How does a state’s marginalization of borderland communities influence their sense of belonging? We argue that, in unstable regions in the Global South, such marginalization reinforces people’s sense of belonging to a transnational community. As we demonstrate, two causal mechanisms account for this process: the marginalization enhances (i) the border’s “disguising” quality that muddies diverse forms of insecurity and (ii) the border’s “facilitating” quality that permits certain actors and activities to cross borders while stopping others. Consolidation of people’s sense of belonging to a transnational community has implications for the state, as losing part of its citizenry to this transnational community undermines its own authority and the state–society relationship. Drawing on the case of the Colombian–Venezuelan borderlands, we substantiate our argument through evidence collected during in-depth fieldwork, including interviews and focus groups with peasants and other residents from remote borderland regions as well as with state and civil society stakeholders. We contribute to scholarship on identity and sense of belonging by theorizing its link to marginalization in the context of international borders. We further contribute empirically by documenting little-known cross-border practices and activities of residents of the shared border region of the Colombian department of Cesar and the Venezuelan state of Zulia.

中文翻译：

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分离还是归属感？跨国背景下的边缘化


一个国家对边境社区的边缘化如何影响他们的归属感？我们认为，在南半球不稳定的地区，这种边缘化增强了人们对跨国社区的归属感。正如我们所证明的，两个因果机制解释了这一过程：边缘化增强了 （i） 边界的“伪装”质量，使各种形式的不安全变得模糊不清，以及 （ii） 边境的“便利”质量，允许某些行为者和活动跨越边界，同时阻止其他行为者和活动。人们对跨国社区的归属感的巩固对国家有影响，因为在这个跨国社区中失去部分公民会破坏其自身的权威和国家与社会的关系。借鉴哥伦比亚-委内瑞拉边境地区的案例，我们通过在深入的田野工作中收集的证据来证实我们的论点，包括对来自偏远边境地区的农民和其他居民以及国家和民间社会利益相关者的访谈和焦点小组。我们通过将身份和归属感与国际边界背景下的边缘化联系理论化，为关于身份和归属感的学术研究做出贡献。我们通过记录哥伦比亚塞萨尔省和委内瑞拉苏利亚州共同边境地区居民鲜为人知的跨境实践和活动，进一步做出实证贡献。