We are living a sudden, seismic acceleration of bordering. This acceleration unfolds not only along national borders, but within them: between states and provinces, around cities, care homes, apartment buildings, hospitals, cruise ships, apartments, bodies – two metres, to be precise. Spaces of confinement proliferate as our bodies become islands. And as John Donne’s famous poem says, we carry on, interconnected yet socially-distanced.
And yet for many, these spaces of confinement are not new. Border acceleration continues trends that were well underway before COVID-19 hit: hardened security, the spread of confined spaces, and criminalization of mobility. Incarcerated people, whether confined by the bars of state prisons or detention facilities, are among those most vulnerable to the coronavirus.
Decades of scholarship that attended to globalization, global integration, and transnationalism now requires an abrupt pivot. We must pause. This is neither speculation nor argument, but a call to ask questions and raise concerns. Crucial questions will determine our collective futures. What new forms of bordering will we live? How long will governments attempt to preserve their new island-like status?
