Chapter 10 - Directions: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty and the Modern History of Migration

Summary

Borders

Over hundreds of millennia, human beings have settled all over the world. For more than two hundred thousand years, Homo sapiens moved frequently in search of sustenance and shelter. Then, some 12 to 11,000 years ago, Natufian communities chose a sedentary life in the Levant, even before the rise of agriculture. The investment of labor in agriculture, however, meant that it made even more sense to settle in one place, thereby also creating early forms of property relations between human beings and land. Crossing the boundaries of someone's land could now potentially clash with the unlimited movement and settlement of everyone. With the establishment and expansion of sedentary communities, ever larger territories were thought of belonging to someone until we reach the current age in which we imagine the globe as an absolute map. It is absolute, because, on this map, there are no more white spots. Global space is now “disjunct (no spot can belong to two), categorical (a spot either belongs or it does not), and exhaustive (no spot goes un-belonged)” (Geertz 1995: 21). This means that wherever you are on our planet, you find yourself in a politically defined territory. Standing on the border between Jordan and Syria, for example, you might ask yourself if this particular pebble is Jordanian or Syrian or what might be the nationality of the swallow that is airborne and migratory most its life. The absolute map of the world creates the illusion that our planet and all of its soils, minerals, waters, flora, and fauna belong to someone.

Yet, in reality, the absolute map of the world does not prevent human (and other animal) mobility. A casual glance at the global air traffic at any given time reveals the immensity of human movement across international borders. If we were to add a map that charts every other human border-crossing movement on Earth, we would have a most rich and intricate depiction of travel routes and pathways. What such a map would not show, however, is the profile of those who have permission to cross international borders and those who do not. Other images are needed to expose the many attempts to cross international borders without official authorization.