Reckoning with the divide in Cyprus
The performativity of borders
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64166/1y0wm771Abstract
This paper investigates the genealogy of ethnic separation in Cyprus, with emphasis on distribution, relocation and regulation of the physical divide. It is argued that, with the opening of the checkpoints on the Green Line on April 23, 2003, cross-ethnic mobility has been facilitated, but state border controls have also been enacted which reinforce rather than overturn the divide. Pointing out the productive rather than constraining power of borders, the paper discusses how legal regulation of the Green Line at the European level and its securitization at the national level have contributed to its transformation from an ethnic divide to an external border. The Greek Cypriot polis solidifies itself today by containing outsiders in a state of exemption and subjecting insiders to the securitization of the life-world.
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