Discussion
摘要
This final discussion recapitulates the main topics of the book and discusses them in the context of larger socio-political developments. Ambivalence is described as an essential characteristic of border development processes worldwide. While governments promote free mobility and the illusory disappearance of borders for the privileged, others are strongly affected by border closures. The same can be said about Kenya, where new border infrastructures should lead to “smooth flows” through border stations, while borders are simultaneously shielded through new security strategies and technologies against the “unwanted”. The discussion further highlights the potential of regional integration and of a borderless East African Community (EAC). But while One Stop Border Post infrastructures are described as signs of pan-Africanism and decolonial emancipation by governments, they simultaneously promote foreign, neo-colonial interests with the danger of economic exploitation. Overall, this book agrees with demands for regional integration “from below”, which requires more formal representation of local border communities in border committees and in political decision-making. Finally, the book ends by expressing the need for more anthropological study-up research projects on mobility regimes, as the discipline has the potential to provide important contributions to the critical understanding of space-making and power relations.