New Directions at the Border: A Historical Geographical Perspective

This essay has two goals: the first is to illustrate what borders have been, how they have been viewed, and where they are headed; and the second is to argue that a historical perspective is necessary to the understanding of borders in a post-global world. Underlying this discussion is the contention that any consideration of new directions in border studies must attempt to unravel the entanglements that connect globalization and borders. This argument rests on the belief that borders must be viewed in relation to the borderlands in which they are situated. Such an effort requires a historical geographical perspective which reflects on the strings that connect the past and present and identifies and analyses the roles that such connections play in the ever-changing world of borders, borderlands, and bordering.