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IS-DAAD-Forskerutveksl. Norge-Tyskland

Contesting Schengen: Effects of border enforcements on economic and social cohesion in European border spaces

Tildelt: kr 29 605

The free movement of people, goods, capital and services within the Schengen area is one of the major achievements of the European integration process and provides economic opportunities for businesses and residents in the Schengen area. "Schengen" not only stands as a symbol of the process of economic integration, but also for social cohesion and a common identity as European citizens. Those achievements are particularly important for border zones in the Schengen area. In the wake of tightening border controls and securitization measures, because of the contemporary migration crisis, the roles and functions of these borderlands are both challenged and changed, turning the former "zones of contact and co-operation" increasingly into "lines of separation". Even though the practical consequences of this "Schengen crisis" (Börzel/Risse 2017) can be observed (f.ex. the introduction of border controls and traffic jams on the German-Austrian or Swedish-Norwegian border), there is little knowledge to date on the social-economic effects that they have on companies and residents in the border regions where border enforcements take place. In our project, we aim to explore the effects of (changing) border enforcements and practices in selected border regions along the Swedish-Norwegian and German-Austrian border by adopting a comparative perspective. We conceptualise border regions as landscapes with a shared history and established traditions and practices of how to live along and across the border (Newman 2006, Perkmann 2003, Wagner/Lukowsk 2010). We will investigate if and how changing border enforcements would affect cross-border activities such as small-scale cross-border trade and logistics, commuting, and (shopping) tourism, but also the perceptions with regard to smuggling, human trafficking and irregular entries. In the collaborative Norwegian-German project, we will empirically work with field/participant observation and interviews from the two border regions.

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IS-DAAD-Forskerutveksl. Norge-Tyskland