ESIL Interest Group History of International Law

ESIL Interest Group History of International Law

Thursday 9 April 2020

ARTICLE: Mary L. DUDZIAK & Leti VOLPP, "Legal Borderlands: Law and the Construction of American Borders" (American Quarterly LVII (2005), Nr. 3, 593-610) OPEN ACCESS

(image source: JHU)

First paragraph:
In the coast, at the California-Mexico border, a rusted sheath of metal extends from the beach into the ocean, dividing the waves. There, grains of sand become attributes of different sovereignties. Two nations are brought together at this edge; at the same time, their inhabitants are marked with national identities; they come together wearing the marks of sovereignty inscribed by the border. Yet while it classifies and codifies subjects, the border cannot contain sovereignty itself. The border marks a space that American power proceeds from.
(source: ProjectMuse)