Border control has changed significantly in recent decades. Whereas globalisation appear s to have diminished the relevance of international borders, states have simultaneously sought ways to... Show moreBorder control has changed significantly in recent decades. Whereas globalisation appear s to have diminished the relevance of international borders, states have simultaneously sought ways to regain some form of control over cross-border mobility. In this process, alternative and novel means of border enforcement have emerged. What do these bordering practices look like? How are they implemented on the ground and experienced by those subjected to them? These are the main questions this dissertation aims to answer. To that end, it looks at bordering practices in the Netherlands through the lens of crimmigration, the term used to refer to the growing merger of criminal justice and migration control. Relying on extensive empirical fieldwork – including observations, focus group discussions, surveys, and in-depth interviews – the dissertation examines two border ing practices: intra-Schengen migration policing and the punishment and deportation of criminally convicted non-citizens. The different empirical chapters highlight the various ways these contemporary bordering practices are shaped by and in their turn shape the criminal justice system, and how this ultimately results in considerable challenges for the legitimacy of both the migration control and the criminal justice system. Show less
Controlling mobilities in the EU is increasingly depending on information and information technology. Abolishing permanent border control between Schengen Member States has created the dilemma... Show moreControlling mobilities in the EU is increasingly depending on information and information technology. Abolishing permanent border control between Schengen Member States has created the dilemma of economic benefits versus security issues of the freedom of movement. The solution to this issue is often sought in the development and implementation of information technology. While expectations of information and information technologies are high, empirical research on how such border technologies are used in practice is scarce and subsequently little is known about to what extent the envisioned benefits are actually achieved. This dissertation aims to gain more insight in the use of information and information technology in controlling mobilities in intra-Schengen border areas by using a case study of the Mobile Security Monitor as carried out by the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. Through extensive observations of border checks, focus groups with border patrol officers, interviews with Marechaussee staff members, discourse analysis of political debates and policy documentation and quantitative data, this dissertation aims to gain insight in the decision-making process on the political, organizational and street-level and the role of information and information technology therein. Show less
Borders define jurisdictions. To uphold borders is to claim jurisdiction; to claim the right to decide on the law. The nation state makes such a claim. It seeks jurisdiction over a particular... Show moreBorders define jurisdictions. To uphold borders is to claim jurisdiction; to claim the right to decide on the law. The nation state makes such a claim. It seeks jurisdiction over a particular territory. By implication, the nation state also acknowledges that other jurisdictions may apply beyond that territory. Borders work two-ways, and while they grant the nation state exclusive jurisdiction, they also limit the nation state’s claims to the designated territory. Supranationalism and multiculturalism undermine the idea of exclusive territorial jurisdiction. Supranationalism grants institutions the power to break through national borders and to overrule the nation state’s territorial arrangements. In this way, borders become increasingly porous. Multiculturalism, meanwhile, not only deligitimizes the nation state’s borders by weakening the collective identity of the people living behind them; it also encourages religious sub-groups to invoke rules from beyond the nation state’s borders, thereby undermining the very idea of territorial jurisdiction. ‘God’s heart has no borders’, to put it bluntly. Supranationalism and multiculturalism are thus antithetical to national sovereignty and to the borders therein implied. Supranationalism dilutes sovereignty, and so brings about the gradual dismantling of borders from the outside; multiculturalism weakens nationality, thus delegitimizing their existence altogether from the inside. !e idea of political organization that fundamentally opposes supranationalism and multiculturalism – the idea of the nation state – has been declared ‘outdated’ and ‘irrelevant’ by an overwhelming number of commentators. Yet while supranationalism and multiculturalism have dominated politics and academia over the last several decades, their popularity is questionable and debates about national identity divide most European countries at present. Show less
