The Revolt of Ecotones

The decentralisation reforms that have transformed public administration are crucial to understand the contemporary transnational state. They explain not only the emergence of cities as a level at which transnational flows are managed, but also the proliferation of public, associative and private players involved in this management. The history of these reforms has taken routes that vary from North to South, but they are all linked to the neoliberal shift in public governance. This chapter focuses more specifically on municipalities. Drawing on the case of Morocco, it shows how southern countries have enrolled local authorities in their migration and development policies. In the North, the all-out expansion of the TIS is affecting urban ecotones with particular acuity. Cities have always been both places of encounter and places over which control is exerted, but the internalisation of borders is putting these spaces under tension. In reaction, cities around the globe have designed and undertaken welcoming policies for newcomers and undocumented migrants. This revolt against the totalitarian drifts of the TMS finds expression in the constitution of networks of cities that stretch across borders and defend policies that are at odds with national ones.