Border crossings are not

only physical.
Visual Culture BA

Student Name: Isobel Dunne

Email Address: 20442986@student.ncad.ie

Year of Study: First year

Semester: 2

Visual Culture Tutor: Denis Kehoe

Essay Due Date: 12th of April 2021

Word Count: 2325

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Border crossings are not only physical. With the information presented in this essay

it is brought to light the idea of whether borders still play a practical role in today's

world given the social, economic and political standpoint of the first and third world.

Migration and modern travel has made borders obsolete by the ever changing

culture through mixing nationalities. The possibility of over empowering lines on a

map in the form of a border. The ever changing meaning of borders from a physical

wall to a person's mindset and lastly real world examples that prove that borders are

what you make of them and are not a one size fits all.

Border crossings are purely informational not involving the movement of people. To

some people, state borders are simply just a thought. Borders pose practical reasons

for modern-day society and serve a great purpose to this earth. Borders allow us to

mediate political, social and economic activities. From a very different perspective,

borders are a thing of the past. they're too harsh, too territorial and can separate one

person from another. It is thought that borders are a passing phenomenon but still

capture the minds and thinking of the masses. Borders no longer serve an essential

purpose alongside our Democratic society. Through changing our perspective on

borders we would be able to fix many problems and acknowledge the power they

hold. Is it possible a border can be seen as something that is not a wall but simply a

mindset that we must overcome?

‘In other words, we need to see a border not as that which is either fixed or that as

such must be overcome, but as an evolving construction that has both practical

merits and demerits that must be constantly reweighed.’ (Agnew, 2008, p175)
If borders are inherently necessary for all sorts of reasons do we then fall into a

problematic society where certain land is either a fixed Territory only entitled to those

who are native to it or does it become a hurdle to overcome? The answer to borders

in the sense is the over-regulation and ethical concern as it undermines human

dignity and many people's right to a decent life safe of poverty, malnourishment and

political disagreement. ‘borders are increasingly redundant, and thinking constrained

by them restricts thinking about alternative political, social, and economic

possibilities.’ (Agnew, 2008, p. 176)

Too many people's borders, however obsolete they may be, still serve important

roles in today's life. In the shadows bordering all over the world is the effect of

nationalism which of course associate with our territorial parts of our being. In saying

that national identity even with borders is being constantly reinvented and mixed.

This happens through migration and settlement while still adhering to their first

culture while adopting some of the cultures of the new state. While we can argue

that borders are a historical and modern-day essential there is no denying that

borders can keep out culture or national identity and instead can persevere new

cultures and teachings. ‘borders are socio-territorial constructs reflecting the

discourses and practices of national identity’ (Agnew, 2008, p. 177).

When crossing a border it is not only crossing a physical landmark but you are also

changing your thinking. In saying that, it is true that borders are not only physical

because they have no way of changing people's identity and interests. Historical

borders are slowly slipping through our fingers as in modern-day society we are

living in a time where you can no longer stop the transnational and globalised
movement of people thinking and Information. ‘Their perpetual instability of borders

is precisely what gives it such symbolic power in the mind’s eye of nationalists who

favour/challenge it.’ (Agnew, 2008, p. 178)

It is no secret that borders pose a very practical purpose in our society. Most recently

in the last 30 years, there has been a political focus on borders after certain terrorist

attacks, the collapse of the Soviet empire and the very obvious migration and

immigration of the world population whether that be for refuge purpose or simply to

diversify a person's culture. ‘25.2 million Russians became part of a large diaspora

population without moving an inch or leaving their homes they went from being

members of a privileged majority who arguably saw the Homeland as the entire

Soviet Union to minority members of 14 new independent nation states’ (Heleniak,

2004, p. 99) this shows by this way thinking are we only limiting ourselves to the fact

that borders are just a line on a map or are we giving it much more power than is

due. ‘Borders, therefore, are not simply practical phenomena that can be taken as

given. They are complex human creations that are perpetually open to question.’

(Agnew, 2008, p. 176)

One of the borders that stand out in our society that is not only physical is the

Pyrenees. On the border between Spain and France, there is an area called the

Pyrenees that does not belong to France or Spain but rather both. This border is set

by a nationalization of interest as the boundaries were not set in a place but rather

on a community and culture. So rather than a border which is merely just a place of

differences coming to light, The border was directly erected due to the identities and

interests of the locals. France and Spain agreed that the Pyrenees was to be
incorporated into the two countries. In today's world the official boundary of France

and Spain does not hold the weight of political significance That many other borders

in a third Or first world do. ‘20th century theorists considered the French Spanish

boundary a fossilised cold or dead boundary since it has rarely presented cause for

major international contention’ (Sahlins, 1989, p. 1).

New walls are being built on borders all over the world even though history shows

that these are empty actions. For example, new borders being erected between

Mexico and the United States only deprives the world of transnational cultures and

people that are being blocked out by barbed wire police dogs and bureaucratic

controls in doing this not only in the world deprived of culture but we are also leaving

our people empty-handed and stuck in a cycle of poverty. ‘They not only limit

movements of things, money, and people, but they also limit the exercise of intellect,

imagination, and political will. The challenge is to think and then act beyond their

present limitations.’ (Agnew, 2008, p. 178). Only since the terrorist attack on the

world trade centre in New York on the 11th of September has there been tension

between Mexico and the US regarding borders. Although Mexico had nothing to do

with the attack, the construction of border walls and fences led to unfriendly

relationships between their neighbouring countries. In 2001 the construction of the

fence along the US Mexico border was the centre of much controversy and

discomfort.

Borders are adopting and changing every day and countries are finding new ways to

keep people out. The US has not only built a physical fence along its southern

border but it has also created a virtual system in which to control its Borderlands it is

known as a virtual wall or virtual fence, this is just one way how borders are slowly
becoming not only a physical landmark. ‘new immigration policy will likely put almost

11 million people who have lived illegally in the US for years or decades at risk of

deportation or at least make them Live in fear and anxiety’ (Saddiki, 2017, p. 89)

The Berlin Wall is another example of political tensions taking the form in physical

borders being represented by concrete and wire. ‘The fall of the Berlin wall was

supposed to signal the event of the single world of freedom and democracy. Twenty

years later, it is clear that the world’s wall has simply shifted: instead of separating

East and West it now divides the rich capitalist North from the poor and devastated

South.’ (Agnew, 2008, p. 180)

The Berlin wall was once a former symbol of division on the border but now it stands

for much more it is now the world's largest open-air gallery featuring 105 murals by

artists from across the globe. The artworks that lined the banks of the verb spring in

Berlin stand as a memorial to the reunification of Germany and more importantly the

breaking down of boundaries and borders it was originally painted in 1990 and his

home too many striking murals that include Dmitri Vrubel’s ‘Fraternal Kiss’ and Birgit

Kinder’s ‘Trabant Breaking Through the Wall’.

(Kinder, "Berlin Wall Trabant," 1989)

This mural stands iconic on the Wall and is the attraction of many tourists each year.

Painted by birgit kinder it depicts a trabant car breaking through the Berlin Wall. The

trabant is ubiquitous to the German Democratic Republic and is symbolic of the

former East Germany and of course the collapse of the eastern bloc. The mural is a

nod to both the popular car at the time and the many East Germans who tried to

escape over the Berlin Wall. This is a physical representation of a very theoretical

escapism of borders. It is impossible for a car to burst through a cement or brick wall

So instead this is symbolic of the strong will of the German people. we see here it is

what the car represents that is able to break this non physical boundary.

The border that separates the North in the south of Ireland has taken shape in the

physical and non-physical sense in the years it has existed. After years of civil unrest

in the beginning of the 1900s in the South of Ireland the unionist government of

Northern Ireland decided not to be included in the Irish Free State and the border
officially became internationally recognized. In the years after this decision the

border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland became harsher as the two

neighboring countries disagreed, there were steps taken to concrete this border

using customs, barriers, security as well as a political and symbolic divide. This

shows how toxic it can be when borders are erected where they weren't before and

the ever-changing harshening and softening of border politics and its effects on

society. Later on, in the 1950s the symbolism of the border was apparent as its

connection to the British imperialism was brought to light in the public eye with a

border campaign by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), The IRA took matters into their

own hands and began attacks on high profile military and police in the North of

Ireland to show the unrest in the country. The fighting only worsened with the

outbreak of the troubles 10 years later when a barrier between the two countries

became apparent. The neighboring North in fear of terrorism from the South fought

back in severe forms of managing the border this included attacks on infrastructure

and irish culture.

Nowadays the border is nothing of what it was 50 years ago, the border is almost

non apparent apart from the change in markings along the motorway. In just over a

century the Irish Republic and Northern Irish border has been the cause for much

dismissal. The war on politics, economy and society makes it apparent that people

are giving borders too much power. For a land border that just runs under 500

kilometres across the northern part of Ireland it has been the cause of thousands of

people's deaths under the mindset that disconnects this island in half. since being

established at the start of the 20th century the border has caused nothing but

controversy death and the breakdown of a relationship between two Neighboring

countries. As the southern-northern border evolves its meaning is ever changing. it is

preposterous to say this all came from splitting the land, instead it’s the people that

gave it the power and title to control a nation. ‘it is possible to have different ‘types’ of

border at the same time, e.g. hard for security and soft for customs checks’

(hayward, 2017, p. 10)

In conclusion it is blatantly apparent that border crossings are not only physical and

in fact the meaning of borders are ever changing. Borders are too harsh, too

territorial and can separate one person from another seen in Berlin, the United

States-Mexico and in Ireland. When the decision is made to cross between countries

States or even towns the crossing of that border is not only physically but also

crossing a mindset, years of History and culture. The crossing of the possibility of

transnational future and the possibility of the dismantling and disempowering These

Walls that separate us.

Bibliography
Agnew, J. (2008) ‘Borders on the mind: re-framing border thinking’, Ethics and

Global Politics, 1(4), pp. 175-191.

Birgit Kinder, "Berlin Wall Trabant," Making the History of 1989, Item #718,

Hayward, K. (2017) ‘The Irish Border and Brexit: An Explainer, parts I & II’, UK in a

Changing Europe.

Heleniak, T. (2004). Migration of the Russian Diaspora After the Breakup of the

Soviet Union. Journal of International Affairs, 57(2), pp. 99-117.

Saddiki, S. (2017). World of Walls: The Structure, Roles and Effectiveness of

Separation Barriers pp. 83-97.

Sahlins, p. (1989) ‘Boundaries The Making of France and Spain in the Pyrenees’, pp.

216-308