Borders, Migration, and Technology in the Age of Security: Intervening with STS

Abstract

In recent years, a broad and multidisciplinary literature has emerged at the intersection of critical border and migration studies, critical security studies, and science and technologies studies (STS). This literature has produced a rich conceptual repertoire for the analysis of digital technologies and infrastructures of border control and mobility governance. This scenario conceptually maps some of the core strands in this debate, which portray borders as complex and multi-located arrangements that create spaces of control and circulation, notions and images of “trusted” and/or “risky” travelers, and a globalized hierarchy of mobility rights. Furthermore, the scenario reflects on some major research avenues for STS to intervene in this debate and expose how border regimes are today imagined, designed, maintained, and critiqued.