Towards a Schmittian Theory of Border Hardening: Nomos, Sovereignty, Political Unity and Barriers in the Middle East

Political geography III: International migration and geopolitics

“…The border as a site of digital and other technologies of migration management offers another mode of inquiry, as discussed from multiple perspectives in the Geopolitics special issue “Data Matters.” Geopolitical inquiry into technological migration and border management includes particular attention: to the data collection procedures; investigating data as a matter of concern; how data matters as a method of knowledge creation; and the material foundations of this data and how it is interpreted (Leese et al, 2022). Digital technologies regularly reinforce a binary system of us/them, friend/enemy, and in many cases function to reinforce local identities in a way that perpetuates the “need” for additional and stricter bordering practices and increases the experiences of spatial and political liminality for migrants (Jones, 2022; Micko and Riegel, 2022; Weaver, 2022).…”

Nomos, Hostis, and War: State-Building Process and Armed Forces in Africa

“…In this regard, Tilly’s focus on the importance of resource/population exploitation for war fighting as the main component of state formation is also applicable outside Europe. Furthermore, C. Schmitt, in his work, provided much-needed insight into the development process of political communities through the division between Nomos and hostis that further enlightens the issues connected to setting up coherent societies inside the borders of postcolonial African states (Mičko & Riegl, 2022). We understand Nomos as an underlying political order that consists of the politically relevant grouping point that serves for the identification of friends and strangers against whom a fight is possible (termed here as hostis ).…”