The border isn’t a line on the periphery of the country, says Leah Cowan, author of Border Nation. It is a fog that covers all of society and can descend upon you at any time if you’re an immigrant or racialized as “other.” It wasn’t always thus and it can be ended, she insists.
00:43 Intro
02:06 What are borders for?
04:12 Borders, capitalism and racism
08:41 Did borders ever truly disappear?
10:15 The border isn't on the periphery, it's everywhere
13:07 Immigration enforcement is invisible to the rest of society
19:25 How the border breeds crime and violence
23:38 Do borders do any good?
24:43 Immigrants don't owe you a thing
29:11 The case for abolishing borders
34:20 "The pandemic is a portal"
36:14 Outro
👀 The pandemic is a portal, by Arundhati Roy. The Financial Times. 2020. (free to read)
📚 Border Nation: A Story of Migration, by Leah Cowan. Pluto Press. 2021.