Border Rules

“At once sharp and dialectical, theoretically sophisticated and crystal-clear, Chowdhury's book addresses an issue of great relevance to current historical developments and questions of social justice. It should appeal not just to academics but also to many others trying to understand one of the most critical issues of our time.” 

—Barbara Foley, Emerita Distinguished Professor of English, Rutgers University-Newark,USA 

“Chowdhury’s finest book to date, Border Rules masterfully analyzes “the border” as a social relation situated within the uneven histories of capital accumulation, surplus populations, imperial violence, and the disciplinary capacities of the nation state. Acutely attentive to contradictions and abolitionist openings, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary border struggles.” 

—Bret Benjamin,SUNY, Albany, USA

This book examines both border policies and oppositional narratives of “the border,” 2011–2021, demonstrating that the term designates not merely a line of territorial control but also a set of social relationsshaped by persistent, racially differentiated colonial structures and, more recently, by neoliberal modes of accumulation. These relations are shown to determine access to wealth and/or resources and to enable the management of labor, the extraction of surplus, and the accumulation of capital. Discussion in the book is informed by the history of these policies and by the critical literature on borders. Various cultural texts focusing on two border zones—the US–Mexico and the EU–Southern Mediterranean—are analyzed: specifically, two novels, two films, and two murals examined in conjunction with a music video. A path to a borderless future is suggested: an abolitionist refusal of border rules with an insistence on the necessity of abolition.

Kanishka Chowdhury is Professor of English and Director of the American Culture and Difference Program at the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he teaches courses in cultural studies, transnational literatures, and contemporary film. His most recent book is Human Rights Discourse in the Post-9/11 Age (2019).