'Is it a donkey?': Presences, senses and figuration in human-technological border control

Perle Møhl

    Abstract

    The chapter presents and analyses forms of presence detection in the control of border transgressions by using sonar and haptic technologies that ‘listen’ to and ‘feel’ for presences and hidden persons, and different forms of imagery, notably radar and infrared. Such technologies do not identify individuals but only kinds of bodies - humans, birds, donkeys. The border guards develop refined skills for distinguishing the living from the inert, humans from non-humans. The chapter pursues by inversing the perspective to encompass different forms of surveillance of the surveyors themselves, whether by migrants or management, with a vivid description of migrant technological skills and tactics for crossing the border.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationThe Biometric Border World : Technology, Bodies and Identities on the Move
    EditorsKaren Fog Olwig, Kristina Grünenberg, Perle Møhl, Anja Simonsen
    Place of PublicationLondon & New York
    PublisherRoutledge
    Publication date2020
    Pages100-114
    Chapter4
    ISBN (Print)978-0-367-19968-6
    ISBN (Electronic)978-0-367-80846-4
    Publication statusPublished - 2020
    SeriesRoutledge Studies in Anthropology

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