The border: policy and politics in Europe and the United States

In The Border, Martin A. Schain examines why border policies have been changing and the influence of immigration politics. Schain shows how the political process of boundary-making and enforcement has resulted in new political and legal forms and administrative organizations. Comparing France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, he makes the counter-intuitive argument that, in a more globalized world, borders have actually become stronger. He uncovers the story of how liberal democracies have sidestepped the constraints of "embedded liberalism," the limits imposed by courts and legislative action by human rights groups. In spite of innovative legal and administrative institutions, barriers to entry remain.

In 'The Border', Martin A. Schain examines why border policies have been changing and the influence of immigration politics. Schain shows how the political process of boundary-making and enforcement has resulted in new political and legal forms and administrative organizations. Comparing France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, he makes the counter-intuitive argument that, in a more globalized world, borders have actually become stronger. He uncovers the story of how liberal democracies have sidestepped the constraints of 'embedded liberalism,' the limits imposed by courts and legislative action by human rights groups.

In our globalized world, borders are back with a vengeance. New data shows a massive increase of walls and barriers between countries after 2001. However, at the same time, the flow of people and the growth of trade have continued at impressive rates, and arguments for more open borders remain relevant. In The Border, Martin Schain compares how and why border policy has become increasingly important, politicized, and divisive in both Europe and the United States. Drawing from an intensive analysis of documents and interviews, he argues that border control is a growing international movement. In Europe, the European Union is under scrutiny, and many countries seek to block the entry of asylum-seekers from wars in the Near East. In the US, Donald Trump pledged to build a wall along the Mexico border, restricted the entry of Syrian asylum-seekers, and more generally tried to ban Muslim immigration. Moreover, on both sides of the Atlantic, trade barriers appear in the political agendas of major parties. Schain delves into these interlinked phenomena, showing that migration, identity, and trade have been packaged and transformed into hotly contested issues of border governance and control.