Guest Editorial: Transforming Borders and the Discretionary Politics of Migration Control

Abstract

The eight articles in this issue promise us a global journey around transformed borders, multiscalar bordering, and discretionary practices within these migration controls. In doing so, the authors guide us through the Global North and Global South with countries as varied as the US, Mexico, Mali, Poland, Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (UK), Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece, and Turkey. We also gain insights through these specific research settings from additional Asian and African countries of origin for the migrants involved. By situating their analyses in a specific locus, the authors provide us with a grounded, localized narrative, which they insightfully theorize on and interact with at the global level. Through these glocalized analyses, we not only learn about the importance of multiscalar forms of migration control and the discretion of these actors within these bordering practices, but also gain insights into the immediate and long-term effects of these control efforts on the divergent actors that transform our borders and give meaning to the multiscalar bordering practices.