Pandemic Geopolitics: Discussing Globalization, Borders, and Security in Times of Covid-19
by Emmanuele Quarta
pp. 146-163 Issue 15 (8,1) – January-June 2021 ISSN (online): 2539/2239 ISSN (print): 2389-8232 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14718/SoftPower.2021.8.1.8
Abstract
The coronavirus pandemic has had a major impact on the political, social, and economic context in countries across the world. As it is known, the strategy adopted by the national governments of many of the countries to curb the spread of COVID-19 largely consisted in imposing severe restrictions on both international and intranational mobility. This paper analyses a) the spatial implications of this resurgence of borders against the background of the long-lasting borderless world discourse on globalization, and b) the use of a war-like metaphor to frame (and make sense of) the current situation. As an uneven and asymmetric process, globalization has affected the way borders are conceived, discursively constructed, and managed. The last two decades have seen a technological shift in the way borders —and cross-border mobility— are controlled, with much emphasis placed on the securitization discourse on borders as bulwarks against the negative effects of globalization, such as international terrorism, illegal immigration, and infectious diseases. In the current pandemic, it is argued, this has led to a proliferation of borders and bordering practices at different scales, either strengthening pre-existing borders or creating new ones altogether.