While borders have been historically studied from a state-centric perspective, the past few decades have seen the emergence of new approaches to border studies. These new conceptual and theoretical proposals have been applied to the study of European and North American borders, but have yet to be put to the test in the case of Ibero-America.
The present handbook aims to do so by offering theoretically informed states of the art on Ibero-American borders. It addresses a broad range of topics, including the history of borders in the region, economic de-bordering and regionalism, cross-border cooperation and governance, as well as the relationships between Ibero-American borders and informal actors, indigenous peoples, mobility, culture, and the environment.
Mustering contributions from both well-established and emerging border scholars from over ten different countries, the handbook offers the most comprehensive overview available to date on the borders of Ibero-America, their complexities and complementarities. By incorporating a common theoretical understanding in all the chapters, it transcends the descriptive dimension that characterize most handbooks to provide insights into the scope and limitations of the prevailing theoretical frameworks of border studies.