B1253 - REBOUND- RETHINKING BORDERS IN AND BY THE EUROPEAN UNION

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

The aim of this course is to explore the role of the European Union in the (re)definition of borders. Students are expected to get familiar with the performative function the (re)definition of borders has played for the EU’s own self-identification process and with the different forms of power the EU’s has exerted when engaging in hard and soft forms of bordering in different realms.

Contenuti

The Course is part of the Jean Monnet Project MOVE EU, funded by the European Commission. It aims at investigating how the border as an institution and a critical IR concept relates/challenges other key concepts such as sovereignty, territory, rights, and possibly identity.

The 'border' seems to have regained centrality both academically and in very practical ways. Major events force it at center stage. Brexit and the reintroduction of internal border controls in the EU since the refugee crisis remarked the centrality of geographical borders. More, recently, it has been shown that the border can be challenged by unilateral military actions, but also by economic and political moves. Contrary to the past, when we seemingly had crises and geopolitical challenges, there is something qualitatively different in the  disposition to talk of borders as key signifiers to cope and as an ontological compass, also by the EU.

This Course will provide theoretical and conceptual insights on borders, their many natures and features to navigate the current complex scenario. The programme is quite dense and requires full dedication by enrolled Students. Students are expected to read the material in the Syllabus ahead of classes, following the Professor’s instructions. No specific schedule is provided as Classes may vary according to need.

Testi/Bibliografia

Readings are available to Students on VIRTUALE or online. Missing material is also present at the Biblioteca R. Ruffilli.

Topics will foresee different in-class activities, to be specified in class.

 

BORDERS

Introduction

Course presentation. Talking of borders

 

Borders, territoriality and security

Simmons, B. A. (2019), Border Rules, International Studies Review, Volume 21, Issue 2, pp. 256–283

Andreas; Redrawing the Line: Borders and Security in the Twenty-first Century. International Security 2003; 28 (2): 78–111.

Agnew, J. (2008). Borders on the mind: re-framing border thinking. Ethics & Global Politics, 1(4), 175–191.

Noel Parker & Nick Vaughan-Williams (2012) Critical Border Studies: Broadening and Deepening the ‘Lines in the Sand' Agenda, Geopolitics, 17, 4, 727-733.

 

The Liberal Order and Borders

Simmons BA, Goemans HE. Built on borders: Tensions with the institution liberalism (thought it) left behind. International Organization. 2021;75(2):387-410.

Seminar: Dr. Elisa Piras (EURAC)

Seminar: Prof. Sonia Lucarelli (UNIBO)

 

Geopolitics and borders in the contemporary world

Dodds, K. (2007), Geopolitics: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ch: 1, 2.

Newman, D. (1998) Geopolitics Renaissant: Territory, sovereignty and the world political map, Geopolitics, 3:1, 1-16.

Tuathail, G. Ó. (1996), Critical Geopolitics, London: Routledge. Chapter 1 “Geopolitics” 16-43 and Chapter 5 “Critical approaches to geopolitics”, 112-147.

Immerwahr, D. (2022), Are we really prisoners of geography?, The Guardian, 10 November.

Seminar: Prof. Carmelo Danisi

Seminar: Prof. Arlo Poletti

Seminar: Prof. Francesco Strazzari

 

BORDERS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The shifting borders of the EU

Hooghe, L. and Marks, G. (2019), Grand theories of European integration in the twenty-first century, Journal of European Public Policy, 26, 8, 1113-1133.

Börzel, T.A., Dimitrova, A. and Schimmelfennig, F. (2017), European Union enlargement and integration capacity: concepts, findings, and policy implications, Journal of European Public Policy, 24:2, 157-176

Della Sala, V. (2017), Homeland security: territorial myths and ontological security in the European Union, Journal of European Integration, 39:5, 545-558.

Johansson-Nogués, E. (2018), The EU’s ontological (in) security: Stabilising the ENP area … and the EU-self?, Cooperation and Conflict, 53,4, 528-544.

 

A geopolitical EU in the making?

Browning, C. S. (2018) Geostrategies, geopolitics and ontological security in the eastern neighbourhood: the European Union and the 'New Cold War', Political Geography, 62, 106-115.

Tocci, N. (2023), The rise and Fall of geopolitical Europe, Politico, available at: The rise and fall of geopolitical Europe – POLITICO [https://www.politico.eu/article/rise-and-fall-geopolitical-europe-ukraine-russia-israel-palestine-commission/]

 

Schengen: from the erasing to the return of borders

Zaiotti, R. (2007), Revisiting Schengen: Europe and the emergence of a new culture of border control", in Perspectives on European politics and society, Vol.8 (1), pp. 31-54.

Paoli, S. (2015), The Schengen Agreements and their Impact on Euro-Mediterranean Relations. The Case of Italy and the Maghreb, in Journal of European Integration History, N. 1, 2015, pp. 125-145.

Ceccorulli, M., (2019) Back to Schengen: the collective securitisation of the EU free-border area, West European Politics, 42, 2, 302-322, available online

Seminar organized in collaboration with CeSIPE (Forlì): 40 years of Schengen, with Simone Paoli (University of Pisa) and Marco Borraccetti (UNIBO)

 

BORDERING DYNAMICS

War, refugees and borders

Class participation to the International Conference on the future of Afghanistan, 28 November

Hurrell, A. (2011), ‘Refugees, International Society, and Global Order’, in A. Betts and G. Loescher (eds), Refugees in International Relations, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Roberts, A. (2011), ‘Refugees and Military Intervention’, in A. Betts and G. Loescher (eds), Refugees in International Relations, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Adamson FB, Han E. Diasporic geopolitics, rising powers, and the future of international order. Review of International Studies. 2024;50(3):476-493.

Seminar: Prof. Carlo Frappi (Ca’ Foscari)

 

Technology and borders control

Vavoula, N. (2021). Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Schengen Borders: Automated Processing, Algorithmic Profiling and Facial Recognition in the Era of Techno-Solutionism. European Journal of Migration and Law, 23(4), 457-484.

Aradau, C. et al. (2021), ‘Data and new Technologies, the hidden face of mobility control’, Brief Migreurop 12, available online.

Students’ research and presentation of borders’ techniques.

Metodi didattici

Power points, In-class debates, team-work, presentations

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

-  Participation 25% (class attendance, presentation and active participation. More details in class)

 - Comment of/questions about a class activity (25%)

-  Final written exam (50%)

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Videos, articles, seminars, Conferences attendance, external contributions

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Michela Ceccorulli