Problematizing ‘Bordering, Ordering, and Othering’ as Manifestations of Socio‐Spatial Fetishism

Abstract This paper will re‐examine and reflect critically Henk van Houtum and Ton van Naerssen’s paper ‘Bordering, Ordering and Othering’ that came out in a related theme issue in TESG in 2002. My first goal is to contextualise their paper into the debates on borders/bordering that began to flourish at the turn of the millennium and have emerged since then. I will then evaluate the enduring significance of this text and discuss the geohistory of othering. My final intention is to push their ideas further and to problematise the processes of bordering, ordering and othering as ideological and material manifestations of socio‐spatial fetishism that often conceal power relations and the alternatives for challenging and transcending these processes.