ABSTRACT
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, an era of open geographical spaces and unparalleled physical and electronic mobility seemed to replace a world divided along ideological and political lines. The post-1989 global dissemination of capitalist forms of governance produced unprecedented wealth, unmatched economic opportunities and stark inequities (Sassen 2006). The ever-increasing prevalence of uneven economic developments between the North and the Global South has spurred a proliferation of border barriers that have led to a “strict hierarchization” of global flow. While the free movement of goods, services, and of a privileged global citizenry is encouraged, for the underprivileged, dispossessed, and poor the borders have hardened (Rosiere 2011). At the same time, states increasingly face a new set of problems – waves of immigration from the economic periphery to the center, illegal activities along their borders, and a rise in ethnic violence. In response, politicians, policy makers and security forces have reverted to the historically widespread strategy of constructing “strategic defense systems” such as barriers, walls, and fences (Sterling 2009). Underlying the proliferation of border technologies is the assumption that they can inhibit immigration and illegal activities (such as smuggling and drug trafficking), create security, curb terrorism, and minimize ethnic violence. The post-1989 hopes for freedom and mobility have therefore gone hand in hand with a “new age” of walls (Borges 2007).
