Borderscapes, Emotions & The Geopolitics of the Everyday

How is a borderland constructed as a 'security zone' (SZ) in the minds of its local collaborators? And how do these sociospatial and emotional constructs transform when the SZ abruptly collapses? Security zones (SZs) established in the margins of modern polities have recently become a crucial component of the violent turn towards 'old' conventional wars in global politics. However, little if any scholarly attention has been given to the everyday experiences of the local factions active in these militarized zones—militia members, collaborators, local communities, individuals, and other actors—and to how the everyday (in)security of these actors enables the state's control of these zones.

In a recent study, I revisit the historical case of Israel's SZ in Southern Lebanon (1975-2000) to address these key questions. Drawing on sixty in-depth interviews with former members of the South Lebanese Army (SLA) who collaborated militarily with Israel in this area, the study offers a new approach to SZs that shifts the focus to the emotional and everyday experiences of their local collaborators, exposing the underlying mechanisms of emotions/ space/ power that enable the governance of these spaces.

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