism. AK Press, 2014.
Levi Grahman and Elise Hjalmarson “Border Imperialism, Racial Capitalism, and Geographies of Deracination” acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1823
Liisa H. Malkki, “News from nowhere: Mass displacement and globalized ‘problems of organization’ journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/146613802401092797
Roberta Cohen and Francis M. Deng, “Mass displacement caused by conflicts and one-sided violence: national and international responses” brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0608_internal_displacement_cohen.pdf
Bibliography
Gahman, Levi, and Elise Hjalmarson. “Border Imperialism, Racial Capitalism, and Geographies of Deracination.” The University of Liverpool Repository, 1 Jan. 2019, livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3032257/.
Walia, Harsha. Undoing Border Imperialism. AK Press, 2014.
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