Toward a Theory of Borders in Motion

The premises of this exploration in border theory are that borders are always in motion, that our theories about borders need to reflect this axiom beyond acknowledging borders as process and changing quality, and that these theories need to align with the “motion turn” in the social sciences. After characterizing and visualizing borders in motion, the paper evaluates the potential building blocks for a theory of borders in motion. These include concepts of border construction and reconstruction, exercise of power, equilibrium seeking, vacillating borders, spaces of flows, and uncertainty in transition space, among others. Analogues from basic and environmental science are postulated to explain how motion operates to generate bordering and create borders and borderlands, as well as account for movements surrounding borders and their alteration and reconciliation. Three component realms of a conceptual framework are offered: generation and realization of borders through dichotomization and dialectic, border dynamic motions and signatures, and alteration and reconciliation of the border in response to breaking points. The evolving framework is articulated with reference to a case study from the Pacific Northwest border region between Canada and the United States.