社会建构主义视角下的边界——研究综述与启示

边界是人文地理学研究中的一个关键概念。边界代表着一种空间秩序和空间关系,是解读边境地区社会与文化关系形成过程的一个关键维度。由于边界所界定的空间秩序与国家认同的建构、边境地区的经济社会发展、边民的身份认同等问题息息相关,因此学界对边界的社会功能与文化意义给予了持续关注。近年来,学者们逐渐从社会建构的视角重新诠释边界。边界不是地图上僵化的线,它所界定的空间关系与空间秩序,以及所承载的社会文化意义亦非固定不变的,而是国家与草根群体通过一定的社会与空间实践不断再生产与再建构。国家通过边界的营造刻写意识形态与国家认同,而普通社会群体对边界亦有着复杂的响应、调适与抵抗。在国际形势日趋复杂和变化的大环境中,边界凸显了新的意义和功能,重新认识边界如何打破旧的空间秩序并划定新的秩序,是人文地理学研究中值得关注的问题。本文从边界的内涵、边界的社会文化意义和跨边界实践3个方面出发,阐释建构主义下的边界在理论和实践层面的意义,并挖掘边界研究对国内研究的借鉴与启示。

Conceptualizing border from a social constructionist perspective: current progress and implications for future research

The demarcation of borders is a process in which spatial orders and relations are configured. It is central to the understanding of the production of social relations and cultural meanings in border areas. This article uses a social constructionist view to capture the variegated meanings that border procures during social changes and social processes. In doing so, this paper understands border as inherently a social product. Its social significance and definition is not fixated a priori, but constituted and negotiated within networks of relations and events. In the meantime, recent advancement in human geography has made a powerful claim that space and spatial relations are important constitutive elements in all social and cultural processes. The border is certainly no exception. The transitional zone defined by geographical borders is not simply a container of social, economic and cultural processes. On the contrary, the production of space and spatial relations is a critical dimension in the constitution of society and culture. With these theoretical points of entry in mind, this paper suggests that border as a social construct can imply closure and simultaneously openness. Social groups in different positions interpret the meanings of borders in radically distinct ways. The power of borders in defining spatial and social orders lies in the production of sociocultural differences and hence the division between "us" and "others". Borders not only delineate respective nation-states, but also create differentiated spaces of identity and belonging. Besides, borders situate different political and social entities in divided social, economic and political contexts, thus holding the potential to create gradients of regional development. In this sense, borders imcubate possibilities of exchange and cooperation in order to reconfigure established orders and relations. Following this view, this article develops a re-conceptualization and re-interpretation of the border. It reviews the current literature of border studies in human geography by engaging with a number of parallel topics. The main body of the article starts by briefly reviewing some conceptual explanations of borders and border areas. It then moves to elaborate on the sociocultural significances of borders, with specific focuses on implications of closure and openness. The following section turns its attention to the issue of openness in particular, and review extant studies of cross-border spatial practices. Three viewpoints can be concluded from discussions in this article. First, the border is an important symbolic marker. It defines the social and cultural differences between "us" and "others". It also allocates social members to different social and political entities, thus creating differentiated spaces of belonging. Second, because of the existence of borders, regions at the two sides of the borders are thus embedded in radically distinct social, economic and political contexts. This results in cross-border regional disparity, which in turn creates opportunities for cross-border exchange and cooperation. Finally, for a significant number of social members, the border is constitutive of their everyday social life. It is a socio-spatial order that they need to constantly negotiate and respond to. Often, they are set to challenge established spatial orders, but in the meantime they are able to take advantage of the spatial relations defined by borders to create new possibilities of life.