Introduction

Over the course of history, the functions and roles of borders have continuously changed and can only be understood in their context; they are shaped by history, politics, and power as well as by cultural and social issues. Borders have been actively contested and negotiated throughout the past, appearing and disappearing (Paasi 2003). Borders are therefore complex spatial and social phenomena which are not static or invariable but which must be understood as highly dynamic; this is similar to the field of border studies itself, which has undergone major transformations during the past century and has been experiencing a flourishing renaissance over the course of the past fifteen years (Grundy-Warr and Schofield 2005; Kolossov 2005; Newman 2006; Paasi 2005, 2009).