Frontières et représentations sociales : questions et perspectives méthodologiques

In order to harness the breadth and complexity of representations associated with the border, three types of so-called "entry" are proposed: "an entry via practices, the lived border; an entry via discourse, the constructed border; and an entry via artifacts, the material border" (p. 17).

The first part focusses on daily practices. The authors analyze "how the population interact with the border" (p. 25). Fabienne Leloup and Sylvie Considère explore the population’s definitions of the border (79 participants) in the French-Belgian cross-border region. Kolar Aparna uses interviews and mind maps to study cross-border practices at the US-Mexican border. Yann Dubois and Vincent Kaufmann consider effective spatial practices (linked to acquisitions, employment, and the consumption of products) and the degree to which opportunities and cross-border resources are recognized in the Basel agglomeration. Christian Wille studies the construction of spatial identities in the Greater Region. Diego Botera Cabal’s contribution focusses on the often violent process of constructing identity in the Vichada Department of the Republic of Columbia.

The second part focusses on "discourse as an indicator of social representations, or instances in which the discourse of a given group serves to construct the relationship of that group to the other." Jussi Laine uses opinion pieces which have appeared in a Finnish newspaper to study the Finnish population’s perceptions of their Russian neighbor. The chapter contributed by Michel Casteigts addresses the evolution of semantic fields in varied discursive materials relating to the Franco-German border. Cyril Trépier analyzes various documents as a means of studying the social representation of Catalonia.

Contributions in the third part focus on "spatial markers of borders in the Horn of Africa". Alain Gascon draws on a text dating from 1891 which was written by King Menelik II and addressed to European powers, in order to study the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Patricia Subirade’s work focusses on the separation between protestant and catholic communities in the Franche-Comté region in the sixteenth century. In his chapter, Zef Segal addresses the interior borders in Bavaria in the nineteenth century. Eddy Mazembo investigates the disputes which developed between local communities and the government as a result of territorial reforms in post-apartheid South Africa.

Table of Contents

• The authors
• General introduction : the border in question, or how to identify social representations of borders [Introduction générale: La frontière en question, ou comment débusquer les représentations sociales des frontières]
• First part. Daily practices, or how populations interact with the border [Première partie. Les pratiques au quotidien ou comment les habitants font avec la frontière]
  • Using social representations to examine the border [Comment interroger la frontière par les représentations sociales]
  • Towards an image of the border : maps of the daily urban border and lived spaces between the United States and Mexico in Tijuana (border region of Tijuana-San Diego) [Vers une optique de la frontière : cartographies de la frontière urbaine quotidienne et espaces vécus entre les États-Unis et Mexique à Tijuana (région frontalière de Tijuana-San Diego)]
  • Daily scales in the cross-border Basel agglomeration : an analysis using the potential of mobility [Les échelles quotidiennes dans l’agglomération transfrontalière de Bâle : une analyse à travers le potentiel de mobilité]
  • Studying spatial identities to study the border. A pluridimensional analysis [Étudier les identités spatiales pour étudier la frontière. Une analyse pluridimensionnelle]
  • Vichada, the dynamic geo-anthropology of the last Columbian border [La Vichada, dynamique géoanthropologique de la dernière frontière colombienne]
• Second part. Discourses as indicators of social representations, or instances in which the discourse of a given group serves to construct the relationship of that group to the other [Deuxième partie. Les discours comme révélateurs des représentations sociales, ou quand les discours d’un tel groupe déterminé construisent le rapport à l’Autre]
  • Irrational rationalities : beliefs and paranoia where Finland meets Russia [Rationalités irrationnelles : craintes et paranoïa à l’interface Finlande-Russie]
  • The border as an imaginary institution, between discursive formation and communicative action [L’institution imaginaire de la frontière, entre formation discursive et agir communicationnel]
  • The debate on Franco-German independence, the emblematic place of communicative action [Le débat sur l’indépendance franco-allemande, lieu emblématique d’agir communicationnel]
  • Does the debate on independence create an invisible border between the people of Catalonia? [Le débat d’indépendance crée-t-il une frontière invisible entre les Catalans ?]
• Third part : spatial markers of the borders in the Horn of Africa [Troisième partie : Les marqueurs spatiaux des frontières dans la Corne de l’Afrique]
  • Menelik II – mapping the borders in the Horn of Africa [Menilek II traceur des frontières dans la Corne de l’Afrique]
  • Franche-Comté, a confessional border of the catholic backbone in the modern era (sixteenth – eigthteenth centuries) [La Franche-Comté, une frontière confessionnelle au cœur de la dorsale catholique à l’époque moderne (XVIe-XVIIIe siècles)]
  • Infrastructure, cartography and circulation; opening and closing the borders of the Kingdom of Bavaria in the nineteenth century [Infrastructure, cartographie et circulation ; ouverture et fermeture des frontières du royaume de Bavière au XIXe siècle]
• Conflicts at provincial borders in post-apartheid South Africa: fights for socio-economic emancipation and political power [Les conflits des frontières provinciales en Afrique du Sud post-apartheid : luttes pour l’émancipation socio-économique et le pouvoir politique]
• Conclusion