Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/65078

JaLCDOI : 10.14943/ebr.7.1.1

This paper shall examine the process of borderization that has been proclaimed as occurring along the Georgian-South Ossetian boundary. This boundary is one that remains largely unrecognized, as the claims of the Georgian state to sovereignty over South Ossetia are accepted by the majority of the international community. The crucial exception to this is Russia, under whose aegis this process of borderization is occurring. The result is the creation of a physical barrier around the territory of South Ossetia, one that seeks to materialize what was previously an administrative fiction on the ground, halting the movement of people and goods across this border and dividing people from their livelihoods. The paper shall consider what meaning this fencing has within the context of Georgia’s borders, and reflect upon the larger lessons that can be drawn for the concept of sovereignty and the status of borders in the contemporary world.