The border as liminal space

This article examines the concept of liminality as it relates to the terms ‘border’ and ‘limit’. It shows that early anthropological approaches refer to liminal space as a means of managing the dynamic relationship with the norm in a social structure. In more recent analyses, liminality is used to d...

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Main Author: Marie-Christine Fourny
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut de Géographie Alpine
Series:Revue de Géographie Alpine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rga/2120
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author Marie-Christine Fourny
author_facet Marie-Christine Fourny
author_sort Marie-Christine Fourny
collection DOAJ
description This article examines the concept of liminality as it relates to the terms ‘border’ and ‘limit’. It shows that early anthropological approaches refer to liminal space as a means of managing the dynamic relationship with the norm in a social structure. In more recent analyses, liminality is used to demonstrate the way in which situations of otherness develop, in a complex interplay of power, place, and social and spatial norms. Analysis of the project to develop a macro-regional strategy for the Alps provides an illustration of this. Thus, the MRS project aims to unite an “Alps” space around common objectives. It raises the question of the alpine border, whether in the context of national borders to be crossed, the limit of the mountain area to be moved, or the area of the Alpine Arc to be defined. Representations that are found of the alpine limit lead us to conclude that a liminal alpine space can be constructed in both a cognitive and functional sense.
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spelling doaj.art-616466bdb4b9415f8e1b2e3d3c7624d72024-02-14T15:01:05ZengInstitut de Géographie AlpineRevue de Géographie Alpine0035-11211760-7426101210.4000/rga.2120The border as liminal spaceMarie-Christine FournyThis article examines the concept of liminality as it relates to the terms ‘border’ and ‘limit’. It shows that early anthropological approaches refer to liminal space as a means of managing the dynamic relationship with the norm in a social structure. In more recent analyses, liminality is used to demonstrate the way in which situations of otherness develop, in a complex interplay of power, place, and social and spatial norms. Analysis of the project to develop a macro-regional strategy for the Alps provides an illustration of this. Thus, the MRS project aims to unite an “Alps” space around common objectives. It raises the question of the alpine border, whether in the context of national borders to be crossed, the limit of the mountain area to be moved, or the area of the Alpine Arc to be defined. Representations that are found of the alpine limit lead us to conclude that a liminal alpine space can be constructed in both a cognitive and functional sense.https://journals.openedition.org/rga/2120bordermacro-regionliminalityalpine spacelimit
spellingShingle Marie-Christine Fourny
The border as liminal space
Revue de Géographie Alpine
border
macro-region
liminality
alpine space
limit
title The border as liminal space
title_full The border as liminal space
title_fullStr The border as liminal space
title_full_unstemmed The border as liminal space
title_short The border as liminal space
title_sort border as liminal space
topic border
macro-region
liminality
alpine space
limit
url https://journals.openedition.org/rga/2120
work_keys_str_mv AT mariechristinefourny theborderasliminalspace
AT mariechristinefourny borderasliminalspace