The era of globalization has produced significant changes in theborderland issues of trade, security, economics, health, and even theenvironment. While borders may seem more permeable than they once were,can it really be said that we live in a "borderless world"?Holding the Line considers the changing roles of modernborders, contending that they not only remain relevant but also havebecome increasingly important as a site for negotiating the competingdemands of globalization and national sovereignty.


Exploring contemporary borders from a broad range of perspectives --legal, environmental, sociological, economic, geopolitical, andhistorical -- and using examples from various regions in Europe, NorthAmerica, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, the contributors use aholistic approach to understand the impact of boundaries on bothsociety and space. They demonstrate that any attempt to create amethodological and conceptual framework for the understanding ofboundaries must be concerned with the process of bounding, rather thansimply the means through which physical lines of separation aredelimited and demarcated. Borders, they conclude, are as much metaphorsas they are realities.