Bordering encounters, sociality and distribution of the ability to live a ‘normal life’

Based on analysis of a bordering encounter that took place in the offices of the Latvian State Border Guard, I trace how bordering produces connections at the same time as it effects separations. Despite being separated by state-based lines of power, participants of the bordering encounter - all for...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dzenovska, D
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014
Description
Summary:Based on analysis of a bordering encounter that took place in the offices of the Latvian State Border Guard, I trace how bordering produces connections at the same time as it effects separations. Despite being separated by state-based lines of power, participants of the bordering encounter - all former Soviet citizens - recognised each other as 'normal people' striving to obtain a 'normal life'. This connection was enabled by historically formed understanding of shared conditions of life and critical awareness of global power hierarchies. The sociality formed during the bordering encounter invites a rethinking of how distribution of life is negotiated through bordering, and how politics is imagined in relation to borders.