Borders Group | UBC Centre for Migration Studies

The Borders Research Group aims to advance interdisciplinary dialogues about border regimes and the lived experience of borders through reading seminars, speaker events, and written and creative expression.

The group’s work explores diverse conceptualizations of borders: as physical spaces that monitor, manage, and limit human mobility; as bureaucratic practices and logics; and as historical formations deeply intertwined with colonialism and empire in all its forms. The research group value the work of artists, community leaders, community activists, and advocates in amplifying critical analyses of bordering practices today.

Research Areas

Our research is interdisciplinary in focus and includes various topics including:

Borders and Sovereignty
Gender and Migration
Refugees and Forced Migration
Labour Migration
Economics of Migration
Immigration and Refugee Law
Undocumented Migration and Statelessness
Citizenship

Our members’ research spans a range of topics including but not limited to: the securitization of borders, cross-border labour mobility, the mediation of gender and sexuality, the externalization of sovereignty, carceral border regimes, and resistance and political mobilization.

Coordinators

The Borders research group is co-coordinated by, Dr. Helena Zeweri, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Dr. Nikhita Obeegadoo, Assistant Professor of Language and World Literatures.