From multiculturalism to everyday bordering: transforming citizenship and belonging
In this lecture I argue that everyday bordering has become a major technology of control of both social diversity and discourses on diversity, in a way that threatens to undermine the convivial co-existence of pluralist societies, especially in metropolitan cities and transform constructions of identities and citizenships. Drawing on research carried out in the UK, the paper illustrates that such tendencies have been developing especially since the drive for securitisation following the events of 9/11 in 2001. However, these developments cannot be understood to be an outcome solely of securitisation, but rather they are part of a political project of belonging, which emerged as a counter narrative to the multiculturalist project dominant during the 1980’s and 90’s and is at least partly a response to the neo-liberal globalisation’s double crisis of governability and governmentality.