Dr. Falk Bretschneider, Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris, in collaboration with Villa Vigoni
ABSTRACT
For some time now, a shift towards a more complex description and analysis of borders in the past and present has been observed in border research. The workshop will examine the historical conditionality and historical growth of border complexities from German, French and Italian perspectives. Border research is currently based on a rough chronological grid that can be described in brief as follows: porous and poorly marked borders in the Middle Ages and early modern period, the zenith of linear and strongly materialised borders of nation states in the 19th and 20th centuries, the dissolution of borders, at least in the Western world, in the post-nationalist era. This chronology will be problematised and questioned for its weaknesses, with a particular focus on linking historical investigations of border complexities with contemporary perspectives and finding a common level of reflection.