Border Work as socio-legal activist research
Lundberg, Anna LU
and Söderman, Emma
(2025)
In International Journal of Law in Context
- Abstract
This article develops Border Work (BW) as a theoretical concept and methodological approach, underexplored in socio-legal scholar-activism, through analysing two distinct examples: Noor, who applied for protection, and her individual and collective struggle for residency and the making of a manifesto against borders. While both examples depart from feminist methodology, the differences are stark: Noor, excluded from democratic processes, faced deportation risks, while we, with institutional support, engaged in public mobilisations without such threats. Despite these differences, we use BW to understand and analyse both examples, highlighting their commonalities. The analysis of the manifesto work and Noor’s efforts shows how... (More)
This article develops Border Work (BW) as a theoretical concept and methodological approach, underexplored in socio-legal scholar-activism, through analysing two distinct examples: Noor, who applied for protection, and her individual and collective struggle for residency and the making of a manifesto against borders. While both examples depart from feminist methodology, the differences are stark: Noor, excluded from democratic processes, faced deportation risks, while we, with institutional support, engaged in public mobilisations without such threats. Despite these differences, we use BW to understand and analyse both examples, highlighting their commonalities. The analysis of the manifesto work and Noor’s efforts shows how transgressive work creates new subject positions. BW provides a deeper understanding and a common analytical framework for scholarly work interlinked with activism. Through BW, Noor transformed from being seen as an object of the law to becoming a creator of legal knowledge. In the manifesto exercise, the boundaries are both collective and political: participants jointly challenge the national order and advocate for a transnational political identity. Both Noor and we, as part of the collective, engaged in the making of the manifesto and engaged at the intersection of personal experiences and powerful institutions and ideologies, with the aim of contributing to the struggles within and against restrictive migration regimes. Socio-legal scholars are experienced when thinking critically about the role and rule of law in society; BW can be understood to put this knowledge into action and apply it in broader struggles for justice.
(Less)
- author
- Lundberg, Anna
LU
and Söderman, Emma
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- Border Work, restrictive migration regime, socio-legal scholar-activism, Sweden, transgressive political subjectivity
- in
- International Journal of Law in Context
- publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105020908159
- ISSN
- 1744-5523
- DOI
- 10.1017/S1744552325100268
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press.
- id
- 05c338a3-95d2-412c-8dd6-93244ed4788a
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-13 14:13:17
- date last changed
- 2026-01-13 14:13:50
@article{05c338a3-95d2-412c-8dd6-93244ed4788a,
abstract = {{<p>This article develops Border Work (BW) as a theoretical concept and methodological approach, underexplored in socio-legal scholar-activism, through analysing two distinct examples: Noor, who applied for protection, and her individual and collective struggle for residency and the making of a manifesto against borders. While both examples depart from feminist methodology, the differences are stark: Noor, excluded from democratic processes, faced deportation risks, while we, with institutional support, engaged in public mobilisations without such threats. Despite these differences, we use BW to understand and analyse both examples, highlighting their commonalities. The analysis of the manifesto work and Noor’s efforts shows how transgressive work creates new subject positions. BW provides a deeper understanding and a common analytical framework for scholarly work interlinked with activism. Through BW, Noor transformed from being seen as an object of the law to becoming a creator of legal knowledge. In the manifesto exercise, the boundaries are both collective and political: participants jointly challenge the national order and advocate for a transnational political identity. Both Noor and we, as part of the collective, engaged in the making of the manifesto and engaged at the intersection of personal experiences and powerful institutions and ideologies, with the aim of contributing to the struggles within and against restrictive migration regimes. Socio-legal scholars are experienced when thinking critically about the role and rule of law in society; BW can be understood to put this knowledge into action and apply it in broader struggles for justice.</p>}},
author = {{Lundberg, Anna and Söderman, Emma}},
issn = {{1744-5523}},
keywords = {{Border Work; restrictive migration regime; socio-legal scholar-activism; Sweden; transgressive political subjectivity}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Cambridge University Press}},
series = {{International Journal of Law in Context}},
title = {{Border Work as socio-legal activist research}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1744552325100268}},
doi = {{10.1017/S1744552325100268}},
year = {{2025}},
}