BORDERS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF GOOD NEIGHBOURHOOD從睦鄰角度看到的邊境
Doris Wastl-Walter argues that borders must be understood as dynamic, contested, and practice-based phenomena rather than fixed lines delimiting territorial states. Drawing on the evolution of border scholarship—from early efforts to demarcate and classify state borders in the context of imperialism...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
April 2009
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40030/3609 |
| Summary: | Doris Wastl-Walter argues that borders must be understood as dynamic, contested, and practice-based phenomena rather than fixed lines delimiting territorial states. Drawing on the evolution of border scholarship—from early efforts to demarcate and classify state borders in the context of imperialism and the world wars, to later approaches that conceptualized borders as artificial anthropogenic constructs, and ultimately to contemporary studies focusing on how borders shape everyday life—the article reframes border analysis through the lens of "good neighbourhood." Methodologically, it synthesizes interdisciplinary insights from geography, sociology, anthropology, and international relations, emphasizing the need to shift from macro-political demarcations to local interpretations and municipal "inner-urban" borderings. Key findings are that borders are Janus-faced: they can be simultaneously material and mental, stabilizing and transient, exclusionary and integrating, secured and open. Their effects are produced and reproduced through the narratives and everyday practices of political actors and local populations, which can either perpetuate segregation or transform the quality of border relations. The article concludes that managing borders productively requires attention to local meanings and lived experiences, for the promotion of well-being and peaceful coexistence. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |