A Sociology of Borders: Multiple Actors, Spatiotemporal Practices, and Jurisdictional Games
Although sociologists have worked extensively on related topics, the study of borders continues to be a field dominated by geographers and political scientists. They are the ones who have suggested that we should study borders not as spatially located physical objects, but as assemblages of practices performed by various actors. We argue that by adopting a pragmatic approach to the study of borders, one that would pay attention to the multiple actors involved, their socio-temporal practices and their jurisdictional games, sociologists are poised to push the limits of this field of research. Furthermore, by urging sociologists to study the spatial, temporal, and jurisdictional dimensions of social practices, the “sociology of borders” presented in this article may promote a renewal of sociological analysis by helping us to avoid reifying the social, but also to avoid distinguishing it, a priori, from the spatial, the temporal, and the legal.