Borders and the Design of the Civic
2021
Michael Neuman
The word border may be the most constraining on human thought and action in history. Whether borders on territory, borders from ideologies, from politics, or anything else: they all condition action and thinking. I want to focus on the many borders that humans erect, walls that we construct, and how they block flows and processes that constitute life and well-being. If this were a conference on sustainability or ecology, I would go on about how human borders, especially administrative and infrastructural ones, block ecological flows and processes and thus harm biological life, including humans. Most ancient traditions of wellness and health, including Ayurvedic, Tantric, Chinese, Greek, and Persian, stressed the free flow of energy. Blockage of flows in the body were sources of illness and disease. Borders of all kinds are infused into virtually every thing that humans create, from organizations and institutions to customs and traditions. Yet the most constraining borders of all are the borders on our own thinking. After addressing several essential characteristics of borders, a number of policies and actions are suggested for dealing with political conflicts and humanitarian crises related to borders.
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