Citation

Oliveras-González X. Geopolitics 2022; 1-17.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/14650045.2021.2016706

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

For too long anthropocentrism has dominated border studies, which operates within the familiar society-nature duality. A post-humanist approach to borders offers an alternative beyond this dichotomy. It allows for a reconsideration of terrain as a more-than-human assemblage with political agency. Drawing on the central tenets of post-humanist literature in political geography, this article explores the agency of a particular spatiotemporal configuration of terrain, the Rio Bravo/Grande, in bordering and in resistance to bordering. It asks how it is entangled with the United States-Mexico border and other human and non-human objects, actions and actors that make the border, and also how the river affects human bodies and consequently border policies and territory. Drawing on two recent events, it is argued that the river becomes an actor capable of simultaneously impeding migration, and creating emotional ties and resistances. In the discussion of such entanglements, it is concluded that the river affects borders due to the material vulnerability and sensitivity of human bodies.

Language: en