TITLE:
Bodies in Motion: Rethinking Spaces and Borders Sociologically
AUTHORS:
Jonas Do Nascimento
KEYWORDS:
Human (Im)mobility, Borders, International Migration, Sociology of Space
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.2,
February
28,
2022
ABSTRACT: This
article seeks to comprehend the concept of “space” and “borders” from several
sociological perspectives, taking as an example the social experience of moving
bodies in the context of globalization and international migration. Firstly,
the different definitions of both concepts for the social sciences are
discussed, and especially Georg Simmel’s contribution to the study of social
life as a “spatial dimension”. Secondly, it considers the different variants
related to the power relation and control of bodies, from a biological menace idea, in different spaces as
the basis of social “inclusion” and “exclusion”. Finally, it argues that the
nation’s spatial and border dimension is today being challenged primarily
because of the migratory flows of different physical and especially virtual
mobility forms. Based on these sociological concepts and notions, the article
then tries to offer an expanded and complex perspective of “spatiality”,
“borders”, and “displacement” in understanding the new political and cultural
dimensions of contemporary societies.