Bodeča žica in reka Kolpa : presečišča zgodovine in sodobnosti

slovenian

2024

volume 64, issue 3

border technologies   EU policies   migration   mixed police patrols   pushbacks   Slovenian southern border

Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

This article presents empirical fragments that point to ways in which a more comprehensive set of sources can illuminate the range of interactions that materialize borders, beyond their strictly administrative or theoretical understanding. The article specifically examines transformations of the Slovenian southern border from 2015 to the present, focusing on its properties and functions in relation to irregular migration. The analysis takes into account not only the physical border, including fences, barbed wire and other border technologies, but also considers the role of state apparatus through its established institutes of bordering, such as mixed patrols, through its administrative-legal aspects, such as bilateral agreements, and through the forced returns and consequential deaths at the border. The anatomy of the border is in this part analyzed as a historical and political tool of the EU project, by juxtaposing official institutional discourse on one side, and the discourses of migrants, freedom of movement initiatives and border forensics on the other. This approach illuminates the complexity of contemporary transformations of Slovenia's southern border in the context of migration, elaborating the junction points between different political languages coming from »above« and »below« at the time of the analyzed period of time. By integrating perspectives "from below", this article calls for consideration of a broader methodological apparatus and perspectives which could bring new insights for border historiography.

16.05.2025