Internalizing borders: uncovering the societal consequences of border work

Scholarship on borders has deepened insight into the externalization of borders and the creation of internal borders. Little attention has been paid to what bordering means for the societies building these borders. To capture this, we introduce the concept of border internalization. Combining ethnographic and historical perspectives, we argue that borders do not “protect” societies but change them. Understanding border work as society work highlights issues of race and racialization. As sites of constant “crisis,” borders are internalized through social, political and affective processes that inscribe them into the moral, cultural and institutional fabric of state and society. The paper introduces the concept of border internalization to better understand borders as forces of social transformation and racialization. It proposes methodological tools for studying these dynamics. Finally, it explores the genealogy of bordering, society work and race formation up to the current rise of a new sovereigntist border.