boundarybuilding

Boundarybuilding is the process by which groups, institutions, and states create and maintain boundaries that delineate jurisdiction, identity, resources, or space. Boundaries may be physical (borders, walls), legal (sovereignty, zoning), cultural (language, religion), or digital (data access, privacy). The term is used across disciplines such as political science, geography, anthropology, and urban studies to describe how boundaries are negotiated, legitimized, and enforced as part of governance and social life.

Actors include states, subnational governments, international organizations, communities, and elites; methods include treaties and laws, cartographic demarcation, administrative designation, boundary-marking rituals, and policy instruments. Technological tools like GIS, census data, and satellite imagery shape how boundaries are defined and contested.

Boundarybuilding serves functions: to allocate rights and resources, define security, organize governance, and establish social belonging. It can also produce exclusion or discrimination by drawing lines around who counts as a member or who may cross a border.

Boundaries are not fixed; they are contested and permeable to varying degrees. Boundary disputes, border surveys, and renegotiations illustrate the dynamic nature of boundarybuilding. Critics argue that it can harden identities and obscure power relations, while proponents emphasize clarity and governance.

See also: boundary work; territoriality; demarcation; border studies; zoning.